Lights flickering - to much power??

[jackpot]

Have a sort of similar light fitting to this, except each buld is a smal 12v g4 that holds around 10 bulbs... If all 10 are in it is actually not as bright and sometimes the lights flicker when turned on or will not turn on at all.


If i take 4 bulbs out. Everything works fine. Is there too much power for the system to cope with. Also have spots in kitchen, one keeps blowing and another goes out and lights back up again on its own free will. I tried buying lower watt bulbs but the same still happens..
Any advice.

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[Taylortwocities]

Do you have a dimmer on the circuit?

If so…..

What is the total wattage of all of the bulbs?

What is the maximum and minimum capability of the dimmer?

Is the fitting dimmable?

 

[jackpot]

The fitting in question is downstairs and is controlled by either of 2 light switches in the room. Just standard ones.

We do have a dimmer in one of the bedrooms.

Total wattage just for the light fitting or all the rooms??

 

[Taylortwocities]

The other questions arent relavent if the fitting is not dimmer controlled.

Just a thought. You say the fitting works OK if you take a few lamps out?
Have you replaced any bulbs when the old ones died? Did you make sure you replaced them with the same wattage bulbs as the old ones?

 

[jackpot]

yes we moved into this house a few month ago. Some bulbs were missing so i just bought new ones like for like. Put them in then problems started. I just took a mix of old and new out again and all seemed ok.

 

[diyer56]

I had a similar problem in the past - the previous owner had replaced the 12v 10W bulbs with 20W at some point. Is there a label on the fitting to indicate the correct bulb type.

 

[ericmark]

I would guess some where there is a switched mode controller which is dropping the voltage these often have short circuit protection and over heat protection built in so will auto close down if over loaded.

We have seen the same problem time and time again with the GU5.3 12 volt spot lights where you can get bulbs from 10W to 70W with 35W and 50W being common.

With so many bulbs in one fitting it is very likely each bulb is rather small even at 10W that's a 100W total per fitting.

10W and 20W are common but can be as low as 1.5W (LED) with some odd sizes seen 14W which it seems are classed energy saving (B rated) so one has to be very careful to get the correct size.

If the local shops don't stock 10W that may be why they had bulbs missing.

 

[Taylortwocities]

WE already know that the fitting takes 12v G4 lamps

Have a sort of similar light fitting to this, except each buld is a smal 12v g4 that holds around 10 bulbs...

so that maybe limits the choice to 10 or 20w

that is why I flagged it. I didnt get a definitive answer from the OP.

Only

I just took a mix of old and new out again and all seemed ok.

which doesnt help, at all.