Is there an MR-16 LED that is brighter than a 50w Halogen?

[Stu-Pidaso]

We have a holiday motion projector (video is not mine) that uses a 50w halogen MR-16. Not even going to bother putting it up this year as the lighting is so dim you pretty much can't see it. Obviously for safety reasons there is a 50w max rating on the projector. I was wondering if there is an LED MR-16 that is brighter/more powerful.

Thanks!

 

[CoveAxe]

There's a good selection at earthled. They have some 75W equivalents that are brighter than a 50W halogen, though they seem dimmer than what they should be. That's probably the best you're going to find right now.

MR-16 is one of those formats that's hard to scale for LED because you have tight space tolerances and they are usually partially enclosed. LEDs will just burn themselves out at high enough output. It'll be at least a few years before you can find >100W equivalents.

 

[Stu-Pidaso]

Thanks!

 

[broadgage]

Are you certain that a regular type of MR16 is the correct lamp ? there are some special types of 12 volt 50 watt reflector lamp that are specifically designed for projectors. Use of a regular MR16 instead of a projector lamp will work to an extent but give a much reduced performance.

Presuming that the lamp is correct but that the projected image is still too dim, then it might be worth changing the transformer to perhaps 14 volts in order to over run the lamp and thereby give a lot more light. A bit like running a 4 cell flashlight bulb on 5 cells. This will significantly reduce the lamp life, but MR16s are cheap. Heat will be increased, but not too much, and I might be inclined to chance it.

Do double check that the unit is clean internally and is receiving full line voltage.