Leds and transformers

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Hi all,

I have various types of halogens (some gu10, some gu5.3) and a few LEDs around our house.

Starting in the kitchen which are all halogen gu5.3 50w I want to change to LED, I've pulled a fitting out and it's got an IBL 4632 transformer which says 20-60w 11.7v. Am I going to have to change the transformers or would a 12V LED be ok? I've heard the Philips master range can deal with different transformers, but they're pricey. Would other brands be ok?

If I change the transformers do I also need to change the housings?

Thanks in advance
 
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1) Be aware that some chap called winston1 will pop up at some point to tell you that you don't have transformers. Just ignore him.

2) Your supplies have a minimum load requirement of 20W, and your LED replacement lamps will not be that big, so you will need to replace them.

3) You will probably be better off just replacing the lights. (Ideally with ones of a decent size, not with more little torches)
 
Depends on your 'transformers' (we'll call them power supplies for now) and whether you want to be able to dim your LEDs or not.
Most power supplies for tungsten lamps will need a minimum load to operate properly- unless you're putting up a shedload of LEDs you won't reach the minimum load & thus the power supply won't work.

If you currently have dimmable tungsten and want dimming LED you'll definitely have to change them for technical reasons.

Housings- presumably you mean the bits poked into the ceiling where the actual lit bits are? That depends on your replacement lamps (whether they fit or not)- if you have to replace the power supplies then just wire the new ones onto the cable from existing housing, its only 12 volts.
 
1) Be aware that some chap called winston1 will pop up at some point to tell you that you don't have transformers. Just ignore him.

2) Your supplies have a minimum load requirement of 20W, and your LED replacement lamps will not be that big, so you will need to replace them.

3) You will probably be better off just replacing the lights. (Ideally with ones of a decent size, not with more little torches)

DON'T tell people to ignore me or anyone else, especially when they are correct.

You have caused lots of agro on the forums recently, time you went away again for a few months.
 
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Most power supplies for tungsten lamps will need a minimum load to operate properly- unless you're putting up a shedload of LEDs you won't reach the minimum load & thus the power supply won't work.

Apart from the minimum load most halogen power supplies operate at tens of kilohertz. GU5.3 LEDs usually quote DC or 50/60 Hz AC. LEDs can overheat ar tens of kHz. So get a proper LED DC power supply.
 
Most power supplies for tungsten lamps will need a minimum load

That only applies to switched mode power supplies.

The original ( and best ) supply for tungsten lamps is an inductive transformer ( two coils of wire on a magnetic core ). No minimum load and no radiated radio frequency noise to interfere with the operation of other equipment
 
Depends on your 'transformers' (we'll call them power supplies for now) and whether you want to be able to dim your LEDs or not.
Most power supplies for tungsten lamps will need a minimum load to operate properly- unless you're putting up a shedload of LEDs you won't reach the minimum load & thus the power supply won't work.
I think it safe to assume that he will be unable to reach the minimum load no matter how many he swaps, because I think it safe to assume that with luminaires designed to take G5.3 halogen lamps and a supply rated at 20-60W what he has is one electronic transformer per light.
 
To continue to use extra low voltage lamps either you will need to have a number of lamps all supplied from one electronic transformer or have a different transformer. The whole idea of the transformer was to extend the bulb life with quartz bulbs, so with maybe exception of bathroom, there is no point using extra low voltage with LED lamps.

Since the electronic transformer often also transforms the frequency as well as voltage there is often a limit to the extra low voltage cable you can use or it becomes a transmitter, there are made electronic transformers rated zero to something now, so for loading you could change them, however still a Mhz output and many G5.3 bulbs are marked 50 Hz, as to if really only to be used with 50 Hz I don't know, I think likely they would work OK with Mhz and the 50 Hz marking is because they know with a conventional transformer with is wire wound they can go all the way from zero to rated output. There are also DC power supplies and they are further divided into current and voltage regulated.

When moving from quartz to LED often the LED has cooling fins, so you don't get full 2 inches of light output, even 2 inches is small or 16/8" as with MR16, really you need more area lighting not less, there are other lamps like the GX53 which are slightly larger so likely will work better, but as yet only seen the adverts not seen one in real life. If the LED can be aimed at a white surface and you use the reflected light they can work well. However BAS is correct in the main they are simply too small to give out a reasonable spread of light, they may have the lumen but not the spread.

Within the lighting trade we have a host of names which no longer really apply to the product being sold, electronic transformer, electronic ballast, driver, MR16 and many others, they have retained the name of the item they replaced even though they do it in a completely different way. Why winston1 has a bee in his bonnet with electronic transformers I don't know, as long as we use the word electronic in front of transformer it is not a problem. Driver is another story, traditionally a driver controls current but today there are lumps called drivers which control voltage.

I fitted 4 LED G5.3 MR16 lamps into my bathroom and slowly they all failed over around 6 months, second set cheap from Lidi have not had a problem, I will guess first set wanted a DC supply and second set happy with AC, but only a guess, however if you have option to move from extra low voltage (12 volt) to low voltage (230 volt) then I would, not had a single low voltage LED fail. And I would also look at something a bit bigger than 2 inch. Since very little heat from a LED they can be flush fitted it only needs hole for wires not for the fitting to go into.
 

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