230V AC 120W replacement DIY Garage LED light

Hi All,

After finishing my 12V G4 LED replacement, here is my next project !

The goal is to light my garage. Here are the parameters, quite different of my last project, where quality of light was very important.

- Good efficacy, 80lm/w
- Neutral/Cool white is nice for a garage
- Easy to build
- Total size have to be small. Small hight is a key, too
- Wide angle, 120-150°
- Reasonable price

This time, I do not build a driver because I use a direct AC LED from Seoul Semiconductor !
The second generation of Acrich, called... Acrich2 ! Wow

This save me time to find/make a suitable driver. This save me space, too.
Efficacy is not the best of market, but a LED with 100lm/w with a driver with 80% efficiency result to 80lm/w same system efficacy, don't forget this.

Here is a pic of my choice :

And its characteristics, model SMJD-3V16W1P3CA :
220V(230V) direct AC Drive
17.5W
1450lm (stated on Mouser site)
82 CRI (Mouser), min 80 CRI
5000k (original wish was 4000K, but now EoL)
<4.5mm height, 70mm diameter
More infos on the Acrich2 technology : http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-LED-Driver-unusual-topology&highlight=acrich

Ok for the led light. The other "big" part, is cooling. As it is a garage, the design has not to be state of the art...
A "technical" style is good for me
Chance, I have some heatsinks in stock : 0.9°C/W 160mm lang, 100mm wide, 40mm hight (SK 85/100/SA, Fischer Elektronik).
Money saved, they cost more than the LED...




The design will be to machine the base side, to inlay the LED into it. The it will be covered with frosted tempered glass, glued/fixed with adhesive tape.

See you

cool!

I've had good experience with the light I made with some Acrich2 modules, so I'm interested in seeing how your project turns out.
The photo suggests that your module has a fuse and series resistor. If not, don't forget to add them per Seoul's recommendations. I think a MOV was recommended too (can't be too careful with the protective parts).

Yes I saw your triple 8w acrich2 vid on youtube, right ? nice conception

More pics of my light :






Pretty happy so far !
Done first temperature test, with a cardboard on the side of the LED (to simulate glass, this reduce dissipation from this side) I achieve max a 33°C above ambient. This Mean <65°C for heatsink in worst case of 30°C on the ceiling of my garage.
Sufficient safety margin for the LED, the metal PCB is about only 2-3° higher of the heatsink, this mean good thermal connection.

Yes the module has a fuse, a varistor and a resistor integrated. No worries on this side.

I have to make an earth connection for the body (heatsink) and find a frosted glass.
I'm now on the conception of the fixation to bolt on the ceiling.

That looks pretty nice!
Attaching a safety ground to the heatsink is good... it's unlikely that mains power will short to the heatsink, and I doubt anyone will be touching the light, but it's best to be safe.

I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what those extra 4 holes are for... is that just to let bugs in so they can build their nests in a warm, dry location??
You might want to put a little tape or blob of RTV over the holes just to keep the critters out.

What are your impressions of the flicker? My small 8 watt modules only have two separate blocks of LEDs, and I'm guessing that the 230v versions break the LEDs into more blocks that get turned on sequentially as the AC wave increases and decreases. The flicker in my modules is only detectable when I have a fan running, and there is a slight strobe effect with the fan.

Thank you !
Yes a ground is mandatory. As you say I doubt anyone touch the light, but this is the regulation, and the insulation of the metalcore PCB is really thin.

The 4 extra holes were there before, because I saved these heatsinks from scrap. They are originally designed for a stepper motor control.
Exactly, I plan to put silicon RTV inside, to avoid bugs come in and make the inside dirty.

Flicker is not visible for me. I haven't got a dimmer to test the sequence,unfortunately.
I tested with a fan while varying the speed, I was able to see stroboscopic effect, but not precisely to see the fan fixed, some areas become darker.

For the moment I'm happy with this SSC Acrich2 module, good value for price, easy to implement.

They are good outdoors where exposure is short. I can't recommend indoors ... What you can't see (flicker) can hurt you.

