New G4 bulbs not working properly.

christopherthomson55 · Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:07 am

Hi. I have an 8 point ceiling light with G4 bulbs in. 4 have gone and twice I have tried to replace them. One set stopped the whole light from working, the second set I bought dimmed all the lights and then slowly dimmed out the whole array on its own after a few minutes. Very weird. The bulbs were installed when we moved in so the typeface has faded on most but I'm pretty sure one says 12v 14 watt. Anyone who can enlighten me, it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Tue Sep 28, 2021 1:17 pm

I can't see transformer in your fitting, there won't for this type of ceiling light, if the G4 bulb says 14w 12v then won't work, you need 240v. BUT wait see what others say.

christopherthomson55 · Tue Sep 28, 2021 1:59 pm

Hi. Thanks for the response. I havent removed the light but the transformer must be in the hub. Four of the bulbs still work after 10 years, including the one that looks like 12v on the bulb neck. I want to avoid taking off the light fitting so maybe I should get 240 v G4s and try them.

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Tue Sep 28, 2021 2:14 pm

If your light does have a transformer, 240v lamps will not work.

What happens if you take one of the working lamps out and swap it with a non working lamp?

aeromech3 · Post by **aeromech3** » Tue Sep 28, 2021 3:22 pm

I didn't know they made 240v versions of this G4 lamp bulb, a similar one G9 with a curl to the legs yes; the ceiling fitting has vent slots so I suspect there is a transformer inside. Which type did you try, if 20w then it would cause problems as the transformer housing is quite small for a 12v 8x20w output.

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Tue Sep 28, 2021 4:19 pm

They do G4 LED 240V , not sure about G4 halogen 240V

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Tue Sep 28, 2021 5:01 pm

There is GY6.35 Halogen mains 240v (looks like G4 but different pin size or dimension, not sure what it is)

https://www.nationallampsandcomponents. ... en-capsule

Did you buy the ceiling light from abroad? May be Amazon or ebay?

Neelix · Post by **Neelix** » Tue Sep 28, 2021 5:11 pm

IIRC G4 is 12 only. There is probably a transformer in the base of the fitting and this will need a minimum load to work, so swapping all the bulbs for LED may not prove successful

ericmark · Post by **ericmark** » Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:30 pm

G4 come as 5 to 30 watt and as 6V, 12V, 24V and 28W. In the early days of G5.3 bulbs in MR16 lamps you could get kits with 10 watt bulbs, but normal size was 50 watt, I would suspect same with G4 and likely the lamp is designed for 5 watt.

It could even be designed for LED, which could go down to 1.2 watt, any quartz bulb will have some method to retain white hot bits if the bulb should explode, lamps like MR16 it is built into the bulb, with my G9 there is a frosted glass cover, if the fitting does not fully enclose the quartz then likely designed for LED.

I have seem lamps working without the covers, but there is clearly a fire risk, and also out of visual light output which it stopped with glass, with the old 300W and 500W flood lights there was a minimum distance they can be mounted from personal with no glass, which also resulted in if the tube failed it would be cool by time it reached the floor.

However I can't think of any way to work out what is required without looking at the transformer, if it is a toroidal transformer then likely you can use LED, if an electronic transformer then likely a minimum size so possibly can't use LED.

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 8:56 am

I think the manufacturer of the ceiling light is litecraft
Contact them https://www.litecraft.co.uk/ I am sure they will help

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 9:35 am

yartin wrote: ↑Wed Sep 29, 2021 8:56 amI think the manufacturer of the ceiling light is litecraft

They may well make the light, but as christopherthomson55 has not answered any questions yet, I for one have not given up.

christopherthomson55 · Wed Sep 29, 2021 4:27 pm

Thanks everyone. I'm going to try out various 12v bulbs again. Pretty sure LEDs may mess up again. We'll see.

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 5:46 pm

100% litecraft and you need G4 12V Low Voltage, halogen or LED, transformer is located in the ceiling cap.

This pic below is a similar ceiling light from same manufacturer, uses G4 12v, with same ceiling cap:

: litecraft.jpg (39.95 KiB) Viewed 4898 times

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143666696888 ... fresh=true

wine~o · Post by **wine~o** » Mon Oct 04, 2021 5:07 pm

christopherthomson55 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 29, 2021 4:27 pm Thanks everyone. I'm going to try out various 12v bulbs again. Pretty sure LEDs may mess up again. We'll see.

G4 Halogens @ 10 W should solve your issue, wear cotton gloves as oils from the skin will destroy the bulbs in no time. (I.m guessing you have a transformer that is rated max 120 VA