One for those that last decorated in the 70s/80s when halogens weren't
the rage.

I've got a few incandescent R80 ES style eyeball light fittings in the
ceiling and fitting replacement CFL and LED bulbs to them is not so
cheap in bulk.

So, I've just hacked in a Golf Ball styled E14/SES 3W LED bulb from
Poundland using a cheap ES/SES adaptor from Amazon ...

Wanway E27 to E14 Socket Converter,ES to SES (78 pence free delivery)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0076W21CA

.... using a discarded CD with an 25mm hole centre cut out (Q-Max metal
punch) as a reflector / hider of nasty looking metal work up beyond the
bulb. All looks better than in the photo when lit.


http://s912.photobucket.com/user/tur...gzdsu.jpg.html

Had to bend the the CD carefully to get in and past the 85mm aperture
opening. Expect to snap a few doing that (but AOL CDs are plentiful...)

--
Adrian C

Adrian Caspersz wrote:

I've just hacked in a Golf Ball styled E14/SES 3W LED bulb from
Poundland using a cheap ES/SES adaptor from Amazon ...

What wattage spot did you have in it before? 3W sounds a bit wimpy.

... using a discarded CD with an 25mm hole centre cut out (Q-Max metal
punch) as a reflector / hider of nasty looking metal work up beyond the
bulb. All looks better than in the photo when lit.

Are LED R80s /that/ expansive? 100W equivalents seem to be had for £6+

On Friday, 23 September 2016 18:55:38 UTC+1, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
One for those that last decorated in the 70s/80s when halogens weren't
the rage.

I've got a few incandescent R80 ES style eyeball light fittings in the
ceiling and fitting replacement CFL and LED bulbs to them is not so
cheap in bulk.

So, I've just hacked in a Golf Ball styled E14/SES 3W LED bulb from
Poundland using a cheap ES/SES adaptor from Amazon ...

Wanway E27 to E14 Socket Converter,ES to SES (78 pence free delivery)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0076W21CA

... using a discarded CD with an 25mm hole centre cut out (Q-Max metal
punch) as a reflector / hider of nasty looking metal work up beyond the
bulb. All looks better than in the photo when lit.


http://s912.photobucket.com/user/tur...gzdsu.jpg.html

Had to bend the the CD carefully to get in and past the 85mm aperture
opening. Expect to snap a few doing that (but AOL CDs are plentiful...)

I did a project reusing CDs. You'll run into stress fractures a lot. While it is sortable, it's not trivial and not worthwhile. Best use something else.


NT

On Friday, 23 September 2016 18:55:38 UTC+1, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
(but AOL CDs are plentiful...)

I can't remember the last time I saw an AOL CD.

Owain

On Friday, September 23, 2016 at 6:55:38 PM UTC+1, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
One for those that last decorated in the 70s/80s when halogens weren't
the rage.

I've got a few incandescent R80 ES style eyeball light fittings in the
ceiling and fitting replacement CFL and LED bulbs to them is not so
cheap in bulk.

So, I've just hacked in a Golf Ball styled E14/SES 3W LED bulb from
Poundland using a cheap ES/SES adaptor from Amazon ...

Wanway E27 to E14 Socket Converter,ES to SES (78 pence free delivery)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0076W21CA

... using a discarded CD with an 25mm hole centre cut out (Q-Max metal
punch) as a reflector / hider of nasty looking metal work up beyond the
bulb. All looks better than in the photo when lit.


http://s912.photobucket.com/user/tur...gzdsu.jpg.html

Had to bend the the CD carefully to get in and past the 85mm aperture
opening. Expect to snap a few doing that (but AOL CDs are plentiful...)


I've got a triple pack of R80s but nothing to put them in following a remake a few years ago!

On Fri, 23 Sep 2016 18:55:34 +0100, Adrian Caspersz
wrote:

One for those that last decorated in the 70s/80s when halogens weren't
the rage.

I've got a few incandescent R80 ES style eyeball light fittings in the
ceiling and fitting replacement CFL and LED bulbs to them is not so
cheap in bulk.

