Inside a Chinese street light from eBay
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- Опубликовано: 15 фев 2024
- It's six years since I've looked at one of these, so I thought I'd buy another and see if the construction has changed much. It has changed a bit, but not much.
It turns out that even six years ago they were using the new flip chip style LED modules, so the only slight changes are the fact it's now got an earth/ground connection, a six screw cover instead of four and the new driver is not power factor corrected, unlike the original unit which had a very good power factor. (Power factor is the relationship between voltage and current across the sine wave.)
These lights are quite nicely made, and it makes me wonder if they're actually used as street lights in some areas of China.
They're very hackable for replacing the LED or driver as desired if you have a specific colour requirement. They are also very serviceable in that the LED module and driver are very standard and easily available.
Being such a cheap and mass produced item, I wonder how reliable they would be as an actual outdoor light.
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Fun fact! Harsh, cold lights often have the opposite effect than one desires from visibility. Since the light doesn’t diffuse as much, you end up with high contrast areas that essentially make it harder to see things outside the halo of very bright lights. I used to work in crime prevention and safety and the realization people have when you show them the impact of a “warm” light that spreads beyond its bright cone and one of these cheap “super bright” lights is always amazing. It’s a forehead-smacking moment for many.
It's just a shame that warm color temps are so ugly 😭
@@RT-qd8yl In the leds market they are differents colors temperatures, i personally prefer the color of around 4500k
By "crime prevention and safety" do you mean surveillance? "Crime prevention and safety" sounds very Orwellian...
I wish someone would share this information with the wonderful bright intelligent people who pass me in the morning and evening commute.... *heavy duty sarcasm implied * 😊
I want to contribute that if you are arguing for traditional high pressure sodium, their CRI is so low that some things don't even seem to be illuminated under them. Cool white but focused streetlights are just another evil. Technology Connections makes a good video about this
I personally feel that the color temperature, assuming the light is capable of a respectable CRI, isn't as important as the spread and diffusion of the light.
I got the previous version you showed back in 2017 for my parents driveway - still works like a charm after close to 7 years
I just tested that one recently and it had extremely good power factor.
5:02 lovely how all that is stopping the reflector from shorting the LED and/or making the whole fitting live is a couple of gobs of silicone on the LED connection points. Nice!
The drivers are often isolated on these. Albeit not to our standards.
We've got the grandfather of this light out the back. It's survived 12 + years of Australian summers, torrential rain and "slightly cooler" weather, with (so far) zero problems. They had skimped on the heatsink compound when we originally bought it, and it has the original square LED panel, so ours might be a "better quality" than the AliExpress seconds perhaps? Still seems to produce more than enough light.
To be fair, they probably don't have much of a need for heat sinks in places like Europe.
I've found that items from China are typically well made from a construction standpoint, with servicable hacks to improve the workings not that difficult to achieve. Take the case on this unit. Nicely done with surprising detail to reinforcment on stress areas and general heat sinkability. With better guts this would be a several hundred dollar unit here in the states, knocking on a grand if it came from someone like Hubbell or similar. Thanks for the video!
Nicely constructed, with a wibbly-wobbly ground and non-heat sinked driver.
Oh well, the steel shan't have the opportunity to significantly rust and one does get what one pays for. Want a light that'll last a decade? It'll be around 10 - 20 times the price. I'd address the loose ground and use it around my home's exterior. Use the same LED and a 5 and a quarter meter light pipe/diffusor, I'd even use it to light my room.
Hope you're having a nice night Clive and everybody here, thanks for another great video 👍
Thanks Clive. Cheap and cheerful Chinese rendition that after your tear down can be made better
22 bucks P+P+customs+VAT included? Powder coated all around? 2 silicone rings? Interchangeable LED-module with standard mount? Thermo-paste used? Interchangeble driver? Wires of sufficient thickness? No chance of insect ingress? Decent light output?
*I like it!!!* 😃👍
Our councils will still find a way to make it cost 4 figures to replace one though
@@bellowick At least! 😂🤭
Factory workers in China get payed very little money about 250 eur /month.
