![]() |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
A couple of years ago I installed DoctorLED
(http://www.doctorled.com/p24.htm) Mars Dome interior lights throughout BlueJacket. This was the first shipment of these to the US and I literally had to wait for them to get off of the container and into my hands before I could depart for the NW Caribbean. They may have changed the design since then, but this is what I've got. Anyhow, about a year later I realized that they were getting dimmer and dimmer and recently took a failed unit over to a friend who's an excellent electronics engineer to determine what had failed. He found 2 problems with the units: 1) There's a layer of thermal paste which is supposed to conduct the heat between the circuit board that the LEDs are mounted on and the aluminum backing plate which also functions as a heat sink. For all intents and purposes, there was too little paste to provide contact between the two. However, after running a working unit for about 10 minutes, there was no appreciable heat buildup, so we don't suspect that my problem was due to thermal overheating. 2) The basic design of the circuit is a transistor which limits the voltage to 9V to 2 parallel stacks of 3 LEDs in series. This provides 3 V to each LED, which is just fine. However, the transistor is too slow to handle fast transient voltage spikes, and there's no voltage dump circuitry on the boards to handle this. A spike probably occurred somewhere along the line and fried some of the LEDs. DoctorLED will sell me replacement circuit boards at about 1/2 of the cost of the whole unit, which is still expensive. I plan to do that, but I want to protect against this happening in the future. All of the lighting is on 2 separate circuits. What can I do to protect against this happening again? I was thinking about a 12 V DC to DC power supply. Any suggestions? -- Geoff www.GeoffSchultz.org |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
In article , Geoff Schultz wrote:
A couple of years ago I installed DoctorLED (http://www.doctorled.com/p24.htm) Mars Dome interior lights throughout BlueJacket. This was the first shipment of these to the US and I literally had to wait for them to get off of the container and into my hands before I could depart for the NW Caribbean. They may have changed the design since then, but this is what I've got. Anyhow, about a year later I realized that they were getting dimmer and dimmer and recently took a failed unit over to a friend who's an excellent electronics engineer to determine what had failed. He found 2 problems with the units: 1) There's a layer of thermal paste which is supposed to conduct the heat between the circuit board that the LEDs are mounted on and the aluminum backing plate which also functions as a heat sink. For all intents and purposes, there was too little paste to provide contact between the two. However, after running a working unit for about 10 minutes, there was no appreciable heat buildup, so we don't suspect that my problem was due to thermal overheating. 2) The basic design of the circuit is a transistor which limits the voltage to 9V to 2 parallel stacks of 3 LEDs in series. This provides 3 V to each LED, which is just fine. However, the transistor is too slow to handle fast transient voltage spikes, and there's no voltage dump circuitry on the boards to handle this. A spike probably occurred somewhere along the line and fried some of the LEDs. DoctorLED will sell me replacement circuit boards at about 1/2 of the cost of the whole unit, which is still expensive. I plan to do that, but I want to protect against this happening in the future. All of the lighting is on 2 separate circuits. What can I do to protect against this happening again? I was thinking about a 12 V DC to DC power supply. Any suggestions? -- Geoff www.GeoffSchultz.org I would try to add some capacitors across the 9 volt. Get what fits, maybe a 100 uF electrolytic 25 volt. This does not rule out a defect in the design circuit, which a dc/dc converter may not fix. I have been fooling with various high power leds. I had no problems with the Lumiled devices, but some Cree devices wen bad after I attached to the power supply. There is some kind of spike that takes out these leds which are supposed to handle 1 amp peak. There are nice leds with a nice warm glow. The warmest I have seen. http://ledsupply.com/creexre-ww.php greg |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
In article , (GregS) wrote:
