External vs Internal LED drivers

[mjwalsh]

As many of you know on the majority of our LEDs we went the external LED driver route with extra bright strips based on previously posted considerations. Has anyone gone with tubes that have LED drivers easily replaced if needed? This article is over 2 years old but I am thinking that it may still apply to some extent. Someone just sent this link to me.

https://catalystleds.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/led-tubes-internal-power-or-external-power/

mike walsh www.kingkoin.com

 

[MEP001]

Seems like an idiot wrote the article, considering he says that using a driver with a shorter rated life than the LEDs is like putting 50,000 mile rated tires on a car with 175,000 miles on it. It's a bad analogy and doesn't relate to the issue.

 

[2Biz]

Another good article....

https://web.archive.org/web/2014071...nceLED-Technology-Differentiation-1.20.14.pdf

I haven't found an article yet, that says having the LED drivers in the tubes is a good thing. They all recommend using external drivers IF you want the rated life out of your LED bulbs....

 

[mjwalsh]

Another good article....

https://web.archive.org/web/2014071...nceLED-Technology-Differentiation-1.20.14.pdf

I haven't found an article yet, that says having the LED drivers in the tubes is a good thing. They all recommend using external drivers IF you want the rated life out of your LED bulbs....

2Biz,

Thanks for the above link ... it goes into much more detail than the albeit lesser one that I posted. Having gone through a process with my personally owned accurate identical model light meter that is shown on the link ... it seems like it is pretty hard to refute their ... I dare say ... scientific evidence. I had a local bid for over $8,000 dollars for the area in our laundromat that I replaced with extra bright quad strips mounted on aluminum flats (heat sink attribute) ... the clincher was when I checked out one of their jobs at a convenience store & saw how significantly less the FC lumen level actually was ... not sure if it had something to do with heat caused deterioration or not. Also they refused to have anything to do with our nifty easy to do light going off with a more precise analog sensor ... deciding that it would be too expensive ... not worthy of even including in the bid.

Living in an area where the temps rarely get over 90° F & overnight lows rarely below 70° it seems like the odds of having heat related trouble within internal drivers within tubes would be less. Any operator gone up with a light meter on tubes with internal drivers after a year or two or three to see if there is light deterioration like shown on the link that 2Biz provided?

Here is another link that might give a bit more understanding of internal driver potential quirks ... https://www.1000bulbs.com/pdf/understanding-led-drivers.pdf

mike walsh king koin still alive in bismarck, north dakota

 

[mjwalsh]

The above post should read "overnight lows rarely above 70° F" The edit post came up blank.

 

[MEP001]

You can only edit your post for 15 minutes.

 

[2Biz]

I think this is a great topic to help shed some light on how different led's can be installed. Of course, you have to factor in installation ease of the internal driver tubes. But if your looking for longevity, external drivers may be the best way to go. There is plenty of info in the articles to draw your own conclusion.

Thanks Mike for starting the thread. I'm Suprised there hasn't been more discussion/questions/comments since so many of us are wanting to light our washes with led's.

 

[MEP001]

I think this is a great topic to help shed some light on how different led's can be installed.

Pun intended?

 

[2Biz]

Not intentionally!!!

 

[Kevin James]

We replaced the florescent bulbs at one wash with the direct replacement bulbs, built in driver. Our attitude is let’s see how long they last before getting our panties all twisted up. They’ve got a 5 year warranty, put out more light, cost less to operate than the florescent lights do. So we’ll wait and see. I wonder how hot they get? Has anyone checked?