Are the lights faulty or our electrics?

[liltinks78]

Hi all,

I am hoping to call on some expertise and really need some help working out a solution to our problem.

We have two ceiling lights either end of our lounge and a two way switch that operates them both. The lights have always worked fine.
I recently purchased a Next Zion light from ebay which my husband fitted at one end of the lounge with the hope that if we liked it we would get a matching one for the other. Within minutes of fitting it, the light felt quite hot and half an hour later the light just turned off, we left it and another 30 minutes later it turned back on. My first thought was that the light is over heating as I know it's a ridiculous girly comparison but my hair dryer does the same thing and just turns back on when it's cooled down. So I thought the light itself was faulty and emailed the ebayer seller to complain. I expected the usual " It worked fine when I sent it" reply but was amazed when the seller admitted he too had had the same problem and had assumed it was his electrics.
Anyhow, we decided to buy one direct from a next store despite the obvious cost increase and my husband fitted it the other side of the lounge from the original ebay one, I assumed this would be fine, but no less than 30 mins later the same happened again, but this is a brand new light. Do next just have a massive supply of faulty lights or is there a problem with our electrics. Does anyone have any ideas? sorry it is long winded.
Many thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Steve]

Most likely the fitting.

A couple of things to check:

If the lamps are 12 volts, check the total wattage fitted against the wattage (VA) rating of the transformer. The transofrmer will be a chunky white or black thing normally at the base of the fitting (against the ceiling), typically hidden in a large round casing.

I take it you got your money back from the ebay seller.

If the light wattage matches the transformer wattage, contact next and tell them of your experience.

 

[liltinks78]

Ah so you are thinking the total wattage of the light maybe too much. It takes 12 x 12v 10w g4 halogen bulbs. Which I suppose is overall quite a lot. I will do as you say and check once daylight it upon us, seems we may have to settle for a less impressive light! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

 

[Steve]

Thats 120 watts of light, this is the load on the transformer (tx). Check that the tx is rated at at least 120VA / 120 watts.

If it is, there would seem to be some cooling issue with the tx, when a tx gets too hot it starts to cycle - most have a self-protection feature, which will shut them down if they get too hot, until you turn it off and on. They run very hot (think of your laptop power supply in its mains lead, similar thing, these get burning hot - now think of it in a confined space, unventilated!) But the fitting should allow for ventilation. Unfortunately all too often, designers get carried away with looks and forget they need to stick holes in things to cool them down!