Golf Cart Rebuild

[JRW]

Hi,
I am rebuilding a flood gold cart. I am working on lights. Here is what i found inside the lig

ht. Any idea how bright a LED i should look for. It appear to only be on led with a heat sink attached.
thc
Randy in Fl

 

[EJR]

How much is a new factory lamp? If its not expensive I'd say just buy a replacement. Otherwise you'd have to identify all the components on the board that are damaged (the LED chip appears ok), find replacements and then resolder them to the pcb.

 

[JRW]

Thanks and that may be where I end up. The housing is proprietary so I hoping to just replace the guts.

I am thinking of using something like this?

 

[EJR]

Thanks and that may be where I end up. The housing is proprietary so I hoping to just replace the guts.

I am thinking of using something like this?
View attachment 71504

Do you plan to eliminate the corroded PCB entirely?

How are you going to provide power to the new LED star-board? It will need an appropriately spec'd driver.

 

[LEDphile]

The LED itself looks like a Cree XP-G or similar (3535 3-stripe package, 2mm^2 die), but the rest of that board appears to have the driver circuit (probably a step-down constant-current design to take the variable battery voltage and convert it to the lower voltage that the LED needs). And if the board doesn't work after cleaning all the rust and other deposits off the board, it's likely not worth fixing, as the PCB itself is likely damaged (not just the components installed on the board).

If you opt to go with replacing the internals of the housing but not the full housing, you will need to match the LED source size, configuration (1-up), and location within the housing, as well as provide an appropriate driver. Similar LEDs are

• Cree XP-G (all variants)
• Luminus SST-20
• Nichia 219 (all variants)
• Nichia 519 (all variants)
• Oslon Square (all variants)
• Lumileds HL2X
• Lumileds Luxeon TX

 

[JRW]

Thanks for the suggestions,,,,and the list!! I only know enough to get in trouble🙂
Sorry, I guess I should have said I was not going to rebuild the PC board/drive. I was hoping to find something that took 12 volts and had the driver built in??

Any idea how bright the original led? It will seldom be used at night but just in case?

thx
Randy

 

[John_Galt]

Not a lot of options out there for units like that with the driver and emitter on one board. Your best bet is to find s suitable replscment LED, verify the voltage supplied to the oroginal driver board, then find a power supply rated for that that "bucks" (drops) the voltage down from the input voltage to a nominal 3V output for a single LED, at an appropriate current output.

What does the rest of the housing look like? Is there a large enough heatsink and thermal pathway from where the LED will sit to the heatsink to allow more power to be pushed through the LED?

 

[JRW]

Not a lot of options out there for units like that with the driver and emitter on one board. Your best bet is to find s suitable replscment LED, verify the voltage supplied to the oroginal driver board, then find a power supply rated for that that "bucks" (drops) the voltage down from the input voltage to a nominal 3V output for a single LED, at an appropriate current output.

What does the rest of the housing look like? Is there a large enough heatsink and thermal pathway from where the LED will sit to the heatsink to allow more power to be pushed through the LED?

Thanks,
The original housing it very large so I dont think there is a space problem.
Here is photo of the housing .

 

[JRW]

Hi,
I bought a Luxceon C white 1-up but it does not seem to put out much light?
Not sure what to expect?

Lets talk about the lens. Anyone know what I can expect from the lens??

thx
randy

 

[EJR]

Hi,
I bought a Luxceon C white 1-up but it does not seem to put out much light?
Not sure what to expect?

Lets talk about the lens. Anyone know what I can expect from the lens??

thx
randy

This forum is primarily automotive lighting related. Golf cart lighting is never really discussed so your likely not going to find anyone here that has any legitimate experience with the testing and evaluation of these types of lamps. Have you tried searching for online golf cart groups? (I have no idea if any exist)

If all there is is just a lens and LED chip with no additional optics then I'd imagine this is just going to provide general flood illumination. I hope you aren't expecting this to shine like a car headlight? lol Because it won't.

Were you able to properly identify the model LED chip on the damaged board?

Why did you decide to go with a Luxeon C? How much current are you feeding it?

 

[JRW]

Thx for all the help!! I just trying things out. I found 10 watt 12 volt led that may work. I fitted to my existing heat sink. I think it is may be the answer. I am not sure if I want to run it at 12 volts but? but it was very bright!!

I need to check it out at night!!
I'll keep you updated. and thanks for all the help
randy

 

[EJR]

Thx for all the help!! I just trying things out. I found 10 watt 12 volt led that may work. I fitted to my existing heat sink. I think it is may be the answer. I am not sure if I want to run it at 12 volts but? but it was very bright!!

I need to check it out at night!!
I'll keep you updated. and thanks for all the help
randy

That COB chip is way too large and its emitting area won't be optimized with the optical lens.

If you want the lamp to function and perform as it did originally, you need to use the correct LED chip, drive it to the same power level, and position it on the heat sink exactly as it was under the lens. This ensures everything works harmoniously.

If you can take a macro shot of the original LED, we could help identify it.

 

[JRW]

Thanks EJR. Here is the original led.

 

[EJR]

Thanks EJR. Here is the original led.

It looks like its the Samsung LH351B. You can buy them HERE.

Now you gotta determine the correct color used on the original, get it mounted to a PCB and drive it the same power level. 🙃

EDIT: Just found a source who offers them pre-mounted on a PCB HERE.

 

[JRW]

Thanks EJR. You solved my next adventure in mounting them to a PCB. . or is there a youtube on mounting them to a PCB??

Now to build a LM317 driver!!!

Randy in COLD florida

 

[EJR]

Thanks EJR. You solved my next adventure in mounting them to a PCB. . or is there a youtube on mounting them to a PCB??

Now to build a LM317 driver!!!

Randy in COLD florida

I edited my last post to include a link to the chip pre-mounted on a PCB.

Take a look also at the datasheet I linked. Looks like you can drive the chip up to a maximum of 1500ma.

 

[JRW]

The Saga Continues. The next light to fix have 3 leds. The are still mounted on a board and as miracles happen, they light up. I tested them starting at 3 volts and they started to light at 6 volts. I did touch them with 12 volts for a moment. They were very bright. I did not leave the on 12 volts but for an instant not wanting to damage them. There 3 photos with a closeup showing the tiny 16 leds.
The question is how much current can they handle? I don't think I have to run them at full power. I would rather be safe than sorry.
I also included a photo of the driver in case that helps. I am sure the driver broke.

Thanks again for all the help and knowledge!!!

Randy