A few years ago I installed a set of 5 "under cabinet" halogen light
fixtures. These are the 12v 20 watt variety.

This week two of the 5 lights became inoperative - I suppose they
"burnt out". I had two new unopened 12v 20 w halogens, that I
installed in place of the burned out lamps. When I turned on the
power, NONE of the 5 lights would turn on. I removed the "new" lamps,
leaving 2 vacant sockets - and when turning on power, the three
original lamps turned on. I took one of the "good" lamps and placed in
it the socket that previously had one of the burned out bulbs, it
worked fine. I went to the hardware store and purchased another fresh
12v 20w halogen...tried it.....no luck....same as before, all 5 lights
were out.

I note that the transformer indicates 12v......I also measured about
12v ac at the sockets.
I did not handle the bulbs with bare fingers.

I'M STUMPED........anyone have any idea of what's going on here?
Any troubleshooting suggestions?

thanx
=neal=

We have those lights too. Wish I had never seen them. They play hell
with every radio (AM band) in the house when they are lit.
Des

"Neal Wessler" wrote in message
om...
A few years ago I installed a set of 5 "under cabinet" halogen light
fixtures. These are the 12v 20 watt variety.

This week two of the 5 lights became inoperative - I suppose they
"burnt out". I had two new unopened 12v 20 w halogens, that I
installed in place of the burned out lamps. When I turned on the
power, NONE of the 5 lights would turn on. I removed the "new"
lamps,
leaving 2 vacant sockets - and when turning on power, the three
original lamps turned on. I took one of the "good" lamps and placed
in
it the socket that previously had one of the burned out bulbs, it
worked fine. I went to the hardware store and purchased another
fresh
12v 20w halogen...tried it.....no luck....same as before, all 5
lights
were out.

I note that the transformer indicates 12v......I also measured about
12v ac at the sockets.
I did not handle the bulbs with bare fingers.

I'M STUMPED........anyone have any idea of what's going on here?
Any troubleshooting suggestions?

thanx
=neal=

Neal Wessler wrote:
A few years ago I installed a set of 5 "under cabinet" halogen light
fixtures. These are the 12v 20 watt variety.


Could it be the lights were designed from lights less than 20W, like 10W
maybe? Putting higher wattage lamps in there would draw more current and
the power supply may be shutting down.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

On Thu, 19 Feb 2004 16:32:55 -0800, "Des Perado" wrote:

We have those lights too. Wish I had never seen them. They play hell
with every radio (AM band) in the house when they are lit.
Des

I have them too and like them. Only problem I've had is with the 3
stage dimmer. I have an old 1980 cordless phone that I really like.
Every time the phone would ring the lights would turn on to full
power. UL listed or not, I don't like the idea of those lights being
on full blast when I'm at work or on vacation...they do generate a ton
of heat just a fraction of an inch away from the wood.
Solution was to buy a new 2.4 ghz phone which sucks compared to my
trusty 24 year old ITT.

To the OP:

That's an odd problem. My best guess would be that the transformer is
on the way out. When you add the good bulb, the transformer can't
handle the load and it drops out. You also mentioned 2 bulbs went out
this week...more proof of something odd happening with the
transformer. Possibly was hit with a voltage spike or it's just going
bad. Was this a prepackaged kit? 5 lights on one transformer sounds
like 2 too many.
Not sure what your setup is like, but on mine each set of 3 lights is
controlled by one transformer, for six lights I have 2 transformers
and 2 distribution blocks. Both transformers also connect to a dimmer
control box. I would first check all those connections, especially at
the distribution blocks.
If no problems are found there I would bet a new transformer will
solve your problem.

George

Check that your 2 new replacement bulbs aren't the newer 120 volt variety.
These "puck lights" have gone to line voltage now.

If it is you're causing a direct short by using a 120v bulb in a 12v
transformer.

They're very pretty when lit, unfortunately, both varieties (12 & 120v) don't
have a good long bulb life. I recommend replacing the bulbs with 10 watt bulbs
of the 12v variety, they seem to last a lot longer and don't put out noticably
less light.

"Neal Wessler" wrote in message
om...
A few years ago I installed a set of 5 "under cabinet" halogen light
fixtures. These are the 12v 20 watt variety.

This week two of the 5 lights became inoperative - I suppose they
"burnt out". I had two new unopened 12v 20 w halogens, that I
installed in place of the burned out lamps. When I turned on the
power, NONE of the 5 lights would turn on. I removed the "new" lamps,
leaving 2 vacant sockets - and when turning on power, the three
original lamps turned on. I took one of the "good" lamps and placed in
it the socket that previously had one of the burned out bulbs, it
worked fine. I went to the hardware store and purchased another fresh
12v 20w halogen...tried it.....no luck....same as before, all 5 lights
were out.

I note that the transformer indicates 12v......I also measured about
12v ac at the sockets.
I did not handle the bulbs with bare fingers.

I'M STUMPED........anyone have any idea of what's going on here?
Any troubleshooting suggestions?

I suspect the original lamps may not be 12V 20 watt halogen but something
that looks like a 12V 20W halogen but actually draws much less power than
20 watts.

I would try a replacement in one of the sockets that are known to always
work, just to rule out any intermittent bad connections.

And given some things I have seen before, I would not be too badly
surprised if the fixture is "booby trapped" to require special replacement
lamps. Although I have yet to actually hear of something that bad! What
brand are the fixtures/system?

Do you know if the system has a conventional transformer or an
electronic one or something else? The high frequency AC from an
electronic transformer may be read incorrectly by voltmeters. If DC is
coming out, many AC voltmeters will give a reading but an incorrect one -
try using a DC range (not lower or at least not much lower than what you
suspect the voltage could be, maybe a 250 or 250 volt and then a 100 volt
or so DC range) to rule out presence of DC - this might give a clue or two
as to what is going on.

- Don Klipstein )

In article , HA HA Budys
Here wrote:
Check that your 2 new replacement bulbs aren't the newer 120 volt variety.
These "puck lights" have gone to line voltage now.

If it is you're causing a direct short by using a 120v bulb in a 12v
transformer.

I have yet to see a 20W 120V, but if there is one, it would not short
out nor overload the supply, but just run very dim. It is use of lower
voltage (higher current) bulbs on higher voltage supplies that causes
problems.

They're very pretty when lit, unfortunately, both varieties (12 & 120v) don't
have a good long bulb life. I recommend replacing the bulbs with 10 watt bulbs
of the 12v variety, they seem to last a lot longer and don't put out noticably
less light.

10 watt normally produces 150 lumens.
20 watt normally produces 350 lumens.

If the 10 watt is almost as bright as the 20 watt, then the 20 watt is
loading the voltage down or is a junky off-brand one.
Are your failed bulbs showing a smoky appearance that indicates a sign
of air leaking in? Possible causes: Bad bulb, bulb overheating due to
poor fixture design, bulb contaminated by ash, salt or alkali is cracking
(these materials leach into quartz if the quartz is hot enough, causing
weak spots and stresses in the quartz).

- Don Klipstein )

(HA HA Budys Here) wrote:

Check that your 2 new replacement bulbs aren't the newer 120 volt variety.
These "puck lights" have gone to line voltage now.

If it is you're causing a direct short by using a 120v bulb in a 12v
transformer.

Actually no. It will light at 10% (if at all). A higher voltage bulb is
no problem.

Putting a 12v bulb in a 120v outlet, is like a direct short, since it
has 1/10 the resistance.