# Wrong transformer or resistance??

J

#### jan

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi All,

You've helped me out before and am hoping you can do it again.

I bought three battery operated light fixtures that you use in tight
places with no electricity [like a small closet]. Each takes four
batteries, so 1.5volts in series=6 v DC.

They work great and I wanted to use all three under a cabinet and,
instead of batteries, I would use a transformer. I found an 8volt
transformer rated at 325ma and wired the lights in parallel. With one
light on, all is fine. Two or three lights on and they get dimmer and
dimmer. Finally, two of the bulbs burned out, one after another.

Should I get different bulbs [screw base], a different xformer or need
to wire them differently??

Jan

G

#### grahamk

Jan 1, 1970
0
jan said:
Hi All,

You've helped me out before and am hoping you can do it again.

I bought three battery operated light fixtures that you use in tight
places with no electricity [like a small closet]. Each takes four
batteries, so 1.5volts in series=6 v DC.

They work great and I wanted to use all three under a cabinet and,
instead of batteries, I would use a transformer. I found an 8volt
transformer rated at 325ma and wired the lights in parallel. With one
light on, all is fine. Two or three lights on and they get dimmer and
dimmer. Finally, two of the bulbs burned out, one after another.

Should I get different bulbs [screw base], a different xformer or need
to wire them differently??

Jan

You need a 6 volt transformer. 8 volts is too high.
To find the current required for each lamp, divide its wattage by 12.
Multiply this by 3 (for 3 lamps).
The transformer must supply this current at a minimum, preferably a bit more.

G

#### grahamk

Jan 1, 1970
0
grahamk said:
jan said:
Hi All,

You've helped me out before and am hoping you can do it again.

I bought three battery operated light fixtures that you use in tight
places with no electricity [like a small closet]. Each takes four
batteries, so 1.5volts in series=6 v DC.

They work great and I wanted to use all three under a cabinet and,
instead of batteries, I would use a transformer. I found an 8volt
transformer rated at 325ma and wired the lights in parallel. With
one light on, all is fine. Two or three lights on and they get
dimmer and dimmer. Finally, two of the bulbs burned out, one after
another.

Should I get different bulbs [screw base], a different xformer or
need
to wire them differently??

Jan

You need a 6 volt transformer. 8 volts is too high.
To find the current required for each lamp, divide its wattage by 12.

SORRY!! I mean divide it by 6.

C

#### CFoley1064

Jan 1, 1970
0
Subject: Wrong transformer or resistance??
From: [email protected] (jan)
Date: 5/20/2004 1:33 PM Central Standard Time
Message-id: <[email protected]>

Hi All,

You've helped me out before and am hoping you can do it again.

I bought three battery operated light fixtures that you use in tight
places with no electricity [like a small closet]. Each takes four
batteries, so 1.5volts in series=6 v DC.

They work great and I wanted to use all three under a cabinet and,
instead of batteries, I would use a transformer. I found an 8volt
transformer rated at 325ma and wired the lights in parallel. With one
light on, all is fine. Two or three lights on and they get dimmer and
dimmer. Finally, two of the bulbs burned out, one after another.

Should I get different bulbs [screw base], a different xformer or need
to wire them differently??

Jan

Assuming your transformer can handle the current of all three bulbs in
parallel, here's a way to drop the voltage -- it aint pretty, but it'll do the
job (view in fixed font or M$Notepad): 6VAC From 8VAC FU1 D D D ____ .-->|-->|-->|--. o-|_--_|--. ,--o o----o------o------. )|( '--|<--|<--|<--' | 120 VAC )|( D D D | | | o---------' '--. .-. .-. .-. | ( X ) ( X ) ( X ) | '-' '-' '-' | | | | | | '-------------------o------o------' No matter which way the current is going, there'll be about 2V dropped across the three diodes before any significant current flows. That will give you an effective 6VAC. Now either set of three diodes is only conducting half the time, so you can play with the current rating of the diodes a little. If your total current is less than 1.3 amps or so, you can go with 1N4001 diodes. If it's less than 4 amps, you can use 1N5401 diodes for D. It's probably more sensible to just get a 6VAC transformer, but if not, I hope this helped. Good luck Chris J #### jan Jan 1, 1970 0 Subject: Wrong transformer or resistance?? From: [email protected] (jan) Date: 5/20/2004 1:33 PM Central Standard Time Message-id: <[email protected]> Hi All, You've helped me out before and am hoping you can do it again. I bought three battery operated light fixtures that you use in tight places with no electricity [like a small closet]. Each takes four batteries, so 1.5volts in series=6 v DC. They work great and I wanted to use all three under a cabinet and, instead of batteries, I would use a transformer. I found an 8volt transformer rated at 325ma and wired the lights in parallel. With one light on, all is fine. Two or three lights on and they get dimmer and dimmer. Finally, two of the bulbs burned out, one after another. Should I get different bulbs [screw base], a different xformer or need to wire them differently?? Thanks in advance. Jan Assuming your transformer can handle the current of all three bulbs in parallel, here's a way to drop the voltage -- it aint pretty, but it'll do the job (view in fixed font or M$ Notepad):

6VAC From 8VAC

FU1 D D D
____ .-->|-->|-->|--.
o-|_--_|--. ,--o o----o------o------.
)|( '--|<--|<--|<--' |
120 VAC )|( D D D | | |
o---------' '--. .-. .-. .-.
| ( X ) ( X ) ( X )
| '-' '-' '-'
| | | |
| |
'-------------------o------o------'

No matter which way the current is going, there'll be about 2V dropped across
the three diodes before any significant current flows. That will give you an
effective 6VAC.

Now either set of three diodes is only conducting half the time, so you can
play with the current rating of the diodes a little. If your total current is
less than 1.3 amps or so, you can go with 1N4001 diodes. If it's less than 4
amps, you can use 1N5401 diodes for D.

It's probably more sensible to just get a 6VAC transformer, but if not, I hope
this helped.

Good luck
Chris

Hi Chris,

Since the xformer is too low on current, would it be better to get a
higher current 6vdc xformer? Acutally, I don't understand why I
should go to AC.

Jan

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