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Weird Spotlight Mk1?

Posted: November 17th, 2017, 9:16 am
by spotify95
Hi,

Just spotted this for sale on eBay, which ends today:

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPOTLIGHT-Ener ... 2879001515

Hmm, seems very familiar... in fact, I believe this is the original LIDL CFL PIR Spotlight that was sold many moons ago!

This one is very similar to the other one that I reviewed, except that this one has a different type of CFL lamp, which doesn't seem to be a standard base either, and has an adjustable time from 5 seconds to 12 minutes.
This can only mean an even worse lamp life than what I calculated... plus the thing won't be up to full brightness if on anything less than 2 minutes anyway!

Your thoughts on this, @kyx, @S2M, @lucozadesp0rt and @pinkteddyx64?

Re: Weird Spotlight Mk1?

Posted: November 17th, 2017, 3:34 pm
by pinkteddyx64
spotify95 wrote:Hi,

Just spotted this for sale on eBay, which ends today:

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPOTLIGHT-Ener ... 2879001515

Hmm, seems very familiar... in fact, I believe this is the original LIDL CFL PIR Spotlight that was sold many moons ago!

This one is very similar to the other one that I reviewed, except that this one has a different type of CFL lamp, which doesn't seem to be a standard base either, and has an adjustable time from 5 seconds to 12 minutes.
This can only mean an even worse lamp life than what I calculated... plus the thing won't be up to full brightness if on anything less than 2 minutes anyway!

I certainly shan't be buying it. :nah:

Re: Weird Spotlight Mk1?

Posted: July 10th, 2021, 9:17 pm
by spotify95
Update July 2021

I've since managed to get hold of a couple of the Mk1 fittings! These have an R7S type socket/connector, which is similar to the one used in older halogen strip lights.
The Mk1 was probably derived from a high power halogen floodlight, then adapted by having the PIR circuitry fitted, as well as having a CFL lamp shoehorned in.

The light duration on this fitting is anywhere from 10 seconds, to 11 minutes - and whilst 11 minutes is by no means ideal (CFLs like being left on for long periods of time), it's far better than what you'd get at the 10 seconds interval.
In fact, due to the warm up time associated with CFL lightbulbs, it's highly likely that the CFL won't have warmed up to full brightness within the 10 seconds of light output!

Thankfully, like the other LIDL spotlights that have been covered, the PIR can be completely bypassed by wiring the mains input directly to the light socket, and removing the PIR connections. Alternatively, this light fitting can be used with any light bulb up to 500W power output - so it's easy enough to just shove a high power halogen lightbulb in if you need a lot of light (and don't care about heat). You could also throw in a low power LED bulb if energy efficiency, along with bulb lifespan, are your priorities (LEDs are not affected by frequent on/off switching cycles).

Stay tuned for the review video of this product (along with testing various different suitable light bulbs, such as halogen, and LED).