downlighter problem

tomreid

Two of my upstairs downlighters no longer work. I checked the bulbs on both and its not that. On one I inserted a mains tester screwdriver into one of the little holes in the ceramic type thingy that the bulb prongs go in, and the mains tester showed there was a current there. Any ideas anyone?

mrs_baggins

does it run off a transformer? I had some lights that did and they were on all day once and this was enough to burn it out apparently. But as theres a current it may not be.

tomreid

I don't know if they're run off a transformer, how can you tell?

b16_4ndyfab

if you simply pull the lamp (bulb) straight out of the lamp holder, its low voltage ie uses a transformer. if you have to turn the bulb a quarter turn to the left to remove it, its mains 240v. it sounds like a transformer problem.

ps no matter what type you have, its adviseable to use a dimmer switch. not only does it increase lamp life it can cost u less to run. if you dim a bulb 10% the saving is roughly 30%

hope this helps

andy

curlyfairy

ps no matter what type you have, its adviseable to use a dimmer switch. not only does it increase lamp life it can cost u less to run. if you dim a bulb 10% the saving is roughly 30%

You can't always use a dimmer because if the light is low voltage and being run from a transformer the transformer needs 240volts to work properly.
The best way to test your lights that aren't working is to put in a bulb from one of the other lights you know is working and see if it works,if it does you know the bulbs are faulty.if not then look at the transformer.
Hope this helps,Ben.

b16_4ndyfab

if you have mains lamps you can use a mains dimmer, if you have low voltage, use a low voltage dimmer