Changing MR16 to GU10s help.

sniggings

Any help welcome, looking to change MR16s to GU10s, looks straight forward, here are pics of what I have, is it just a case of taking out the MR16 connector and swapping to a GU10, and taking the small black transformer away? Thanks.

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Risteard

It is a matter of getting an Electrician as electrical work should only be undertaken by competent people.

Kim_kim

Risteard wrote: »

It is a matter of getting an Electrician as electrical work should only be undertaken by competent people.

Rules have relaxed on what you can do yourself now.

You are allowed to do swaps & simple work yourself, what you can't do is employ a handy man to do it.

Have a think about LEDs I changed all my GU10s to GU10 sized LEDs.
They are also cooler, safer.

Risteard

Kim_kim wrote: »

Rules have relaxed on what you can do yourself now.

Nothing to do with rules. It is a requirement that anyone undertaking the work be competent.

Gloomendoom

There doesn't seem to be any form of earthing on your existing setup. Unless those downlight fittings are Class II rated, you might want to consider that if you are switching from 12v to 240v.

Mankysteve

Gloomendoom wrote: »

There doesn't seem to be any form of earthing on your existing setup. Unless those downlight fittings are Class II rated, you might want to consider that if you are switching from 12v to 240v.

What he said. Also if you increase the wattage it may cause issues. Unless your switching to LED gu10 I don't really see the point of changing from mr16 unless the fitting are broken.

As always if your unsure employ a professional.

brightontraveller

Plenty of mains voltage down lights have no earth although variety of reasons most common fitting is double insulated sometimes called class 2’s that’s often beyond the scope of average diyer’s/cowboy electrician understanding though…

With regard retro fitting GU 10 cap/base yes pretty easy about £1-2 plus cost of a mains retrofit led £3-5 (rather than fitting halogen gu10) be aware you may not be able to use the same dimmer or even dim them regardless of if led ‘s are dimmable type as although many produce dimmable lamps the producers of dimmers are yet to manufacture compatible dimmers

For fitting / lamps/ cap base . etc compatibility as you describe Always ask manufactures they know about limitations heat.. Materials etc whereas an electrician would only be able to guess....

Btw your dimmers are white? the black component part fixed to down light is junction box for connecting feed in this case from dimmer to mr16 lamp lead… You would leave this in place most of the time remove white dimmer pack and connect mains cable that feeds that directly to junction box on down light with gu10 lead fitted to other side

sniggings

I was going for LED GU10s, guess the earth thing has put a stop to that.

Thanks all.

Was trying to save some money, as 4 x50w MR16s is a lot of wattage for the size of the room they are lighting.

Shame as I have already ordered the GU10s and fly leads.

Getting a electrician in wouldn't be cost effective.

flashg67

You could make/add your own an earth leads. When I did mine, the existing mains wiring upto the transformers had an earth lead that was unused - I just added a junction box for each transformer and an new piece of flex to the new fittings.
Can't fully tell from the photo, but most of the lamp holders have a hole to take a screw to hold the earth lead. You can buy leads ready made with an end fitted, or even just buy a length of flex and some crimp connectors to make your own.
Or, complete new 240v fittings are quite cheap and have an earth terminal already on them

sniggings

flashg67 wrote: »

You could make/add your own an earth leads. When I did mine, the existing mains wiring upto the transformers had an earth lead that was unused - I just added a junction box for each transformer and an new piece of flex to the new fittings.
Can't fully tell from the photo, but most of the lamp holders have a hole to take a screw to hold the earth lead. You can buy leads ready made with an end fitted, or even just buy a length of flex and some crimp connectors to make your own.
Or, complete new 240v fittings are quite cheap and have an earth terminal already on them

ok I'll try again with the swap :rotfl:

Is this correct? I remove the WHITE transformer box,the main lead will have an earth wire? I buy these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Downlight-GU10-Chrome-Light-Fitting/dp/B00FGT52T4 which will have a earth wire and attact GU10 fly leads...have I got that right?

PheoUK

Turn the power off, take a grey cable out of one of the white boxes. Strip it back and see if it consists of three wires (twin and earth / T&E). this way you can attach a fitting which needs an earth.

However one thing to bear in mind is you might not need an earth of the new fitting. I have fitted LED spotlight replacements and these come as a complete unit including a transformer like you have now.

So rather than going for GU10 fittings which are poorly designed for LEDs, I would go for an alternative in LED.

Something like this could be a direct replacment:

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lighting_Menu_Index/Lighting_Downlights_Index/Halers_LED_Downlights/index.html

Personally I've fitted ECOLED ZEP1 fittings as they in my opinion are better designed for my purposes.