How to reduce the LED Driver Current to avoid burning out?
Time:2021-05-14 / Read:1833Did you know that LED lights don’t emit UV rays, are free of all harsh chemicals, and are 100% recyclable? Now, you do!
LED is a semi-conductor that emits visible light of a specific color when current flows through it. It is fundamentally different from conventional light like incandescent, fluorescent, and gas discharge lamps.
Do you know LED is made from a thin layer of fairly heavily doped semiconductor material? These semiconductors are more prone to burnout. This blog discusses:
· How to prevent LED from burning out?
· Damaged LED Driver Replacement
Before discussing how to prevent burning out of LED lights, we first need to know about:
· What is the power supply for LED lights?
· How can voltage breakdown cause burning out of LED lights?
Power Supply of LED Lights
The LED lights are driven by a DC power supply and mainly work using a 12V power supply of 600watts.
Before you decide to buy a new LED or make one on your own, it is necessary to have the right power source for your LEDs.
Many factors need to be considered while you are choosing the power supply of your LED lights. Among them, the most important one is to look for a constant current LED driver or power supply for the proper working of the LED light.
Moreover, it has been observed that with the correct power supply, the correct wiring of the LEDs also plays an important role.
For instance, a 12V battery wired in a series with four 3V LEDs would distribute the flow to each LED. Whereas the same 12V battery, if connected in parallel, would deliver the entire 12V to each LED, which would result in burnout of the LEDs!
Hence, the correct power supply would play an essential role in reducing the LED driver current to avoid burnout!
Voltage Breakdown
Strong connections play an essential role in LED lights as bad connections can affect the amount of voltage a bulb receives.
Multiple reasons may result in the bad connection of your LED lights, which include:
· Overpowered or High Voltage
· Contact of corroded parts
· Incompatible dimmer switches
· Recessed lights
The overpowered or high voltage will result in burnout of the LED bulbs a lot earlier than it should. Another common cause is overheating of LED lights, which happens due to inaccurate fixing of connections.
How to Prevent LED from Burning out?
As we have discussed earlier, bad connections or connecting an LED directly to a power source can cause an LED to burn out.
Given below are the preventive methods one should take to prevent LED lights from burning out:
· Connecting the LEDs in series with the voltage source.
· Creating an equilibrium between the LED and voltage source.
· Using resistors will limit the flow of electrons in the circuit, which will protect the LED from drawing too much current. Hence, the result is prevention from burnout.
· Using LED current below or up to the maximum range permitted for your LED lights.
LED Driver Replacement
If you don’t succeed despite making sure of every possible method for preventing the LED lights from burning out, there are two methods you can look into:
· LED Driver Replacement.
· Purchasing a new LED
Most of the cases usually need the replacement of LED drivers. Following are the steps taken into consideration before the LED Driver Replacement:
· Whether the fixture is indoor or outdoor?
· What would be the Output Voltage range of the LED driver?
· What kind of driver are you working with: constant current or constant voltage?
Signs indicating the need for LED Driver Replacement
Following are the two most common signs that demonstrate the need for LED Driver Replacement:
i. Over Driving of LED: It occurs when the LED light is brighter than the rest of the LED lights.
ii. Under Driving of LED: It occurs when the LED light is dimmer than the rest of the LED lights.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, your LED lights might not last a lifetime. However, they last 20 to 25 times longer than halogen lights. So even if they burn out, now you know every possible reason for it and how to solve it!
Hence, this blog highlights all that you should be aware of the LED lights and how to prevent them from burning out. No doubt, you would not want your LED lights to burn out, especially when they save a lot on your bills.