micromusic Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I have some Sunstrips I am in the process of repairing. They currently each have a 13A UK plug on, is there any reason I can't swap them for male IEC plugs for use with a dimmer pack? According to Thomann and a few others websites, they take MR16 24V 75W lamps. Am I right to think that if each unit is using 10 x 75W lamps, the fixture is drawing 750W at 240v? i.e. just over 3A per unit (each channel on my dimmer packs have a 5A max rating.Note this is the sunstrip I, not the active DMX sunstrips (...I wish I had those though) :( Any helpful comments would be appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baldwin Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Yes, right on both counts. An IEC will be fine, and you've estimated the current draw correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micromusic Posted July 23, 2011 Author Share Posted July 23, 2011 thanks for that. I have one more question.... I need a way to test individual MR16's. I know you can get single GU10 lights that run at mains voltage (you sort you have mounted in your kitchen or whatever) but not sure I can get something similar for 24v. How about making one with a transformer and something like this? would this work or just be a waste of time? the problem is it only takes one dead lamp and the whole unit doesn't light up. short of buying 60 new MR16s, I can't think of a way to work out which work and which don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrV Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 thanks for that. I have one more question.... I need a way to test individual MR16's. I know you can get single GU10 lights that run at mains voltage (you sort you have mounted in your kitchen or whatever) but not sure I can get something similar for 24v. How about making one with a transformer and something like this? would this work or just be a waste of time? the problem is it only takes one dead lamp and the whole unit doesn't light up. short of buying 60 new MR16s, I can't think of a way to work out which work and which don't. You could just use a domestic 12v 'transformer' with that socket - it won't be testing the lamp at 100% but it would certainly give you a go/no-go indication. I put 'transformer' in quotes because most of them are not transformers but small switch mode power supplies and there are a lot of purists on here ;) Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBoomal Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Buy a continuity tester ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 put a neon across each lamp. when a lamp blows its neon will light up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micromusic Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 thanks for the comments guys. here is the result. http://s1177.photobucket.com/albums/x342/micromusic_86/ ta-da! not super elegant but for a couple of quid does the job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micromusic Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 ok one last question then I'm done. one of the lamps was looking noticably dim in the unit compared to all the others. I switched it for a good one and all was fine. then I put the dim one in the 12V tester and it came on really bright, as in full 75W bright. I checked and it definitely was a 24v (or so it said). any possible suggestions/explanations for this? most obvious to me is that it was an incorrectly labeled 12v lamp all along. would this explain the dimness when in the circuit with all the others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin D Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Putting a meter across the pins will tell you if the resistance is substantially different. There must be manufacturing errors and differences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrV Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 ok one last question then I'm done. one of the lamps was looking noticably dim in the unit compared to all the others. I switched it for a good one and all was fine. then I put the dim one in the 12V tester and it came on really bright, as in full 75W bright. I checked and it definitely was a 24v (or so it said). any possible suggestions/explanations for this? most obvious to me is that it was an incorrectly labeled 12v lamp all along. would this explain the dimness when in the circuit with all the others? One explanation is that it was a 24v lamp but of a higher power rating than the others. (Yes, higher makes it dimmer in this situation!). If you want an extreme example that you can get your head round easily, think about a set of fairy lights with 6v lamps and then remove one of them and replace it with a 6volt PAR36 - it wouldn't even glow. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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