Halogen Lighting

[ggant]

Hello,

We moved in to our house recently and found that some of the sunken halogen lights in the kitchen don't work. More precisely, out of the six, we start off with three to four turning on, then they come on and off randomly every 10 mins or so. My wife calls this 'disco lighting'.

Is this something to do with a 'transformer' that I need to locate somewhere in the ceiling? I ask this as I might damage the plaster by taking out the brass inserts that secure the halogens in place. (I have already had a little look just by taking the bulbs out but couldn't find anything in the limited field of view).

And if I find it, does it need to be replaced or the wiring checked?

Many thanks to the wise and good that can help a dozy geet!

Cheers,

GG.

 

[fido]

You will probably find the wires have burned through where they go onto the bulb holders. These lights tend to get very hot and are particularly prone to overheating if surrounded by fibreglass or other insulation material. These bulb holders are often a sealed unit so you might have to renew all the lamps.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Lot of speculation there - I don't think we can even be 100% sure that these are ELV lights.

If they are, it could just be the transformer(s) overheating and shutting down.

ggant - can you get access to the void from the floor above?

 

[ggant]

Cheers to both ban-all-sheds and fido.

fido - I'll have to take up the carpet and see what I'm left with. I guess this transformer was inserted from above. Would make sense. If I could get hold of it, would it need to be replaced with a more powerful version?

GG

 

[Steve]

Cheers to both ban-all-sheds and fido.

fido - I'll have to take up the carpet and see what I'm left with. I guess this transformer was inserted from above. Would make sense. If I could get hold of it, would it need to be replaced with a more powerful version?

GG

No, but if you end up taking floorboards up, make it worthwhile. If you have 20W 12V lights, run each one off a 20-60VA transformer individually.
Use those small ones like they sell in Screwfix - these can be replaced through the hole you light is fixed in. If there is insulation under the floor, cut a square out (8 inch square should be enough) around each lamp and transformer.This way also means you can replace the 20W lamps with 30 or 50W lamps later on if you desire (subject to the lampholders being able to take higher wattages)

 

[fido]

Just a word of warning about the Screwfix transformers. I recently installed a set of 6 lights using 2 transformers D52120. One of the transformers failed after only 2 weeks use.

 

[baldelectrician]

I prefer JCC trannys- they are dimmable by leading edge and trailing edge dimmers.

I buy a box of 50 at a time to get a decent discount and never have problems