Track lights, the combination of “track” and “lights”, are also called track-mounted luminaire. They are favored by commercial areas, galleries, museums and other lighting scenes because 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.

Then how to choose track lights?

We have shared the classification of track lights based on different light sources and how to install and maintain them in the previous cases. Today, we will share the classification of track lights based on types of track and how to choose them according to different needs.

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

Both the two-wire track and the three-wire track are single loop control, which is to say, the lights on the same track can only be controlled together instead of being controlled separately. The difference is that the grounding wire of the two-wire track is generally placed outside the guide rail but the grounding wire of the three-wire track is designed inside the track. Thus, in order to meet some special application requirements, part of the professional and technical personnel may use the grounding wire of the three-wire track as the neutral wire, transforming it into the one with the control of two loops to realize the control of separate loops (Note: self-transformation is not recommended).

The diagram of the track section and four conductive wires (four-wire track)

The four-wire track has three live wires and one neutral wire, which is to say, the same track has three loops of control. It can enable different scenes of control when installed with four-wire track light that has the shifts for adjustment.   

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

This is the separate control system of the four-wire track.

The separate control scenes of the four-wire track (enable different scenarios of switch control on the same track)

The five-wire track and the six-wire track are rarely used except some applications in DALI control systems, and two wires of them are used as DALI signal wires. In a word, two-wire or three-wire track light can enable single loop control; four-wire track light or the track light with more wires can enable separate control; five-wire or six-wire track light can enable system control.  

Six-wire track

There are no special requirements for the LED driver in terms of different tracks. It can be selected according to the functions and power of light fixtures. But most of the LED driver for track light has built-in assembly (built in the track head or in the track box), and the ambient temperature of the LED driver is high, thus the LED driver must have excellent heat dissipation function.

Taking Lifud LED track light drivers LF-GIFxxxYFII and LF-GICxxxYS as examples:

①LF-GIFxxxYF series is mainly designed for built-in assembly of track box and it can work at the ambient temperature of 55℃. Clients can choose the LED driver with fully external casing or bare board LED driver with only a fixed bottom casing (Lifud initiative structure). The LED driver with fully external casing has holes on the casing to strengthen heat dissipation and prolong its lifetime. As for bare board LED driver with a fixed bottom casing, Lifud provides light manufacturers with two assembly methods: one is to be fixed in the track box with screws; the other is to be attached in the track box with glue. Both of the two assembly methods can greatly increase the flexibility and efficiency when assembling the LED driver.

②High-end LED track light driver LF-GICxxxYS series is mainly designed for built-in assembly of the track head, and its semi-glue structure makes Ta up to 60℃. Besides, the utilization of Teflon wires prevents the wire from being worn out.     

Certainly, there are some LED drivers with the special design of integration, etc. In this situation, the LED driver directly exposed outside as part of the component of the light fixture is required to have better appearance design. Please follow Lifud LinkedIn account for more details.

Need driver, choose Lifud!

Two warm reminders for using the track light:

1. The track of the track light is different from the sliding rail. That is to say, the light cannot slide directly on the track. If the position of the light needs to be changed, it should be removed from the track first.

2. The common track has the length of 0.5m, 1m and 1.5m, and they can be spliced by track accessories based on different length and shape requirements.