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Thread: A Downlight Story

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    Default A Downlight Story

    It was decoded to replace the existing light fittings in the hall, lounge room and the second and third bedrooms.

    Did a search and found a local (Aus) supplier. Price was reasonable so 5 units were purchased.

    The sparky came and the downlights were quickly installed. The sparky said now was the time to test them.

    Hall - yes.

    Lounge one - yes.

    Lounge two - yes.

    Third bedroom - yes.

    Second bedroom - no.

    Sparky went out to his van and came back with some form of tester. Plugged it into the socket and it light up as it should.

    Damn. A dud downlight.

    Another search because the original supplier did not have them any more. Found another local supplier cheaper than the original units. One was ordered and it arrived in about 5 days.

    Removed the dud downlight, plugged in the new one and there was light.

    OK. Time to determine what was wrong with the original unit. Unscrewed the only screw - for the cable clamp - and noticed that nothing else was accessible. Damn - what if something was wrong with the circuit board? Unscrew the live and neutral leads. Wow - really nice with ferrules around the wires. Out with the multimeter to check each lead. One was good and no meter movement with the other lead. Hmm! Snip both ferrules off and prepare new ends. Screw them back in place and "Damn" nothing.

    Found another plug with twin lead and prepared the ends, screwed them in and switch on. Success!

    What are the chances that the lead would be faulty?
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    Some photos would help or links to what you purchased.

    Next, Bunnings have cheap enough LED downlights now, i've used them on jobs and would be happy to have them in my home
    Cheaper than my wholeseller, with a warranty and plenty of places to return faulty units.

    Its hard to know what you are exactly talking about without pics

    As all modern LED downlights i install now only have a 240 lead and sealed LED light fitting
    Its one unit, with 3 colour adjustable light temp range...
    So i really can't see what can fail or what can be serviced.

    From what you have told us, yes the lead was faulty....
    Could you plug the lead in and test that it worked or not?
    Last edited by ol' boy; 07-11-19 at 03:48 PM.
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    I need about 40 downlights for the reno we have just done. Pretty confusing to know what garbage, whats decent and whats just over priced.

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    Can't you just use your multimeter and do a continuity test on each live/neutral leads?

    Pics would definitely help to solve the confusion.

    I need at least 12 dimmable down lights for my entertainment room.

    I was told the dimmables led lights are crap and don't last long by a sparky.

    Bunnings is always a good choice. Cheaper than most retailers.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ol' boy View Post
    Some photos would help or links to what you purchased.

    Next, Bunnings have cheap enough LED downlights now, i've used them on jobs and would be happy to have them in my home
    Cheaper than my wholeseller, with a warranty and plenty of places to return faulty units.

    Its hard to know what you are exactly talking about without pics
    Would be kind if YOU could post a link to the down lights you are successfully using from Bunnings.

    I have used down lights from Bunnings that started to flicker after 6-12 months. I can't find them on their website to show, so I assume they have deleted them for a good reason but who knows if the others will last longer than a year.
    Last edited by Uncle Fester; 07-11-19 at 09:46 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnno View Post

    I need at least 12 dimmable down lights for my entertainment room.

    I was told the dimmables led lights are crap and don't last long by a sparky.
    Interesting, i cant say i have found that
    Also, just note that a dimmable LED downlight will never dim like a traditional halogen downlight
    The LED only have a small range of dimming before the LED unit stalls

    Note: Pretty much ALL LED downlights are now dimming compatible
    (So your sparky mates comments must mean that ALL LED downlights are crap now, because i think near all are dimmerbale)
    Last edited by ol' boy; 08-11-19 at 01:38 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Uncle Fester View Post
    Would be kind if YOU could post a link to the down lights you are successfully using from Bunnings.

