LED lights are one of the hottest new trends in lighting.
However, if you’re wondering why they won’t work in your lamp, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll take a look at the most common LED lamp problems and how to solve them.
These issues include dimming, lifespan, and wiring. Hopefully, this article will clear up some of your questions and get you started on your LED lighting project.
Problems with dimming
If your LED lights aren’t working the way you want them to, you’ve probably noticed a dimming problem. This could be caused by two issues: either a swollen capacitor or a damaged LED chip.
Even though LEDs are designed to be long-lasting, they can still stop working due to one of these problems. LEDs can also lose their brightness when the voltage is too low or the lighting fixture is too tight.
While LEDs are known for their efficiency, they also love a cool environment.
In most cases, the culprit in the dimming problem is the driver.
Generally, the driver is separate from the bulbs themselves, which makes compatibility difficult. If the two are compatible, a simple test may be enough to solve the problem. But if it isn’t, you’ll have to call an electrician.
But before you schedule an appointment, make sure you know what the issue is.
Another common cause of LED dimming problems is the installation of dimmers that are not compatible with LEDs. If you’re having trouble dimming LED lights, it’s probably because your bulbs aren’t dimmable.
Not all dimming controls are compatible with LEDs. So make sure you pair them properly. Dimmers for LEDs aren’t always compatible with incandescent ones, so make sure your controls match LEDs and dimmers.
Another problem with LED bulbs is that they are not dimmable at low levels. To overcome this problem, manufacturers are constantly working to improve their dimming ability.
But even if they are capable of low-level dimming, they will never be as good as the old incandescent bulbs. If you’re concerned about dimming, do a mock-up before you purchase any LED bulbs.
Another cause of LED lamp flickering is a lack of resistance. During a dimming cycle, LED lamps lose resistance.
This makes the dimmer curve work improperly, resulting in an unwanted flickering of the LED light.
This is a fairly common problem with LEDs, but it is becoming increasingly noticeable with increasing usage. The problem first began with dimmable fluorescent lamps and lighting fixtures.
The lack of resistance between load and neutral wires caused this flickering.
LED lights Lifespan
The life of LED lights is much longer than that of incandescent bulbs. According to a recent DOE report, the average lifespan of an LED light bulb is 50,000 to 100,000 hours.
However, the lifespan of an LED bulb is based on several factors, including the quality of the LEDs and how well they are integrated into lighting fixtures. This can affect the lifespan significantly, and manufacturers often use accelerated wear testing to estimate their lamps’ life expectancies.
LED manufacturers use standardized calculations based on data from the LM-80 test report and in-situ operating temperature measurements to determine their LED lamp and luminaire lifetime claims.
Properly calculating the TM-21 projection calculation can give manufacturers a reasonable claim of 100,000 hours of light. This figure is misleading as it only gives an average lifespan. The actual lifespan of a bulb depends on the type of LED.
The average lamp’s life expectancy depends on how much use the lamp is likely to get in a day. Lamps in living rooms will be switched on all day, primarily at night. The average lamp will be on for 3 hours a day.
In that case, it is important to choose a bulb with a long life expectancy. The average lamp life is 23 years. For the most part, LED lamps are more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs.
Another important factor to consider is lumen depreciation. The loss of lumens and the color shift can be just as detrimental to bulb function as catastrophic failure.
It is therefore possible that manufacturers are trying to reduce the electrical life of LED lamps in an attempt to increase their profits. While a short warranty period does not make a lamp any less useful, it does suggest that LEDs are being overworked and are running too hard.
LED lights can be damaged if they are kept in a cool place for prolonged periods of time. These temperatures can drastically shorten the life span of LED lamps. Exposure to high temperatures and electrical surges can also damage LEDs.
Therefore, the ideal environment for LED bulbs is in a temperature controlled room with a temperature of 25 degrees Fahrenheit or below. The heat generated will eventually lead to the failure of the LED.
Cost
There are two major advantages to LED bulbs:
- Their long life span. Some bulbs have a stated lifespan of 25,000 hours, far more than that of CFLs or incandescents.
- LED bulbs are cheaper than other lighting technologies.
Eventually, the cost of an 800-lumen LED bulb will fall to less than $20, and utilities may subsidize them like they did with CFLs.
LEDs are becoming cheaper. They can be found for less than a dollar each, and many manufacturers are now using them in their products. While they are a new technology, LED bulbs do have some drawbacks.
A Home Depot LED bulb with 800 lumens costs about $40 and uses 12 watts, while the Lighting Sciences Group’s 40-watt equivalent costs less than $18. But the advantages outweigh the cost.
LED bulbs use up to 90% less energy than incandescents and 60 percent less than old fluorescent lighting. They last up to 20 times longer and cost less than conventional incandescent bulbs. Some LEDs are even more energy efficient than conventional bulbs. Because of their superior energy efficiency, LEDs are now becoming more affordable. Compared to incandescents, they cost only about $2-5 per bulb.
This can save a household hundreds of dollars in the long run, even if they use the same amount of electricity as incandescents or fluorescent bulbs.
In addition to cost, LEDs are also more environmentally friendly. While they may cost slightly more upfront, LEDs typically last 10 years and 100,000 hours of continuous use. In addition to these benefits, LEDs also produce a warmer light than CFLs.
And, since LEDs are more energy efficient, they can be replaced as they burn out. There are a few other advantages as well. LED bulbs last longer than standard light bulbs and have the potential to reduce your electricity bills.
Another major benefit of LED bulbs is their lifespan. LED bulbs last around twenty times longer than their incandescent counterparts and will last for about two decades.
While they do cost more upfront, they’re still more efficient than incandescent bulbs.
And, LED bulbs are safer than CFLs, and they contain no mercury or lead. This means that switching to LED bulbs can reduce your electric bill and your carbon footprint.
Wiring
If you’ve noticed that your LED bulbs aren’t working properly in your lamps, you may have a problem with the wiring of these lights. Cheap LED bulbs often have low-quality drivers, which may be causing your lamps to flicker.
The wiring for LED bulbs should match the wiring for the rest of the lamp, so it’s easy to troubleshoot this issue. Listed below are some tips for fixing wiring issues in LED lamps.
First, make sure that your LED lights are plugged in properly. Sometimes they can become loose when their necks are too large.
This may cause them to overheat and burn the LED Driver. Also, if the LEDs are not plugged in properly, they may protrude out of the lamp and look like a gimmick. In such a case, you may need to change the bulbs.
If you’ve tried removing the fuses, you might have burned out a couple of LEDs. You can repair this problem by replacing the bulbs with ones that have the same base. The next step is to check for loose connections.
Sometimes, small tweaks are enough to solve the problem. If this doesn’t work, consult an electrician. You can also try removing the entire unit from the wall to check if any wires are disconnected.
Conclusion
If you’re still unable to fix the problem yourself, you can also check the wiring of the LEDs.
Some LED lights may not work well with certain types of dimmer switches, because they are sensitive to moisture.
They can also be damaged by high humidity levels and if you leave them in the humidity for a long time, they may burn out.
This is why you should never put LEDs in humid areas.