In article , (GregS) wrote: In article , Geoff Schultz wrote: A couple of years ago I installed DoctorLED (http://www.doctorled.com/p24.htm) Mars Dome interior lights throughout BlueJacket. This was the first shipment of these to the US and I literally had to wait for them to get off of the container and into my hands before I could depart for the NW Caribbean. They may have changed the design since then, but this is what I've got. Anyhow, about a year later I realized that they were getting dimmer and dimmer and recently took a failed unit over to a friend who's an excellent electronics engineer to determine what had failed. He found 2 problems with the units: 1) There's a layer of thermal paste which is supposed to conduct the heat between the circuit board that the LEDs are mounted on and the aluminum backing plate which also functions as a heat sink. For all intents and purposes, there was too little paste to provide contact between the two. However, after running a working unit for about 10 minutes, there was no appreciable heat buildup, so we don't suspect that my problem was due to thermal overheating. 2) The basic design of the circuit is a transistor which limits the voltage to 9V to 2 parallel stacks of 3 LEDs in series. This provides 3 V to each LED, which is just fine. However, the transistor is too slow to handle fast transient voltage spikes, and there's no voltage dump circuitry on the boards to handle this. A spike probably occurred somewhere along the line and fried some of the LEDs. You could change to the Cree's I showed for 1 set of 3 in series set for brighter, about the same current. Not quit as bright but more rugged... http://ledsupply.com/05027-pww2.php Before anything, take a look at their led drivers and maybe something better and cheaper... http://ledsupply.com/led-drivers.php DoctorLED will sell me replacement circuit boards at about 1/2 of the cost of the whole unit, which is still expensive. I plan to do that, but I want to protect against this happening in the future. All of the lighting is on 2 separate circuits. What can I do to protect against this happening again? I was thinking about a 12 V DC to DC power supply. Any suggestions? -- Geoff www.GeoffSchultz.org I would try to add some capacitors across the 9 volt. Get what fits, maybe a 100 uF electrolytic 25 volt. This does not rule out a defect in the design circuit, which a dc/dc converter may not fix. I have been fooling with various high power leds. I had no problems with the Lumiled devices, but some Cree devices wen bad after I attached to the power supply. There is some kind of spike that takes out these leds which are supposed to handle 1 amp peak. There are nice leds with a nice warm glow. The warmest I have seen. http://ledsupply.com/creexre-ww.php greg |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
In article , (GregS) wrote:
In article , Geoff Schultz wrote: A couple of years ago I installed DoctorLED (http://www.doctorled.com/p24.htm) Mars Dome interior lights throughout BlueJacket. This was the first shipment of these to the US and I literally had to wait for them to get off of the container and into my hands before I could depart for the NW Caribbean. They may have changed the design since then, but this is what I've got. Anyhow, about a year later I realized that they were getting dimmer and dimmer and recently took a failed unit over to a friend who's an excellent electronics engineer to determine what had failed. He found 2 problems with the units: 1) There's a layer of thermal paste which is supposed to conduct the heat between the circuit board that the LEDs are mounted on and the aluminum backing plate which also functions as a heat sink. For all intents and purposes, there was too little paste to provide contact between the two. However, after running a working unit for about 10 minutes, there was no appreciable heat buildup, so we don't suspect that my problem was due to thermal overheating. 2) The basic design of the circuit is a transistor which limits the voltage to 9V to 2 parallel stacks of 3 LEDs in series. This provides 3 V to each LED, which is just fine. However, the transistor is too slow to handle fast transient voltage spikes, and there's no voltage dump circuitry on the boards to handle this. A spike probably occurred somewhere along the line and fried some of the LEDs. DoctorLED will sell me replacement circuit boards at about 1/2 of the cost of the whole unit, which is still expensive. I plan to do that, but I want to protect against this happening in the future. All of the lighting is on 2 separate circuits. What can I do to protect against this happening again? I was thinking about a 12 V DC to DC power supply. Any suggestions? -- Geoff www.GeoffSchultz.org I would try to add some capacitors across the 9 volt. Get what fits, maybe a 100 uF electrolytic 25 volt. This does not rule out a defect in the design circuit, which a dc/dc converter may not fix. A thought. That circuit should allready have the necessary capcitance on the output. It "should". Adding input filtering may be required to the domes. Boat power may be noisey, but we are just guessing. Gradual dimming is usually the result of driving too hard. They also short term dim when too hot. greg I have been fooling with various high power leds. I had no problems with the Lumiled devices, but some Cree devices wen bad after I attached to the power supply. There is some kind of spike that takes out these leds which are supposed to handle 1 amp peak. There are nice leds with a nice warm glow. The warmest I have seen. http://ledsupply.com/creexre-ww.php greg |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
