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Help with LED lighting


Stones

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I've just done an initial quick test on two 6W lights that I ordered off eBay. Have to say very impressed with quality of light / how well they perform. However, I've yet to do a radio interference test...

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Guest Alphonsox
23 hours ago, Alphonsox said:

I may well go down the same route, as you say the additional energy usage is minimal and sharing PSUs is going to be cheaper than individual units. I am just a bit surprised there isn't a wider range of commercial drop in replacements.

I have just ordered one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141618781550 to see if they live up to their sales blurb. I'll report back

The data sheet looks vaguely promising

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0920/1206/files/12W_Constant_Current_300mA_LED_Driver_20-43v_Spec.pdf?17077483568063709960

I received the PSU this morning (Very fast dispatch and delivery) I can report that there is no discernible interference from this unit at all. With the previous one a DAB radio would cut out within about 1m of the PSU with FM becoming unlistenable at around the same range. With this supply I can place the radio directly on top of the PSU with no obvious effect on either DAB or FM reception.

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47 minutes ago, Alphonsox said:

I received the PSU this morning (Very fast dispatch and delivery) I can report that there is no discernible interference from this unit at all. With the previous one a DAB radio would cut out within about 1m of the PSU with FM becoming unlistenable at around the same range. With this supply I can place the radio directly on top of the PSU with no obvious effect on either DAB or FM reception.

How many lights are you expecting to run from the new PSU..? Is it a one for one replacement..?

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Guest Alphonsox

In this case I bought an identical replacement as a trial. I still need to work out what the best configuration would be to drive the multiple panels in the Kitchen diner.

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3 hours ago, Alphonsox said:

I received the PSU this morning (Very fast dispatch and delivery) I can report that there is no discernible interference from this unit at all. With the previous one a DAB radio would cut out within about 1m of the PSU with FM becoming unlistenable at around the same range. With this supply I can place the radio directly on top of the PSU with no obvious effect on either DAB or FM reception.

That's very good news indeed, it's nice to know that there are some genuinely approved and marked power supplies out there.  At a guess, I'd say well over half the LED supplies sold as being compliant with EU safety and EMC regs have fake markings, may be as high as 75% or more.

It's annoying, as no one seems to care enough to do anything about all this electrical junk.  The best we seem to be able to do is rely on people like bigclive.com to highlight all the lethal or just a bit dodgy stuff that seems to be flooding the market.  A couple of years ago I even caught dodgy and non-compliant junk LEDs being sold in one of the big DIY sheds.  To their credit they did take them off the shelves, but said that they had no way of knowing whether certification marks were genuine or forged, and had to rely on their supply chain, which is just a bit worrying.

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Guest Alphonsox

One other thought  - What is the fire risk with these cheapo plastic box supplies ? The one I purchased yesterday is made from fire-retardent plastic and has inbuilt circuit protection, the one supplied with the unit definitely isn't.

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15 minutes ago, Alphonsox said:

One other thought  - What is the fire risk with these cheapo plastic box supplies ? The one I purchased yesterday is made from fire-retardent plastic and has inbuilt circuit protection, the one supplied with the unit definitely isn't.

It's probably pot luck.  There is very definitely far more dodgy stuff around than good stuff, and very few retailers have the ability to check whether the safety markings are fake or not.  My experience is to assume that everything from China is fake and untested, unless you have strong evidence to the contrary.

There are some reputable manufacturers out there, but they tend to be few and far apart, and even they may not be consistent.  Around 10 to 12 years ago I was peripherally involved with a chap that was making custom bicycles.  Most cycle parts in the world come from from China, or more specifically Taiwan, which is or is not China depending whether you're on the mainland or the island.  Anyway, his bikes were fairly high-end and he wanted good quality components.  He ended up flying out to meet some factory owners and discuss his requirement and particularly look at their quality procedures.  He came back, having had a tough time finding a quality supplier and placed an order.  The parts arrived and the first batch of bikes were made and were pretty good (I still have some parts from those on one of my bikes).  After about a year he found that the quality of the parts had decreased markedly and he had words with his Taiwanese supplier.  The supplier couldn't understand his problem, as he had dropped the price of the parts.

It seems there is a culture of trying to cut the price of manufacture no matter what the consequences are to quality or safety.  There's no easy way around this, and in the end my friend found an ex-pat Brit living out there who was working as a quality assurance advisor to several British companies.  He was needed simply because there was no way you could stop the manufacturers from cutting corners to reduce the price, unless someone representing the customer stepped in and stopped them.  It's an endemic problem, as big, or bigger, than faking approvals, and isn't looked upon as criminal, it's considered to be a sign of a good businessman if he can sell for the lowest possible price, and a source of personal pride.

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Guest Alphonsox

I thought this was the case. I don't think that saving a few quid on the PSU cost will counter the worry of having potential fire source embedded in the ceilings of a timber frame house.

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we have 30 of the enlite flat panel LEDS in our house, there was no interference when I tested them, the power went on in the house yesterday, these still need to be installed so I should be able to confirm in the next couple of days if there is any issues

http://enlitelighting.com/Products/LED-Downlights/Slim-Fit-Downlights/100-240V-6W-Round-Low-Profile-LED-Downlight

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7 minutes ago, Mikey_1980 said:

we have 30 of the enlite flat panel LEDS in our house, there was no interference when I tested them, the power went on in the house yesterday, these still need to be installed so I should be able to confirm in the next couple of days if there is any issues

http://enlitelighting.com/Products/LED-Downlights/Slim-Fit-Downlights/100-240V-6W-Round-Low-Profile-LED-Downlight

Those are the Mod B, I've got the 9W Mod A. Maybe that's the improvement. although I also discovered that the dishwasher zaps FM radio as well and that's a Neff not a F@nny Flameaux.

[vent]Not only did the idiot electrician make holes that were too big in the ceiling, he also decided he would cut out the quick release fitting between transformer and lamp[/vent]

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  • 2 months later...

I have just read through this thread after starting to look for down lighters for the living room and like the modular look of the square LED panels.

 

I have 1 question though: what happens when the light fails as every light does wither it be 1 year or 5, do you have to then go and try and find a replacement that matches the existing lights?

 

Standard normal down lighters you would just replace the bulb.

 

Ta

 

 

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5 minutes ago, 8ball said:

I have just read through this thread after starting to look for down lighters for the living room and like the modular look of the square LED panels.

 

I have 1 question though: what happens when the light fails as every light does wither it be 1 year or 5, do you have to then go and try and find a replacement that matches the existing lights?

 

Standard normal down lighters you would just replace the bulb.

 

Ta

 

 

 

It had crossed my mind, I figured reasonable sized round ones could be easily replaced in future. famous last words.

 

Not sure why you're bothered, you're a dab hand at plastering now!

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On 10/08/2016 at 13:42, 8ball said:

I have just read through this thread after starting to look for down lighters for the living room and like the modular look of the square LED panels.

 

I have 1 question though: what happens when the light fails as every light does wither it be 1 year or 5, do you have to then go and try and find a replacement that matches the existing lights?

 

Standard normal down lighters you would just replace the bulb.

 

Ta

 

 

 

Maybe buy a good few spares to cover this eventuality?  but then the 'new' one is likely to stand out if the others are 5+ years old.

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  • 1 month later...

Maybe a bit late but thought I'd chip in anyway.

We looked at LED downlights and found JCC and Ansell offer decent fire rated down lights with 10 and 7 year warranties respectively.

 

Both give out 60 degree beam angle so you don't need as many as 'normal' down lights.

 

We went with the Ansell Orbio 360 and have been really impressed with the output of the lights and also the ease of fitting.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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