broken 50 watt led floodlight

[moosefps]

Just like the title said I have 8 of these lights bought from eBay about a year ago and I'll be darned if all of them are out. I have not pulled them down to see what the problem is yet but I have my suspicions. But either way as I understand these things only have 3 components being a driver, a led chip and the housing. I would like to replace all of the led chips with warm light emitting led's because my wife was having a fit about the cool light. I also would like to replace the driver with a good reliable one if it can be had. I am familiar with soldering and am good with cone tons and understand the silver solder paste. I am confident I can rebuild them but can not for the life of me how to find the components for it. If someone would point me in the right direction I would be grateful. And just for the record I am scared of the dark and live on 3 acres and like to be able to mow my grass at night!

 

[DavidOz]

50W is a very high powered LED. So you'll need a BIG heat sink on the chips. They'll fail pretty quickly otherwise from overheating. No point putting in a new 50W LED chip unless the housing has a good heatsink.

Have a look at the EBay page, if they seller makes the usual ridiculous claim of 50,000 hours life, (at least 10 years of normal use) then you have a good case for returning them all and getting your money back. (At this in Australian this falls under the statutory warranty law).

like to be able to mow my grass at night!

You could put a BFL on the lawn mower instead :-)

 

[SemiMan]

50W is a very high powered LED. So you'll need a BIG heat sink on the chips. They'll fail pretty quickly otherwise from overheating. No point putting in a new 50W LED chip unless the housing has a good heatsink.

Have a look at the EBay page, if they seller makes the usual ridiculous claim of 50,000 hours life, (at least 10 years of normal use) then you have a good case for returning them all and getting your money back. (At this in Australian this falls under the statutory warranty law).



You could put a BFL on the lawn mower instead :-)

One can never be 100% certain, but I would highly expect this is a driver issue. Did they fail suddenly, or start bright then quickly dim. If they went from bright to dim, then it could be the LED. Instant failures after a period of working operation tend to be drivers.

These units may get quite hot, but LEDs can take a lot of heat. Unfortunately, many drivers cannot and to hit the EBAY price points thrown around, the drivers are cheap, even by China standards.

When you do the replacement, get drivers with a 85-90C case temperature rating.

Bridgelux is a good reliable high quality high powered LED.

Bridgelux can be bought in small quantities from Digikey. Figure out which one you want, then we can talk about the driver that will go with it.


Semiman

 

[moosefps]

Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction. I will have to pull one down and measure the led chip. What I'm really confused on is what driver I would need with what kind of voltage. The specs on those things are a little too much for me to comprehend.

 

[cronus]

These 50W module-type emitters (made up of 50 1W emitters on a single substrate) are usually organized in rows of 10. A 50W module will have 5 rows. The forward voltage is between 29 and 35 volts depending on drive current and temperature. A 50W module with have a drive current of approx. 1.6A.
I would be surprised if the emitter is blown. It's most likely the driver. That is where they skimp on the parts, and they are pushed beyond their limit. If it is the emitter, then check the heatsink contact point for a good thermal connection.
For a replacement driver, you can scour eBay. I haven't tried this one from FT, but you can pull the specs from it for your search. From the pics, it looks fairly well built.
You can get replacement emitters in WW for relatively cheap on eBay. Look for 5-pack and 10-pack auctions. Even DX have a 50W WW for a very nice price.

 

[SemiMan]

I would not follow Cronus' sourcing recommendations as that is going to put you right back to where you started. No name parts with questionable specs and quality is not what you want again. Bridgelux LEDs are more efficient than what you will find on eBay and are actually tested and perform to spec. You cannot tell a drivers quality by looking at it. Product qualification, burn in testing, safety certs, fully potted and sealed as this is outdoors, etc is the say way to go. Yes you will spend more up front but they will last.

Semiman

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[moosefps]

Well I'm just going on an assumption but the actual led in these lights are most likely fine judging on the way that they failed but I cannot be sure until I test them. As far as the drivers are concerned I know that I need to replace them. If I keep the led that is in the light then what driver would I need? Of course if I am going through this trouble I would reseat the led with thermal paste. Or would y'all recommend replacing the led as well. As for the led size the lights were specter at 5000 lm. Would I just get any old 5000 lm led and replace?

 

[SemiMan]

You said you did not like the color so you could change it to something warmer .... 4000k is nice outdoors. Don't go with just any go name brand. Driver must match LED.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[moosefps]

I looked on dx and that looks like exactly what I'm looking for. Are their driver modules built well? I found 2 on their sight and they are different colors but with the same specs, one costs $31 and one is $21. Are these thing a 'you get what you pay for' case?

 

[SemiMan]

DX is no name stuff mainly. Anything name brand is more expensive then regular channels. Look at Digikey for Meanwell and well and other quality brands.

 

[moosefps]

Ok on dx and eBay I can kinda find what I'm looking for but on digikey I'm completely lost with the shear amount of stuff on there. Its mind boggling.

 

[cronus]

Semiman makes a good point, the links I point to are definitely not brand name. My main purpose of providing the links was information (voltages and currents). That said, generic Chinese components doesn't automatically mean they are junk and just like what was in the light already. Anything not tested could (and should) be considered questionable.
Bridgelux emitters are several times the cost of the generics. Drivers from Digikey will be more expensive too (and still untested by you). There may be a certain amount of added reliability by going with the higher cost drivers and emitters. However, if you plan to mod eight of these, the component costs will add up significantly.
I've build only one of these 50W flood lights and five 10W ones, all using generic components. All are still going strong, but my usage is probably lower than yours.
Good luck with your parts search. Let us know what you decide, and the final results.
Cheers.

 

[SemiMan]

If you look at real performance Bridgelux is not much more money. Good drivers are considerably more expensive but do you want it to die again in a year or last 5?

Semiman

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[moosefps]

Ok I found a power supply from digikey. I don't really know how good it is but this joker is like $47. I think it might fit my needs. It also has overheat protection! Here are the specs.

PLC-050 Series

1

Power Supplies - External/Internal (Off-Board)

LED Supplies

PLC-050

Constant Current

AC DC Converter

1

90VAC

305VAC

12 ~ 36 V

1.4A

50W

2kV (2000V)

-

OTP, OVP, SCP

-35°C ~ 70°C

87%

Wire Leads

7.83" L x 1.67" W x 1.34" H (199.0mm x 42.5mm x 34.0mm)

Chassis Mount

CE, cULus

IP67

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[cronus]

Specs look good, overkill for sure. It's for industrial use. Probably costs more than the original unit :)
Did you original light have the driver in an enclosure at the back of the light? This driver is already a sealed unit and may not fit in that enclosure. Double-check the dimensions.
Another source is Future Lighting Solutions. They sell a variety of fixture drivers, basic ones to ones with dimming inputs, etc. You might find something there, but it can be hard to surf through the options.

 

[moosefps]

Well dam that one will not fit. Took the light apart today and it is a model LR-PF4060A LED Driver. Output is 19-32v at 1200-2100mA. It also says TA:50C TC:70C, whatever that means. Also says 88% efficient. The led has no marks on it and is attached to a little aluminum plate with the wire soldered to the wings on the chip. The driver can only be 6 inches long.

 

[moosefps]

Ok I think I have found what I am looking for. And I have two questions. For the emitter should I go with a PRIME brand or CREE? On the driver since it will be housed in a water tight compartment on the light does the driver itself need to be water proof? I was thinking non waterproof because I could then mount it with thermal paste to help dissipate some heat, or should I just do that with the waterproof one?