Still financing the CCP if you buy one.
A ground wire pegged to the case instead of being properly secured, a mystery driver module, and nothing remotely UL/etc.? Sorry, I don't like it.
Thank you. As an electronics nerd and ongoing engineer, i always look forward to your videos.
another banger from big clive. illuminating as usual. thank you once again.
The gear cover on the earlier units was made of the same brittle white metal as the rest of the case, it used to crack if you tightened the screws too much!
Its cast Aluminium
@@NinoJoel Cast iron since it is magnetic
@@afre3398 the entire housing is cast aluminum.
Only the screws / the frame that holds the lens and the back cover are iron
@@afre3398 The original one was cast aluminum, the current one is apparently a sheetmetal.
It’s honestly a miracle that the factory gave an attempt at a proper earth bond, earthing in china isn’t a well known thing
Honestly, I think very few people other than good electrians, physics teachers and those nearly electructed truly understand Why grounding/ earthing is important. And even less understand how the electrical paths work as a complete functional system. They either do it because they've been told it is or are afraid of some authority figure, or just ignore it and figure it is someone else's problem.
Im an electrical distributor with my dad now and seeing the contrast between the cheapest things possible and actual brands that deal with this stuff is crazy. We stock parking lot heads that are 100-400w metal halide equivalents and they are WAY higher quality than stuff like this, full metal construction, wide angle glass lenses, much bigger led chip layout, color selectable, wattage selectable, the internal connections are also much nicer with wago connectors and solid ground terminals. Another difference between this direct from china street lamp and a dedicated fixture is for sure the cost though, even the lower powered ones we have are still ~150usd but this is way cheaper. I guess if you dont care all that much about quality and just need something then i guess it works
5:45 "I can whip it out and see", a perfect opportunity for some innuendo/double entendre to ensue missed. What a shame...🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I love the - “one moment please.” So British. 😂
Great Clive thanks they look quite adaptable, shame you couldn’t fit it up in your garden so we can see the light pattern thanks! 😊
best
thanks for all the hard work Big Clive
Excellent review Clive😊
Earth?? we don't need no stinking Earth!
Safety is the #3 priority in China. Perhaps lower. I had to ground the case of the KSGER T12 soldering station that I got off aliexpress. Who knows how much other cheap Aliexpress stuff has no case grounds.
@@JonnyFlash80 Cha bu duo engineering with tofu dreg assembly.
@@JonnyFlash80 - Actually, the Chinese courts / government tend to be pretty heavy handed with safety "mishaps" (the ones that cause victims, at least). It's just that, if foreign companies ask "how cheap can you make it?" and don't give them specific safety requirements, they're happy to oblige.
@@RFC3514Lol, I suggest you spend some time in China and learn how “heavy” the courts are.
@@johanea - How much time have _you_ spent in China, and which crimes did you get away with?
Thanks Big Clive.
Im so glad that you explain Here this light, now i can sleep better. Thanks
Good work 😊
Nice to see that the manufacturer has employed a _British-style_ Earth in this instance! Makes a nice change from the usual bag of soil with a green/yellow wire disappearing into it... 🔌🌍😁
Mind you; In my area, we're still insistent on getting the most of the investment we made in lighting infrastructure a number of years ago. It works pretty well, but I really do pity the chap who has to go around lighting all of them when the weather isn't so nice... 🔥⛈😉
Awesome Video Big Clive 😊
At least they attempted an earth. So many don't even bother.
I think I found the one they used to use back in the 90s at home depot and that thing is huge. We had one of those street lights on one street that looked as if they were the size of the transformer
It was probably specified to have an extra washer with instructions that the wire must be connected. Then someone realised they could save a fraction of a yuan and maybe a second of assembly time by leaving the washer out.
Or the hole wasn’t drilled deep enough for the screw
@@Pwills or they saved a fraction of a yuan buying slightly longer screws.
