Rechargeable Light Bulbs

Geoff.D said:
Heh heh. Ja it is hilarious the crap some shop salesmen will spout to try and get you to buy.
Was hoping to find an el cheapo to open up. No luck. Not going to open up a R 70 unit.
Also heard about Eurolux fixing their problems and that their new R 120 unit will last for 15 years.
Should have gone into the BALABALA store to see what they have.
The oke in the electronic shop was not too happy about me wanting to take a pic of the installation instructions for the one that requires a resistor between live and neutral.
What battery was in the one you opened up?

Is the natural capacitance in the wiring enough to trigger the light or must there be a minimum number of lights in the house for these things to work?
I only had one which worked okay in our passage until it popped which was only about 1 year.
Click to expand...
Opened it up a while ago asked the wife now where she put it and i just got a it was broken i threw it away look, I can't recall what type of battery it was (lol it was blue :) i think) - I don't think there must be a minimum as i bought one installed it - tested it (with power off) it worked and carried on fitting the next one.
Only on the fan lights it's a little annoying , when you switch the fan / light of at the switch , you need to turn off the light (string switch) at fan as it as it detects power out at the switch and so the light stays on.

On the one that popped the Battery part lasts longer then the 220V part oddly enough - i could still turn the battery powered LED's on even though the 220v ones did not work anymore
 
isie said:
Opened it up a while ago asked the wife now where she put it and i just got a it was broken i threw it away look, I can't recall what type of battery it was (lol it was blue :) i think) - I don't think there must be a minimum as i bought one installed it - tested it (with power off) it worked and carried on fitting the next one.
Only on the fan lights it's a little annoying , when you switch the fan / light of at the switch , you need to turn off the light (string switch) at fan as it as it detects power out at the switch and so the light stays on.

On the one that popped the Battery part lasts longer then the 220V part oddly enough - i could still turn the battery powered LED's on even though the 220v ones did not work anymore
Click to expand...
Sounds like an SSC (Solid State Contactor) failure similar to what I found.
OT by similar. I opened up a failed Hellerman Geyser timer to see what was wrong with it. Found a popped resistor, a popped SSC and the battery was buggered. CR2450 3V Li-Ion. Trying to replace the battery. The battery charger circuit is okay and the timer works very well. So if I can replace the battery I plan to use the timer part to drive an external Analogue contactor.
 
linkinpark said:
Anybody here use them? What's the quality and reliability like?
Looking to get a few for the house, but it's difficult to judge quality online.
Cheapest i've seen is some Litemate ones at around R70 at takealot and there's Light Worx ones for twice the price.

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
Click to expand...
Sooo I bought the "5pack" for R70. And they delivered one light bulb
 
Suspect99 said:
Sooo I bought the "5pack" for R70. And they delivered one light bulb
Click to expand...
Succumbed to my curiosity on the R 70 job I bought for use in the lounge as a replacement for the one that failed.
Found a way to peak inside. Same 3v AAA batteries as the older one.
Same issue about only working if the fan is on. Same crappy detection circuit. Same piece of Chinese junk with a fancy label
 
Geoff.D said:
Succumbed to my curiosity on the R 70 job I bought for use in the lounge as a replacement for the one that failed.
Found a way to peak inside. Same 3v AAA batteries as the older one.
Same issue about only working if the fan is on. Same crappy detection circuit. Same piece of Chinese junk with a fancy label
Click to expand...
These litemate ones say Li-on 1200 mAh on the box.

PXL_20210215_085548158_1.jpg
 
Geoff.D said:
Succumbed to my curiosity on the R 70 job I bought for use in the lounge as a replacement for the one that failed.
Found a way to peak inside. Same 3v AAA batteries as the older one.
Same issue about only working if the fan is on. Same crappy detection circuit. Same piece of Chinese junk with a fancy label
Click to expand...
One of the fixtures I have on my house they go 'always on' so they never switch off when you switch off. The same bulbs different fixture and they work as intended. I've got the litmate and eurolux ones...
 
Ive been through quite a few of these, all diferent makes etc.
Most of them didnt last very long. Some would just stay on, some stopped working after a few weeks.
The Litemate ones are great and are sold by Leroy Merlin Link and so far have worked 100% in all fittings. I have replaced all my downstairs lights and some upstairs ones with them.
They were on special for R50 each a few weeks back, but are now back to original price R100.
They last about 3 hours, but if you have them all over your house you just turn on another light if needed.
 
