Post 501297 by bea@glitch.social
(DIR) More posts by bea@glitch.social
(DIR) Post #501158 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:02:01Z
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if youre wonderin how long those cheap "50 W" LED floodlight type things last when used every day as an indoor light, the answer is "6 months"
(DIR) Post #501162 by joeri_poeri@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:02:58Z
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@jk wow, that's not too bad actually
(DIR) Post #501166 by bea@glitch.social
2018-10-12T14:03:24Z
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@jk these things?
(DIR) Post #501168 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:03:29Z
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@joeri_poeri i bet the LED chip is still fine, it's probably a bad capacitor. might take a look inside later
(DIR) Post #501173 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:04:32Z
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@bea yeah pretty much. that but a bit bigger. i was using one behind my computer monitors, since at night (and even sometimes during the day) the contrast between the bright screens and the wall behind was uncomfortable, so it was a decent backdrop type light (with pretty poor color-rendering, granted, so I wouldn't use it for general lighting)
(DIR) Post #501229 by bea@glitch.social
2018-10-12T14:09:23Z
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@jk gotcha, and yeah i totally did wonder how durable those things are, so thanks
(DIR) Post #501240 by vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de
2018-10-12T14:10:20Z
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@jk @bea often it is just the "ballast" inside (230V to (hopefully) constant current low voltage source) that is kaputt, rather than the LED itself failing (you might even be able to make it light up from the L+5V of a spare PC power supply, or better still a proper constant current source for it)these ballast are often cheap switchmodes with all the usual problems (elcos failing, radio interference etc)
(DIR) Post #501250 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:11:22Z
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@bea mine was probably the cheapest i could find on ebay, so maybe if you got something a bit more reputable it might last longer? it's probably a bad capacitor or something, it suddenly switched off in use, I quickly unplugged it in case something bad had happened, and then, while unplugged, it flashed a few times (like a cap repeatedly discharging?). will have to take a look inside at some point
(DIR) Post #501297 by bea@glitch.social
2018-10-12T14:16:08Z
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@jk i don't actually need one i just think LEDs are neat
(DIR) Post #501313 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:18:35Z
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@vfrmedia @bea I done a Big Clive on it, and as predicted, its not remotely grounded and also theres not much to see
(DIR) Post #501329 by bea@glitch.social
2018-10-12T14:19:47Z
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@jk @vfrmedia lol that's the case ground/protective earth?
(DIR) Post #501353 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:21:45Z
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@bea @vfrmedia to be fair, the part of the casing the ballast is in isnt even made of metal, so i don't know what they were supposed to do with it. i guess just hope the driver doesn't pass mains at any point. i guess the LED would act like a fuse. very safe. Conformité Européenne no doubt
(DIR) Post #501381 by bea@glitch.social
2018-10-12T14:24:02Z
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@jk @vfrmedia if it's not metal how does it dissipate heat or.................?
(DIR) Post #501401 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:25:19Z
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@bea @vfrmedia it dissipates heat about as well as plastic with no vents in usually does. which is probably why it failed!!!
(DIR) Post #501430 by bea@glitch.social
2018-10-12T14:26:30Z
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@jk @vfrmedia right, that was kinda the other thing i was wondering. got the impression a lot of LED early demise is heat related
(DIR) Post #501442 by djsundog@toot-lab.reclaim.technology
2018-10-12T14:26:53Z
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@jk @bea @vfrmedia to be fair, dissipating heat wasn't in the job description. Plastic probably wouldn't have applied for the gig if it had been.
(DIR) Post #501468 by vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de
2018-10-12T14:28:11Z
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@jk @bea if the ballast is sufficiently well insulated the lamp could be treated as class 2 (double insulated) but the PE wire certainly shouldn't be left to flap about inside the case like that (these are the sort of cursed things I find when PAT testing)I had a look for a new ballast but decent ones probably cost more than the lamp did to start with..
(DIR) Post #501470 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:28:21Z
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@bea @vfrmedia the rest of the casing, the part the LED is actually in, is metal thankfully, though i bet they've skimped on stuff like thermal interface material between the chip and the chassis and stuff like that
(DIR) Post #501504 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:29:55Z
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@vfrmedia @bea yeah, i did find the lamp useful so i might look for a more expensive, quality version of the same thing. it's very difficult to find them, though, because unless you're paying a lot of money you'll probably end up with something exactly the same but with a brand logo silkscreened on
(DIR) Post #501519 by vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de
2018-10-12T14:31:34Z
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@jk @bea I have one which was about £20 but its not used constantly, just for working on my bike and/or in the cupboard below the stairs which has a telephone system server and network hardware in it, and the colour temperature is something wierd (the better LED chips are sold at premium price for posh house lighting or photo/video applications)
(DIR) Post #501531 by bea@glitch.social
2018-10-12T14:31:55Z
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@jk @vfrmedia i feel like a lot of people use LED strips for your application? not bright enough?
(DIR) Post #501551 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:32:50Z
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@bea @vfrmedia i used those for a few years, but yeah they weren't very bright, also the adhesive on them wasn't very good, and also after a while (maybe 18 months?) the colour went really off, because the plastic covering of the LED strip had gone brown (bromine?? due to heat??) and that kinda sucked. and i am NOT retrobriting a fuckin LED strip
(DIR) Post #501646 by vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de
2018-10-12T14:37:35Z
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@jk @bea the other disadvantage of many cheap LEDs is the PWM drive circuits are not well filtered, to the point that the interference is backfed down the mains neutral and protective earth (which are usually linked by the electric distributors either in your house or at the linkbox a few 10s of metres away), and all this noise can easily find its way into your audio equipment (strange glitchy sounds in the background when you have the speakers turned up loud)
(DIR) Post #501677 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:39:58Z
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@vfrmedia @bea thankfully i have so much shit plugged in to that power strip that any strange glitchy sounds are masked by all the other strange glitchy sounds i hear all the time
(DIR) Post #501714 by bea@glitch.social
2018-10-12T14:39:49Z
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@vfrmedia @jk BLEHHHHHHH there are nicer ways to drive LEDs (and lasers) tho i guess i get why they don't use em
(DIR) Post #501715 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:41:45Z
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@bea @vfrmedia last time i looked, good constant current drivers were almost 10x more expensive. i hope thats not still the case but i wouldn't be surprised!
(DIR) Post #501733 by bea@glitch.social
2018-10-12T14:43:01Z
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@jk @vfrmedia yeah they were way too expensive when i was looking i ended up building one out of discrete components. only thing i ever really did with electronics lol
(DIR) Post #501886 by bea@glitch.social
2018-10-12T14:50:03Z
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@jk @vfrmedia ah yes here it is, charming little thing...... 😬
(DIR) Post #501887 by jk@mastodon.social
2018-10-12T14:51:03Z
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@bea @vfrmedia adorable!!
(DIR) Post #501975 by greatjoe@knzk.me
2018-10-12T14:54:54Z
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@jk I genuinely was. Thanks! :)
(DIR) Post #502048 by bea@glitch.social
2018-10-12T14:59:43Z
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@jk @vfrmedia that was with the test load, this is with the real one. beam visualized by vaping n o less