So, I've just hacked in a Golf Ball styled E14/SES 3W LED bulb from
Poundland using a cheap ES/SES adaptor from Amazon ...

Wanway E27 to E14 Socket Converter,ES to SES (78 pence free delivery)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0076W21CA

... using a discarded CD with an 25mm hole centre cut out (Q-Max metal
punch) as a reflector / hider of nasty looking metal work up beyond the
bulb. All looks better than in the photo when lit.


http://s912.photobucket.com/user/tur...gzdsu.jpg.html

Had to bend the the CD carefully to get in and past the 85mm aperture
opening. Expect to snap a few doing that (but AOL CDs are plentiful...)

I've got 12 volt halogen spots run from a torriodal transformer - five
units from each transformer. Can I replace these with LCDs or would
this cause problems with under-loading the transformer? I have read
something about having to have one conventional lamp in the circuit
but I don't fancy this as I would rather have them all the same.

On 23/09/16 20:13, Andy Burns wrote:
Adrian Caspersz wrote:

I've just hacked in a Golf Ball styled E14/SES 3W LED bulb from
Poundland using a cheap ES/SES adaptor from Amazon ...

What wattage spot did you have in it before? 3W sounds a bit wimpy.


No, it's fine - got four in a room, all walls painted white. Used to
have 4W LEDs in the R80 shape for £6 per bulb (eBay). They only lasted a
couple of years and had a colder light colour.

Before was two batches of R80 11W CFL's from CPC. They hummed and
weren't exactly pretty end on.

And before was just standard R80 40W bulbs (and darkish walls).

From 120W down to 12W. I have saved a leaf in the rain forest.

--
Adrian C

On Saturday, 24 September 2016 09:36:54 UTC+1, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
On 23/09/16 20:13, Andy Burns wrote:
Adrian Caspersz wrote:

I've just hacked in a Golf Ball styled E14/SES 3W LED bulb from
Poundland using a cheap ES/SES adaptor from Amazon ...

What wattage spot did you have in it before? 3W sounds a bit wimpy.


No, it's fine - got four in a room, all walls painted white. Used to
have 4W LEDs in the R80 shape for £6 per bulb (eBay). They only lasted a
couple of years and had a colder light colour.

Before was two batches of R80 11W CFL's from CPC. They hummed and
weren't exactly pretty end on.

And before was just standard R80 40W bulbs (and darkish walls).

From 120W down to 12W. I have saved a leaf in the rain forest.

--
Adrian C

I got this 4500 Lumen beast which is the brightest LED I have along with the 50W security floodlight which is also 4500 Lumen.

http://bit.ly/2cKBDBF

It happens that Adrian Caspersz formulated :
No, it's fine - got four in a room, all walls painted white. Used to have 4W
LEDs in the R80 shape for £6 per bulb (eBay). They only lasted a couple of
years and had a colder light colour.

Before was two batches of R80 11W CFL's from CPC. They hummed and weren't
exactly pretty end on.

And before was just standard R80 40W bulbs (and darkish walls).

From 120W down to 12W. I have saved a leaf in the rain forest.

I began 20 years ago with R80 E27 tungsten reflectors at 100w each.
Then because of their consumption and constant need to replace them, I
swapped them for 16w CFL's. Most recently I paid £9.50 for a pair of 9w
E27 R80 LED's, they are much brighter than the CFL's and made for less
of a bright pool of light we got from the original R80 tungsten.

The LED's have been in use a couple of months now, without problems.

It seems they are becoming better and more reliable.

In article ,
Harry Bloomfield writes:
It happens that Adrian Caspersz formulated :
No, it's fine - got four in a room, all walls painted white. Used to have 4W
LEDs in the R80 shape for £6 per bulb (eBay). They only lasted a couple of
years and had a colder light colour.

Before was two batches of R80 11W CFL's from CPC. They hummed and weren't
exactly pretty end on.

And before was just standard R80 40W bulbs (and darkish walls).

From 120W down to 12W. I have saved a leaf in the rain forest.

