Kitchen Cabinet Downlights - Flashing / Not Working

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Hi all

We moved into a new property earlier this year which has two 1.5W 12v under-cabinet LED lights which simply flash (at a consistent, slow pace) when the switch (a dimmer) is turned on.

I figured it was an issue with the driver, which is on top of the cabinet. The driver is not underpowered (it is a 7W driver), but I thought perhaps the driver was not suitable for a dimmer switch.

I replaced the driver with the following 12W driver from Amazon, which seemed to have more going for it, including dimmer compatibility.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08172G3N5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

However now the lights don't even flash, and I get nothing from them at all!

Any ideas as to what the issue might be? Could it be that 2x 1.5W lights are not a sufficient load for the drivers?

Any thoughts appreciated.
 
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This is the old driver (which causes slow, consistent flashing):
WhatsApp Image 2020-10-06 at 14.37.18.jpeg

This is the new driver (which gives nothing at all):

WhatsApp Image 2020-10-06 at 14.39.28.jpeg

These are the lights:

WhatsApp Image 2020-10-06 at 14.40.41.jpeg
 
the output is DC

swap over the output wires to that the one currently on + goes to -
and vice versa

that may be the solution.

Conventionally, Red goes to +
 
Thanks John, I'll try that shortly and let you know how I get on.

The other thing I noticed is that the connectors of the lights themselves have been wired in different ways. As you can see from the below photo, the blue/grey wires are on opposite sides for each light. Are downlights polarised?

I would have expected at least one of them to work though if one was wired in reverse.

WhatsApp Image 2020-10-06 at 14.54.43.jpeg
 
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The lights are AC/DC. Reversing the polarity will make no difference.

Neither of those drivers say they are compatible with dimmers. I suggest you try bypassing the dimmer and see what happens.
 
The lights are AC/DC. Reversing the polarity will make no difference.

Neither of those drivers say they are compatible with dimmers. I suggest you try bypassing the dimmer and see what happens.

Yep - as I expected - and reversing the polarity made no change.

The new driver is listed as TRIAC dimmer compatible unless I am missing something?
 
Try (temporarily) replacing the dimmer with a normal switch. If you don't have one to hand, bypass the dimmer to test - post a picture of the connections to it if unsure how to do this.

This tells you if the problem is the driver and lamps (they still don't work with the dimmer removed) or the dimmer (they do work with the dimmer removed).

Divide and conquer!

Good luck!
 

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