Eternal LED light bulb with your own hands, remake

An inexperienced craftsman may think that making an eternal LED light bulb with your own hands is too difficult a task. But the instructions do not contain complex processes; special knowledge in electrical engineering is also not required. The only thing that is required from the master is attentiveness, preparation of the workplace, the correct choice of components and a set of tools at hand.

To make an eternal LED lamp, it is recommended to use high or medium power chips. It makes sense to start work only if there are no problems with the wiring, since network instability can lead to burnout of diodes or drivers, regardless of their quality.

What is an everlasting LED light bulb

None of the manufacturers produces LED lamps with the loud name “eternal”. Quality products can last up to 50,000 hours, but only if there are no wiring problems and reliable assembly elements that will help overcome overheating if this occurs. To extend the service life, the technician can replace the components with more expensive ones, which will prevent the diodes from burning out even after 5-6 years.

To make an eternal LED lamp, you should first take care of the cooling system. This is where many manufacturers save, which is why the temperature regime is disrupted and the LEDs burn out. Also, the electronic components of the device often suffer. The design may look like the picture below.

Design of a homemade lamp.

To assemble this lamp you will need experience. Therefore, it is better for a novice master to remake a purchased LED lamp. An eternal lamp can be considered a product with elements replaced with more powerful and efficient ones.

How to make LED lamps last forever - Alexey Nadezhin

If the temperature conditions are observed, LEDs really do last almost forever, but many LEDs go to extremes and skimp on cooling, as a result the LEDs burn out. Due to savings on components, drivers - the electronic filling of LED lamps - also burn out.

But there is still a way to make sure that you don’t have to buy new lamps if the old ones burn out.

All LED lamps have a warranty of one to five years.

Most buyers don’t even remember about this and throw away burnt out bulbs, but using the warranty you can forget about buying new bulbs.

When replacing under warranty, the warranty period for the new lamp begins again, so if the lamps fail before the end of the warranty period, they become practically eternal.

I'll give you eight simple tips.

1. By law, warranty obligations must be fulfilled by the store where the lamp was purchased, but difficulties may arise with small stores and online stores, so it is better to buy lamps where there will be no problems with exchanges and returns. First of all, these are large construction and universal hypermarkets - Leroy Merlin, Castorama, OBI, Auchan, IKEA.

2. You are not required to keep the lamp packaging, instructions, warranty card, or even the receipt, but the exchange will be much easier if all this is preserved. Keep a shoebox in which you can put unfolded light bulb packages, instructions and receipts. Such a box will take up very little space, but will help save time and money.

3. Choose stores that are easy to get to if you need to exchange. It’s even better if it’s a store where you visit periodically.

4. Immediately after purchase, take a photo of the receipt with your phone. If the receipt fades or gets lost, a photograph will help the store restore it.

5. If you bought lamps in a large store and lost your receipt, you can always restore it. If you pay by card, you will only need its number and the approximate date of purchase; if you pay in cash, you will have to remember the date of purchase and the approximate list of purchases on the receipt.

6. You should not buy LED lamps that have a warranty of 1 year or less - in most cases, such a warranty period indicates that the manufacturer has saved on everything and is aware that such lamps will not last long.

7. In terms of price-quality-durability ratio, lamps from store chains’ own brands often turn out to be the best. It is worth paying attention to Ledare and Ryet lamps in IKEA (2-year warranty), Lexman in Leroy Merlin (5-year warranty), Diall in Castorama (5-year warranty).

8. In addition to durability, LED lamps have several very important parameters that determine the quality of light. Lamps should not have light pulsation (pulsation can lead to eye fatigue and exacerbation of nervous diseases), lamps in residential areas should have a color rendering index above 80 (otherwise similar colors will appear the same, and human skin will have a grayish tint), color temperature should be comfortable (2700-3000K for residential premises, 4000K for work areas). It is important to know that many manufacturers overestimate the lamp parameters given on the packaging and many lamps provide significantly less light than promised. I have tested over 2200 LED bulb models. I publish the results of all my tests on the website lamptest.ru.

Which light bulbs are suitable for conversion?

In order for a converted lamp to last for a really long time, it is better to take a known high-quality model. For example, products from the following manufacturers:

Osram;
Philips;
Gauss;
ASD;
Camelion.

Philips lamp (one of the best for remodeling).

It is worth considering the models of Russian companies, since they are already adapted to the operation of local power grids and are therefore more resistant to voltage surges.

LED lamp life

One of the main advantages of diode lamps is their durability. Manufacturers produce LED lamps designed to operate for 20-50 thousand hours. If you use an LED lamp daily for 8 hours, it will last about 15 years. But we must remember that the durability of an LED lamp is not its guaranteed service life. These two concepts should not be confused. The warranty period for LED lamps from different manufacturers is 1-3 years. And this means that this is the time during which the LED lamp will lose only 30% of its brightness. After all, an indicator of aging for LED lamps is such a parameter as a decrease in luminous flux. The standards state that after 20 thousand hours the decrease in luminous flux should not exceed 30%. This means that for the first 4-5 years the LED lamp should maintain the brightness declared by the manufacturer. Then they gradually lose their brightness. And this happens so smoothly that in life it is impossible to notice it. A comparison of the service life of an LED lamp in comparison with other light sources is clearly visible in the table:

What you need to convert an LED light bulb into an eternal one

To work you must have:

holder;
glue;
knife;
soldering iron with a thin tip;
new diodes (if replacement is made);
higher resistance resistor;
posistor for smooth switching;
tweezers;
capacitor.

Capacitor.

The last element of the assembly is necessary to remove heat, the excess of which shortens the service life of all lamp components. The capacitor is installed between the plate with LEDs and the base, and is selected depending on the power of the light bulb.

How to extend the life of an LED lamp?

Following some recommendations will significantly extend the life of the product. The most important are the following:

It is necessary to periodically wipe the surface of the lamp from dust and other contaminants or vacuum it. Do not use detergents as they can damage the main elements of the lamp.
LED strips have become widespread. They are often used for decoration, lighting, and even as the main light source. Experts do not recommend gluing tape to furniture or other elements, because... they are capable of releasing thermal energy. To place the diode strip, it is recommended to use an aluminum profile or foil, because Such materials reflect heat.
A diode type lamp will work much longer if heat is removed effectively. Otherwise, the effect of thermal degradation cannot be avoided. To do this, create a protective structure with the possibility of fresh air entering.
When connecting a light source, a dimmer is used. This device is designed to switch the light and adjust the brightness. The dimmer has virtually no effect on the amount of electricity consumed, while filtering the inrush current, eliminating the possibility of high voltage supply. High starting current causes the structure to overheat.
Diode lamps should be used exclusively for their intended purpose. Some of them are not designed for long-term operation, others for a large number of on and off cycles.
When choosing, you should consult with the seller.

In real conditions, a diode lamp lasts for 3-5 years. Depending on the quality of workmanship, a Chinese fake can be used for no more than 1 year.

Step-by-step instructions for remaking a light bulb

At the first stage of the modification, it is necessary to reduce the current through the LEDs. This will extend the life of the product. But the brightness characteristics will also be reduced. The decrease in parameters does not occur linearly, but with a lag. At the same time, the efficiency of each chip increases. This helps reduce the temperature of the crystals during operation.

Dependence of brightness characteristics on forward current, taking into account heat loss.

On the graph you can clearly see the efficiency of the chip and heat loss in the form of a nonlinear relationship. To reduce this, you should find one or two resistors on the board. The board is connected in parallel with a resistance of several ohms. This is the sensor you should work with. It is found in all driver circuits, both linear and pulsed.

The resistor is replaced with another one with higher resistance. Alternatively, you can desolder one of them. The current through the diodes will decrease in proportion to the increase in the resistance of the current sensor. Even if the current is reduced slightly, this will affect the service life of the product by reducing the temperature of the crystal during operation.

If an expensive lamp is used for modification, a larger number of LEDs are installed here than in cheap analogues, and the operating mode is more gentle. It is recommended to reduce the power by about 20-30% only if a new light bulb is used. If the chips are powerful, the current through them should be reduced by 50%. If one of the diodes burns out, after a while the others will also become unusable. This may continue until all elements are replaced with new ones.

Gradual increase in brightness after switching on

The next stage of refining a 220 V LED lamp is to ensure a smooth increase in brightness. For this you will need a posistor. This is a thermistor with positive temperature dependence. It is included in the circuit in parallel with most of the chips or all of them without exception.

Smooth start circuit.

While the posistor is cold, the resistance indicators are minimal. Current passes through some LEDs and gradually heats it up. As it heats up, the resistance gradually increases, which includes the remaining chips in the circuit and the brightness also begins to increase.

To work, you will need a posistor marked WMZ11a (330-470 Ohm). The elements can be easily found on sale or removed from an energy-saving light bulb with a power of at least 32 W. In devices with lower power, a 1 Ohm or more posistor is installed, which is not suitable for rework.

Video: How posistors and thermistors work and where they are used.

You can get out of the situation if you connect several elements in parallel, but this method is unpopular. Light bulbs with such modifications are mainly installed in chandeliers on the ceiling. If the circuit is assembled correctly, it will turn on to full brightness in 25-30 seconds.

How to make a night light

The light bulb can be equipped with a night light function. It can be installed in a dark hallway and left on overnight. This will require driver modification. First, remove the resistor installed on the driver board, which is used when discharging the output filter capacitor.

Night light assembly diagram.

A resistor with a power of 1 W at 150 kOhm should be soldered into the circuit parallel to the terminals of the microcircuit. Also, a 68 kOhm 1 W resistor is installed in the switch parallel to the switch contacts.

You can install a 100 kOhm resistor in the driver circuit in parallel with the power filter capacitor of the microcircuit. This is necessary to stabilize the voltage and eliminate flickering of the lamp. If the master did everything correctly, the power consumption will not exceed 0.42 W.

What determines the service life

The service life of the LED is limited by the general characteristics of the luminaire. However, the main factor that allows you to increase or decrease the operating time is the operating conditions. In this regard, the main condition is high-quality heat removal. Many lamps have their own radiators, which take thermal energy from the crystals and dissipate it into the surrounding space.

There are many ways to extend the life of LED lamps. All of them allow you to increase heat transfer. There are different methods used here:

periodic cleaning of lamps with a vacuum cleaner (only without detergents);
installation of radiators;
For LED strips, it is recommended to use an aluminum profile, which eliminates heating.

There are specialized companies that install lighting and create optimal conditions for LEDs. If you cannot resolve the issue yourself, it is recommended to contact a specialist.

How to distinguish quality products from low-quality ones

Externally, it is impossible to distinguish a fake from the original. Unscrupulous manufacturers take advantage of this. Many unknown companies produce LED lamps under the label of well-known brands. It is clear that their characteristics do not correspond to those of the original.

Bulbs will last longer if you use them correctly

LED lamps have not been on the market long enough to have time to check all existing scenarios for their operation and service life. But you can create favorable conditions for their functioning and avoid unpleasant surprises.

Do not allow the lamps to overheat. Do not close them completely, leave holes for ventilation.
Remember that in very low priced LED bulbs the circuit components will be consistent.
Do not mix different types of lamps in the same lamp or chandelier, such as LED lamps and incandescent lamps. This may cause overheating.
Turn off lights when you don't need them. LED lamps consume little electricity, but there is no point in creating additional costs for yourself.