Good afternoon all.
Last weekend I installed a light fitting with 6x 50w mains voltage GU10 type lamps. No brandname lamps supplied with the fitting. Used for less than 2 hours and 2 lamps have blown.
Any recommendations please for a brand of lamp with reasonable to good longevity? I have done a little reading and it would appear that some are notoriously short lived or unreliable.
Many thanks, Francis.
GU10s in general are very shortlved, using a dimmer on the circuit will enable soft starting which might see a marginal increase in lamp life.
Adam
I had the same thing with some fittings bought from B&Q. I got replacements from TLC branded Ring and surprisingly they've been ok.
I have had some fail in very short time period - others have lasted ages. Very variable. Electronic touch dimmers are best as they always 'soft start' and are less prone to dying if a bulb blows.
I don't like the way they fail. I've had two explode and spray glass all over the kitchen, and they always blow the circuit fuse when they fail.
Had an LED one do the same. ;-) And it cost a lot more than a tungsten.
I suppose we all have to go through the same learning curve !! GU10's are a NO-NO, and despite the number of times it is said, we never notice it being said and go ahead and buy a 'nice' fitting and then discover what everybody else has already knows - GU10's are a NO-NO !
Too late now but you should have gone for the 12V equivalent fitting - OK it costs a bit more because it has a 12v transformer, but the heavier filaments of the MR16 bulbs and the slow start of the transformer means a seriously far greater life. I think there was also a discussion here a bit of time back that 20w for 20w, the 12v bulbs gave a better light output.
Rob
there's your mistake, replace with 12v.
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