@@TheGramophoneGirl the mystery deepens 🤣😂🤣
@@TheGramophoneGirl Bet it's the same screw as hold the cover on. Ran out of the short ones? Just keep using the longer ones until your shift is over.
@@RossReedstrom lol sounds likely doesn't it. "It'll be fine, it's just an export model"
I'm happy to see that you too don't use an auto range DMM.
I thought to be a dying breed, because I still use a 20,000 KΩ/V analogue multimeter...
I've not been a fan of the driver on board LEDs due to the flicker. I feel like flicker is why they're using the older driver based solution.
The only time I'd really want to use a driver on board LED is a grow light
For what you pay this seems good value - that casting would cost a lot more if manufactured in the UK. As for rust all those screws looked like low grade (magnetic) stainless steel - so even if the covers rusted you would probably not be able to get them off anyway 😂😂😂😂
Exactly.
I doubt it's designed to last long enough to rust significantly.
I'm on my second of these now. On the first light the LEDs failed, but the current one is going on its third or fourth year. I live by the sea in a very windy region, so I'm quite impressed! When the first lamp went out, there were some minor rust around the screws holding the LED, but nothing on the cover. Might have been alu on the older version?
thank you for review :) - at least the casting/forging was done right :)
It just looks right. It is made of steel and will rust through at some point.
I've been impressed with Aliexpress solar streetlights lately, not the big ones mind you but even so they are surprisingly decent and do the job pretty well if you upgrade their power source. Cant say i would want to use a mains power streetlight let alone a 30w+ one, but i'm sure they do well.
I purchased my first 10W LED floodlight in 2012 and it was 100% thick cast alloy, even the frame holding the glass, all screws and washers were stainless steel, only the C shaped support was mild steel.
I paid over 30€ with shipping but it lasted about 26400 and something hours, I know that because it was wired in parallel with an hour meter.
Anyway the COB LED failed because the driver decided to go from 300mA to over 1A, I had bought three of them and only used one, but since it lasted so long the other two must be now at the bottom of some box hidden under 40cm of other surplus things...
It seems on all current units of the same style the glass frame is thin sheet steel and on most of them also the rear cover, while the screws are now galvanized steel.
beside taking apart street light may be you can do a video showing how good the light coming out from the lamp.... that would be great.
I just wish they'd make the flex/SO cord longer, so you can make it up at the bottom of the pole near the handhold.
I wish you had taken out the grounding screw to see how easy it came out and if you could have put in a shorter one to secure it What would you do with us light fixture now
Way better than those "5000 watt" Solar street light, this one actually feels like it can be used outdoor
I don't think they're fussed about the steel because I seriously doubt that the components are replaced when they fail.
They probably just throw a new complete unit on and chuck the old ones in the recycling bin.
Thumbs up, great video.
Have you displayed your parts pile from the multitude of items you have featured on your channel? I am really only looking to justify my own pile of odds and ends that have accumulated over time.
You should have a massive pile of random components in readiness for the apocalypse.
Cheap plated screws which will corrode within a short period, and poor earthing, a couple of washers could have fixed that easily.
I regard a lot of Chinese stuff as a starter kit just needing the finishing touches.
@@bigclivedotcomjust needs a bit of love n schnookums with the old AVE hammer?😉
One big advantage of not using a DOB (Driver On Board) LED module is that it enables the use of 'smart' control gear by simply swapping out the basic driver rather than having to replace the whole LED chip as well.
I suppose that, in theory at least, an RGB LED module and controller being fitted enabling the possibility of lighting effects or HCL (Human-Centric Lighting) functionality if someone wanted to do something really clever.
I suspect they've not gone for a driver on board, because it's rated for 85V to 250V, and the drive on board LEDs generally use a linear power supply, which is only rated for 230V. This means they can sell the same model in both 120V and 230V markets.
I changed my to eliminate the driver unit as it was interfering with my ham radio. It worked ok for 3 months. It burnt out. Replaced with a spare cob and the same happened. Were not reliable. So gone back to the original. Make sure it's off when using radio. Now fitted pir device.
cheers Clive :)
My eyes bugged out when you got the continuity tone on the earth wire.
