Problem With Spotlights

[jk8976]

Hi,

I am not an electrician. I am a homeowner and seek some advice on the issue I am facing, please.

In my kitchen, I have a ceiling light installed that requires 3 GU10 bulbs. When I moved into this property few months back, it had all halogen lamps. I decided to replace these with the LEDs to save electricity. So I purchased few 4W GU10 LED lamps in Feb 2015. I replaced all the GU10 halogen lamps in the property, this includes kitchen as well as toilets.

All these are supposed to be long life, expected to last for 30,000 hours. The ones in the toilets are still working fine, but those in the kitchen do not last for more than 2-3 months. As all these were purchased simultaneously from the same manufacturer, I doubt whether there is any issue with the bulbs. I suspect some problem with the electrical connection of the ceiling light.

Grateful if somebody can advice how can I fix this please.

Thanks,

JK.

 

[Blue Duck]

Cheap lamps? Get this A LOT with halogens but not so sure with LED's as I only fit ones with long warranties too avoid customer disappointment.

The toilet light will last longer as you hopefully spend more time in the kitchen with the lights on.?

 

[Doc Hudson]

I would say that it is an issue with the LED's. They should be designed to operate within the specified tolerances of the UK electrical supply, (approx 220v - 250vish).  Do you still have the receipts and packaging that states 30,000hrs lamps life? as long as you do, take them back to your supplier for free replacements. As 30,000 hrs if left on 24hrs a day is 1250days, which is 3.4+ years. You have not owned them long enough for them to exceed their specified lamp life. Any 12 months warranty is not relevant when a product is described as 30,000 hours. It would be Sale of goods or Trades descriptions, or Supply of good and services laws that prevents people from falsely describing products they sell. if you don't have receipts then I fear you will have to take it on the chin as a lesson learned, buy new ones and keep future receipts. I have had replacements or credit notes from different suppliers for lamps that have not met their specified lifespan in the past without any problem.

Doc H.

 

[steptoe]

are they on a dimmer?

personally, I have had 10 LEDs in my kitchen and after 7 years I have had one failure, and, my wife does not understand the concept of an off switch,,,,,,,

 

[jk8976]

To Blue duck, thanks for your response. Even if I was running t kitchen lights 24 hours a day, should still last few years as per the specifications. I mentioned toilet lights for comparison just in case there is any difference.

Hi Doc Hudson, many thanks for the detailed response. This was really useful. I have receipt so can approach the seller, but could there be any issue with my electric connection in the kitchen, may be flicker or something which needs suppressing? Is there any way I can test it please?

Hi Steptoe, thanks for your response. No, it's not a dimmer and that is why I am concerned as replacing them may not address the underneath issue.

 

[Blue Duck]

The 'blowing lamps' issue is rarely to do with the physical wiring and more to do with the quality of the lamps.

You mention "seller" Did you get them from eBay or amazon?? There's an awful lot of people pedling cheap Chinese knock offs as the original item.

I bought a cheap apple charger once, made in the same factory etc... ended up mearly burning a hole in the floor it used to get so hot!

 

[Murdoch]

I would take this up with the supplier.......... it doesn't sound good

Are they on a dimmer or a standard switch?

and you need a comparison - so go and buy a decent LED GU10 locally - and see what happens to that.

 

[jk8976]

Hi guys, thanks for the quick responses. I purchased these from amazon, primarily because I need cool white an none of the local shops or supermarkets had these. Grateful if you could suggest any reliable store, may b online where I could buy good quality cool white GU10 LEDs. I would experiment by replacing all the 3 with quality ones.

 

[Blue Duck]

Megaman par16 gu10 5w with a 5 year guarantee! expect to pay around £9ea.

 

[Murdoch]

Are they on a dimmer?

 

[Blue Duck]

To Blue duck, thanks for your response. Even if I was running t kitchen lights 24 hours a day, should still last few years as per the specifications. I mentioned toilet lights for comparison just in case there is any difference.Hi Doc Hudson, many thanks for the detailed response. This was really useful. I have receipt so can approach the seller, but could there be any issue with my electric connection in the kitchen, may be flicker or something which needs suppressing? Is there any way I can test it please?Hi Steptoe, thanks for your response. No, it's not a dimmer and that is why I am concerned as replacing them may not address the underneath issue.

RTFQ

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

I use LEDHUT  GU10 4.5w cob. They are in a glass case and look like a standard halogen both on & off.

 

[jk8976]

Cheers, thanks guys. Many thanks for the help.

 

[Doc Hudson]

. Grateful if you could suggest any reliable store, may b online where I could buy good quality cool white GU10 LEDs. I would experiment by replacing all the 3 with quality ones.

If you go to the forum home page, down the right hand side is a list of sponsors, where you will find some LED suppliers. Remember that the cool or warm white and the wattage doesn't tell you that much about the actually level of light you will get.  Lumen's (light output) and the beam angle will give more detail about how intense the light is and which direction it will be dissipated.

Doc H.

 

[Bruspark]

Late comments : 

Probably the kitchen lights are on more than most so they may well fail first.

Something not mentioned here (more usually a problem with small led replacement lamps in closed glass enclosures) is temperature which may at times be surprisingly high at the ceiling of a kitchen if the hob /oven are in use.  This reduces the light output and reduces the efficiency of the lamp circuitry which increases the heat output which makes it worse. Cheap designs die; better designs dim.   The metal heatsink fins are not for style reasons - some LED lamps even need internal fans to keep going!!

That said if the makers said '30,000 hours' with no other limitations then they owe you replacements or a refund wherever you used them so go for it! 

 

[Murdoch]

^^ wot he said &

how much insulation is their around the light fittings?

 

[Blue Duck]

^^ wot he said &

how much insulation is their around the light fittings?

in the OP it is stated that it is a fitting with 3x gu10.

 

[Essex1]

Put your bathroom lamps in the kitchen. If you still have the same issue you know they are not the lamps.