How to extend the life of some LEDs

[sometimewoodworker]

Going on from @sandyfs problems with the LEDs burning out quickly. 

This is not a sure fire way for all LEDs but for those who are moderately confident and competent with plugging wire A into socket B it is simple reasonably easy, and totally reversible.

 

warning anyone following the instructions takes total personal responsibility.

This doesn’t mean that there is much/any significant chance of failure or accidents but electricity and capacitors do bite as @Crossy said

 

requirements

a series of capacitors in a variety of powers (thanks @Crossy for the picture under)

a lamp holder or several 

several quick connect fittings 

a verity of lights that are at least 2 to 4 times the required brightness 

(I used  27W light from China) you need several as the modification will not function with all drivers so just swap them until one works

 

 

the instructions 

connect the power feed to 1 of your lamp holders feed wires

connect the other power feed wire to one of the legs of 1 of your capacitors 

connect the other leg of the capacitor to the other lamp holder wire

insert the bulb into the holder

switch on the light

 

possible Results 

the light doesn’t turn on; troubleshooting; 1) swap the power legs 2) swap the bulb 3) change the capacitor value 4) confirm that the bulb still functions in an unmodified fitting

 

the light turns on full brightness; troubleshooting; 1) swap the bulb until you find one that turns on dimmer 2) change the capacitor value

 

the light turns on lower brightness but is too bright or too dim; troubleshooting; 1) change the capacitor value

 

the above tutorial too much longer to write than to do

 

here is the light mentioned above, it would be way to bright for the location, it runs cold or barely warm, it uses less power, it has been in use for about 5 years it is around ⅓ power

 

the fittings, I will put them into the ceiling sometime 

the qr fittings

and the picture I borrowed 

 

Edited February 25 by sometimewoodworker

[OneMoreFarang]

Are you sure it's a good idea to publish something like this here?

Thinks can go wrong. Very wrong!

 

I think for people who are not used to playing around with electricity, it's best to buy quality products from brand name companies - with warranty.

[scottiejohn]

Just either switch them off or save electricity by not posting such a long meaningless post!

The Title asked the question! 

We did not need a diatribe to explain it

[sometimewoodworker]

27 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Are you sure it's a good idea to publish something like this here?

Thinks can go wrong. Very wrong!

 

I think for people who are not used to playing around with electricity, it's best to buy quality products from brand name companies - with warranty.

Yes I am sure “for those who are moderately confident and competent with plugging wire A into socket B it is simple reasonably easy, and totally reversible”

 

and if you are moderately competent you know how to test you setup before installing it. I would like to know how it can go badly wrong? 
 

this is not for 

Quote

people who are not used to playing around with electricity,

it is for those who, as I said are moderately confident and competent with plugging wire A into socket B  

 

if you are not then don’t do it, simple.

Edited February 25 by sometimewoodworker

[sometimewoodworker]

Electricity can bite, it can bite badly

if you don’t know what you are doing, don’t do it

 

There is far too much nanny going on. In Thailand there a vanishing few electricians, the method above can multiply the life of lights to decades, it reduces the power requirements by up to a factor of ten.

[GammaGlobulin]

26 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Are you sure it's a good idea to publish something like this here?

Thinks can go wrong. Very wrong!

 

I think for people who are not used to playing around with electricity, it's best to buy quality products from brand name companies - with warranty.

 

Yes.

The LEDs I bought on Lazada were garbage that stopped working within one month.

Or, the plastic bulbs feel off and dropped like hailstones on the floor.

 

I bought 25 Panasonic fluorescent bulbs, and I know they will work for several years.

 

No point in trying to rewire the garbage from Lazada.

Just not worth the time.

 

Better to just buy high quality bulbs LEDs from Philips or Panasonic or GE, or any big names.

 

I learned my lesson, and I will never buy from the cheap suppliers shown on Lazada.

 

The potential risk of re-wiring or replacing capacitors is just not worth any potential savings.

 

For example, anytime you replace a battery in a UPS is also potentially lethal, if you make an error.

Capacitors can hold a lot of charge, depending on the size.

Although, this is not the case for LED lighting capacitors.

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

6 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Electricity can bite, it can bite badly

if you don’t know what you are doing, don’t do it

 

There is far too much nanny going on. In Thailand there a vanishing few electricians, the method above can multiply the life of lights to decades, it reduces the power requirements by up to a factor of ten.

 

Yes.

And, there are several very good YT videos about how to do this, one good series is put out by some guy from Scotland, I think.

