Fixing an Osram Halotronic Transformer
I have these halogen lights in my living room which are powered by an Osram Halotronic Transformer. 2 years ago, one of the lights did not light up anymore so I suspected the electronic transformer to be the culprit. After swapping the halogen lights in a different fixture, it was confirmed the transformer was dead. I searched the web and Osram still manufactures these electronic transformers, but now they have very different dimensions. The fixture only allows the transformer to be 1cm tall, not taller. After a long search I found this one, from a different manufacturer. The transformer had the same formfactor, more or less, but the power output has a maximum of 105W, whereas the Osram has a maximum of 120W. Lukily the halogen lamps are only 100W, so the new transformer should work, without setting anything on fire :D
Replacing the broken transformer did the trick and all lights were working again.
I did not throw away the Osram transformer yet, hoping I could fix it somewhere in the near future. The reason why I wanted to try and fix it was because of how difficult it was for me to find a replacement.
One year goes by and while cleaning out my home office, I found the transformer again and decided to fix it. I opened the transformer and found nothing strange. I have a background in electronics, but I am certainly not an expert. Since nothing looked out of the ordinary (burnt, smell, ...) I thought that maybe the 2 switching transistor (BUF 654) were broken. After a visit to a local electronics store I replaced the 2 transistors.
In a small test setup a attached a 12V bulb I salvaged from a car a very long time ago and it seems to work again. Huray!
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