New answers tagged lighting
0
Think about it. If the LEDs were failing, they would fail individually one at a time, not the entire strip at once. (strips typically have many LEDs, but in groups of 3-6, so if an LED was failing, it couldn't take out more than 6 at a time).
What's failing is the power supplies
And this is typical of the failure mode of cheapie LEDs. The LED emitters ...
4
SUPERBRIGHTLEDS.COM has a number of bulbs similar to what you've shown. You'd have to research the site based on your requirements.
G4 Boat and RV LED Light Bulb - Bi-Pin LED Disc - 15W Equivalent - 130 Lumens
I have no vested (or unvested) interest in the company.
6
You're trying to buy into a paradigm that doesn't exist
You've grown up with incandescent bulbs. They blow out every 750-2000 hours, because they are basically tungsten on fire. So you go "that's why bulbs have sockets".
Then you learn about fluorescents. The electrodes suffer spallation and mercury absorption, so they too eventually fail. That'...
3
I can't make sense of any of that German spaghetti. Here's how 3-way circuits are actually wired:
or
As well as 3-4 other possible rearrangings-of-furniture, giving the same wires doing the same loop, but on different routings.
Is there any reason to doubt that the wiring diagram above represents how the switches are wired?
Yeah, lots of reasons to ...
4
Turn off breaker. Disconnect wires. Connect appropriate meter (safely). Turn on breaker, look at meter. If no voltage, turn off breaker, move to other switch, connect meter, repeat.
Or use a test lamp, if you are old-fangled. The folks around here are fond of "non-contact voltage testers" but they appear to be prone to confusing results. I'm old-...
2
First of all, I think someone just did the coloring nonstandard; they simply used red to the fixture for whatever reason. Also, your diagram doesn't show a red between the 4-way and 3-way switches. I'll assume that's an oversight and it's actually there, because if not, you have bigger problems...
That said, there are a couple of things possibly at play. ...
4
No larger pin bulbs will fit in there. Those larger holes are rivets that hold the heat shield in place and keep the springs that hold the bulbs in place from flying across the room. The M16 bulbs come in different sizes so you can get brighter ones but make sure you don't exceed the rating stamped on the fixture
6
Thos MR16 GU5.3 light bulbs are 12 volt bulbs. The GU10 bulbs are 120 volt. There is little to zero chance that this is some sort of "Dual Socket". And if it were, it would still likely be just a 12 volt supply.
The round things in the picture are rivets that hold the fixture together.
To brighten the fixture, I'd recommend a bright, new LED bulb. ...
0
Of late, the big-box stores have brought in quite a sea of cheap imported crud. It's not near as bad as the awful imported crud found on the flea markets of eBay and Amazon Marketplace (anything that isn't "sold by: Amazon.com"). Things from Lowes are certified by Nationally Recognized Testing Lab such as UL or ETL... so they won't kill you from ...
answered Sep 21 at 16:56
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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2
There are two very good methods for discriminating hot, neutral, switched, ground, etc. that are available to the home DYI handyman. You can use a voltmeter or a multimeter set to "volts", or you can use a dummy load such as the ceiling lamp you just removed.
With the meter, you have to be careful not to touch the live wires with your fingers:
...
2
You can’t get multiple wires under screws like that securely. Make pigtails (separate pieces of wire about six inches long should do), wirenut them to the wires going in/out of the box, and put the free ends of the pigtails on the screws.
2
You have it.
But all 3 neutral wires go to the N terminal only if you're allowed to splice onward power like that. Otherwise you'll need to pigtail off the neutral splice and oh look, a spare pigtail just became available!
Also, sanity-check the quality of this switch. Most multi-switches like this come straight from China and are cheap dangerous junk. If ...
answered Sep 14 at 15:32
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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1
The dimmer modifies the sine wave and the fixture may not work. many dimmers use silicone controlled rectifiers and only 1/2 of the energy wave is passed on even at full on. Only having half wave to work with can keep the fixture from working or may over heat and even damage components in the motion light.