I recently started playing Cyberpunk 2077 and there are LED streetlights in the game that look EXACTLY like this lamp, and the one you showed years ago.
Thanks :)
I literally just yesterday, spoke to the bloke fixing the LED street light outside my house😂. He replaced the driver module. It's all really well made. It was a surprisingly big module, very industrial, and reminiscent of a electronic ballast for a sodium lamp.
It's good that he changed the driver instead of swapping the whole light. I wonder if he set the LED current correctly.
@@bigclivedotcom I'm not sure what functionality the driver had, it had many terminals, I should probably of taken a picture 🤔.
What's the light distribution/ beam pattern of these like? Also would like to see you do a teardown of a Philips Roadflair, those are becoming quite common around where I live.
I've not tested one at a distance.
there's something about led streetlights that makes it terribly difficult to see common european non-reflective road markings as a driver at night. especially during rain. and i just can't explain it.
The metal reflectors around LEDs don't serve any purpose except to make the unit look nice.
I always leave them off.
They made an effort with the ground cable at least. Shame they couldn’t quite get it 100%.
One thing that worries me a bit is all these solar lights now using Lithium Ion batteries.
These batteries must not be charged in temps colder than 0c and I don't think they bother about that?
You should remind yourself that they probably have millions [if not billions] of unsold LED drivers [and LEDs that need drivers] that need to be used up before they can fully embrace the driverless LEDs ... similar thing happened with the 0.3mp cameras ... they had millions [if not billions] of 0.3mp cameras that they had to get rid of ... so they used software interpolation to help shift them.
Another thing possibly worth remembering might be the fact that the factories that produced these LED lamps probably no longer exist !
Looks like a model prop from an 80s sci-fi film, like Flight Of The Navigator or Explorers.
It does have vibes of that film.
Thanks for another interesting upload. Appears, like everything nowadays is made in China.
Yup. Boycott Chinese products and services
@@MrBrax Yup. Good luck with that 😂
@@MrBrax Problem I sometimes have: You see many products with manufacturers brand names on them, suggesting, it’s still quality and is not made in China. Then you are willing to pay the premium price only to find out it also is made in China nevertheless. For my tools I only Purchase DeWalt, Milwaukee, Makita. Having immigrated from Germany long time ago, I still follow the news over there: Mercedes now making part of their cars in Poland for example - what a shame! Overpriced Bosch and Miele now also made overseas. Greedy bastards! Vote with your feet: Walk away, don’t buy.
@@V8-friendlyWhich is why personally I wouldn't boycott China, but instead boycott companies selling cheap junk.
You can buy quality made in any country, and crap as well. Management policies matter more than country of origin.
@@mrglide7078 fourth year now, bought minimally Chinese products :)
"or is it just luck that it is earthed".. that got me laughing out loud 😂😂😂😂😂😂
So I'm guessing that the extra heatsink bit near the actual glass (with the six plastic thingies) is for extra cooling in that area since it has circuitry that can accumulate heat quickly. Not adding even heatsink all around and adding more and less in some parts helps companies save money.
After all, business *_IS_* about saving *_MONEY_* after all, right?
This man is like Dankpods and Electroboom in 1
When you said "it is quite a cold 6500 Kelvin" I just realised that cold white is a lot hotter than warm white. Don't know why I'd never noticed that before.
This comparison to black radiators and colour temperature always bothered me 😢 The principle makes no sense and the vocabulary even less. Probably an US standard.
@@LasseGreiner No, that's physics and physiology. The hotter a body is, the more blue and eventually ultraviolet. Our body and eyes assign red to "warm", as the heat that we feel is infrared, i.e. more to the red.
So, basically: "Warm" is the amount of infrared that is sent. A hotter body also sends more infrared than a cool one. But the colour balance will move to blue / ultraviolet with higher temperature, because the blue part will raise much faster with temperature.
