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Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 19th, 2022, 3:55 pm
by GeoffF100
I have three under cabinet strip lights in a small kitchen, with a 60W equivalent light above. I replaced to original tubes with energy saving ones (Bell, I think). The fittings are Linolite 284 mm 60W. I have to twiddle the tubes to get them to light, and that has become impossible with one of them. I expect that the tubes are a little too small for the fittings. Perhaps it is time to install LED lights in their place. I have had a look at Screwfix, and found this:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/robus-spear- ... 05lm/692fh

That is the equivalent of 30W. Three of those should be enough. Is that a complete kit, or do I need separate tubes? Can I just connect them to the existing wires?

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 19th, 2022, 4:28 pm
by monabri
To me it looks like you get a 3W light which is an LED within the housing as a complete unit. The Screwfix details say you get 1 light per pack (£13.49) and that does NOT have serviceable parts - hence the LED is integral to the housing and when it fails, the whole unit is scrapped. The lights can be linked together using "spear link lead" - see below.

The voltage is 240V so these would be plugged into a normal 3 pin wall socket.



Accessories:
RLSTR250LEAD: Spear link lead 250mm cable
RLSTR500LEAD: Spear link lead 500mm cable
RLSTR1000LEAD: Spear link lead 1000mm cable

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 19th, 2022, 4:32 pm
by AF62
GeoffF100 wrote:Is that a complete kit, or do I need separate tubes? Can I just connect them to the existing wires?


There are no 'bulbs' as the LEDs are integral to the fitting - if it ever failed it would be a new fitting.

And yes you might be able to connect them to the existing plugs, depending on the plug your existing lights have. When I used similar to replace some fluorescent tubes the brand I bought had an adapter in case the existing lights had a different format plug. If these don't then you would need to change the wiring (or being Screwfix, take them back and buy a set that did fit).

Instruction manual is here - https://robus.com/catalogue/product/spe ... 75mm-white

Make sure you make the right choice between the warm white and cool white colours that are available.

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 19th, 2022, 4:43 pm
by jfgw
They are a complete unit. In common with most led fittings of this type, they do not have a replaceable tube. These particular ones have a switch that allows you to select between warm white and cool white.

There is a plug one end and a socket the other end. They can be linked together with a lead such as this, https://www.screwfix.com/p/robus-extension-lead-0-5m/914fh. 250mm and 1m leads are also available.

I believe, but cannot confirm, that these lights can be butted together end-to-end (one will plug into the other).


Julian F. G. W.

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 19th, 2022, 5:54 pm
by GeoffF100
Looking under the cupboards, I see that there are two cables going into each Linolite. I replaced one of the Linolites, in a not very successful attempt to fix the problem that I have described. The wires were screwed into the Linolite IIRC. They appear to be wired in directly into the mains via a switch on the wall. I am competent to replace a failed component with an equivalent one, but perhaps it is best to get a qualified electrician to do this job. I expect that is what I am supposed to do.

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 20th, 2022, 6:42 am
by servodude
I recently used Phillips drop in LED tubes to replace old ones; simply replaced the tubes and fitted what must be bypasses for the starter
- just worked

-sd

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 20th, 2022, 8:50 am
by DrFfybes
AF62 wrote:
GeoffF100 wrote:Is that a complete kit, or do I need separate tubes? Can I just connect them to the existing wires?


There are no 'bulbs' as the LEDs are integral to the fitting - if it ever failed it would be a new fitting.

And yes you might be able to connect them to the existing plugs, depending on the plug your existing lights have. When I used similar to replace some fluorescent tubes the brand I bought had an adapter in case the existing lights had a different format plug. If these don't then you would need to change the wiring (or being Screwfix, take them back and buy a set that did fit).

Instruction manual is here - https://robus.com/catalogue/product/spe ... 75mm-white

Make sure you make the right choice between the warm white and cool white colours that are available.


FWIW I have a box with different under-cupboard light connectors. Pretty much every brand hass a different connector, and even the same supplier changes them over time. If you are replacing them all, order the required connectors as well, and if the old ones do fit you can easily return them. At least that way the only bit you need to rewire is the fist one, which should hopefully be into a connection box screwed to the underside of a cabinet, and if not just cut the old connector off.

Paul

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 20th, 2022, 10:24 am
by bungeejumper
servodude wrote:I recently used Phillips drop in LED tubes to replace old ones; simply replaced the tubes and fitted what must be bypasses for the starter
- just worked

Interesting, thanks sd. Got a link? Or are these what are sometimes described as Plug and Play tubes?

