On 13/07/2016 13:49, Amanda Ripanykhazov wrote:
I have been having severe problems with 12v halogen "spot"lights.

My Satco strip seems to blow its individual internal mini-transformers behind the bulb about every other time the bulb blows. I also have an Ikea fitting supporting three 12v halogen bulbs on which the bulbs dont blow as often but the whole supporting transformer seems to blow every few years.

Much perceived wisdom online seems to date back a few years to the dawn of LED bulbs, when specs (heat? heat dissipation? colour temperature? lumens? current used? etc) were all over the place and I am wondering whether these have settled down yet so that I can just replace the halogens with LED bulbs using similar (or internally adjusted) current? Or does that still entail only buying the most expensive, - eg Philips, - bulbs?

Or if the current or heat draw which causes the el-cheapo transformer in the track lighting units and the Ikea unit to blow is substantially less for LED bulbs, can I render those transformers MORE reliable by putting LEDs in and adding (say) one or two bulbs to the Ikea unit to compensate for the lower current draw?


As far as the architectural colouring of LED lamps, ie too blue.
As the lamps push forward little heat , its quite easy to tone down the
blue by overcoating the glass front with thin red,pink,or orange "filter".
Have a go initially with red felt tip pen and then when you get the
right sort of pink/orange chromacity for the room, go to a specialist
artist supply shop/stationers with a good range of acetate/polyester? A4
overlay/cover sheet material and cut out discs and fit over the LED
clusters.
Because of the small dimensions of halogen bulbs compared to hot wire,
much higher probability of plasma arc creation at the point of fauilure
of a bulb, ie near enough full short circuit at the point of blowing, so
collateral damage