GU10 Halogen and Dimmers

[sparky692]

Hiya Fellas. Got a strange one here.
recently done a new kitchen , new CCUs,cables, lights switches etc , basically every thing in this kitchen is new. Its large so there are 4 lighting circuits.3 of which are on a dimmer. Utility room isnt and has a standard 10 amp chrome switch. on 12 spots connected.3 others in the main kitchen are all on dimmers with a chrome type 2 way switch the other end.(said it was a big kitchen )
Problem . They are forever changing lamps .fittings are chrome fire rated spots with GU10.s
dimmers are not overloaded . no buzzing or anything , but regulary they keep blowing . .
circuit 1 has 6 spots
circuit 2 has 4 and circuit
3 has 8 spots.
and between them i have replaced more or less 20 lamps.
any ideas guys?

 

[malcolmsanford]

Cheap lamps

 

[aaelectric]

Gu10 bulbs are rubbish and i have stopped using them because of the amount of times people say bulbs keep blowing. I always use 12v now as they seem to last longer and give off a brighter light. Try buying philips bulbs or similar as cheap ones may be the cause or it could be cheap fitting that you got and not connecting with the bulb properly. Or buy lED gu10 but they do cost £££

 

[Sparky Ninja]

My first thought would be similar to Malcolm.
Was there a consideration to any de-rating necessary on the dimmer switch for the GU10's?

 

[timo1]

I would bite the bullet and get LED lamps, a lot less heat and they definitely last. I bought 10 off ebay for about £25 to try and they have already lasted twice as long as the halogen fittings were lasting. Why not try 4 or 5 and see how they hold up before replacing them all?

 

[MarkieSparkie]

Make sure your NOT buying/fitting dichroic GU10 lamps which do not reflect infra-red light, in standard lamp holders not specially designed to dissipate the heat generated it will quickly destroy the lamps and you risk heat or fire damage to cabling and combustible building materials. You need to ensure you use GU10 lamps which have an aluminum coated reflector. You need to check carefully what you given because most wholesalers don't appear to know the difference and think they are interchangeable.

 

[sedgy34]

Hiya Fellas. Got a strange one here.
recently done a new kitchen , new CCUs,cables, lights switches etc , basically every thing in this kitchen is new. Its large so there are 4 lighting circuits.3 of which are on a dimmer. Utility room isnt and has a standard 10 amp chrome switch. on 12 spots connected.3 others in the main kitchen are all on dimmers with a chrome type 2 way switch the other end.(said it was a big kitchen )
Problem . They are forever changing lamps .fittings are chrome fire rated spots with GU10.s
dimmers are not overloaded . no buzzing or anything , but regulary they keep blowing . .
circuit 1 has 6 spots
circuit 2 has 4 and circuit
3 has 8 spots.
and between them i have replaced more or less 20 lamps.
any ideas guys?

THERE IS NO TIME SCALE ON LAMPS ive had similair problem i changed lamps in the end for led, was fed up of the lamp changing all the time luckily customer paid but if you go down this route dont forget minimum loadings on dimmers are 40watts you wouldnt have enough load unless you change for gu10 low energy lamps. !!again dimming issues!

 

[sparky692]

Thanks guys.
I did think it was a heat issue, or cheap lamps. ill shop around to get the best value. for both type .
Thanks

 

[Marnik]

Just a thought, could be loose terminals, had this before.

 

[Midwest]

THERE IS NO TIME SCALE ON LAMPS ive had similair problem i changed lamps in the end for led, was fed up of the lamp changing all the time luckily customer paid but if you go down this route dont forget minimum loadings on dimmers are 40watts you wouldnt have enough load unless you change for gu10 low energy lamps. !!again dimming issues!

There are new LED dimmers appearing on the market - Google Ledlite LED dimmer i.e. 10 - 120 Watt, do GFL as well. Lots of bright LED's as well, but expensive. Last long time though :bulb2: Problem I've encountered before though, down to cheap bulbs IMO.

 

[Guitarist]

I have found it's just luck of the draw with GU10's. Some expensive ones blow after a few hours and some cheap ones last years.

 

[mickys86]

10 led lamps off eBay for £25? I always presumed it was get what you pay for, I got some in the hallway I paid around £11ea for and in the dining area I paid about £20. You can definitely tell the difference in the two!

 

[Bright Sparks]

Agree with general consensus GU10 are generally only 2000 hour lamps, and almost all come out of China (Like everything else) these days even the branded ones.

LED is the way forward, they cost up front but generally the payback time is about a year, and quoted lifetimes on them are about 30-40,000 hours (Ten plus years). For dimmers Aurora have a AU-DSP400X which is a module only so fits on your current plate and I have had it working on 2x 8W LED lamps. It also has a small potentiometer on it which allows adjustment for full dimming cycle. For most LEDs however you need to de-rate the dimmer to 20% so a 400W becomes 80W.

You can get some cheaper LED lamps now with good output of light, but regulation says they should be above 5W, output at least 400 Lumens and be at least 45Lm/W. Be careful what you buy out there as Europe is not very strict and there is wave after wave of cheap rubbish imports claiming and not performing.