No, but the OP and endecotp appeared to have.
Round LED Driver
- Thread starter Paul-man
- Start date
No, but the OP and endecotp appeared to have.
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They chose to ignore it because its not important.
DID THE MODS NOT WARN YOU ABOUT THIS, MAYBE TIME THEY TOOK SOME ACTION
It is VERY important. We have LEDs here that won't work off a SMPT but will work off a transformer. So it is VERY important that we know the difference and refer to them correctly.
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All you have done is confused the issue, though.
Earlier you called them SMPS, now you call them SMPT, your not even consistent.
Google either of them and hes unlikely to find what he wants
Whats SMPT stand for !
Earlier you called them SMPS, now you call them SMPT, your not even consistent.
Google either of them and hes unlikely to find what he wants
Whats SMPT stand for !
Switched Mode Power Transformer. 
implies that the smaller Aurora "product" I linked to, will NOT help due to the high frequency switching.
winston says I need a driver... bernard says these are already present in the lamps.
So, among the pedantry over terminology (I understand the need for to be accurate, but the product I have in the fitting describes itself as a transformer and as someone else said- I'm not going to find many products googling a switch mode power supply (I tried- I get excellent technical explanations!)
I'm at the stage where several posts imply that the products I linked to are not suitable for my application, but endecotp's posts imply it is exactly what I need. I have found that by increasing the load, the "problem" seems to disappear, including the buzzing, so on the surface it seems to be the answer. Just interested in whether there are any long term implications for the bulbs and what the correct solution is.
winston says I need an LED driver, but bernard thinks these are in the bulbs already.
I know that I need something to take the voltage down from 230V to 12V to supply the LED lamps...
Not necessarily - it means that one cannot be sure that a particular LED lamp will work satisfactorily with high frequency AC. The source also needs to be one whose "minimum load" is less that the total load represented by your LED lamps (as demonstrated by what happened when you restored one of the halogens).
So did I.. As I wrote before, if it is a "12V lamp", what it needs is a constant-voltage 12V source. "LED Driver" is ambiguous. Some would take it to mean a constant-current source - which is not what you want (and not what many people want/need).
As above, a "12V LED lamp" (or any other LED lamp with a specified voltage) must have internal circuitry ("a driver") to control the current - otherwise the LED element(s) would be destroyed (by excessive current) as soon as the specified voltage was applied.
Kind Regards, John
I'm right and everyone else is wrong, obviously!
The point about it being high-frequency AC is a legitimate concern, but you seem to have proved that your bulbs are happy with it when you tested with a halogen to bring the load up to 35W.
The fact is the switch mode supplies often used with halogen lamps are not suitable for LEDs. It often crops up on these forums. Most of the GU 5.3 for GU 4 LED lamps designed for 12 volts will run of 12 volts AC 50 Hz with a real transformer or 12volts DC with a DC power supply (often referred to as an LED driver, but in reality a DC power supply), an example of manufacturers misnaming their products. The other example relative to this thread are them calling switch mode supplies transformers.
Examples not relavent here other than to emphasise that manufacturers or their marketing agents are idiots are plugtops and digital aerials.
Back to your immediate problem I suggest you look for 12 volt DC power supplies.
Examples not relavent here other than to emphasise that manufacturers or their marketing agents are idiots are plugtops and digital aerials.
Back to your immediate problem I suggest you look for 12 volt DC power supplies.
... if it's true DC.
However, be aware that even that is not guaranteed, so getting a "12V DC Power Supply" is not necessarily a foolproof answer.
As bernard has pointed out, some DC SMPSUs can produce far from an constant DC output. As he's said, they often claim only an 'effective DC' output voltage, and that may, in some cases, mean that the output is actually pulsatile, averaging over time at the stated voltage. I don't know how common that is, nor how happy any particular LED lamp would be with such a supply.
Kind Regards, John
My friend had one of them fittings and what i done is took the thing down and put the transformer in the ceiling void above it, you then dont have to worry about the physical size.
Transformers have come along a lot lately, as have dimmers mainly due to Led lamps.
A lot now have no lower load limits just an upper Led Load limit and are often called Led drivers or Transformers for Led lamps,
Its sometimes more stable to use the ones sold for use with Led tape, or the ones that look more like laptop power supplies, though ensure there suitable to be enclosed or whereever you site it
Transformers have come along a lot lately, as have dimmers mainly due to Led lamps.
A lot now have no lower load limits just an upper Led Load limit and are often called Led drivers or Transformers for Led lamps,
Its sometimes more stable to use the ones sold for use with Led tape, or the ones that look more like laptop power supplies, though ensure there suitable to be enclosed or whereever you site it
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It happens with all sorts of SMPSUs, not just those sold for use with halogen lamps - although, as Rocky has said, it seems to be increasingly less common.
Kind Regards, John
Wrong !!
I recently converted mine and a LED driver will not work. They will flash. You need a ac transformer or whatever you want to call em with a va to suit the lamps.
I ended up renewing the lamp holders and getting rid of transformers to go 230v.
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