LED House Light Retrofit

Hello all, I am hoping to find retrofit LED lamps for my house lights. Attached are images of the lamps currently used. We are experiencing the fixtures getting so hot that a few wires have been melted through in some fixtures, as well as the base of the lamp snapping off from the rest of the lamp when we got to change it and remaining fused into the fixture.

Help?
 

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You won't get good dimming and it would help to see while fixture but check out the RLED line of retrofits. About the best mains dimming I have seen.
 
Hello all, I am hoping to find retrofit LED lamps for my house lights. Attached are images of the lamps currently used. We are experiencing the fixtures getting so hot that a few wires have been melted through in some fixtures, as well as the base of the lamp snapping off from the rest of the lamp when we got to change it and remaining fused into the fixture.

Help?
Are the the lights pendants or recessed? If recessed and in an attic space you have access to, make sure there isn't too much insulation covering them. That is the same lamp that was used in the house lights at a church I used to work at. The only problem I ever had with them was some would randomly shut off, then come back on about 5 minutes later. The fixture was getting too hot and a thermal sensor was shutting it off. After enough people complained, I was asked to see what I could do to fix it. It was only in the back third of the room that was newer construction. I went in the the attic, traveled all the way back to the new section and found that the insulation had just been laid over them. I removed the insulation from the top of them and this issue basically went away. The only time they might shut off was a very hot, sunny summer afternoon. Most of the time the auditorium wasn't being used at that time anyway.
 
If you happen to find a good solution let us know. I'm curious about Bill's suggestion of RLED. Those look nice, but whats the cost of these units?
 
If you happen to find a good solution let us know. I'm curious about Bill's suggestion of RLED. Those look nice, but whats the cost of these units?
A lot more than a lamp, less than replacing fixtures. I don't know currently but would guess more than $400 and not more than $600. Call them - small shop IIRC.
 
Hello all, I am hoping to find retrofit LED lamps for my house lights. Attached are images of the lamps currently used. We are experiencing the fixtures getting so hot that a few wires have been melted through in some fixtures, as well as the base of the lamp snapping off from the rest of the lamp when we got to change it and remaining fused into the fixture.

Help?

Apart from the primary question, the issue with bases snapping off can be helped by applying a light coating of dielectric grease to the threads of the bulbs when installing them.

What is the wattage of the current bulbs? I'm guessing 250W or so? And it appears to be an E12 (candelabra) base? Finding an LED bulb in that base with sufficient lumen output may be problematic. At 250W incandescent/halogen the lumen output will probably be in the 5,500/6,000 range, which will require ~60 or so LED watts to meet, which from what I've seen tends to require an E39 (mogul) base fixture - with the exception of the RLED option linked, as long as the sockets are oriented vertically - or can be adapted to that configuration.

I just replaced half of the house lights in our auditorium - 250W metal halide HID - with 65W LED bulbs (https://www.platt.com/platt-electri...t-Design/LED-8046M42/product.aspx?zpid=159644) because the ballasts were burned out. It was about the same price to buy the LED bulbs as the replacement ballasts. It also reduced the energy consumption by roughly 75% and eliminated the warm-up time of HID lighting. The ballast was eliminated from the circuit as the LED bulbs run on AC voltage between 120 and 277.

Semi-facetiously, you could always replace the wiring with high-temp wire (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001ALK97C/?tag=controlbooth-20).
 
Per the last picture, Q150CL/MC-130V so 150W mini candelabra E11 base. Any chance you could take a picture of the fixtures and post them? Also, do you ever run those at full, if so how often and for how long? What kind of dimmer are they hooked up to - wall dimmer or dimmer rack? Because of the E11 base you're going to be hard pressed to find a suitable LED replacement for them.
 
Check the fixture data. Some fixtures are designed for a frosted lamp, not clear. I've had that exact problem in the past with this size lamp - that the clear allowed too much heat to be concentrated in a small area.
 
But wouldn't the frosted bulb reach higher temperatures since the frosting would block light?

I don't know if you are being facetious for April 1 or sincere, but I don't think it blocks much light. I suspect it distributes the heat - as radiant energy - more evenly and with fewer hot spots. Whatever is happening, I know I have had problems in the past with heating and using clear instead of frosted IIRC. One of the good things about LED - dramatically less heat.
 
I can't help but wonder if someone replaced failing sockets with the wrong type. The E11 base is used for a wide range of wattages and temperatures, so I'm guessing there are several versions of the socket. That would explain both the lamp welding itself in and the melting wires.
 
Quite a bit. Like triple an Incito which does a good job. Not in the re-lamp ballpark. But a great product that does a very good job and has lots of nifty features.
 
While we're on the subject, does anyone have a favorite mains dimmable Par 38/R40 retrofit? I know they're not perfect, but I'd like to get a few ideas for samples to test in the sconces at my theatre. I have heard good things about TCP's lamps. In this case, they only really have to be 100-150w equivalent.

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For the sake of not hijacking the thread completely, I agree with the suggestion of consulting the fixture manufacturer and/or switching to frosted mini-can lamps. We use those as well in my space, but haven't had any issues like you describe and we opened in 1995. As far as LED retrofits, I think it will be several years before we get a plug-n-play solution as bright as 500w in that small of a package. The R-LED line does look very promising and I might look in to that for upcoming grants. We only have 8 downlights that don't currently present much of an issue but they are used quite extensively. Since the fixtures are somewhat chosen for the building, it would be nice to retrofit rather than replace.
 
I use to like TCP lamps but then had a project and they did not dim well at all. Both times on Fleenor DMXDIM pack. TCP had changed the lamp.

It's a problem with LEAD lamps and fixtures. It's developing so fast that manufacturers change a product but don't change the name or model no. So it means that a sample today may not predict what happens when you get the ones you ordered base on sample.

I do not believe you'll find a retrofit that will have decent lower end dimming. I've about given up.

Good luck.
 
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I do not believe you'll find a retrofit that will have decent lower end dimming. I've about given up.

Good luck.

Honestly, I think I'm going to buy some 130v R40's for $7 each and call it a day. I have my doubts that energy savings from going LED would balance out any time soon with an install as small as this. I recently took over the tech for this space and in the past they kept sneaking in various awful CFL's and LED's in a misguided attempt to save money, when there are so many other non-dimming lights around the facility that could benefit instead. Gotta love working a facility where the mantra has been "it's right as long as it fits" for the last decade. Recently took some (dead) CFL's out of a few exterior medium-based metal halide fixtures...
 

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