Rant about LED floodlights

[stephenten]

I used to use halogen floodlights with either 300 W or 500 W tubes.

Dead simple to install and maintain.

The cable entry point was always at the bottom so rain ingress was *never* a problem.

Tube replacement was simple, unscrew just one screw, open metal framed door and use cotton gloves to swap out the halogen tube......

Then I decided to replace the whole units with LED floodlights. biggest mistake I ever made!

Now when the LED floodlight fails, I find I *have* to replace the *whole* unit, I cannot replace the PSU part or the LED array only.

I also find that the cable entry point is at the top so I now frequently find that they fill up with rain water and pop the circuit breaker!

A new halogen Tube can be had for around a pound, a whole new LED floodlight is 30 quid upwards and its not an easy job as you have to undo the wiring, undo the wall bracket, remove the old light fitting entirely and work in reverse.

Even when I use self amalgamating tape to solve the "filling with rainwater" issue, the LED floodlight barely lasts more than a year before the whole thing has to be replaced.....

So much for minimising WEEE waste!

Rant over!

[Tim+]

Maybe you?re mounting them the wrong way up?

How much light do you *really* need? Plenty of much cheaper ones available.

Tim

[tabbypurr]

I've advised people against them but they're more inclined to follow fashion. Use a traditional fitting + led bulb.

NT

[F]

All of mine are mounted with the cable entry at the bottom. They could have been mounted the other way up but that didn't make sense.

[stephenten]

the 500 Watt halogens were replaced with 30 watt LEDs.

[stephenten]

hardly, there is a single metal casing where the LED array is on the underside and the cable entry hole is on the top side.

If I make the cable entry hole at the bottom, the LED array would be pointing up to Heaven!

see the following:

You can see the cable entry gland... I have my LED floods pointing downwards to avoid annoying the neighbours but that makes the cable gland face the rains from heaven!

[Tim+]

Send 'em back and demand a refund. With an IP65 rating they shouldn't be letting rain in. "Not fit for purpose".

Tim

[charles]

Unscrew it it's not corroded in place .

perhasp you'rv mounted it upside down. All the LED floods I've fitted have tehn cable entry ay tehn bottom

[Dave Plowman (News)]

But have you actually had one fail? My tungsten floodlights needed regular lamp changes. The LED replacements none, so far.

And the old ones got so hot the bodies could be damaged, so not always possible to open them up to fit a new bulb. So had to replace the entire fitting.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Good you're happy with *a lot* less light. ;-)

[Harry Bloomfield]

[e-mail] presented the following explanation :

Have you used a suitable sized round section flex, to allow the gland to properly seal against it? Did you grease the gland seal to stop ingress?

For a fitting outdoors, I always advise to do your best to prevent rain getting in, but to drill a hole in the base of a unit, to ensure any which does get in can drain out. Though I doubt this would be possible with these fittings.

[George Miles]

Shouldnt there be a weep hole at the bottom of the light so that condensation water can escape?

BigClive strips a cheap LED floodlight at

[george]

[stephenten]

I have 8 of the things scattered around the sides of the house.

Already I have had to replace four due to filling with rain water and replaced four when they either started flashing repeatedly or have gone candlelight dim.

You have to replace the whole thing when it's gone dim or starts flashing, it's not possible to replace either the LED driver PSU or the led light array.

I now use self amalgamating tape at where the cable enters the cable gland so that particular issue has stopped.

But no solution yet to having to replace the whole fitting when they start flashing or go dim.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Chances are - like so many such things - the cost of providing spares would exceed that of a complete replacement.

If they are filling with rain water, you need to look at how you've installed them.

[FMurtz]

A bit less, 50 watts should be not far off 500 halogen

[Peter Johnson]

The 'bulbs' in the £20 lamps that I used to get from B&Q would fail after about ten years, by which time the steel screw that held the unit together had rusted, so they had to be replaced. About 10 years ago I replaced them with decent units from TLC, compact florescents though but not on enough to justify replacement.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Hmm. Doesn't equate with any LEDs here, I'm afraid.

[Tim+]

I suspect they're just poorly designed with no vent or drain hole.

Any outdoor lamp enclosure that undergoes thermal cycling can end up sucking water in past seals as they cool if no thought has been given in the design to allowing pressure to equalise.

Tim

[Jonathan]

I bought on in B&Q for about £12 about six months ago. The cable goes in the bottom and the motion sensor is much better than my old halogen one. At that price, I don't mind replacing it when the bulb goes.

Jonathan

[ARW]

Screwfix cheap shit.

If you pay for a turd you get a turd.