12V MR16 LED Spotlights?

Naf

I have a set of 6 MR16 spotlights in my bathroom. I spotted some LED spots with the right fitting in the pound shop and bought a set. When I plugged them in, they barely lit up. Anyone know why that might be? They were rated at 12V, just the same as the ones I already have in there which work just fine.

Myser

There are two possibilities:

1) The cheap LED bulbs are probably very low wattage and aren't very bright.

2) The existing transformer is unable to supply enough power to all the LEDs. Try taking a few of them out and see if the remaining ones are brighter.

withabix

[QUOTE=Myser;61490939
2) The existing transformer is unable to supply enough power to all the LEDs. Try taking a few of them out and see if the remaining ones are brighter.[/QUOTE]

The LED spotlights will typically draw less than 10% of the power of a halogen bulb per complete bulb assembly of similar brightness, so that won't be the reason!

Cheap LED bulbs are cheap for a reason.

2W is approx equivalent to a 20W halogen.

The pound shop ones will undoubtedly be less than 1 watt.

smileygill

withabix wrote: »

Cheap LED bulbs are cheap for a reason.

The pound shop ones will undoubtedly be less than 1 watt.

I bought some LED MR16 replacements from Lidl some time ago; best I can say of them is that they lit up. One in particular had (I think) 4 arrays of 3 LEDs, which each flickered and died in turn over a period of about a year.

Thing is, LED technology is improving all the time and pretty fast too. The light output per diode is hugely better now than just a year ago, so anything you find cheap is likely old technology and not much cop.

A pack of 3 for a tenner (the brand was DIAL or something similar; frustratingly, they don't list them on their site though nobody else seems to sell them) picked up at B&Q recently are excellent. They're not quite as bright as the halogens they've replaced, the colour is just a little cooler (more neutral, I'd say) and the spread is much more even but less specular; less sparkle, fewer dark corners.

Only wish they were dimmable, but then if I had everything, where would I keep it all?

Naf

I don't just mean they were a bit dimmer; that's would be expected and fine. I mean it was only barely possible to tell they had even lit. I had considered that its just that they're cheap; but even then I'd expect better than that.
I find it difficult to believe its the transformer; each individual fitting has its own.

Gewens

Naf wrote: »

I don't just mean they were a bit dimmer; that's would be expected and fine. I mean it was only barely possible to tell they had even lit. I had considered that its just that they're cheap; but even then I'd expect better than that.
I find it difficult to believe its the transformer; each individual fitting has its own.

You may find that the bulb is not pulling enough current to start the transformer. On a few occasions at work I have taken a few transformers out and run say 5 bulbs from 1 transformer.

Rockingit

It's most likely the fact that as Gewens said, the transformers that you have have a MINIMUM loading which is higher than the current draw from the units.

TBH, I think you've bought a lemon as you'll now need to either change every transformer for a constant current LED driver (around £10ish a pop), or (and less reliably) try to re-wire them all to run from just one transformer.

Free cheese only comes on mousetraps!

Myser

Gewens wrote: »

You may find that the bulb is not pulling enough current to start the transformer. On a few occasions at work I have taken a few transformers out and run say 5 bulbs from 1 transformer.

If this is the case and your existing transformer is switched-mode, you could try pushing it into operating correctly by connecting a single halogen bulb with the rest LED bulbs on one transformer (note the loading).

Some MR16 LED bulbs are specifically designed to operate with halogen transformers.

In any case, you will most likely have to spend a bit more on LED bulbs to achieve the same light output as a halogen bulb.

OwenMoreno

Naf wrote: »

I have a set of 6 MR16 spotlights in my bathroom. I spotted some LED spots with the right fitting in the pound shop and bought a set. When I plugged them in, they barely lit up. Anyone know why that might be? They were rated at 12V, just the same as the ones I already have in there which work just fine.

Were you able to find the answer? Even I got the led lights and facing similar problem. need some help man, please help:(:(

Naf

OwenMoreno wrote: »

Were you able to find the answer? Even I got the led lights and facing similar problem. need some help man, please help:(:(

I've had to assume that it's the startup current for the transformers; so I've not got a solution that gets the LED lamps working. I've assumed that rewiring the transformers to 3 bulbs each could fix it: but that's more than I'm prepared to do right now, especially as its not a guaranteed fix.

fluffymuffy

It's a Minimum Load problem.

I've found the simplest answer to be to just leave a few halogens in place. I replaced 12 50W halogens in the kitchen (!!!£££££s worth of electric. What idiot installed those?) with 9 4W LEDs and 3 20W halogens