How to Choose LED Track Lights with Different Tracks? What LED Drivers Are Suitable? - SEVEN COLORS LIGHTING CO.,LTD

How to Choose LED Track Lights with Different Tracks? What LED Drivers Are Suitable?

What are LED Track Lights?

LED Track lights, the combination of “track” and “led lights”, are also called track-mounted luminaire. LED Track Light is favored by different space applications.You can use them in commercial areas, galleries, museums and other lighting scenes. For they can move and orient based on different demands, and the angle of irradiation can be adjusted at any time. Besides, they are easy to be added, removed or replaced. Nowadays Magnetic LED Track Lighting are more prevalent in any places,from your homw ceiling to shopping mall ceillings.

Magnetic Track Light
Magnetic Track Light

How to choose track lights?

Track lights are a great way to add light to your home without having to install a new light fixture. They’re easy to install and they’re perfect for adding ambient lighting in places like the kitchen, bathroom, or office.

The first thing you need to decide is whether you want track lights with 2 wires, 3 wires, 4wires, 5wires, 6wires and so on. Different types just meet various requirement.Different countries also have different standards requirement. For example: USA standard is 120V AC; European standard is 230V AC; Australia standard is 240V AC

For example: The U.S. standard is that the LED track light should use 2-wire and 3-wire wiring; this is the most common type in the United States. If you want to use it in China, you must choose the 4-wire type or 5-wire type because they are compatible with China’s standard wiring system and voltage requirements (220V).

In order to make sure that your LED track light can be used safely in your country’s market, you should first check whether your country’s standard wiring system and voltage requirements are compatible with those of your LED track light before purchase!

LED Track Light
LED Track Light
Magnetic Track Lights
Magnetic Track Lights

Different light tracks need different light sources

aluminum magnetic track channel
aluminum magnetic track channel

According to the number of conductive wires inside the track, the track can be divided into two wire, three wire, four wire tracks and so one. Among them, the tracks with two wires, three wires and four wires are the most common types at present.

The two-wire track is usually used in low voltage market and it’s a simple design. It has one positive wire and one negative wire, which are connected to each other through the power supply. The three-wire track can be found in both low and high voltage markets, but it’s more common in high voltage markets because it uses three wires for its power supply system, so it can be used for different kinds of lighting systems such as LED, fluorescent lamps or halogen lamps.

Both 2-wire tracks and 3-wire tracks are single loop control.That is to say, the lights on the same tracks can not be controlled individually. It can not only switch on or off together. The only difference between two-wire and three-wire tracks is that the ground wire is outside the tracks or inexistent. While three-wire tracks have combined these ground cable into the tracks. For special application, some of professional electrical engineers often use the ground wire in 3-wire track as neutral wire. So that they can realize two separate loop control. We don’t suggest that. Since this ground wire is not same big as the other two wires. 

Now our latest magnetic track lighting system often use 4-wire tracks.The four-wire track is a common choice for professional lighting systems because it’s more flexible and can be used for many different kinds of lighting systems. It has four wires, three positive wires and one negative wires.

4-wire aluminum tracks for magnetic track lights
4-wire aluminum tracks for magnetic track lights
2mm thick magnetic light track
2mm thick magnetic light track

4-wire tracks have three live wires and one neutral wire. That is to say, the lights on the same tracks can realize three loop control with 4 wire track lights. It enables different scenes of lighting control.

For example:

On a four-wire track, there are four four-wire track lights (No. 1, 2, 3 and 4), with light 1 in the first shift, light 2 in the second shift, and light 3 & light 4 in the third shift. Thus multiple scene changes can be realized with three switches:

① Switch 1 controls light 1

② Switch 2 controls light 2

③ Switch 3 controls light 3 & light 4

You can realize your three loop control as the following photos,which enables different scenarios of lighting switch control on the same tracks: 

three loop lighting control on 4-wire lgiht track
three loop lighting control on 4-wire lgiht track

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