    I have used down lights from Bunnings that started to flicker after 6-12 months. I can't find them on their website to show, so I assume they have deleted them for a good reason but who knows if the others will last longer than a year.
    Yes, i asked a person in Bunnings electrical dept once where i certain item was that i used to buy
    He said, Bunnings change lighting suppliers like i'd change underwear

    There certainly isn't consistency with some of thier items
    But, they always seem to have the fitting i need, which is a 92mm cut out, dimmable and adjustable colour range
    Their Deta brand has been fine, i have some i installed in a rental property 5 years ago, still going the same as the day they went in (which i would expect)

    I just used these in a Ladies bathroom and laundry reno and was really impressed
    Super bright (1 of these was like 4 halogen downlights)

    The LED downlights from the wholesalers change month to month also, depending what deal they get from china
    At least the Bunnings ones match if i had to replace one or add more, and the warranty is easy

    These are even cheaper:
    But i cant say ive used them

    You can get a Daylight 10W 950lm, dimmable LED downlight for $8
    That is what i'd use if doing a whole house, they come with a 240v lead, but you can wire them direct, which saves $4 on the single outlet trade base
    (All adds up when you have 80+ downlights to install)
    Last edited by ol' boy; 08-11-19 at 04:24 AM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by ol' boy View Post

    You can get a Daylight 10W 950lm, dimmable LED downlight for $8
    That is what i'd use if doing a whole house, they come with a 240v lead, but you can wire them direct, which saves $4 on the single outlet trade base
    (All adds up when you have 80+ downlights to install)
    ive been installing those detas for a while now , replacing the shitty downlights
    in a building i look after. They are being installed in hall ways and bathrooms
    and are fantastic. Never had one fail yet and you get a 4 pack for $45.

    they plug straight into one of these that are already installed but easily added
    if needed.

    Last edited by fandtm666; 08-11-19 at 05:56 AM.

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    I think they have been getting better too
    The ones i used last week were a lot brighter and almost 180 degrees of light, compared to ones i used 5 years ago.

    If in doubt, just buy a single unit as a sample (from anywhere) before you pull the trigger on 80 units
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    Thanks ol'boy.

    Fitted atm are 50w dimmable halogens, they were installed nearly 30yrs ago when I extended the house.

    I'll check the deta brand Leds from bunnings and I'll try one unit as a test. Cheers

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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnno View Post
    Thanks ol'boy.

    Fitted atm are 50w dimmable halogens, they were installed nearly 30yrs ago when I extended the house.
    Far out. they would have been the very first 50Watt dichroic downlights
    30 years ago is when we saw the first ones, HUGE transformer that was remote mounted, then had to run heavy LV cabling

    Yeah mate, go grab one that fits the same hole and give it a try
    It is a very different light
    It is the reason i still have the old school ones, as i like to dim down to almost no light.

    But even i admit, i need to change and move with the times
    They make your house look so much newer
    And they finally at a price you can swap the whole house out for not much money

    There is also heaps of online elec wholesalers too
    Last edited by ol' boy; 08-11-19 at 08:31 AM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by fandtm666 View Post

    they plug straight into one of these that are already installed but easily added
    if needed.

    Most lighting places will supply those plug bases for about $1.20 ea if you buy in Qtys of 10 or more. The lights may be OK at Bunnings ( not particularly cheap) but they sure get you on those plug bases!

    I put some LED's in other rooms when I came here and just put a cheap Powerboard in the roof. Not like there is much current these things are running and the boards have a built in overload which is an extra safety tier not that I could imagine how it would ever be used.

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    Bunnings have those 3 pin sockets in packs of 25 for $39 which makes them about $1.50 each if you're installing a lot of downlights

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    I was told that the Deta brand used by Bunnings is a relabelled Arlec product . my house is 100% Deta with no issues in the last 6 years we have been here.

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    No doubt they are just made to order from China under whatever name you wish to call them
    They may well come from Arlec so Bunnings has a Local Distributor to distance themselves from China
    They can probably say they are from an Australian Company that way.
    Seems that is what most do to get around the Import Direct issues and Stigma

    Australian Electrical Wholesaler have been copying popular stock items from Clipsal, with a Home Brand name direct from China for 20+ years now

    Can't see why Bunnings would be any different.
    It also prevents them from being Price Matched

    I have seen plenty of $3 Double Power Points from eBay and most are utter crap, the switch rocker falls out or is very poorly manufactured allowing more than normal exposure to the live contacts behind.
    Or they just jam up and stop working.
    At least the Bunnings offerings seem to be of a reasonable build quality
    I doubt they could afford the legal ramifications
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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