# Low Voltage Recessed Light Problem



## aerickson1889 (Nov 20, 2012)

Hey guys, was at a customers today for a little work and to check out a light that was not working. My problem is with the light(I did not do this work). The customer said the bulb burnt out and then they replaced it. It worked for a while and then stopped working, then started again and now it died completely. These are 12V recessed lights and take MR16 bulbs. The housing is good for 50W and these bulbs are only 35W. I voltage tested the socket and we are all good(14V... not ideal I guess but same as other ones in the house that are working fine). There is not loose wire in the socket or any problems at all with it. Ive tried a bulb that i know works and still..... nothing! Any ideas? This is kind of frustrating...


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## 3D Electric (Mar 24, 2013)

aerickson1889 said:


> Hey guys, was at a customers today for a little work and to check out a light that was not working. My problem is with the light(I did not do this work). The customer said the bulb burnt out and then they replaced it. It worked for a while and then stopped working, then started again and now it died completely. These are 12V recessed lights and take MR16 bulbs. The housing is good for 50W and these bulbs are only 35W. I voltage tested the socket and we are all good(14V... not ideal I guess but same as other ones in the house that are working fine). There is not loose wire in the socket or any problems at all with it. Ive tried a bulb that i know works and still..... nothing! Any ideas? This is kind of frustrating...


Most cans have thermo sensors inside them. If it if going bad the lights will come on and off and when it's done nothing will work at all. Check for that sensor. Little rectangle with two wires going to it


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## gnuuser (Jan 13, 2013)

aerickson1889 said:


> Hey guys, was at a customers today for a little work and to check out a light that was not working. My problem is with the light(I did not do this work). The customer said the bulb burnt out and then they replaced it. It worked for a while and then stopped working, then started again and now it died completely. These are 12V recessed lights and take MR16 bulbs. The housing is good for 50W and these bulbs are only 35W. I voltage tested the socket and we are all good(14V... not ideal I guess but same as other ones in the house that are working fine). There is not loose wire in the socket or any problems at all with it. Ive tried a bulb that i know works and still..... nothing! Any ideas? This is kind of frustrating...



a 35 watt 12 volt light will produce a fair amount of heat
without seeing them i would guess it may be a worn contact 
did you test that bulb in a different socket?


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## aerickson1889 (Nov 20, 2012)

3D Electric said:


> Most cans have thermo sensors inside them. If it if going bad the lights will come on and off and when it's done nothing will work at all. Check for that sensor. Little rectangle with two wires going to it


But how come the socket would still have voltage at it? Would the thermo sensor not kill the power to the socket?


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## aerickson1889 (Nov 20, 2012)

gnuuser said:


> a 35 watt 12 volt light will produce a fair amount of heat
> without seeing them i would guess it may be a worn contact
> did you test that bulb in a different socket?


Bulb is fine. Tried in other housing... Worked fine


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## Fishingeveryday (Jul 16, 2012)

aerickson1889 said:


> Bulb is fine. Tried in other housing... Worked fine


Loose contact. I constantly am replacing them in apartments that are wood framed. The vibration from heavy footed neighbours above wear out the clamp contact. 

Get some from the supply house. They tend to be better quality and last longer.


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## aerickson1889 (Nov 20, 2012)

Fishingeveryday said:


> Loose contact. I constantly am replacing them in apartments that are wood framed. The vibration from heavy footed neighbours above wear out the clamp contact.
> 
> Get some from the supply house. They tend to be better quality and last longer.


Will do. Thanks for the help


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## svh19044 (Jul 1, 2008)

Replace the socket.


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## Auselect (Dec 2, 2011)

aerickson1889 said:


> Hey guys, was at a customers today for a little work and to check out a light that was not working. My problem is with the light(I did not do this work). The customer said the bulb burnt out and then they replaced it. It worked for a while and then stopped working, then started again and now it died completely. These are 12V recessed lights and take MR16 bulbs. The housing is good for 50W and these bulbs are only 35W. I voltage tested the socket and we are all good(14V... not ideal I guess but same as other ones in the house that are working fine). There is not loose wire in the socket or any problems at all with it. Ive tried a bulb that i know works and still..... nothing! Any ideas? This is kind of frustrating...


In my experience, MR16 sockets are notorious for open circuiting, just replace the socket if you can.
Not sure what the issue is with them but I'm guessing its because of the heat produced. 
IMO, 35W are available in LED, I would talk the HO into upgrading.
I have the same issue on a couple if jobs, changing the sockets sometimes works, sometimes it's only for a few months. I'm waiting for a reputable manufacturer to invent a 50W LED MR16 that has the same lumen (600 I think) so I can change them all out and stop replacing sockets.


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## electricmanscott (Feb 11, 2010)

svh19044 said:


> Replace the socket.


 Mr16 stuff is crapola. The sockets fail regularly. At least lightolier is smart enough to make them easy to replace.


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## Fishingeveryday (Jul 16, 2012)

electricmanscott said:


> Mr16 stuff is crapola. The sockets fail regularly. At least lightolier is smart enough to make them easy to replace.


This is why I use line voltage pots with standard screw in base mr16 bulbs. No failures or buzzing from transformers


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## svh19044 (Jul 1, 2008)

electricmanscott said:


> Mr16 stuff is crapola. The sockets fail regularly. At least lightolier is smart enough to make them easy to replace.


In 8 years of using Juno mr16 low voltage I have replaced very few sockets. I've replaced 100's of europhase (within a year or two at that  ) and a handful of Lightolier (but I don't know how long they were in use for and they were the ones without the heat shield). 

Forget cheap sockets with no heat shield at all, they go out all the time. I'll continue to stick with quality low voltage MR16 fixtures. You'll end up replacing a 120v halogen bulb 5x's or more before having to replace the socket or bulb on a low voltage mr16.


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