LED indoor floods replacement help

[thunderfog]

I'm afraid to post this for fear of sounding like an idiot, but here goes:

We have recessed lighting in the kitchen that uses 65W indoor floods. The house is 10 years old, we've been in it 4 years. The bulbs in there now are incandescent and are burning out.

I went and picked up some LED indoor floods, rated at the 65W using 10W, and dimmer compatible (we have a dimmer switch).

They won't work. They seem to fit properly, and other of the old bulbs tried out in the fixture proves that it is working right and has not failed.

What am I doing wrong? Is there an issue with using a mix of LED and incandescent on the same switch?

 

[JHZR2]

Ive mixed incandescent and LED on the same switch. Are you sure the LEDs work (in another socket)? I guess my concern is that you have a false indication of it being screwed in, but its not actually bottomed out, because the base is slightly thicker.

it is an Edison base, right?

 

[bubbatime]

Try the bulbs in a regular outlet to ensure they work.

Then unscrew all the incan lights and try just the LED lights.

 

[Kestas]

Do the LED bulbs work in other parts of the house?

 

[JTK]

Yep, test them in a table lamp socket or the likes. I had one weird phenomena with a pair of name brand LED Edison base replacements in a lamp with twin sockets, 180deg apart. The LEDs lamps would strobe installed this way. Kept separate, they are fine.

 

[Fsharp]

The LEDs might be dimmer compatible but not compatible with your specific dimmer switch especially if it's an older switch.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Try putting them into sockets on a regular switch, both with and without incandescent bulbs on the switch. If it works, then the issue is either with the switch (how old is the dimmer?) or the combination of incandescent bulbs and LED bulbs. That should be pretty easy to narrow down.

If that's not it, then it's time to test the voltage at the socket.

 

[Lenny5160]

You are getting good responses above, but let me suggest something else since I recently purchased a new (to me) home and had a TON of flood bulbs in recessed cans that I wanted to replace with LED.

I replaced all of my recessed can bulbs with these on the recommendation of an electrician friend:

Recessed LED with Trim - 4 pack

These are a snap to install, the brightness is great, and it even replaced my old yellowed trim rings. The price is equal to an LED flood bulb. You may still have dimmer issues if your switch is not LED-compatible, but I like these MUCH better than bulbs.

I even dropped one from 10-12 feet. Climbed off the ladder, picked it up, installed it and it worked perfectly. I've put 14 of these in my house. Extremely pleased.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

First set the dimmer to full-brightness. Second, try the LED1 in a socket or circuit without a dimmer. Most LEDs (bulbs or recessed bulb/trim) will require a special LED compatible dimmer. Older dimmers that worked with incandescent, will either cause the LEDS to flicker, hum or not work at all).

 

[thunderfog]

Ok, you guys are great, and I appreciate the responses. I was not paying attention to the slightly thicker base, as someone had mentioned above. The bulb was getting screwed in, and the tightness was coming from the bulb against the narrowing recessed lighting trim, and there was no contact being made. It was not obvious at the time. I was actually able to drop the socket down in the trim a half inch or so, and that did the trick.

Thanks everyone (JHZR2), and apologies for the overly simplistic problem I couldn't solve!

 

[RF Overlord]

"I love it when a plan comes together."

-Hannibal Smith