I began 20 years ago with R80 E27 tungsten reflectors at 100w each.
Then because of their consumption and constant need to replace them, I
swapped them for 16w CFL's. Most recently I paid £9.50 for a pair of 9w
E27 R80 LED's, they are much brighter than the CFL's and made for less
of a bright pool of light we got from the original R80 tungsten.

The LED's have been in use a couple of months now, without problems.

It seems they are becoming better and more reliable.

CFL's were not good for making spotlights, because the light
source is too large for the small reflecter. The one exception
in R80 format was the GE Genura, because it doesn't use a folded
or coiled tube, but it uses a discharge tube which is same shape
as the front of an R80. It generated more light output than a
100W filament R80, for 23W power consumption. They weren't cheap
though, and life depended on how well the fitting was ventilated.
I used lots of them ~20 years ago at a company I was working for.

I haven't needed R80's recently, but I would imagine there are
equivalent, if not better, LED products around now. Something
around 12W should get you similar output to a 100W R80.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
Scott writes:
I've got 12 volt halogen spots run from a torriodal transformer - five
units from each transformer. Can I replace these with LCDs or would
this cause problems with under-loading the transformer? I have read
something about having to have one conventional lamp in the circuit
but I don't fancy this as I would rather have them all the same.

Electronic transformers have a minimum load, but a toroidal
transformer probably doesn't. The voltage will be higher, but
an LED probably has a switched-mode PSU inside which will
compensate for this (although there are some cheap ones which
just use a resistor).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 24/09/16 18:04, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Scott writes:
I've got 12 volt halogen spots run from a torriodal transformer - five
units from each transformer. Can I replace these with LCDs or would
this cause problems with under-loading the transformer? I have read
something about having to have one conventional lamp in the circuit
but I don't fancy this as I would rather have them all the same.

Electronic transformers have a minimum load, but a toroidal
transformer probably doesn't. The voltage will be higher, but
an LED probably has a switched-mode PSU inside which will
compensate for this (although there are some cheap ones which
just use a resistor).

Actually the cheap way to drop LED voltage for mains uses is a series
capacitor. Then FW bridge rect and if you want smoothing caps, and put
the LED chips in series.

for e.g a 7W LED you need 30mA or about 7.5k impedance at 50hz.

About 0.47uF.

Frankly I'd lose the toroids and use mains lamps.






--
"Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They
always run out of other people's money. It's quite a characteristic of them"

Margaret Thatcher

On Saturday, 24 September 2016 18:18:37 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 24/09/16 18:04, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Scott writes:

I've got 12 volt halogen spots run from a torriodal transformer - five
units from each transformer. Can I replace these with LCDs or would
this cause problems with under-loading the transformer? I have read
something about having to have one conventional lamp in the circuit
but I don't fancy this as I would rather have them all the same.

Electronic transformers have a minimum load, but a toroidal
transformer probably doesn't. The voltage will be higher, but
an LED probably has a switched-mode PSU inside which will
compensate for this (although there are some cheap ones which
just use a resistor).

Actually the cheap way to drop LED voltage for mains uses is a series
capacitor. Then FW bridge rect and if you want smoothing caps, and put
the LED chips in series.

for e.g a 7W LED you need 30mA or about 7.5k impedance at 50hz.

About 0.47uF.

need to add a resistor too

Frankly I'd lose the toroids and use mains lamps.

+1 for LEDs.


NT

On 24/09/16 19:02, wrote:
On Saturday, 24 September 2016 18:18:37 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 24/09/16 18:04, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Scott writes:

I've got 12 volt halogen spots run from a torriodal transformer - five
units from each transformer. Can I replace these with LCDs or would
this cause problems with under-loading the transformer? I have read
something about having to have one conventional lamp in the circuit
but I don't fancy this as I would rather have them all the same.

Electronic transformers have a minimum load, but a toroidal
transformer probably doesn't. The voltage will be higher, but
an LED probably has a switched-mode PSU inside which will
compensate for this (although there are some cheap ones which
just use a resistor).