So, "warm white" looks warmer to the eye, but it is produced by a colder body than "cold white" which contains more blue in addition
What an AMAZING coincidence, Big Clive! ...... Why, only the other day, I was wondering to myself, "I wonder how the Chinese light their streets?" 🤔
I need wonder no more, because up pops your video with the answer! ...... "Chinese Street Lights!" 💡👍🤣
ANOTHER amazing coincidence! ... I have EXACTLY the same screwdriver set, but Wilko branded! ... R.I.P. Wilko! 😭
The amazing coincidences keep coming, because I'm always BITING things to see if they're GLASS! 🤣
If it comes with a short length of flying lead... you just know what the quality is going to be like.
I wonder just how well that glass lens spreads out the light. Was there any testing done on that glass to get proper light spread. My guess is no.
To test the beam pattern I would need to find an area with long throw onto a flat surface.
Aluminium and steel is problem waiting to happen, galvanic corrosion is inevitable, japanese motorbike engines being typical where the engine cover screws weld themselves into the casings.
Our local shopping centre put up a load of outside LED flood lights around the outside of the building. I had a good look at then and they are beyond cheep and cheerful, they are rubbish and they will not last very long. 8 Months later the LEDs all brut out and they replace the LEDs flood lights with cheep and cheerful ones and so far they are still working but I will give then another 2 years and that's it
Grow light? How's your Devil's Lettuce doing? It's almost time to put them outside!
fortunately the LED or driver will give up the ghost before the steel plates will rust enough to be a problem.
The label suggests a driving voltage of 85 to 265 volts. Does the driver maintain a 30-watt power, and thus brigntness, regardless of voltage? Or does the power and brightness drop with lower driving voltage? Thanks for the great video.
The drivers maintain constant output.
Two locking screws...someone should introduce this useful new technology to Boeing ;-)
ahh yes chinese street lights i'll remember to keep these in mind next time
i plan to recreate the lego land driving license center and need some small lamp posts for the small people 😂
I wonder every time I see one of these videos what these things end up getting used for afterwards. and now I'm just imagining this weird tree of street lights hmmm?
Surprised you didn't change the fluid and filter and adjust the bands while you had the trans pan off...8^) Not the best mechanical quality lamp you've ever torn down, is it? Cheers!
I like the fake heatsink fins. They do nothing but to add wait, so it looks powerful.
They do add rigidity and will help with some heat dissipation.
Many of those streetlights turn blue after a while or start flickering
It seems odd to me that the LED side has a gasket around the opening, which would presumably be facing downward, and the cover for the driver, which would presumably be facing upward, does not.
There is a cover gasket.
By separating the drive electronics from the LED you keep the heat from the LED damaging the electronics.
For a 30W ligth the power factor looks a bit to low. We had some flood lights with same looking driver and COB LED. They failed quickly and the housing behind the COB LED was paper thin. No idea how the heat should speaded well and yeah the PE connection xD
Some have very good power factor drivers and others like this have poor power factor.
i think its a good idea to mention that there are stainless steels that are attracted to magnets yet wont rust. because this lamp is from china these covers are probably just plain old steel.
You could use the thermal sheet as an insulator if you went with the DOB
Looks like they provided posts for a strain relief but didn't use it, maybe that's what the earth wire is for
You don't need earth if it's not exposed to touch (too high to touch), and it's earthed to the pole which is probably just relying on being in the ground
Our house is steel sided and roofed. This thing could electrify the whole building.
@@RobertBeck-pp2ru I would hope your house is properly grounded, maybe as part of the electrical code
Thanks for this. Plenty of solar lights here in the kingdom of Eswatini. This is not solar but I would use it.
It can be retrofitted with a low voltage LED and driver.
Can you get them with a pe cell?
Also, I've noticed with the cheap led bulbs with the driver on board, when the ic chip fails the leds just glow very dim, but no strobing thank god.
The glowing is often the open circuit bond passing current through carbonising. It can actually burn through the fibreglass shim and short to the metal plate.
