LED "DD"s?

I have fluorescent DDs in my kitchen which are on a lot of the time and consequently need replacing every 2 or 3 years.

I see that CPC have LED replacements for DDs, both 2 and 4 pin; any experience with them? Do you remove the ballast when fitting LEDs?

TIA

Reply to
newshound
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In message , newshound writes

No, but what wattage are the current lamps? the highest output LED replacement CPC is 18W 1600lm, a 28W DD is 2250lm according the to the catalogue that came in the post yesterday.

The LED ones are also expensive (to expensive to be worth it IMO, unless changing them is problematical, £20+ (+VAT) the DD lamps are £2-3

Pass

Reply to
Chris French

There is a reason for that - nearly half of that 2250lm goes upwards into the fitting and is wasted. The LEDs lamps only sent the light downwards.

But there is a 55% to 65% reduced running cost to offset the puchase cost (along with a longer lifespan). The reduced heat given out by the LEDs means that the 2D lampholder will not burn out/turn into dust in 8 years time.

If the 2D fitting has a starter you can get away with just removing the starter and replacing the lamp. However I alway bypass the ballast (if it's not needed then why power it?). If there is no starter then you MUST bypass the ballast. Bypassing the ballast is a simple job.

Reply to
ARW

You would imagine that fiddling inside a fitting was not a good idea as later on some clever person might try to fit the old kind of lamp without realising it. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

The great advantage of the LED replacement is their life span. At our village hall, people often leave a switched outdoor light on - and CFLs seems to last a remarkably short time. There's been an LED one there for a year!

Yes.

Reply to
charles

Since the old 2D socket is only used for mounting, and yo are told to disconnect the wiring, anyone trying to fit a 2D tube would find it didn't work. Mind you , if they can't see that the current fitting is using a PCB with lots of LEDs instead of a tube, they shouldn't really be doing anything at all.

Reply to
charles

Crikey. I have tube fluorescents under cupboards lighting the worktops, and they're more like 10 years old. Used a lot too - get left on when out at night. Even the 75watt PAR halogen downlighters last more than 2 years.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

That's rather a short life. I have several of them, including a pair in the bathroom which are on instant start ballasts (which are completely instant), and they are 10+ years old, although I did just change them as the tube ends were getting very black, although they hadn't yet failed.

I have some of the 18W Kosnic ones from CPC. They work fine, but they are actually only 13-14W power consumption. I have not used them in same fittings where I have the real 2D tubes, so I can't compare light output. (I retro-fitted them into some torchary uplighters, which used to use 300W/500W halogens, which I had retired due to safety issues if a 300/500W halogen uplighter was knocked over.)

I also fitted a 12W one into a hall fitting which is all all day (no windows) and used to use a 10W 2D tube - it's much brigher than the

10W 2D tube was, but that's to be expected.

They would not be suitable where you can see the tube - the LEDs are far too bright to be directly visible, and if you catch a glance, it leaves the LED pattern burned on your retina for a few minutes.

Yes. It also suggests fitting a 1A fuse, if you don't want the light blowing the circuit fuse at end of life.

The Kosnic ones also have a separate connector to allow you to connect to the LEDs directly, which I've not tried using. It is to connect to their own emergency lighting module - I presume it needs feeding with a constant current LV supply as it goes directly to the LEDs.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

I have only fitted one of their LED emergency modules and that was over 12 months ago. I was sure that the module used some circuitry to act as invertor.

When in use it only powers 1/3rd of the LEDs on the "LED light"

Reply to
ARW

Yes, I guess it must have. When I get around to it, I'll measure the voltage across those LEDs when it's operating. That's not easy to do, as it means trying to push test meter probes against the contacts whilst staring at the bright LEDs, and then trying to read the test meter when you haven't got any working retina left...

Ah, that's good to know, thanks. I guessed it was either that, or it ran them all dimmer.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

I'll look forward to the results.

Reply to
ARW

Interesting

You consider that the OP having to swap the 2D lamps every 2 to 3 years is short life expectancy of a 2D lamp - I nearly posted in my first reply to the thread that he was lucky to get away with getting them to last that long.

So what are we doing that is so different?

Reply to
ARW

You're the first person I've known to report an LED lamp of any kind las= ting longer than 6 months.

-- =

When the Viagra virus comes to your PC, all your software becomes hardwa= re.

Reply to
Uncle Peter

I've never changed a 2D fitting, but I put an LED strip into a 3 foot fluorescent (by removing the starter and ballast). You can't tell I've done it without looking inside the casing, so someone who didn't notice they were taking out an LED could fit a fluorescent again. What happens to a fluorescent if connected directly to the mains?

Reply to
Uncle Peter

Mine are all 4-pin on electronic control gear (first generation Philips Matchbox, Blue type - Instant start without preheat).

Most of mine are 21W (one the the less common power ratings, same size as the 16W lamp). I did have one 10W one (also less common, particularly now).

Furthermore, two of my 21W ones are mounted upside-down (loops should be at top when mounted in vertical plane, but I didn't know that when I designed the fittings with the loops at the bottom).

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

I as thinking of the lack of ballast allowing overcurrent.

Reply to
Uncle Peter

Those sold for domestic lighting are absolute s**te.

-- =

"Get as far away from the nuclear explosion as possible" - Rodney McKay,= Stargate Atlantis.

Reply to
Uncle Peter

Interesting. Do you or Andrew have any links to this kit please?

Reply to
Nick

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CPC sell them. They looked like they were stopping doing Kosnic products, but these have reappeared.

I don't think CPC do the emergency lighting module to connect to the lamp though.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

How do you know which are best? They all claim 50,000 hours lifetime.

-- =

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a repl= acement.

Reply to
Uncle Peter

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