He is very qualified.

 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

52 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Yes.

And, there are several very good YT videos about how to do this, one good series is put out by some guy from Scotland, I think.

He is very qualified.

 

 

He is actually living on the isle of Mann and was the inspiration for the modification, however the rather long instructional video is lost in the annals of time.

 

I have never seen another but if you have links I would appreciate them.

 

the reason was for the people who know how to avoid the bites from electricity to have an easy cheap way to have fun.

I deliberately did not include instructions for those who are not already conversant with power but may not have an electronics background. 
 

I have also had this light on for months

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

No point in trying to rewire the garbage from Lazada.

Just not worth the time.

A point is that there is no rewireing of the light it’s in the fitting

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

I would like to know how it can go badly wrong? 

Do you really need to ask?

 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

8 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Do you really need to ask?

 

 

You clearly don’t have an answer as the tingle from the type of capacitor suggested (which will not happen if you short it out) is far less than from the mains

 

If you are going to repurpose a capacitor from an old TV or microwave then you have to know what you are doing as they can kill

[Crossy]

Warning Will Robinson. Warning.

 

IF you are going to try this you MUST use mains-rated capacitors, not just any old cap salvaged from who knows where!!!

 

A good source of suitable low-cost capacitors are the fan run capacitors sold all over.

 

Also note That my posting here is in no way an endorsement of this technique, any and all consequences are purely the responsibility of the reader.

 

[carlyai]

I went to our local Global House last week for some daylight bright LED bulbs, placed them in the trolley and a nice young assistant, took them out and put another brand lower wattage set of lights in the trolley, said the origional brand were no good, break quickly, but the new brand good.

I don't think he was on commission for the particular light brand, but, from experience, just being helpful.

[OneMoreFarang]

34 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

You clearly don’t have an answer as the tingle from the type of capacitor suggested (which will not happen if you short it out) is far less than from the mains

 

If you are going to repurpose a capacitor from an old TV or microwave then you have to know what you are doing as they can kill

I am sure you know that capacitors come in all sizes and types and voltages.

If people know what they are doing, then there is no problem. But I know from my own experience when I started with electronics and harmless 5V or 12V that things can go boom and the magic smoke appears.

With high voltage that can be deadly. 

It seems too many people watch some YouTube video or something in a forum and then they think no problem, I can do that, and then things go wrong. Below is a deadly example.

 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

21 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I am sure you know that capacitors come in all sizes and types and voltages.

If people know what they are doing, then there is no problem.

If you follow the pictures and caveat. then there are no problem

 

if however you decide to use the kinds of recycled versions then you either know what you are doing, get lucky or are aiming to win a Darwin Award 

 

The general guide is that small capacitors are like small cats, they may bite but don’t do anything more than that. The bigger the capacitor the bigger the bite, big fan starter and motor starter capacitors are designed to kick a large inertial load into motion so short them out or get a rather significant understanding of the power they contain 

[bluejets]

Well, another dilute raving on.

One thing many LED fittings will not sustain is reduced mains voltage levels.

There are dimmable LED fittings out there but the technology behind the dimming process is not just wack a cap in series and close the cover.

If it were that simple, manufacturers would have been all over it years ago.

Best thing the Op can do is post on "instructables" where the rest of many wakkos reside.

[sometimewoodworker]

5 minutes ago, bluejets said:

Well, another dilute raving on.

One thing many LED fittings will not sustain is reduced mains voltage levels.

There are dimmable LED fittings out there but the technology behind the dimming process is not just wack a cap in series and close the cover.

If it were that simple, manufacturers would have been all over it years ago.

Best thing the Op can do is post on "instructables" where the rest of many wakkos reside.

So you don’t know the difference between constant current drivers and constant voltage drivers?

It is certainly possible that the land down under has regulations that make that knowledge redundant, but since we are not governed by those idiosyncratic rules we can have a more flexible approach. 😜

[Crossy]

Enough!

 

 

 

EDIT I'm also going to modify the local forum rules to prohibit further threads of this kind.

 

If you want to post something similar, please PM myself with your proposal.

 

[sandyf]

13 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Going on from @sandyfs problems with the LEDs burning out quickly. 

I don't have a problem with LEDs, I can only assume you are referring to a reply I may have made  to someone else.

I am not particularly familiar with LEDs, I only have 2 sets that are built into ceiling fans that have now been in use for some years.

If I remember right I think they have a control unit attached to lower the voltage. The quality of any such device would be critical in the operation of the LEDs.