Problems with LED bulbs

[mifty12]

Hi guys,

please bear in mind I'm not a pro with this.

i am trying to replace the G4 halogen capsule in my two ceiling fittings. These are brand new identical fittings and each has 7 20w halogens. I have replaced these with 2w led G4 capsules. Now this is my problem, birth lights are powered at the same 1 way switch, light 1 has all the bulbs lit no bother, for some reason the second light only has three of the bulbs lit very dimly. Is there an explanation for this ?

regards

justin.

 

[Richard Burns]

G4 lamps run at 12V and for halogen lamps are supplied by a transformer that provides 12V a.c.
LED lamps are intended to work on 12V d.c. and are usually supplied by a driver (a power supply as opposed to just a transformer).

Most 230V to 12V transformers have a minimum wattage at which they can operate (often around 10W) you are fitting 14W of lighting when using the LEDs, it is possible that there is a slight variation in the capabilities of the transformers in the fittings or possibly in the actual power consumption of the LED bulbs (you could check this by changing all the bulbs to the opposite fittings and see if it changes, if you can be bothered) and that this variance means one transformer can just cope with the minimum load and the other one is just under the minimum load.
The one just under minimum load cannot transform the power effectively and will be dim.
If you put one halogen bulb in the fitting along with the six LEDs it should work all lamps correctly.

Ideally you should see if you can obtain, say, 20W LED drivers that can fit in the fitting in place of the existing transformers, this will extend the life of the LED bulbs and they should be able to cope with almost 0W loads.

 

[mifty12]

Wow, very concise explanation, thanks and makes sense now as I did put one halogen in and all worked as you describe. I'll pop into a wholesaler this morning and see what they have in the way of drivers.