Hi Clive. Where did you buy this An Tai device? I am looking for one, EU plug and socket. Thanks in advance for the response.
The name changes from time to time. Search AliExpress for names like Hopi and AnTai to see if they pop up.
I live in Phoenix and now I know why half of the street lights in the city turned purple , thanks China
That metal plate covers at least 15-20% of the LED :O
Clive, would you be able to advise where to get part to repair an old TOMY Astro Blaster game, I need a W06A diode for the psu in on the circuit board input is 6v. I have pics but can’t post them here. Many thanks for any advice 👍🏻
Ron
Is it just a standard polarity protection diode? I it is then a typical 1A diode should work.
@@bigclivedotcom
Thank you very much for the reply and advice 👍🏻
@@bigclivedotcom Thank you Clive I’ll give it a try 👍🏻
can you add BOM from next videos onwards. thanks
I don't know the point of the Earth if its on a metal pole stuck into the ground. Also if it is properly power-coated I would think it wouldn't rust as long as the coating wasn't damaged. The concern for me is with all these mains operated LED lamps - these seem to have planned obsolescence built it in so it will probably fail before it has rusted. I've kept all my failed 230V LED lamps and converted some to 12V for my solar powered electrical system.
If an ungrounded metal lamp post becomes live there is no guarantee that enough current will flow to trip a breaker or blow a fuse. There's also a huge risk that the badly trained labour who maintain street lighting may increase the rating of a breaker or fuse to "fix" the problem.
People getting electrocuted from live lamp posts is surprisingly common.
hi, may I ask about using non motorized screw removers. do you find it better to do by hand?
I use the time to discuss the item. If I run out of info I pause while I remove the screws. A recent test with a powered driver was unpopular.
wish you'd do a teardown of one of the super huge ones, like those they have in new york, same size as a human
Maybe you could post one to Clive :)
I do have some very big ones here.
@@bigclivedotcomand lights as well ? 😉
It's mystifying why they put the driver at the top when they could have put it under with the COB and near it. Thus eliminating the vulnerability at the top.
Looks like a decent LED light, should be night and bright for outdoor use given its 30W power rating and 6500K color temperature.
The Northamptonshire Council should possibly buy these instead of the awful LEDs they are putting in at the moment, which are incredibly dim and not giving out enough light.
I might get one of these at some point, and just run it off a separate photocell for dusk-dawn operation.
I bought a pack of UV cob's ages ago.. I think they are 11.6 volt.. my intention was to run direct from a 12 volt battery with a resistor... voltage can be 12 to 14.7 volt when being charged by solar or battery charger..
Then I learnt about the driver being constant current..
I couldn't find 12v drivers...
I don't understand the concept.. would a resistor work or is there a circuit?
Any suggestions?
Could you do a video about the driver's and how and why.. is voltage important?
A simple resistor will work for low power use and a known fixed supply voltage. The current regulator circuits are useful where the supply voltage may vary.
@@bigclivedotcom
Thank you for your reply.
How near does voltage need to be?
&
V / I = R
How do I work out I ?
I've got some low value ceramic resistors.
Edit.....
I think they are 10 watt
so...
W = V x A
so... It consumes about 1 amp..
Now what mathematical magic to work out a 1 volt drop.. ie 12.6v to 11.6v or 14.7v to 11.6v (I think it's 11.6v)..
How fussy are they?.
The city here replaced most of the lights with that garbage. Most of them don't work after a year! 😂
These lanterns are popular in my country, Poland.
They actually use ones like this? I wonder what the reliability is like.
But wouldn’t always little amount of water next to the driver always being stuck there, causing high humidity which leads to corrosion?
That's a description of most street lighting equipment.
Its like Im blind when driving at night since my city replaced old street lights with LED ones
It's a question of whether they're designed and implemented properly. My town switched from LPS sodium to LED over a decade ago and visibility improved tremendously while still reducing light pollution.
As you say when the driver fails it'll start flashing, that'll only be ~5 years down the line. Hard to see how these things are economic.
❤
For 43mm spigot.