Still intrigued to know if anyone has worked out or found a full write up about how the detection circuits work.
The claim is they work based on capacitance detected. So with a fan fitting with a 2 uF capacitor, it works. But moving the bulb to another non fan fitting now relies on what? Where does the capacitance come from?

What happens if you only have single bulb fittings and they are all dead or off?
What role does an earth play or are earthed fittings irrelevant?
 
Geoff.D said:
Still intrigued to know if anyone has worked out or found a full write up about how the detection circuits work.
The claim is they work based on capacitance detected. So with a fan fitting with a 2 uF capacitor, it works. But moving the bulb to another non fan fitting now relies on what? Where does the capacitance come from?

What happens if you only have single bulb fittings and they are all dead or off?
What role does an earth play or are earthed fittings irrelevant?
Click to expand...

My favourite Leccy breaks it down and explains it great (if you like the blood and guts of circuits too):

Another video as well with a higher level overview
- Interactions with Earth and Multi-light fixtures ( TLDR: It can be an issue because of noisey neighbours causing load with a shared switch )
 
I bought some rechargeable lamps recently. They seemed to work OK however out of curiousity I opened one up and was not particularly happy with what I saw inside. Has anyone used a lamp that seemed to last of a known brand?
 
BoxFish said:
I bought some rechargeable lamps recently. They seemed to work OK however out of curiousity I opened one up and was not particularly happy with what I saw inside. Has anyone used a lamp that seemed to last of a known brand?
Click to expand...
No. I have not found one that makes it through a year. Hence why I only have one of these.
 
I bought one of these as a test
www.electromannsa.com

##REDUCED TO CLEAR## Digimark 7 watt B22 Smart LED Rechargeable bulb

##REDUCED TO CLEAR## Digimark 7watt Smart LED Rechargeable bulb (10002913) These are Bayonet type. We also have a bayonet to screw adapter (click here) Ideal for load shedding and power outages Will run approximately 3 hours per charge Simply replace any existing bulb
www.electromannsa.com www.electromannsa.com

It's not incredibly bright in the bathroom, unfortunately still only have cool white colours, which I don't mind in bathroom and kitchen, wouldn't mind trying to find a warm white for bedrooms.
It has also only had about 3 sessions of load shedding and it's worked.
 
I had two that didnt go off. When I moved them to another room, they worked. What could be causing this?
 
Aharon said:
I had two that didnt go off. When I moved them to another room, they worked. What could be causing this?
Click to expand...
because of the way it works - the room they didn't work - do you have 2 switches for those fittings or other lights causing an issue
One of my friends had an issue it wouldn't work on a fitting with 2 globes if both were this type - but on mines it works with 3 - so its a trial and error thing

lol have one in a desk lamp and does not work if the lamp is not plugged in - even though there isn't power :)
 
isie said:
because of the way it works - the room they didn't work - do you have 2 switches for those fittings or other lights causing an issue
One of my friends had an issue it wouldn't work on a fitting with 2 globes if both were this type - but on mines it works with 3 - so its a trial and error thing
Click to expand...
Thanks :)

So current setup is a 3 light fitting, with two globes in - both rechargeable. The switch on the wall has two switches on it, on for the kitchen and one for outside.

I tried a third globe and I created a mini-explosion, lights tripped and there is a hole in the bulb converter - seems something was wrong with it, because the bulb still works and a new fitting converter and all three lights worked too.

Back to two globes though... now alternating ones stay on, or if I play with the switch - on/off/on/off eventually they go off.
 
I bought 5 Eurolux rechargeble globes over the last 7/8 months (in the link below). One of then caught fire about 5 minutes after switching it on (on Eskom power and charging), it was about a month old at that stage. Fortunetaly we were home and smelled the melting plastic and black smoke. I am no longer keeping these switched on when not at home or while sleeping.

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
 
Koosvanwyk said:
I bought 5 Eurolux rechargeble globes over the last 7/8 months (in the link below). One of then caught fire about 5 minutes after switching it on (on Eskom power and charging), it was about a month old at that stage. Fortunetaly we were home and smelled the melting plastic and black smoke. I am no longer keeping these switched on when not at home or while sleeping.

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
Click to expand...
Did it trip the lights? Thats a scary story
 
Koosvanwyk said:
I bought 5 Eurolux rechargeble globes over the last 7/8 months (in the link below). One of then caught fire about 5 minutes after switching it on (on Eskom power and charging), it was about a month old at that stage. Fortunetaly we were home and smelled the melting plastic and black smoke. I am no longer keeping these switched on when not at home or while sleeping.

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
Click to expand...
I bought some no name ones. Those batteries can get very hot !!
 
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