A little warning for all DIY'ers

[Skitzmixer]

Got a call from a friend who asked me to look at why the down light wasn't working in their enclosure.
This is what I found after taking it apart:



Hopefully this serves are a reminder for those who build there own enclosures to be extremely careful. Thankfully the inhabitants are all ok and there was no further damage done.

Hope this servers as a bit of a warning and prevents someone else from making the same mistake.

 

[Trimeresurus]

What kind of wood is that?

 

[Skitzmixer]

Melamine for the enclosure, and i'm not sure what wood was used to mount the globes in.

 

[AirCooled]

Did you ascertain the cause? faulty wiring,poor quality components,incorrect components/materials used,etc

 

[Skitzmixer]

I think it was because there wasn't enough ventilation for the halogen light, it was in a box with some holes drilled in the sides for ventilation there just wasn't enough holes to keep the heat down.

 

[phatty]

Doesn't look.like the was any ventilation to allow heat to escape

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[Skitzmixer]

Doesn't look.like the was any ventilation to allow heat to escape

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Yup, there was some holes in the side of it, but wasn't enough. Just lucky nothing else happened.

 

[phatty]

These light have a lot of heat when you buy them they normally have a cage to go over the top to allow heat to go into the roof and keep unwanted materials out of contact

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[killacoastal8u]

There was def no where for the heat I use down lights and they are well ventilated so I've never had that issue


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[Skitzmixer]

Yeah it was a bit intense, its a silly mistake that could of been easily avoided. Just thought I'd share it just in case anyone else was thinking about doing the same thing. Never know.

 

[lizardwhisperer]

When I installed my 35W or 50W halogens/dichrotics I used a pendulum style all ceramic e27 fitting and proper all ceramic (imported !) gu10-e27 adapter and suspended it all about 1" from the ceiling of my enclosure (all inside a wire cage), this way there was lots of air circulating around and past the hot globe and fittings and there was no direct physical contact with the ceiling of the enclosures and the reps had no way of coming into contact with the very hot globe / gu10 and e27 fittings).

The guy who had the faulty installation (would have to have been a dodgey job = faulty -= DANGEROUS) was lucky not to have incinerated his pets and burn his house down IMO judging from the images seen above.

At the very least he should have had a sparky check it over BEFORE turning on the lamp, and he should have used ceramic wall or floor tiles as a thermal barrier between the fitting and roof - NOT wood.

 

[Skitzmixer]

I think they under estimated how hot they really get.

 

[Stuart]

Good on you for helping out and especially for sharing mate.

 

[Snowman]

Great example of someone installing something without any knowledge of the Australian standard pertaining to lighting.

 

[Ephemera]

Lucky escape for him & the animals. What did he have in there?

 

[Skitzmixer]

Great example of someone installing something without any knowledge of the Australian standard pertaining to lighting.

Exactly why I wanted to post it, so people don't make the same mistake they did and not to go a sparky in the first place.

 

[Ramsayi]

Great example of someone installing something without any knowledge of the Australian standard pertaining to lighting.

What is the standard with regard to space around halogens in enclosed areas?

 

[Snowman]

What is the standard with regard to space around halogens in enclosed areas?

Couldn't tell you without looking it up. But there is a minimum hight above the fitting and the distance next to it varies depending on installation, and things like fireproof covers. Halogens using normal house downlights can not be used to code most times in a viv because of the distance from fitting to roof of enclosure being too close. I think it's 200 or 300mm above a halogen minimum. But like I said Id have to check.

 

[OldestMagician]

From AS3000 (it's Amendment 1, Amendment 2 has just come out so there may be changes)

 

[Snowman]

From AS3000 (it's Amendment 1, Amendment 2 has just come out so there may be changes)

View attachment 296076

Woohoo.. I guessed 200 or 300mm above. It's 200mm Also 200mm side clearance is says. So who has a 200mm square box and a heat resistant mount for their halogens? I'm guessing not many DIY's...