Metropol

Sput wrote:I think you're spot on, although it's all on top of cupboards with a big closed terminal block first because there's a (11 year old) transformer for each cupboard unit. It looks fairly neat but within that box, who knows!

While I'm on the topic: I see the transformer's rated at 50VA output, as in volt-amps? As in Watts? What an odd way to write it, if so.

Anyway, ta for your lovely advice. I'll take all the bulbs out at some point then call the landlord if it still trips.

Yes its volt-amps. A common way to express TRX outputs. You can nominally say 50VA will run up-to 50w of 12v downlighters within a reasonably short cable run, so you should check the wattage on the lamps and see if you've been overdriving it. There are 75w lamps available and consumers tend to want the brightest ones they can get without considering their power supply.

(Pay a little extra on the Phillips line of Dichroic reflector lamps - their 20w lamp has such an accurately faceted reflector it pushes out more candle power than some cheaper 50w lamps. True story.)

While the RCD is tripped you could whip the back off the junction box. There will be a mains tail in splitting through connector block to however many TRXs are in-line. The obvious way to connect a few items is for the wires to be twisted together and pushed into a terminal block. This is often where one of the cores will have slipped out between the others. Pushing against the wires with an insulated screwdriver should quickly identify something loose.

Take the lamps out before you do anything else. Reset the breaker and try one fitting at a time.

Looks like I must have overloaded the poor bastards, well the bigger transformer anyway. They're rated for 50W so I took that to mean it'll take any number of 50W bulbs. Not so much, it turns out!

350W into 150W won't go, I'm guessing. *In my defence* when I replaced the bulbs I copied what was already in there.

Sput wrote:Looks like I must have overloaded the poor bastards, well the bigger transformer anyway. They're rated for 50W so I took that to mean it'll take any number of 50W bulbs. Not so much, it turns out!

350W into 150W won't go, I'm guessing. *In my defence* when I replaced the bulbs I copied what was already in there.

Oh well - impressive that it lasted as long as it did.

If you're replacing it yourself, keep in mind the following things you should look for:

http://www.modelighting.com/index3.asp? ... rmer&set=2

Mode Lighting make reliable products. I've sold (and used) them for years. You could ring them and find out your nearest stockist (probably Ted Ruddiman at http://www.northern-stage.co.uk/index.htm or any number of electrical wholesalers).

A decent spark will charge you time + parts (about £40-50 per hour). He should be done inside the hour easily. Of course, finding a decent spark is another matter,

Go and look for the Phillips branded 20w lamps I mentioned on the other page. If you take cheaper lamps then you'll really notice the difference in output when you reduce the wattage.

I'd rather have the landlord pay, after all it was entirely 50W bulbs when I got here! Still, ta for the info. I'll look into those 20Ws, admittedly they don't need to be *amazing* because they're only about 4 feet from the surface they're illuminating.

I am worried about the halogens in the ceiling now though, since I can't see a transformer and there's no printed rating.

Sput wrote:I'd rather have the landlord pay, after all it was entirely 50W bulbs when I got here!

Yes I can see why. Besides, his insurance probably doesn't cover electrical work untertaken by tennants.

I would have done it myself for 15 quid, but I'm quite impatient.

You might want to mention you think the transformer has been burned out due to overloading - don't mention you changed any lamps. At least that way the spark might turn up with the appropriate parts to put it right on the first visit.

Gavin Scott wrote:

Sput wrote:I'd rather have the landlord pay, after all it was entirely 50W bulbs when I got here!

Yes I can see why. Besides, his insurance probably doesn't cover electrical work untertaken by tennants.

I would have done it myself for 15 quid, but I'm quite impatient.

You might want to mention you think the transformer has been burned out due to overloading - don't mention you changed any lamps. At least that way the spark might turn up with the appropriate parts to put it right on the first visit.

Oddly it's not tripping any more either. Do you mean changed any lamps since the thing failed?

Sput wrote:Oddly it's not tripping any more either. Do you mean changed any lamps since the thing failed?

I meant don't admit to any liability - even if you were just replacing like-for-like.

Is it working at all at the moment or is it dead?

There are two transformers on that switch, the lower-power transformer (2 bulbs) is working but the higher power (5 bulbs) isn't. I mentioned to the landlord that some bulbs needed changing right back at the start, but a couple didn't so I'll probably keep those (50w) ones in and put 20w ones in the rest so it looks like I got it right first time but didn't change the ones that were working by virtue of being cheap - which also plays into the idea of getting 20w ones instead of 50w!

Seems like a plan.

Well it's overloaded either way and this gives me plausible deniability

Its a very common problem. Stores like B&Q fucked the market by bringing consumer-level dichroic "eyeball" kits to their shelves. Typically they were packed in 3s with one 55va transformer in the pack. Fine if you run 3 x 20w lamps, but more often than not consumers put the more common 50w lamp in ("because it wasn't bright enough").

The differential in price to provide a more suitable TRX was nominal, but B&Q (and others) were determined to pitch at a certain price point in-store (like £19.99), and so hundreds of thousands of people have experienced the same problem you are now facing.

Silly, really. They could have just asked a professional.