5 Amp lighting circuit question

[swisstoni]

I've had an uplighter with a GU10 led bulb working perfectly fine in a 13a socket for a few months.

Today I have finally got around to replacing the plug with a 5 Amp lighting circuit plug and plugging it into the lighting circuit which has always been the plan. (The lighting circuit is controlled by a wall dimmer).

Light no longer works.

Have tested the socket - works ok with a different lamp.
Have tested my wiring of the new plug - works in an adaptor plugged into a 13a socket.
Have changed the led bulb for a halogen - no change.

Are there some lights that just won't work on a 5 amp lighting socket? Running out of ideas.

[anonymous-user]

Spotlights don’t like dimmer switches, I don’t think LEDs do either. Something to do with the current they draw.

[Blakeatron]

It's probably the led bulb - you should really use an led specific dimmmer for them

[swisstoni]

I replaced the LED bulb with a halogen - didn't work.

[Blakeatron]

We have 5amp, and the led lights flickered constantly and 1 lamp refused to work - changed the dimmer to an led one and worked fine!

Have you got another 5amp circuit without a dimmer to try it on?

[swisstoni]

Blakeatron said:

We have 5amp, and the led lights flickered constantly and 1 lamp refused to work - changed the dimmer to an led one and worked fine!

Have you got another 5amp circuit without a dimmer to try it on?

Funny enough I have just tried that and the light works!

So, back to square one with finding uplighters to work with the dimmer or replacing the dimmer. Shouldn't be this difficult.

Thanks anyway Folks.

[mickmcpaddy]

This might sound stupid but you do know the 5A socket is most probably controlled from a light switch or dimmer somewhere. Do you have a switch that appears to do nothing?

edit, just seen your post, I would have thought a halogen lamp would work with the dimmer though was it blown?

[swisstoni]

mickmcpaddy said:

This might sound stupid but you do know the 5A socket is most probably controlled from a light switch or dimmer somewhere. Do you have a switch that appears to do nothing?

edit, just seen your post, I would have thought a halogen lamp would work with the dimmer though was it blown?

Cheers. The halogen not working in the dimmed 5a is still a bit of mystery. It's a 50w. I suppose I might try with a lower watt bulb and see if the dimmer will accept it.
Otherwise, it's just something about the lamp that the dimmer doesn't like, regardless of LED or Halogen bulb I suppose.

[mickmcpaddy]

swisstoni said:

Cheers. The halogen not working in the dimmed 5a is still a bit of mystery. It's a 50w. I suppose I might try with a lower watt bulb and see if the dimmer will accept it.
Otherwise, it's just something about the lamp that the dimmer doesn't like, regardless of LED or Halogen bulb I suppose.

All dimmers have a minimum wattage as well as a maximum one, some standard dimmers have a minimum of 60W and a max of 400W, but when a single 50W halogen is controlled by a 60W min dimmer they tend to flicker a bit but still light up quite bright.

Same with LEDs really they may not work correctly but at least they usually do something.

[swisstoni]

Well this is all a bit odd.
I tried a different brand uplighter lamp with a different brand GU10 LED bulb in the original dimmed 5a socket and the light came on!
It could be turned up brighter and down a bit, but wouldn't go off completely. Even when the dimmer switch was pressed in, it wouldn't go off!.
Still, some progress.

Then for a laugh I tried the original LED in this fitting - it now worked! I could turn it up and down AND turn it off.

So then I put the original LED on the original uplighter and now I can do everything I wanted to do in the first place.
It is as if the dimmer has learnt what to do!

I hate electrics.

[57 Chevy]

I think you're better off with smart lighting over 5amp circuits these days, much more flexible.

[mickmcpaddy]

It could be that its getting a bit warmer and resistances change and what not, you might be back to square one tomorrow morning though.

You can change the individual modules in the dimmers without changing any front plates usually, the v-pro dimmer module is good for LEDs. Bit of a sod to program though.

Alternatively, BG do an adjustable dimmer from Screwfix

and I've had some success with these in the past.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aurora-Cross-Dimmer-Retro...

V pro module

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Varilight-V-Pro-Dimmer-Sw...