Actually the cheap way to drop LED voltage for mains uses is a series
capacitor. Then FW bridge rect and if you want smoothing caps, and put
the LED chips in series.

for e.g a 7W LED you need 30mA or about 7.5k impedance at 50hz.

About 0.47uF.

need to add a resistor too

No, you don't.
Especially with a smoothing cap.



Frankly I'd lose the toroids and use mains lamps.

+1 for LEDs.


NT



--
"Anyone who believes that the laws of physics are mere social
conventions is invited to try transgressing those conventions from the
windows of my apartment. (I live on the twenty-first floor.) "

Alan Sokal

On Saturday, 24 September 2016 19:52:17 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 24/09/16 19:02, tabbypurr wrote:
On Saturday, 24 September 2016 18:18:37 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 24/09/16 18:04, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Scott writes:

I've got 12 volt halogen spots run from a torriodal transformer - five
units from each transformer. Can I replace these with LCDs or would
this cause problems with under-loading the transformer? I have read
something about having to have one conventional lamp in the circuit
but I don't fancy this as I would rather have them all the same.

Electronic transformers have a minimum load, but a toroidal
transformer probably doesn't. The voltage will be higher, but
an LED probably has a switched-mode PSU inside which will
compensate for this (although there are some cheap ones which
just use a resistor).

Actually the cheap way to drop LED voltage for mains uses is a series
capacitor. Then FW bridge rect and if you want smoothing caps, and put
the LED chips in series.

for e.g a 7W LED you need 30mA or about 7.5k impedance at 50hz.

About 0.47uF.

need to add a resistor too

No, you don't.
Especially with a smoothing cap.

Without one the only Rs in circuit are the dropper cap, the diodes and the reservoir cap. The LEDs would then be hit with brief massive overpower at times, and the current limit of the dropper & diodes exceeded. You can build it like that if you want, but it's not a smart choice.


NT

In article ,
writes:
On Saturday, 24 September 2016 19:52:17 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wro=
te:
On 24/09/16 19:02, tabbypurr wrote:
On Saturday, 24 September 2016 18:18:37 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher =
wrote:
Actually the cheap way to drop LED voltage for mains uses is a series
capacitor. Then FW bridge rect and if you want smoothing caps, and put
the LED chips in series.

for e.g a 7W LED you need 30mA or about 7.5k impedance at 50hz.

About 0.47uF.

need to add a resistor too
=20
No, you don't.
Especially with a smoothing cap.

Without one the only Rs in circuit are the dropper cap, the diodes and the =
reservoir cap. The LEDs would then be hit with brief massive overpower at t=
imes, and the current limit of the dropper & diodes exceeded. You can build=
it like that if you want, but it's not a smart choice.

+1

Also, remember to allow for the worse case which is a switch-off when
the cap has 340V across it, followed by a switch on half a cycle later
(or n+0.5 cycles later), which gives you 680V across that resistance.
The series resistance is needed to limit peak current flow in this case.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Saturday, 24 September 2016 22:53:08 UTC+1, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
tabbypurr writes:
On Saturday, 24 September 2016 19:52:17 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wro=
On 24/09/16 19:02, tabbypurr wrote:
On Saturday, 24 September 2016 18:18:37 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher =
wrote:

Actually the cheap way to drop LED voltage for mains uses is a series
capacitor. Then FW bridge rect and if you want smoothing caps, and put
the LED chips in series.

for e.g a 7W LED you need 30mA or about 7.5k impedance at 50hz.

About 0.47uF.

need to add a resistor too

No, you don't.
Especially with a smoothing cap.

Without one the only Rs in circuit are the dropper cap, the diodes and the =
reservoir cap. The LEDs would then be hit with brief massive overpower at t=
imes, and the current limit of the dropper & diodes exceeded. You can build=
it like that if you want, but it's not a smart choice.

+1

Also, remember to allow for the worse case which is a switch-off when
the cap has 340V across it, followed by a switch on half a cycle later
(or n+0.5 cycles later), which gives you 680V across that resistance.
The series resistance is needed to limit peak current flow in this case.

Does it need a reservoir cap?


NT