Dimming GU10 bulbs.
- Thread starter Agile
- Start date
When they fail....which they will with alarming regularity....they can be quite 'spiky' and this can destroy any dimmer you may be using.
If you really feel the need to use a GU10....make sure you are not tempted by small brand chinese sh##te....stick with the major players (osram,GE,philips etc)...they will fail just as regularly but won't fry your dimmer....
If you really feel the need to use a GU10....make sure you are not tempted by small brand chinese sh##te....stick with the major players (osram,GE,philips etc)...they will fail just as regularly but won't fry your dimmer....
Do you think it would be worth putting a quick blow fuse in series or do you think they fail too quickly for that to always/sometimes blow before a dimmer.
Based on my past experience with bulbs it extends the life by about 10 times if they are given a soft start. On mast lighting the bulbs which were 300' up would fail one of the 8 bulbs at least once a week until I fitted an NTC thermistor in series. They then lasted many weeks without any failures and we just changed them all as a maintenance item every two months.
Can anyone suggest what current rating dimmer to use with 1-2-4-8 of these bulbs?
Tony
Based on my past experience with bulbs it extends the life by about 10 times if they are given a soft start. On mast lighting the bulbs which were 300' up would fail one of the 8 bulbs at least once a week until I fitted an NTC thermistor in series. They then lasted many weeks without any failures and we just changed them all as a maintenance item every two months.
Can anyone suggest what current rating dimmer to use with 1-2-4-8 of these bulbs?
Tony
The rating will be in watts and needs to really exceed your load, so if you have 8 at 50watt, that will 400watt load, and that's about what you are limited too per dimmer.
They normally will come in 200 and 400 watt ratings, so check that out. But can be found at higher ratings
They normally will come in 200 and 400 watt ratings, so check that out. But can be found at higher ratings
With the low cold resistance of these bulbs which gives an inrush current of 6 amps I would be using a dimmer rated for the inrush current as a minimum.
I would not expect a 400w dimmer to last long on 8 of those bulbs.
Tony
I would not expect a 400w dimmer to last long on 8 of those bulbs.
Tony
Also don't forget that dimming them can shorten their lives and doesn't save much power anyway.
have you looked at soft star dimmers?
I did mean sort start, sorry missed the "t"
hears a link or two, to what I was referring to.
By the way these are manually operated.
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Product...S&source=adwords&kw=start dimmers&gclid=COXQx
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/DataSheets/MK/Logic_Plus_Dimmer.pd
Agile
The quality branded GU10 (osram,philips etc..) have a fuseable link already built in.....
Like I said..they'll fail just as much but at least your dimmer will be protected!
Its those nasty far eastern GU10s that too many people are willing to sell you that will cause you problems.
The quality branded GU10 (osram,philips etc..) have a fuseable link already built in.....
Like I said..they'll fail just as much but at least your dimmer will be protected!
Its those nasty far eastern GU10s that too many people are willing to sell you that will cause you problems.
If you run them too cool you'll stop the halogen cycle from working, so the tungsten won't get deposited back onto the filament and it will wear out sooner.
And with a lamp that has a notoriously short life you'll be up that ladder every couple of weeks!
When a lamp manufacturer says that the life is 2000 hours what he means is that by 2000 hours 50% of them will have failed.
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