Yes, for living room or other rooms it's not the best choice perhaps. But for the garage, the pantry or technical room they are fine.
Furthermore, for rooms where we live, for me 85+CRI is mandatory, 90CRI a goal to reach; thus Acrich2 are not suitable.

Mechanical work is done, glass ordered, waiting delivery:

I don't understand what you mean by "technical room".

The rooms where you don't live; where central heating is, where washing machine is etc... Don't know the "real" name of, sorry for my poor english

No worries .... I did not want to assume what you meant.

Yes, for all these rooms, this type of flicker is not an issue for most people.

After a while, finally received my three glasses. Finally, it is 4mm frosted and with chamfer. Not tempered, they are too small pieces to be able to do this.
But glassmaker said it is not a problem, if heating is uniform (and it will be with alu heatsink).

So mounted with thermal paste. All holes glued, to avoid small insects to go inside.





The hard part was to glue the glass on the heatsink. The third time was the good, first was bad, second was ugly and not uniform.
Finally it looks like this :




Next step, ceiling mounting

would the air pressure from expansion tear a hole in your glass adhesive? surface temperature of 65C... the air inside isgoing to be hot

Its a small space. I would not expect any issue if the glue is reasonable. It looks like a large surface area for gluing.

Those are terrible. A similar one is used in the US in a Lithonia fixture called FMML 840. The flicker is beyond tolerable for me. If you want to ever be able to take pictures in that room, forget it. You're going to have a zebra screen. That kind of driver has an extreme level of flicker almost like LED christmas decoration lights driven off of AC power.

Have a look at this. Current energy performance standards in the US do not require a specific flicker content limitations. The flicker is FAR worse than magnetic ballast fluorescent light, because LED's phosphors do not filter out pulsation anywhere near as well.

http://www.designingwithleds.com/ac-driver-led-circuits-electrolytic-capacitors-flicker-trade-offs/

No issue with gluing, warming and other thing. The heatsink remains really cool, it's well oversized for 18W.
Glue is solid, now it's totally dry and I think it's almost impossible to remove glass.

But... but ! I have a problem that I never think to : light is well too focused, angle is too low. Original spec is 120°, but the incrustation in the aluminum perhaps reduce it a bit. And problem is amplified with the relative low height of the garage ceiling.
So, even with all the lumens of this light, a 2 times less powerfull bulb with 360° give an overall better result

I don't know what I can do, but I think I will buy to lamp holder and two Philips 1150lm LED bulbs :/

I'd cut some translucent sphere in half and fix it over the LED assemply, this should give you some sideways radiation. Or, fold a pyramid of the translucent material canisters are made of.

It's an idea, but I have no idea where I can find an existing lens / and easy manufacturerable lends. What is "translucent material of canisters" ?

Perhaps I will use my prototype in my pantry : smaller surface and higher ceiling will give me a good result

Hi!

Canister, look here:

https://www.google.de/search?q=kani...IdTzavuCgIgM&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1204&bih=765

You surely have one of the white color, this material could be cut and folded into a diffusor.

Or you buy a sphere like this:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Acrylkugeln-...erialien&var=510097323750&hash=item4ac08ed239

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Acrylkugel-P...ielzeug_Stofftiere_Teddys&hash=item4872971185

Sandblast it or roughen it up with fine sandpaper, and it will make a nice diffusor as well.

In the mean time:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Plastikbecher.JPG

Thanks for all these ideas

The sphere solution could be nice... I think I will try.
I keep you informed

You can make your own spherical or whatever shaped lens as well by vacuum forming some diffused acrylic sheet. There are several diffusion products on the market which offer varying levels of diffusion vs transmission. Some diffusion products include Lucite Diakon Frost, Makrolon Lumen XT, PlexiGlas Diffuse, luminit LSD, and ACRYLITE Satinice. These are mostly only available in sheet. You can form these sheets into accurate domes and other shapes with a simple DIY vacuum forming setup. There are many instructional videos on youtube for DIY vacuum forming.