Replacement bathroom light 'bulb'

fenwick458

I'm not sure that we are on the same page?

a new white round bulkhead (£18 at toolstation) seems to be the cheapest option. you can try and source replacement internals for your existing light and fix that but as you don't know what's wrong with it (driver or strip) so you'll have to buy both. both of them will cost £6-7 each/then you either need to be able to do it yourself or pay your handyman or electrician to fit it. bear in mind you will not find exact same spare parts, you'll get something similar but it will need modifying to fit
it's difficult to pin down the exact price as I don't know the rates of the electrician or handyman thats doing the work but I can say for sure that if the parts are almost the same price as a new light, why the hell would you not just get a new light?

Section62

J_B said:

molerat said:

Stop using those throw away environment damaging LED fittings and get a good old fashioned bathroom suitable fitting with a normal LED bulb.  Much better for your pocket and the environment.

We have a 4 bedroom apartment, all en suite and another cloakroom = 5 bathrooms

And a 2 bed apartment, all en suite = 2 bathrooms

Are you suggesting that it would be "Much better for your pocket and the environment" to invest £20 per room plus fitting ..... or shall we try to fix what we already have?

Buy a fitting which takes a standard 'bulb' and the next time it goes wrong you can buy a replacement 'bulb' rather than a replacement fitting.

Also, as the properties are being operated on a commercial basis, I'd see the cost of replacement fittings (vs employing someone to potentially bodge a repair) as an insurance against finding myself being prosecuted if someone comes to harm as a result of a repair which wasn't authorised by the original manufacturer.

Cornucopia

To try to span the page gap - the "bulbs" aren't bulbs, they are individual LEDs (likely surface bonded to the fitting) that are not user-serviceable.   Also, the "transformer" is not a transformer but an LED driver (likely outputting a high DC voltage that is potentially dangerous - hence having no output voltage noted on the back of the device).

There's no need to replace any of the other fittings that are still working, but the time and skills (=money) needed to service the broken one are disproportionate to the minimal cost and effort of replacing it (ideally with something more future-proof).  

Megaross

Just replace the light fitting, it's 10 minutes work and they're not exactly expensive.

You're unlikely to find a replacement part

fenwick458

I normally advocate light fittings with replaceable bulbs, but it's hard to find a light with a replaceable bulb for a bathroom.
same goes for floodlights, or undercupboard lights, it's just not possible to find anything with replaceable bulbs close the performance of the dedicated LED versions for even 1.5 times the price, so thats why nobody is buying them and are instead buying the "throw away" items which are bad for the environment.
something will happen soon, either the lights will get better and they will work for 10 years which I thin would be OK, but if they keep churning out rubbish that only lasts 3-4 years then someone will step in and make them have to be repairable, make spares available or just make them with replaceable bulbs. similar to what they did with white goods not so long ago

J_B

Megaross said:

Just replace the light fitting, it's 10 minutes work and they're not exactly expensive.

You're unlikely to find a replacement part

The above post sums it all up methinks - thanks all for the excellent advice.

I was just naively thinking that it would be a simple fix and I could have a couple of spares in stock in case it happened again.

Trouble is we are 90 miles away so these things take a little organising, but that's my problem!!

Money_Grabber13579

fenwick458 said:

I normally advocate light fittings with replaceable bulbs, but it's hard to find a light with a replaceable bulb for a bathroom.
same goes for floodlights, or undercupboard lights, it's just not possible to find anything with replaceable bulbs close the performance of the dedicated LED versions for even 1.5 times the price, so thats why nobody is buying them and are instead buying the "throw away" items which are bad for the environment.
something will happen soon, either the lights will get better and they will work for 10 years which I thin would be OK, but if they keep churning out rubbish that only lasts 3-4 years then someone will step in and make them have to be repairable, make spares available or just make them with replaceable bulbs. similar to what they did with white goods not so long ago

The government was supposed to have banned the sale of light fittings with non replaceable “bulbs” from last September but I see no evidence of it ever having happened.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/end-of-halogen-light-bulbs-spells-brighter-and-cleaner-future

I think there was to be an exception where it wouldn’t be feasible to have anything other than a non-replaceable “bulb” but given that bathroom lights with replaceable bulbs used to exist for years, I don’t think it’s technically impossible.

J_B

So, the next challenge

Finding a suitable light fitting to use.

(The one linked in an earlier post seems to be an all in one)

Cornucopia

Something like this?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/treviso-bathroom-ceiling-light-chrome/34882

It would probably be better with 2 bulb holders rather than 1, though.

J_B

I saw this one, which was cheaper

https://www.screwfix.com/p/spa-canis-bathroom-ceiling-light-stainless-steel/7715j