How to check if spotlights are AC or DC?

[mameha]

so are these my options?
1) change transformer on each bulb (sounds expensive and beyond my ability)
2) use leds that run on 240V (they seem to cost double the price of 12v ones)
3) anything else?

 

[333rocky333]

contact aurora and they may know of a compatible led, some actually work regardless of the minimum load.
Are you dimming the existing lights

or get an elect to fit new 240v lights with built in leds

 

[mameha]

no they dont dim.

 

[winston1]

What you have is NOT a transformer but a PWM switch mode power supply. This cannot supply your suggested LEDs because:

1/. Your suggested LEDs require 50Hz, and that supply operates at tens of KHz.
2/. Min load is 20 watts.

So back to what I told you early on in this thread. Get 240 volt LEDs.

NB. You can get 240 volt GU10 LEDs in Poundland for, you guessed it, £1.

 

[333rocky333]

What you have is NOT a transformer but a PWM switch mode power supply.

Google that and **** all comes up, you talk crap.
every post you have a different name for an ELECTRONIC TRANSFORMER, (291000 hits) as TTC and others keep telling you stop confusing the new posters, by trying to make out your clever

2/. Min load is 20 watts.

there are lamps that work regardless

So back to what I told you early on in this thread. Get 240 volt LEDs.

And you know for sure his fittings are safe for 240 volt use, though there CE certified and tested for 12 volt

 

[winston1]

What you have is NOT a transformer but a PWM switch mode power supply. This cannot supply your suggested LEDs because:

1/. Your suggested LEDs require 50Hz, and that supply operates at tens of KHz.
2/. Min load is 20 watts.

So back to what I told you early on in this thread. Get 240 volt LEDs.

Google that and **** all comes up, you talk crap.
every post you have a different name for an ELECTRONIC TRANSFORMER, as TTC and others keep telling you stop confusing the new posters, by trying to make out your clever

there are lamps that work regardless

And you know for sure his fittings are safe for 240 volt use, though there CE certified and tested for 12 volt

I'm not talking crap or trying to confuse anyone. There is NO SUCH THING as an electronic transformer. It is a name made up by ignorant suppliers, or their marketing people, who have no idea what a transformer is.
From another thread:
"The IEC definition of a transformer is "electric energy converter without moving parts that changes voltages and currents associated with electric energy without change of frequency". There is nothing to say it has to use induction, and nor does it say that it cannot change the waveform. The world has moved on from the days when the only device that could meet that definition consisted of a couple of coils of wire on a ferrous core.
http://www.electropedia.org/iev/iev.nsf/display?openform&ievref=151-13-42

Clearly from that definition the PWM switch mode supplies the OP has cannot be transformers as they change the frequency to tens of KHz.

Obviously the OP will need to change the fittings as GU 10 lamps won't fit GU5.3 bases.

 

[stillp]

Clearly from that definition the PWM switch mode supplies the OP has cannot be transformers as they change the frequency to tens of KHz.

Are you sure?

 

[winston1]

Are you sure?

Absolutely. There would be no point in making a PWM switch mode supply at 50Hz as the transformer inside would be as big and heavy as a straight forward transformer.

 

[stillp]

I agree that there would be no point in making a PWM switch mode supply with a big heavy conventional transformer in it, but why would anyone do that when it's much easier to produce the 50 Hz by chopping DC?

 

[333rocky333]

I'm not talking crap or trying to confuse anyone.

Telling the op who has posted a picture of a Transformer, that it is not a transformer is confusing matters

Obviously the OP will need to change the fittings as GU 10 lamps won't fit GU5.3 bases.

So back to what I told you early on in this thread. Get 240 volt LEDs.

No, you insinuated putting a 240v lamp and lampholder in his existing fitting, its clear in the pic its an open fitting without a terminal block or cable restraint, so that option is rough as ****
Also 240 volt may not be suitable in the bathroom

To the op

bathrooms are zoned, 240v lamps may not be suitable near the bath
If there all aurora transformers, aurora are uk based and will advise on what single led is compatible on that transformer.

you can also get nice enclosed led fittings all sealed up, there all in one with the driver and sealed led bulb, for about a tenner these days, the transformers will need removing and the wires, if long enough, direct into the light connector, or a hager J804 junction box where the transformer was and a short flex from that to the light.
Once done possibly good for at least 2 years, plus no more insulation and dust falling through the open fitting how many fittings are there

 

[mikeyd]

Absolutely. There would be no point in making a PWM switch mode supply at 50Hz as the transformer inside would be as big and heavy as a straight forward transformer.

What should we call a thing that converts 230 (sorry 240) volts AC into 12V dc? It's a box containing a transformer plus a rectifier and a few capacitors. I've always called them transformers. A switch mode PSU also contains a transformer, so what is so wrong about calling them transformers?

 

[EFLImpudence]

You can call them converters.

One synonym of converter is, of course, transformer.

 

[winston1]

Telling the op who has posted a picture of a Transformer, that it is not a transformer is confusing matters


No, you insinuated putting a 240v lamp and lampholder in his existing fitting, its clear in the pic its an open fitting without a terminal block or cable restraint, so that option is rough as ****
Also 240 volt may not be suitable in the bathroom

To the op
If there all aurora transformers, aurora are uk based and will advise on what single led is compatible on that transformer.

you can also get nice enclosed led fittings all sealed up, there all in one with the driver and sealed led bulb, for about a tenner these days, the transformers will need removing and the wires, if long enough, direct into the light connector, or a hager J804 junction box where the transformer was and a short flex from that to the light.
Once done possibly good for at least 2 years, plus no more insulation and dust falling through the open fitting how many fittings are there

He DID NOT post a picture of a transformer. He posted a picture of a PWM switch mode power supply.
You are causing confusion by calling it a transformer and you are still doing it. They are Aurora PWM switch mode supplies and are NOT suitable for the LEDs he has chosen as those ones require 50 Hz.

I still say 240 volts is the way to go. 240 volts has been used in bathrooms since before you and I were born.

 

[JohnW2]

I agree that there would be no point in making a PWM switch mode supply with a big heavy conventional transformer in it, but why would anyone do that when it's much easier to produce the 50 Hz by chopping DC?

What DC voltage are you going to chop to get, say, a "12V 50Hz" output, and how would that voltage be derived?

Kind Regards, John

 

[333rocky333]

I still say 240 volts is the way to go. 240 volts has been used in bathrooms since before you and I were born.

Then you are dangerous and not qualified to advise on a diy forum, bas was right all along!!

The only light allowed even back then had a HO skirt fitted, Gu10s are not suitable over a bath