Strip light issue

[Jupiter01]

I have these striplights under my kitchen unit and they’ve recently stopped working. I’ve been doing some troubleshooting and can share the following:

- I’ve used each of the 3 interconnected lights individually and none of the work. I found this strange...
- there is AC power detected by my 2 pole tester at the connector that slots into the strip lights
- the power will appear/disappear when flicking the switch
- there is also power at the mains cable leading to - I assume a driver - the driver is inaccessible

I could purchase a new strip light and try this but I find it very odd that none of the three interconnected lights work when used separately.

is the issue possibly with the driver but this still means that voltage is detected by the 2 pole tester?

 

[sircerebus666]

There shouldn't be ac detected at the power supply output , the output should be 24v DC can your tester tell you what voltage is coming out of the power supply?

 

[Jupiter01]

AC was detected at the connector that slips into the strip light.

 

[sircerebus666]

It shouldn't be ac your lights are designed for 24v DC , it sounds like a faulty power supply especially when none of your strips are working.

Can your tester tell you what volts are coming out of the power supply?

 

[Jupiter01]

My Fluke T130 only lights up AC. There is no reading.

Can your tester tell you what volts are coming out of the power supply?

There is 240V going into a 2 core cable (There is a plastic connector between this and the T&E), the other end of this cable isn’t accessible and I assume enters into a driver. The cable that is detecting AC I assume is connected to the other end of this driver. Does that sound plausible?

Does the above answer your question? Unfortunately the driver isn’t accessible but I may have to do some digging if this may be at fault.

 

[sircerebus666]

Ideally you need a multimeter to test the output of the power supply , without knowing what it's outputting it's difficult to know if it's faulty or not.

I wouldn't be buying another strip either especially when the power supply seems to be at fault at mo

I'm afraid you will have to do done digging to retrieve it!

 

[Jupiter01]

Are the driver and power supply the same thing?

To be clear, what should I be detecting at the connector for the strip light if the driver was working correctly?
My Fluke does have a voltage reading but just for DC I believe

 

[Jupiter01]

Also, which driver should be used with this led light please?
Since the mains cable is accessible, I could wire in a new driver and test this with existing light. Before I confirm that the existing driver is at fault and go digging for this.

 

[flameport]

what should I be detecting at the connector for the strip light

24 volts DC, as printed on the light strip.

 

[Jupiter01]

Doesn’t this all point to a faulty driver? What else could it be based on the above info

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

It does. Occam's razor. The original supply seems to be overpriced and obsolete. As said it all seems to work with 24V dc so maybe you can find something else to try.

 

[Jupiter01]

Do I need a driver which has the lead with the connector for the strip light or can this be purchased separately do you know?

 

[Jupiter01]

A thought: isn’t what I’ve described above consistent with a missing neutral wire? Wouldn’t this have the AC light activated but no reading?

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

It could easily be. But just where is this driver/power supply that makes it so difficult to access? It is most likely that any solution requires you to get to it. If the neutral is broken then it could be anywhere between the switch (assuming it passes through there) and the power supply. But most likely at one end or the other.

 

[Jupiter01]

UPDATE: got to the driver. 240v is going into one side and nothing is coming out of he other end. It just lights up the AC light on my tester. There is no associated voltage reading.

On a different cabinet and it’s driver, I am getting a reading of 24v on the same end of the driver. Also if I swap the drivers, the affected lights start working.

I am tempted to conclude that the driver needs to be replaced?
Here’s a pic of the driver.

Also, why is the continuity light activated when I apply the test probes to these two probes and the switch is flicked off? I thought continuity is when I have a probe on either end of the same wire. That shouldn’t be the case when I am touching one of the probes on live and another on negative?

Thanks for all your support