Name that tune

[Sherm]

Bought some LED recessed lighting through HD, by Lithonia lighting back in June. Nice lights, a bit pricey, supposed to last 35k hours.

Here we are in November, and one of the (21) lights I put in, decided to start humming.

Home Depot no longer carries this style (bought on internet), they say it's discontinued.

Tried to send a email to Lithonia, through the information box on one of their pages. It comes back undeliverable.

So, since I'm not having any luck with customer service, figure someone can name the tune being hummed. :/

[Frank]

I have a few cfl hummers. Probably in the electronics and not the light source itself. Don't transformers often hum? May be a real old tune.

[David L. Martel]

Inductors and transformers sometimes do hum. The OP needs to open this lamp up and see what's in there. When he has it open he can listen to find the noisy part.

Dave M.

[DA]

And look on the bright side, too: if it wasn't for the inductor, some of the LEDs in that light will have already fried. I have a string of LED lights made Lights of America that just happen to not have the current limiting inductor and they last for about 1 use average (not 1hr, just one use - they burn up when you turn them on - so you used them once, turn them back on again and they're gone). I've been following this LED light hacking/repair saga for years now:

and it looks like it comes down to the manufacturer saving $0.02 on an inductor that's causing the light to fail.

Also on the bright side: if you can hear it humming, it must be a larger inductor (and it would have to be for a 15W LED) and so it would be easy to identify and replace - this is definitely not an SMD part you can find in smaller lights. And yes, I would definitely open it up and replace the $1~$3 inductor given that it was a $60 light.

[John Grabowski]

*I have found that trying to email some manufacturers can be a waste of time. Lithonia is a reputable company and I have called them about ballast issues and have received free replacements. Call them on the phone and talk to a human. Have your model number ready. If you have the fixtures less than a year you may get warranty service.

[Sherm]

Contacted them through Facebook. Got an immediate response. I then emailed them, they are shipping me a new light (no charge). Even offered to pay labor, if I sent a copy of bill. Being they're so easy to change out, no labor. Kudos to Lithonia!

[John Grabowski]

*Thanks for posting the happy ending. I never thought to try connecting through Facebook.