2

Our LED chandelier has 20 1.5w G4 bi-pin bulbs. About a month ago, all of the bulbs, in unison became very dim. We do not have a dimmer on this chandelier. I noticed that sometimes when I'd turn on the chandelier the bulbs would go back to being bright, but it was only a matter of seconds or minutes before they would return to their dimly lit state. This isn't a fading action, they all dim at once and suddenly.

Now, my chandelier's bulbs will not return to their intended brightness at all and they are all permanently dim.

I purchased some new bulbs and replaced one to test if the bulbs went bad. The new bulb showed the exact same dimness as all the other bulbs so I returned the new bulbs.

I contacted an electrician and his answer was to simply buy a new chandelier. Unfortunately the one we have or comparable ones are roughly $1,000.

I'd like to save the one we have if there are some reasonable troubleshooting techniques.

I'm no electrician, but is there something similar to a ballast that could have gone out? Are these replaceable?

One other thing I should note is that we have a pond with a pond pump that comes on daily. When it comes on, many of the lights in the house dim briefly. I wondered if this power draw could have ruined the chandelier. Again, the electrician I talked to seemed to dismiss that this was a concern. I want to know that if I buy a new chandelier of fix the existing one that I won't be right back into this same issue due to the power draw that I just mentioned.

Thank you!

Update:

This is for 120v

Update 2:

Below are photos of the electrical connections. I see two exposed wires. I assume these are ground, but I don't think they were connected to anything. Could that have been the problem? It would be odd though that the chandelier worked for months and months with no disturbances and just finally go dim.

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

Improve this question
5
  • Are you in 120V-land (North America, Japan) or the rest of the 230V world?
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Aug 12, 2020 at 16:47
  • @Harper-ReinstateMonica, I just updated the question to indicate that I'm in North America / 120v
    – Ryan Griffith
    Commented Aug 12, 2020 at 17:13
  • What else - other lights, receptacles, etc. - is on the same breaker?
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Commented Aug 12, 2020 at 17:17
  • 1
    Your wall plug line voltage is 120V, and the G4 bulbs are 12V, so there is a transformer / LED driver somewhere between the wall wiring and the bulbs. It's a small box where the line wire goes into and the bulb wires come out of. Can you include a picture of it please?
    – P2000
    Commented Aug 12, 2020 at 18:19
  • Yes, can you find the transformer/driver that feeds this fixture?
    – ThreePhaseEel
    Commented Aug 12, 2020 at 23:08

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

Power supply is shot

G4 lamps are all 12V (least, all the ones I found).

All 20 lamps are behaving exactly the same. It can't be because of all the lamps being in series, since that would be 240V worth of lamps, and you're in 120V-land. (that would be 2 series strings so only half would fail). So cross that off the list.

What remains is there is a 12V power supply somewhere. That is the common thread. Clearly, it is failing.

Improve this answer
8
  • Is this something that is reasonable to repair? I'm trying to also ascertain if the electrician I talked to is just blowing off the idea of repairing it or if it actually isn't worth the time (keep in mind, the chandelier is expensive). Any tips for a completely lay person would be appreciated!
    – Ryan Griffith
    Commented Aug 12, 2020 at 18:21
  • @RyanGriffith repair the transformer? No, but you should be able to get a replacement.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Aug 12, 2020 at 18:40
  • The electrician is operating in "I only do the wiring, I don't fix appliances or fixtures" mode, just like many appliance people will be (often required by licensing rules, unlike the other way around) "I only fix appliances, I don't do the wiring".
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Commented Aug 12, 2020 at 18:53
  • 2
    And both of the answers are almost certainly correct - "all bulb" problems with no other problems is almost certainly going to be driver/transformer/etc. as opposed to 120V electric supply problem.
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Commented Aug 12, 2020 at 22:35
  • 1
    @RyanGriffith Admonishing people not to DIY things is pretty much the opposite of what we do around here lol. Yeah, if you can get it down, snap some pix of the data on the power supply and we can advise.
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Aug 13, 2020 at 1:50
1

It's probably the LED driver. You can take it down and try to find a compatible driver equivalent to the specs and replace that part alone.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.