DLC also requires that manufacturers submit the LM-80 document for the chips used and measure the temperature of the hottest chip in the lamp for TM-21 predictions. Driver life depends on power quality and the presence of voltage transients in the building where the tubes are used-and the quality of surge protection built in for the drivers, which varies among manufacturers.Īren’t there industry groups like DLC that assure the customer of product quality?ĭLC, or Design Lights Consortium, lists products that satisfy certain criteria like initial lumens, LPW and beam distribution. This is unlike many manufacturers who do no driver testing at all. Current also qualifies its driver components at elevated temperatures, subjecting them to stress testing to ensure a margin of comfort. Current spends resources on its rigorous driver component testing program and selects high-quality components because of the awareness that a tube is only as good as its weakest link. Some LED makers use the cheapest driver available without much testing. That is the life of the LED chips what about driver failures?Įxactly! The life-limiting mechanism today is generally driver failure, not chip failure. Current also has a value offering of certain tubes that are now rated to 50,000 hours. Current is one of the first to increase the life rating of many tubes to 70,000 hours, based on confidence in the design. Many LED tubes are routinely rated at 50,000 hours. The correctness of a rating is a function of how robust the product is, how much margin there is in design, etc. It is important to distinguish between the life rating of a product and the actual life a typical user will experience. There are many more factors involved in lamp life. L-70 is not a product life-rating-just a projected lumen degradation on the chip. Unfortunately, most people in the industry do not seem to be adhering to this distinction. However, a projection is different from a reported life, and you can project whatever you want with the tool-50,000 hours, 100,000 hours-but you cannot “report” it as life. If the chips have been burned 6,000 hours, you can “report” L70 as >36,000 hours. TM-21 forecasts the L-70 point, but TM-21 also asserts that L-70 claim is only valid for six times the test duration for the chips. On what basis are they predicting a life-rating? Most claims are projections based on chip testing carried out on the raw LED chips, not on the finished lamp. There is no actual lamp testing (long-term burning) required for the LED tube manufacturer to make life claims. TM-21 is a mathematical curve-fitting model that extends the 6,000-hour data to predict when the LED will go down to 70% of its lumen rating (L70). All LED chips on the market come with LM-80 test data. LM-80 is 6,000-hour testing (minimum) that the LED chip maker carries out. It is difficult for the customer to judge the quality of the LED tubes being offered since they all often look the same, especially in the beginning.īut the company says they are LM-80 and TM-21 tested. Only in that they are all 4 feet long, otherwise there are many differences.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |