What has changed in the last 2 years with dollar store LED lights. Let's mod them to last years.
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- This video is just for information and education. Never play around with mains voltage devices if you do not know what you are doing.
Here is a link to the dollar store LED lights from 2 years ago. They are still working just fine after the lower current mod.
• 8 LEDs or 18 LEDs, sma...
Hit the LIKE button so I know you care.
SUB for more projects.
Explore the Robothut channel for over 1400 videos.
You’re so resourceful. I’ve wondered about LED lights. They’re supposed to last for years, but I’ve had to replace them way more frequently. Your explanation makes sense.
Yes, they push the LEDs way to hard to get more lumens out of them, the heat then kills them off early. So buy the higher Lumens lamps and adjust the current draw down to 40ma or so and they last for years.
Most of the led bulbs in my house are fairly old I bought the geobulb2 when the version 3 came out because the old version went from $100 to $50 a bulb. I think that was around 2011. I think earlier led bulbs were probably better made because they weren't dominant over incandescent but now they can make them as crappy as they want. I have had some newer ones die in less than a year.
@@DWmaniac4n6 I agree. I think back in the beginning when the bulbs cost way to much they were better designed, so that the LEDs were not pushed so hard as to die a early life. But I have found the new cheap LED lights can be modified to last more than 2 years "so far in my house". Just buy the 100-watt version and reduce the current to where it outputs the light equivalent of a 60 watt lamp. Everything runs cool and long and at a low price.
@@Robothut what your doing is pretty cool. I figure the light in my bathroom is 12 or 13 years old I accidentally dropped it when replacing the old bulb and the glass globe broke but it still has been working all this time I hardly ever turn it off its one of the lights that stays on all night as its light covers the hallway and part of some other rooms. I did mess with the bulbs that died and found that the LED lights were in series, I wonder if it would be better to have them in parallel with a lower voltage supply so that if one fails the others can still give light. I rewired the guts of one to allow the remaining good LEDs to work on my 12v solar.
@@DWmaniac4n6 Yes a parallel system with low voltage would be better but it way too much to do that. So, they series up the LEDs to very close to the mains DC voltage, then the current regulator chip has very little to do, and less heat is generated. It just comes down to manufacturing cost and how long they design the lamps to last.
I've heard rumors they make the bulbs fail early now i know its true thanks for the easy to understand video
Yes, sad but true. If the bulbs lasted years and cost less than a buck each then they would not make the big bucks. So its up to us to mod them.
It's that the LEDs run more current to get the lumens for the cost of parts used. It's a compromise of upfront cost and longevity.
Sadly Walmart's deal with Philips is the only efficient bulbs right now.
Yes I agree. Thats why I buy the 100 lamps with more lumens than I want, then adjust them down to a 60-watt equivalent. Everything runs cool and lasts years.
I had one bulb lasting only for about 1 week. The failure may be due to overheating the two controller IC. It is better to avoid 100W bulb at Dollar 1.25 Tree at any cost. IC found in the bulb is Reactor Micro Electronics RM9003B.
True if you do not plan on modify them to run at a lower current "less heat" then do not buy them. But for experiments and modifications then they are a great deal. I had one that dead out of the box, they had left out one of the LEDs and since they are all in series then nothing lit up. I by passed the missing LED and adjusted the current down and the lamp is still operating .
Ha. I haven't seen those old flat ended resistors for half a century.
They look very cool.
It took some digging through the old junk pile to find them.
@@Robothut if you hammer an old copper soldering tip, and file a slot in it,, you can remove the smd resistors from other circuit bords. the value is written as three numbers.. with the last digit being the tens multiplier. so 30 k would be 303.
@@mrwoodandmrtin I have a SMD hot air gun that I use to solder and unsolder SND parts. But in this project just snipping the old resistor out is easiest.
I'm not entirely sure, but I thought each led is actually 3 led's in series. What do you think ? Thanks for sharing.
That is why I said I found the 8 volt drop very odd. Normally a white LED will have just about 3 volt drop, so 3 of them should be 9 volts not 8 volts. But maybe these are doped LEds. In any case, they work and cost very little.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! Frustrating, yet to grasp subject i like, ... eventually i hope.
At 63 cents each, I'll buy replacements.
So all this to save on the electric bill ? Ralph of Tena controls would like this video
If you think this has a lot of parts you should look inside the CFL lamps that came before LED lamps. Easly 10 X the parts. Never had a CFL that lasted more than 6 months. And all to save a few bucks on the electric bill.
Less on the eletric bill more on bulb replacement bill
Very cool. If only more people cared about such things. It's surprising there isn't even one major company putting out bulbs that will last forever and slowing killing it's market. It may not be a conspiracy but Capitalism keeps everyone doing job creation for themselves.
Interesting to see the planned obsolescence they designed into the 100 watt bulbs! I just noticed something, did you use one of those domes from those bulbs for Rover's dome on top of his head? 🤔
Yes I did.
@@Robothut Hahaha! I wondered how you made that piece! 🤣😅 Ingenious as always!
Could probably just break one of the resistors away to halve it
Not on this new LED light. The ones I moded 2 years ago that is just what I did. But these new ones have a single resistor per current regulator chip. They are independent resistors from each other. I even tried tying both chip together with 1 resistor but that actually increased the current draw on the LEDs making things worse.