LED light repair

[Tony in SD]

There has been talk about LEDs lasting a lot longer than incandescent bulbs. I have found that they don't seem to last that long. Having been an electronic bench tech in a former life I tore into a burned out LED bulb. Turns out the individual LEDs are wired in series. When one of the individual LEDs goes bad, the whole series chain of light go out. Just as a string of Christmas tree lights do. Usually one of the LEDs simply opens up. So I carefully place a jumper across each LED until they all light up again. At that point I solder a jumper across the bad LED. Got light again! LEDs used for lighting have a voltage drop of about 3 volts. So you can only get away with jumpering 1 or 2 LEDs in the series circuit before you reach catastrophic failure. But it does delay having to buy new bulbs.

 

[joeysmith]

A dollars worth of the right resistors you could probably get away with more out

 

[Tgrasher]

Had two LED fixtures "burn out" in the wife greenhouse, had lasted maybe 3 1/2 years, replaced and a close lighting strike took out the new ones. That's $60 of fixtures in 4 years, haven't replaced. Florescent fixtures keep on going.

 

[Tony in SD]

A dollars worth of the right resistors you could probably get away with more out

I agree and thought of that but where do you find the right resistors for $1.00 anymore. No local Radio Shacks. Digikey, Newark and others have them but the shipping for a few resistors will cost more than a new bulb. So after I bypass a couple of LEDs in a bulb, it is more economical to just buy a new bulb when it fails the third time. Next I might just try to lift a good LED off a bad bulb and replace it in a defective bulb.
All this is assuming my time is free. Which it is for most retired people.

 

[joeysmith]

I agree and thought of that but where do you find the right resistors for $1.00 anymore. No local Radio Shacks. Digikey, Newark and others have them but the shipping for a few resistors will cost more than a new bulb. So after I bypass a couple of LEDs in a bulb, it is more economical to just buy a new bulb when it fails the third time. Next I might just try to lift a good LED off a bad bulb and replace it in a defective bulb.
All this is assuming my time is free. Which it is for most retired people.

Yea true to

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

You make an excellent case. Unfortunately my soldering skills, I'd cook the board before I got the jumper soldered in.

 

[Tony in SD]

You make an excellent case. Unfortunately my soldering skills, I'd cook the board before I got the jumper soldered in.

I used to design and build electronic circuits in a former life. Some for work, some for fun. I still have all my tools to work on circuit boards. That along with my soldering skills that started pre high school, allows it to works for me. More of a hobby thing for me. I just like to fix things.

 

[Brownie450]

Vibration on tractor LEDs might be some of the problem.

Tony---neighbor brought in 4 Zareba SP 10B solar fencers to
look at. One had a lightning strike that took out the output SCR
which was a TO-220.
The other 3 are giving me trouble.
Do you have access to a schematic diagram for these by chance?
Thanks for any help.
Jim

 

[casecollectorsc]

Speaking of led bulb life, although different bulb than you are talking about. we have a 60 watt comparable bulb in a lamp in my man cave that has never been turned off in 10+ years....except when the electricity goes off during a storm. Wanted to see how long one would last. Made stainless 6'tall crosses for our church and back lit them with small led lights. They go on at dusk and off at sunrise...been 14 years and still no problems. Probably last longer than me, near 80. Someone else will have to figure out how I built them.

 

[Tony in SD]

Vibration on tractor LEDs might be some of the problem.

Tony---neighbor brought in 4 Zareba SP 10B solar fencers to
look at. One had a lightning strike that took out the output SCR
which was a TO-220.
The other 3 are giving me trouble.
Do you have access to a schematic diagram for these by chance?
Thanks for any help.
Jim

Sorry I do not have a schematic for the above but these guys might: https://livewirefarm.com/pages/electric-fence-charger-repair

I should mention that my repair experience with lightning strikes has been unsuccessful. I can get them working again but they always returned at a later date with another defective component. Lightning will damage every component is to some degree and they will all fail prematurely at different intervals, especially the semi conductors. So I do not waste my time with them anymore. I turn down lightning strike repairs and recommend they buy a new device.

 

[Ray,IN]

I buy LED's off Amazon, they are cheap enough I can replace 4 or 5 and still spend less than the big name brands.
I replaced every light in my motor home except headlamps for <$50. LED headlamps require special reflectors, the OEM reflectors spray the LED light everywhere.
Tony, I know a man that suffered a lightening strike to his MH about 7 yrs ago, he's still chasing problems_ on his dime now.

 

[Bill in Colo]

I have 5 of these installed seven years ago, only off when the power goes out.

 

[560Dennis]

Slick , just through out one ,was discontinued and just out of warranty at Menards .ugh .thanks for the tip

 

[560Dennis]

next thought , how handy are you with RAC handheld dwell meters ?

 

[Janicholson]

I used to design and build electronic circuits in a former life. Some for work, some for fun. I still have all my tools to work on circuit boards. That along with my soldering skills that started pre high school, allows it to works for me. More of a hobby thing for me. I just like to fix things.

Using a LED element from one failed composite lamp to replace the element in a second lamp works. Even a hand full of common Led tabs is cheap from on line sources. Jim

 

[moresmoke]

I agree and thought of that but where do you find the right resistors for $1.00 anymore. No local Radio Shacks. Digikey, Newark and others have them but the shipping for a few resistors will cost more than a new bulb. So after I bypass a couple of LEDs in a bulb, it is more economical to just buy a new bulb when it fails the third time. Next I might just try to lift a good LED off a bad bulb and replace it in a defective bulb.
All this is assuming my time is free. Which it is for most retired people.

Tip for doing business with Digi Key for those of us in the upper midwest. For small lightweight items like a few resistors or LEDs, they do offer shipping by first class mail. Reasonably priced, I am close enough for next day service most times. I suspect Tony in SD would be within a couple days.