downlight advice

[ben85]

got some halogen downlights that are playing up at home.
house is only 3 years old. 2 of them aren't working at all while another one will work intermittently if you fiddle with the wire that connects to the globe.

i was considering having them changed to led downlights.
but i'm lead to believe all you change is the globe so i'm probably going to have the same problem, as i suspect there must be some problem with the wiring/transformers.

the globes also blow fairly often and i have noticed on 2 of them the plastic insulation has flaked off the wiring at the ends where the globes plug in.

can anyone suggest a suitable solution??

 

[Aussie Frontier]

The standard lamp is a 50w halogen and creates a lot of heat. If you have the older style wire wound transformers you can just swap the globes with LED and the heat problems will go away. I have done just that in my place and havent had to touch a globe in almost 2 years now. I swapped the 50w halogens for 12w led

 

[ericcs]

as aussie says, the heat build up in the globe eventually deteriorates the connection inside the little porcellain block resulting in intermitted conection and blinking on and off.
if you have the electronic transformers with your 50w halogen globe fittings, not all led globe conversions work. the brand of globes(aldi) i bought ended up strobing, so it may pay to buy one globe and try it first

 

[Old.Tony]

What they said. Also, if you're going to keep halogen downlights anywhere, make sure that the insulation remains 150mm (I think) from the light.

 

[mitch92]

Get rid of them. Down lights suck.

 

[scum_bag]

Hey bud. As soon as money permits id be changing them out to Philips 7w led lamps. They are bright and still have a good beam angle and can be had for about $30 each. It may seem expensive but they are guarenteed to work with every down light transformer. Now you will need to go to an electical wholesaler to get the down light lamp holder but as its on the extra low voltahe side uou can replace it without a sparky.... dont worry its 12v ac and cant shock you.

Led is heaps more efficient then the halogen dichoric globes so your saving 43w per fitting say you have 6 in your lounge room alone..... thats a saving of 420w per hour..... so roughly 3kw hrs a day......

Also do not get philips 10w leds as they have a cooling fan and you can hear them run