|
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
In article , Larry wrote:
(GregS) wrote in news:gv1m1f$dqm$1 : A thought. That circuit should allready have the necessary capcitance on the output. It "should". Adding input filtering may be required to the domes. Boat power may be noisey, but we are just guessing. Gradual dimming is usually the result of driving too hard. They also short term dim when too hot. greg Why not just use a 7809 regulator IC, or something heavier duty if it draws more than 1A? The output will be EXACTLY 9VDC, no more no less, no matter what the battery does, with 5.2V of overhead space to play with. You won't even see the engine start dimming them unless the battery is dead or all the terminals are corroded up. On the cheap, let the regulator drive a big NPN power transistor if you need more current cheaply. The LEDs will run fine on 8.4VDC steady from an Emitter follower with 9V on its base. What a boat DOESN'T need is another digital electronic transmitter like a DC-DC converter for stupid simple lighting making a racket in every RADIO aboard.....Let's keep it analog and QUIET. 7809's are about 20 cents.....2N3055 power transistors give you 15A for a couple bucks....Remember the case is at + battery voltage on the collector. Its all about efficiency. The best way is use 4 high power devices in series and you will need nothing else. Might be too bright. greg |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
You can put led lights in series, but then you always have to switch more
lights on than you need. The whole idea of led lighting is to be more efficient with DC and that translates to being able to switch lights individually. The only way to efficiently supply power to leds is by using constant current regulators, that use PWM (pulse width modulation). Any other circuitry, be it transistor or Vreg, produces heat and is therefore inefficient. Cheap led drivers can be found he http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13553 cheers, wbh "Geoff Schultz" wrote in message .. . | A couple of years ago I installed DoctorLED | (http://www.doctorled.com/p24.htm) Mars Dome interior lights throughout | BlueJacket. This was the first shipment of these to the US and I literally | had to wait for them to get off of the container and into my hands before I | could depart for the NW Caribbean. They may have changed the design since | then, but this is what I've got. | | Anyhow, about a year later I realized that they were getting dimmer and | dimmer and recently took a failed unit over to a friend who's an excellent | electronics engineer to determine what had failed. He found 2 problems with | the units: | | 1) There's a layer of thermal paste which is supposed to conduct the heat | between the circuit board that the LEDs are mounted on and the aluminum | backing plate which also functions as a heat sink. For all intents and | purposes, there was too little paste to provide contact between the two. | However, after running a working unit for about 10 minutes, there was no | appreciable heat buildup, so we don't suspect that my problem was due to | thermal overheating. | | 2) The basic design of the circuit is a transistor which limits the voltage | to 9V to 2 parallel stacks of 3 LEDs in series. This provides 3 V to each | LED, which is just fine. However, the transistor is too slow to handle fast | transient voltage spikes, and there's no voltage dump circuitry on the | boards to handle this. A spike probably occurred somewhere along the line | and fried some of the LEDs. | | DoctorLED will sell me replacement circuit boards at about 1/2 of the cost | of the whole unit, which is still expensive. I plan to do that, but I want | to protect against this happening in the future. All of the lighting is on | 2 separate circuits. What can I do to protect against this happening again? | I was thinking about a 12 V DC to DC power supply. Any suggestions? | | | -- Geoff | www.GeoffSchultz.org |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
On Tue, 26 May 2009 13:07:40 +1200, "WBH"
wrote: You can put led lights in series, but then you always have to switch more lights on than you need. The whole idea of led lighting is to be more efficient with DC and that translates to being able to switch lights individually. The only way to efficiently supply power to leds is by using constant current regulators, that use PWM (pulse width modulation). Any other circuitry, be it transistor or Vreg, produces heat and is therefore inefficient. Cheap led drivers can be found he http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13553 cheers, wbh Unfortunately, switch mode regulators often introduce noise that affects other more important things on a boat. Save power where you can, but it is not the be-all end-all. |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