Because the manufacturer states to not use this ...
0
No, you cannot.
It is a code violation to install a fixture contrary to the manufacturers instuctions.
It's also a dumb idea, but that's not why you can't do it. You might well destroy the fixture, for instance.
A simple switch replacement should solve the problem, and can be changed out later if you install a different fixture non-temporarily.
1
I just did the same thing a few months ago and it turned out great. I routed a 1/2" channel at the back of the shelves so the bulbs wouldn't be seen. The color of the walls is important as well. You don't want to reflect the light, but you don't want to necessarily absorb all of it. A few coats of a flat or eggshell saturated relatively dark color ...
1
I haven’t checked the 2020 code but I have never seen a requirement for a GFCI over a tub or shower stall for a listed wet location fixture! Others have stated it is required on other questions but the last home we did for our company last year had 2 bathrooms with wet location fixtures over a tub/shower and a shower passed inspection and the inspector did ...
0
Maybe.
Two things to consider:
Overheating of the fixture
and
overheating of the bulb.
(1) is not going to happen. 100W incandescent bulb is ~95W heat source. 15W LED lamp is ~11W heat source. No problem here.
(2) may be a problem, or maybe not. As the incandescent lamp generates 8x the heat, it will rise its own temperature above the environment roughly ...
7
You can.
The lamp holders are rated for how much heat the lamp produces,
and a 15W lamp produces much less heat than a 100W lamp.
It's only like a 120W lamp in the amount of glow it produces, that dosn't bother the lamp holder at all.
29
Yes, that is fine
"like" /"equivalent", etc. are based on light output.
Limitations on fixtures is based on heat output.
Some power (Watts) becomes light, the rest becomes heat. LEDs are more efficient and produce more light, and therfore less heat, than incandescent bulbs. Fixtures are rated on worst case scenarios. But a 15 W LED bulb ...
answered Sep 3 at 12:31
manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
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2
You need to find the power supply that has the correct voltage and wattage. For example the Output will usually be limited and the wattage specified as 25-30 volts at 9 watts is one I have. They are usually double insulated and power limited (considered safe not a fire hazard).
Look on the “brick” or plastic block. It will have the voltage and wattage ...
3
You're correct that "input" means the power source. "Class 2" and "Class II" are different, however. The former refers to wire size and other specifications, and the latter refers to the insulation (shock protection) standard of the device.
More on that
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If you feed a 5m segment of these (or any) LED strips from one end, then bring the far end around close to the supplied end, you'll almost certainly find that the end where the supply connects is noticeably brighter than the far end. The effect is more pronounced with strips that have higher LED counts. Similarly, if two 5m segments are arranged end-to-end ...
0
They make a lot of socket connectors and other kit for novices. Unfortunately this product is a bit too "out there" and I wouldn't expect to find stuff like that. You'll have to do it old-school, by soldering leads onto the solder pads.
Solder on short (<12", 6" is better) #20 or #22 wire pigtails, stranded if possible. Otherwise the ...
answered Aug 30 at 17:43
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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2
The black wire from romex 2 is the hot wire that feeds your three switches and is the common. Remove the red wire from switch 2 from that bundle and hook up the black wire from your new switch to that bundle. Then take the two black wires from your old switch and hook them up to the red wire and the red/white wire from the new dimmer. All your new switches ...
1
Yes, that is your ground wire.
That second "black" wire actually isn't a black-insulated wire at all; it's bare copper that's badly tarnished. You can see that it's a slightly different color than the other black wire, and also a little thinner (because it is not insulated). If you scrape it a little bit, you should see shiny copper. Bare copper ...
1
Sounds like the driver has failed. If a quality product, there might be a warranty. If a cheap junky product, you probably can't even find the company, at least operating under the name you bought them from. That's part of the business plan that makes such things cheap, in every sense of that word.
In either case, you'll need new lights or at least new ...
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