Hopeless amateur with what (I hope) is a simple query....

[Bingo]

Hi,

We have just moved to a new house. In my workroom there is an elongated metal light fitting wired with three little halogen spots. One wasn't working so I bought what I thought was a replacement. However, it was much brighter than the other two. It was evident then that the other two were 20w bulbs and I had bought a 50w. "Oh well, no problem," thought I.

Unfortunately, all was fine for about two days when all of a sudden all three of the lights suddenly went off and wouldn't come back on - not even when I replaced the 50w which I reasoned must have caused the problem.

Does anyone have any suggestions please...?

Bingo

 

[plugwash]

are theese elv (12V commonly refered to as low voltage although that is an incorrect term) lights

assuming they are

did you try them again after letting them cool down for a while

if they still don't work after being turned off for a day or so the transformer is probablly fried and will need to be replaced

 

[Bingo]

Thanks for replying.

Yes, they are 12V bulbs.

I let them cool down but they still don't work several days later. Is the transformer likely to be actually inside the lightfitting's mounting? What does it look like and any rough idea of replacement cost...?

Bingo

 

[ban-all-sheds]

How very odd that you thought there would be no problem replacing a lamp with one which draws 2½ times as much current as the old one.

The transformer is 99.99% certainly built in to the light fitting, but you'd need to check the wiring to be completely sure.

If it is internal, it's likely to be very tricky to replace. I think that given your questions, and the lack of awareness that you've shown so far, it is not a task you should attempt.

 

[plugwash]

if the transformer is internal it should be possible to bypass it and connect to a decent quality external transformer