wrote in message
... Unfortunately, switch mode regulators often introduce noise that affects other more important things on a boat. A well-designed SMPS does not introduce noise. But it will increase cost of course..... Meindert |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
On Wed, 27 May 2009 08:57:01 +0200, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote: wrote in message .. . Unfortunately, switch mode regulators often introduce noise that affects other more important things on a boat. A well-designed SMPS does not introduce noise. But it will increase cost of course..... Meindert Tiny point of use switch mode power supplies, as used for LED lighting, are often noisy. More often than not. |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
In article , "WBH" wrote:
You can put led lights in series, but then you always have to switch more lights on than you need. The whole idea of led lighting is to be more efficient with DC and that translates to being able to switch lights individually. The only way to efficiently supply power to leds is by using constant current regulators, that use PWM (pulse width modulation). Any other circuitry, be it transistor or Vreg, produces heat and is therefore inefficient. Cheap led drivers can be found he http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13553 cheers, wbh Well I guess the regulators are cheaper than the leds now. At least these imports. These are interesting but what the hell are those prongs for ? Would be interesting to see the specs and the switching frequency. Free shipping fro Hong Kong. Good. greg "Geoff Schultz" wrote in message . .. | A couple of years ago I installed DoctorLED | (http://www.doctorled.com/p24.htm) Mars Dome interior lights throughout | BlueJacket. This was the first shipment of these to the US and I literally | had to wait for them to get off of the container and into my hands before I | could depart for the NW Caribbean. They may have changed the design since | then, but this is what I've got. | | Anyhow, about a year later I realized that they were getting dimmer and | dimmer and recently took a failed unit over to a friend who's an excellent | electronics engineer to determine what had failed. He found 2 problems with | the units: | | 1) There's a layer of thermal paste which is supposed to conduct the heat | between the circuit board that the LEDs are mounted on and the aluminum | backing plate which also functions as a heat sink. For all intents and | purposes, there was too little paste to provide contact between the two. | However, after running a working unit for about 10 minutes, there was no | appreciable heat buildup, so we don't suspect that my problem was due to | thermal overheating. | | 2) The basic design of the circuit is a transistor which limits the voltage | to 9V to 2 parallel stacks of 3 LEDs in series. This provides 3 V to each | LED, which is just fine. However, the transistor is too slow to handle fast | transient voltage spikes, and there's no voltage dump circuitry on the | boards to handle this. A spike probably occurred somewhere along the line | and fried some of the LEDs. | | DoctorLED will sell me replacement circuit boards at about 1/2 of the cost | of the whole unit, which is still expensive. I plan to do that, but I want | to protect against this happening in the future. All of the lighting is on | 2 separate circuits. What can I do to protect against this happening again? | I was thinking about a 12 V DC to DC power supply. Any suggestions? | | | -- Geoff | www.GeoffSchultz.org |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
In article ,
"Meindert Sprang" wrote: wrote in message ... Unfortunately, switch mode regulators often introduce noise that affects other more important things on a boat. A well-designed SMPS does not introduce noise. But it will increase cost of course..... Meindert Åbsolutly, to keep the noise down, all you got to do is round of the corners of those square pulses, just a bit.... doesn't hurt the Regulation a bit..... -- Bruce in alaska add path after fast to reply |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
In article , "WBH" wrote:
You can put led lights in series, but then you always have to switch more lights on than you need. The whole idea of led lighting is to be more efficient with DC and that translates to being able to switch lights individually. The only way to efficiently supply power to leds is by using constant current regulators, that use PWM (pulse width modulation). Any other circuitry, be it transistor or Vreg, produces heat and is therefore inefficient. Cheap led drivers can be found he http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13553 cheers, wbh I am looking through the stuff. Great stuff. They even have clicky switches. 18 watt LED !! "Geoff Schultz" wrote in message . .. | A couple of years ago I installed DoctorLED | (http://www.doctorled.com/p24.htm) Mars Dome interior lights throughout | BlueJacket. This was the first shipment of these to the US and I literally | had to wait for them to get off of the container and into my hands before I | could depart for the NW Caribbean. They may have changed the design since | then, but this is what I've got. | | Anyhow, about a year later I realized that they were getting dimmer and | dimmer and recently took a failed unit over to a friend who's an excellent | electronics engineer to determine what had failed. He found 2 problems with | the units: | | 1) There's a layer of thermal paste which is supposed to conduct the heat | between the circuit board that the LEDs are mounted on and the aluminum | backing plate which also functions as a heat sink. For all intents and | purposes, there was too little paste to provide contact between the two. | However, after running a working unit for about 10 minutes, there was no | appreciable heat buildup, so we don't suspect that my problem was due to | thermal overheating. | | 2) The basic design of the circuit is a transistor which limits the voltage | to 9V to 2 parallel stacks of 3 LEDs in series. This provides 3 V to each | LED, which is just fine. However, the transistor is too slow to handle fast | transient voltage spikes, and there's no voltage dump circuitry on the | boards to handle this. A spike probably occurred somewhere along the line | and fried some of the LEDs. | | DoctorLED will sell me replacement circuit boards at about 1/2 of the cost | of the whole unit, which is still expensive. I plan to do that, but I want | to protect against this happening in the future. All of the lighting is on | 2 separate circuits. What can I do to protect against this happening again? | I was thinking about a 12 V DC to DC power supply. Any suggestions? | | | -- Geoff | www.GeoffSchultz.org |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
"GregS" wrote in message ... | In article , "WBH" wrote: | You can put led lights in series, but then you always have to switch more | lights on than you need. The whole idea of led lighting is to be more | efficient with DC and that translates to being able to switch lights | individually. The only way to efficiently supply power to leds is by using | constant current regulators, that use PWM (pulse width modulation). Any | other circuitry, be it transistor or Vreg, produces heat and is therefore | inefficient. Cheap led drivers can be found he | http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13553 | cheers, | wbh | | Well I guess the regulators are cheaper than the leds now. | At least these imports. | These are interesting but what the hell are those prongs for ? | Would be interesting to see the specs and the switching frequency. | Free shipping fro Hong Kong. Good. | | greg | | | | | "Geoff Schultz" wrote in message | . .. | | A couple of years ago I installed DoctorLED | | (http://www.doctorled.com/p24.htm) Mars Dome interior lights throughout | | BlueJacket. This was the first shipment of these to the US and I literally | | had to wait for them to get off of the container and into my hands before | I | | could depart for the NW Caribbean. They may have changed the design since | | then, but this is what I've got. | | | | Anyhow, about a year later I realized that they were getting dimmer and | | dimmer and recently took a failed unit over to a friend who's an excellent | | electronics engineer to determine what had failed. He found 2 problems | with | | the units: | | | | 1) There's a layer of thermal paste which is supposed to conduct the heat | | between the circuit board that the LEDs are mounted on and the aluminum | | backing plate which also functions as a heat sink. For all intents and | | purposes, there was too little paste to provide contact between the two. | | However, after running a working unit for about 10 minutes, there was no | | appreciable heat buildup, so we don't suspect that my problem was due to | | thermal overheating. | | | | 2) The basic design of the circuit is a transistor which limits the | voltage | | to 9V to 2 parallel stacks of 3 LEDs in series. This provides 3 V to each | | LED, which is just fine. However, the transistor is too slow to handle | fast | | transient voltage spikes, and there's no voltage dump circuitry on the | | boards to handle this. A spike probably occurred somewhere along the line | | and fried some of the LEDs. | | | | DoctorLED will sell me replacement