I need to switch over a couple of T8 tubes some time soon, because I think the fluorescents are being phased out before very long. But IIRC, the OP's tubes were of the older type with a filament and a single contact at each end?

Thanks again for the prod. :D

BJ

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 20th, 2022, 10:29 am
by servodude
bungeejumper wrote:
servodude wrote:I recently used Phillips drop in LED tubes to replace old ones; simply replaced the tubes and fitted what must be bypasses for the starter
- just worked

Interesting, thanks sd. Got a link? Or are these what are sometimes described as Plug and Play tubes?

I need to switch over a couple of T8 tubes some time soon, because I think the fluorescents are being phased out before very long. But IIRC, the OP's tubes were of the older type with a filament and a single contact at each end?

Thanks again for the prod. :D

BJ


They call them MasterLed
https://www.lighting.philips.co.uk/products/led-tube
I used two T8 two footers in a fitting that had a worn out ballast
- I think they do them in a few variants
- sd

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 20th, 2022, 1:20 pm
by csearle
GeoffF100 wrote:Looking under the cupboards, I see that there are two cables going into each Linolite. I replaced one of the Linolites, in a not very successful attempt to fix the problem that I have described. The wires were screwed into the Linolite IIRC. They appear to be wired in directly into the mains via a switch on the wall. I am competent to replace a failed component with an equivalent one, but perhaps it is best to get a qualified electrician to do this job. I expect that is what I am supposed to do.
So long as you make absolutely sure that the power is switched off before replacing the light fittings you could save yourself a lot of cash by doing it yourself.

There is almost nothing to go wrong. Each strip will have a lead with two wires. Connect the brown one to the red (or brown) of the supply, the blue one to the black (or blue) of the supply. Ensure the connections are enclosed (maybe re-use the existing junction box?) and switch it back on.

Chris

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 20th, 2022, 9:01 pm
by GeoffF100
Here is what the wiring looks like for each of the three strip lights:

https://imgur.com/a/hUQkoXX

As you can see, two cables come out of the wall and connect into the Linolite socket for the tube. (The contrast was terrible with white on white, but I have done my best to adjust the black level with GIMP.) How do I connect the cables to the Robus or another LED strip light?

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 20th, 2022, 9:23 pm
by csearle
GeoffF100 wrote:Here is what the wiring looks like for each of the three strip lights:

https://imgur.com/a/hUQkoXX

As you can see, two cables come out of the wall and connect into the Linolite socket for the tube. (The contrast was terrible with white on white, but I have done my best to adjust the black level with GIMP.) How do I connect the cables to the Robus or another LED strip light?
Well having ensured the circuit breaker for the light fitting is off I'd open it up and establish whether the two wires are connected in parallel (i.e. brown/red to brown/red and blue/black to blue/black. They probably are. One is coming from the switch and the other going off to the next strip light(probably).

I would get a small 5A junction box and screw it to the underside of the wall unit (using two small screws) right up where the cables emerge from the wall. I would then dress the lead from the LED light into it too. All browns together and all Earths together and (if present) all bare¹ earth wires together.

Chris
¹ In an ideal world these would be sleeved green/yellow but so long as they are connected then it's ok.

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 20th, 2022, 9:25 pm
by csearle
GeoffF100 wrote:Here is what the wiring looks like for each of the three strip lights:
Could it be that one of the three only has one cable going into it? Or maybe there is a fourth under-unit light? C.

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 20th, 2022, 9:40 pm
by GeoffF100
csearle wrote:
GeoffF100 wrote:Here is what the wiring looks like for each of the three strip lights:
Could it be that one of the three only has one cable going into it? Or maybe there is a fourth under-unit light? C.

They all have two wires going in. I have a spare Linolite with instructions. That may give me some clues. The picture of the Robus on Screwfix does not show a cable. Perhaps I cut a spear link lead in the middle, and connect that to the two cables coming from the wall via a junction box.

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 20th, 2022, 10:06 pm
by csearle
GeoffF100 wrote:The picture of the Robus on Screwfix does not show a cable.

It comes with one...
LED cabinet striplight, 2 x butt connectors (male and female), 2 x mounting clips (vertical and horizontal) and 1.8m power cable.
Chris

Re: Under Cabinet Strip Lights

Posted: January 21st, 2022, 2:59 pm
by jfgw
It comes with one cable, two of each type of clip and four screws. The switch allows you to select between two colour temperatures, 3000K and 4000K.
Image

The cable supplied goes this end,
Image

There is a socket the other end to allow you to link the lights together with the appropriate cables (sold separately). It looks like you can plug the lights directly into each other end-to-end but I don't have two lights to check.
Image

All images are mine.


Julian F. G. W.