4' LED Lights BUZZ HOW TO STOP THE BUZZ?

[rentonhighlands]

Hello Members:
I have installed 6 of the LED lights in my 24X30 shop. The lights have a faint but loud enough to be annoying buzz when on. No buzz when off. The way I have them hooked up is hard wire with 14/2 romex.

Any ideas on what is causing this?

The lights are:
Metalux
4 ft. Low Profile Linear LED Wrap Light 4000K

 

[American Locomotive]

Is it a bigh pitched buzz, or low frequency transformer like buzz?

 

[rentonhighlands]

I put my ear close to the lights and the sound is a low frequency transformer buzz. The sound is coming from the little balist power supply thingy the power wires are connected to.

 

[American Locomotive]

I have no idea why an LED driver would have a low frequency buzz like that, as it should be a switch-mode regulator at high frequency.

Can you post a picture of the ballast supply thing, does it have a label on it?

 

[Platonic Solid]

Return fixtures (or just power supply if possible) for replacement. Likely inadequate shellac on transformer laminations.

 

[Shiftless]

Did you wire them with a dimmer switch or just a standard on-off switch?

 

[rentonhighlands]

They are wired to a 3 way switch non dimmer switches. Yes I can post picture in just a bit.

 

[rentonhighlands]

I am not sure how I can post pictures on this site. Does the picture have to be on a website because the only link I find asks me to input a http://. Can I pull a picture off my computer and post to this forum?

 

[rentonhighlands]

I went out there just now and listened to the buzz. It is a high pitch buzz coming from the ballast unit in the fixture. This unit is what my power wires connect to then the unit has power wires connected to the LED light strip in the fixture. Still trying to figure out how to post pictures.

 

[rentonhighlands]

I got it figured out. Here is a pic

 

[Platonic Solid]

That's a standard LED driver. If it's noisy there's nothing you can do but return the fixture or driver for replacement. Keep in mind that all their drivers might ****. Yes, EATON is a major name brand, but that doesn't mean they didn't get a whole shipment of crappy drivers from China.

 

[rentonhighlands]

I guess I am going to take them down and return them to home depot or work with Eaton in some way with the warranty. What is a different 4' LED light you would recommend. I can not have this buzz that is the most annoying thing in the world.

 

[rentonhighlands]

Would adding a dimmer switch help or change anything?

 

[cybrdyke]

Just return them. Dont try to deal with Eaton directly.

No, a dimmer wont help. It will likely make it worse.

The driver has a transformer in it that is vibrating. It's probably just poorly mounted to the PC board in there. It happens. You cant fix it. And Eaton isn't interested in sending out 1 driver.
Is it just one fixture or is it all of them?
CD

 

[dogdog]

Maybe the OP over drive those Triac base drivers.....

 

[rentonhighlands]

All of them. I am not in a good spot as I have ripped up the original boxes. I ordered them online at the Home Depot site.

 

[rentonhighlands]

what does this mean?
Maybe the OP over drive those Triac base drivers.....

 

[dogdog]

That drivers says 22Watt output.... not sure how much load you put in on it....

 

[rentonhighlands]

How can I tell what load I am putting to it? I have them wired on a 15 AMP breaker 14/2 romex wire and I have 10 of them on 1 circuit.

My sub panel has 100 AMPs to the panel.

 

[American Locomotive]

You don't have to worry about any of that. The fixtures came with those drivers so they're obviously rated for it.

Either the drivers are defective, or they're just noisy by design.

 

[dogdog]

If that EATON LED driver comes with the lighting, there is not much you can do to fix it, other than return it to the store and buy a different one....

 

[toplessHO]

test others at the store
not sure if LEDs have a sound rating for ballasts like florescents do

 

[ForceFed70]

Try removing the power supply and letting it hang from the wires. If the buzz goes away, the sound is from the PS vibrating against the fixture body. If that's the case, potting the PS with some silicone or adding some double sided tape may resolve the problem.