Replacing MR16 Altman Strip halogens with LEDs

[aboulay]

Hi, I have 10 Altman MR16_6 foot 3 circuit strip lights. 4 of them are being used at my daughters school for their Cyc. As with most schools dimmers and power are a concern. Instead of purchasing LED strips at this moment because of budget ,could I replace the 50watt 12v halogen bulbs with comparable LEDs ? (floods)
As a side question, would gelling the LEDs give the same result ? What color temperature would be recommended? I assume a warm white would not.
Thank-You in advance!

 

[TDN]

The quick answer is you probably could, but might not like it. You'll need to make sure you get dimmable versions of the LED lamp. Dimming at the lowest levels probably won't look as good- it gets a little choppy. Some lights will only dim down to 15% and then turn off.

Gelling won't give the same result, since the LEDs won't output the same as the Halogens, but the get better every year. Depending on which gel you are using, it may be acceptable.

Nothing wrong with an experiment- replace 1 circuit with LEDs and give it a try. I'd love to find out what you think, but I would not recommend shelling out enough money to replace all of them without giving it a try first

 

[Malabaristo]

I would actually be very surprised if this works. The concept of using 10 lamps wired in series to allow 12V lamps to be used on 120V circuits without a transformer is pretty unique to theatre applications. The MR16 replacement LED manufacturer almost certainly didn't have this application in mind when designing their product, so it would probably be best to contact them before trying it. There's a decent chance you could damage the LEDs.

Even without the oddity of this particular application, MR16 LEDs tend to have very poor dimming performance. It's a tiny package to try to fit decent electronics into while dealing with thermal management and all the other challenges of LEDs.

 

[aboulay]

The quick answer is you probably could, but might not like it. You'll need to make sure you get dimmable versions of the LED lamp. Dimming at the lowest levels probably won't look as good- it gets a little choppy. Some lights will only dim down to 15% and then turn off.

Gelling won't give the same result, since the LEDs won't output the same as the Halogens, but the get better every year. Depending on which gel you are using, it may be acceptable.

Nothing wrong with an experiment- replace 1 circuit with LEDs and give it a try. I'd love to find out what you think, but I would not recommend shelling out enough money to replace all of them without giving it a try first

Great reply.. so very much appreciated. AB

 

[aboulay]

I would actually be very surprised if this works. The concept of using 10 lamps wired in series to allow 12V lamps to be used on 120V circuits without a transformer is pretty unique to theatre applications. The MR16 replacement LED manufacturer almost certainly didn't have this application in mind when designing their product, so it would probably be best to contact them before trying it. There's a decent chance you could damage the LEDs.

Even without the oddity of this particular application, MR16 LEDs tend to have very poor dimming performance. It's a tiny package to try to fit decent electronics into while dealing with thermal management and all the other challenges of LEDs.

Thank you for the reply. On the Altman website the specs say that up to 75w 12v Mr16's with varying spot /flood angles are to be used in the X-rays. My initial assumption would be that the 12v LEDs would work also. I will try an altman rep via their helpline when I can. Thanks again for the input!

 

[TDN]

I had forgotten these were at 12v. Our gallery swapped over to LED MR16 lamps for the paintings and those are dimmed off of a wall circuit. I don't think they are 12v, but I might go raid the storage closet and take a look. You can get MR16s in a variety of flavors.