circuit boards at about 1/2 of the cost | | of the whole unit, which is still expensive. I plan to do that, but I want | | to protect against this happening in the future. All of the lighting is on | | 2 separate circuits. What can I do to protect against this happening | again? | | I was thinking about a 12 V DC to DC power supply. Any suggestions? | | | | | | -- Geoff | | www.GeoffSchultz.org | No idea what the prongs are for. I guess these drivers were made for a specific application. I just de-soldered them and replaced them by wires. Put heatshrink around the whole thing and put it in the back of the light fitting. I use them to drive Cree leds. This is what it looks like: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38407103@N07/ Total DC draw with all the lights on: 0.9A. They do produce some noise on the VHF, but that's acceptable as we only use the interior lights when anchored. I've ordered half a dozen more, because by the look of it the design has changed somewhat since I bought them and I'm curious to see if they got rid of the noise. wout |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
"Meindert Sprang" wrote in
: wrote in message ... Unfortunately, switch mode regulators often introduce noise that affects other more important things on a boat. A well-designed SMPS does not introduce noise. But it will increase cost of course..... Meindert Yeah, but what these cheapskates will pay for doesn't even have a .01 cap across the power bus..... How do they live with 50AH house batteries??....(c;] -- ----- Larry If a man goes way out into the woods all alone and says something, is it still wrong, even though no woman hears him? |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
|
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
"Larry" wrote in message
... Yeah, but what these cheapskates will pay for doesn't even have a .01 cap across the power bus..... Not to mention a decent common mode filter at both ends.... Meindert |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
On Thu, 28 May 2009 08:14:11 +0200, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote: "Larry" wrote in message .. . Yeah, but what these cheapskates will pay for doesn't even have a .01 cap across the power bus..... Not to mention a decent common mode filter at both ends.... Meindert Umm... We are talking about point-of-use power supplies. One at each LED fixture. It must be physically tiny, and not add exponentially to the cost of the lamp. Noise is a COMMON issue with LED lighting on boats. |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
In article , Larry wrote:
(GregS) wrote in news:gvjhnr$5a3$5 : Would be interesting to see the specs and the switching frequency. Every one of them switches at an evenly divisible multiple of 156.800 Mhz.....Just like Adler-Barbour damned fridges...bzzt...bzzt...bzztbzzt....all night long.... They adjust 'em until their dead on Channel 16.... I am thinking about possible sweeping multiple subharmonics. from multiple lights. greg |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
"Meindert Sprang" wrote in
: "Larry" wrote in message ... Yeah, but what these cheapskates will pay for doesn't even have a .01 cap across the power bus..... Not to mention a decent common mode filter at both ends.... Meindert Geez, you'd think NMEA manufacturers were using balanced lines, not grounding one of them....(c;] -- ----- Larry If a man goes way out into the woods all alone and says something, is it still wrong, even though no woman hears him? |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
|
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
|
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
"Larry" wrote in message
... Geez, you'd think NMEA manufacturers were using balanced lines, not grounding one of them....(c;] Decent manufacturers do, in fact. Meindert |
Voltage Regulation for LED Lighting
On Fri, 29 May 2009 01:18:39 +0000, Larry wrote:
wrote in : On Thu, 28 May 2009 08:14:11 +0200, "Meindert Sprang" wrote: "Larry" wrote in message ... Yeah, but what these cheapskates will pay for doesn't even have a .01 cap across the power bus..... Not to mention a decent common mode filter at both ends.... Meindert Umm... We are talking about point-of-use power supplies. One at each LED fixture. It must be physically tiny, and not add exponentially to the cost of the lamp. Noise is a COMMON issue with LED lighting on boats. The noise comes because the lighting is hooked to a big antenna system called "boat wiring" in a plastic box that can't be shielded or grounded...unfortunately. There have also been problems confirmed where the switch mode regulators in some rather expensive LED anchor lights were radiating directly into the VHF antenna. |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:34 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2014 BoatBanter.com