LEDS

[ebrown1972]

I am using a lot of led lights in my display this year. Will I have problems with them burning out? I have been told that most of them are not made to dim. Is this true? If so what can I do to make sure I have no issues? I have tested them and they seem to dim just fine. Thanks

[jtomason]

I haven't had any problems yet, and my Christmas display is almost entirely LEDs.

[ebrown1972]

I have newer controllers and I think maybe the issue is with the older controllers and possibly the firmware they are using. The leds I am using came from menards and they appear to be dimming, fading, shimmering, and everything else just fine.

[dgrant]

I use LEDs from BigLots, Target and so on, with no problems at all. I did run into problems with "Marha" LEDs from HomeDepot, so its best to stay away from those. Most likely the rest of theirs will work. To answer your question about the lifetime of LEDs, they last, last some more and continue lasting. The largest issues I've seen are wire leads on them, rusting and breaking off and they are a lot more difficult to troubleshoot. On the positive side of things, they are bright and use very little power.

[ebrown1972]

dgrant,

What generation of controllers do you have? I have generation 2 and 3 and was just wondering if the generation 2 might give me a few problems with the leds? Generation 2 can easily be identified by a red light on the inside and not green. green are generation 3.

[scubado]

Do a search on snubbers, you'll learn a brain full!

[dgrant]

dgrant,

What generation of controllers do you have? I have generation 2 and 3 and was just wondering if the generation 2 might give me a few problems with the leds? Generation 2 can easily be identified by a red light on the inside and not green. green are generation 3.

I have 3rd Generation controllers, all bought in 2012

[Max-Paul]

The generation of the controllers have NOTHING to do with the life of LEDs. Back several years ago, fading of LEDs became a new fade. LEDs back then where constructed with filter caps. But in order to fade you cant have a filter cap in the circuit. Also there were growing pains in redesigning LED strings without filter caps. And there for the voltage / current levels where to high and tended to burn out the LEDs. In the past few years the quality of LED strings have improved. As noted there are still some strings out there that still use filter caps. I and many others will only buy from vendors that actually travel over to china and check out the products that they will be producing for that model year. This is not a 100% fail safe process, but it does help. Come to the forum and keep your eyes and ears open. Seems that there are always someone who is finding and reviewing new strings of lights.

[Marty Spain]

The generation of the controllers have NOTHING to do with the life of LEDs. Back several years ago, fading of LEDs became a new fade. LEDs back then where constructed with filter caps. But in order to fade you cant have a filter cap in the circuit. Also there were growing pains in redesigning LED strings without filter caps. And there for the voltage / current levels where to high and tended to burn out the LEDs. In the past few years the quality of LED strings have improved. As noted there are still some strings out there that still use filter caps. I and many others will only buy from vendors that actually travel over to china and check out the products that they will be producing for that model year. This is not a 100% fail safe process, but it does help. Come to the forum and keep your eyes and ears open. Seems that there are always someone who is finding and reviewing new strings of lights.

Hi Max-Paul,

I have been reluctant to use LEDs with my controllers , partly because they are still too expensive and the ones I have used were not reliable when I ran them statically. In your experience have you been using LED strings and what controllers do you use to run them? I use CTB 16 Ds I built from kits. I thank you for your input on the newer LEDs available. I eventually will need to convert from Incandescent to LEDs, but I still can get the old technology so not yet concerned.

Marty

44,000 lights

184 channels.

[Paul R]

If you have one of the new generation 3 controllers, read up on dimming curves. LOR supplies a special dimming curve for LEDs that ramps up voltage differently than they do for incadescents. This will result in a more even fade-up and fade-down for LEDs and may also help to increase their lifespan by reducing over-voltage.

 

-Paul

 

[viennaxmas]

Actually - the generation of controller makes a huge difference. Aside from being able to select a LED dimming curve, I have seen LED damnable bulbs flicker during fades on old controllers but work fine on the latest Gen Controllers... All depends a bit on the type of LED but the dimming curve alone makes a huge difference. Maybe LOR will offer a trade in one day so I can upgrade my old controllers...

[Max-Paul]

First to Viennaxmas,

 

The generation of the controller has little if anything to do with burning out the LED strings. Period. Now as you note the G3 controllers have the ability to modify the curves which will work with LED. Icans produce for most of the 0-100% turn on. While most LED will max out between 50 to 70 and bottom or drop out around 5 to 10%. So the curve reprograms the controller to take the LED curve into account. Even though you are still programming the sequence to fade from 100 to 0.

 

Hi Marty,

My first year I bought from someone who was at one time respectable. I have had only his one string go bad. But I checked the other strings and replace the multi color ones cause they all were very hot and melting some wire warts. He turned out to be a real turkey and he was ran out of business. I have bought hundreds of lights from my current vendor and have had no real problems. I have not nor do I plan to buy from one of the local big boxes. And if I ever do, I will buy a test string first and give it a try. Ya, cost more buying from my vendor, but the results are almost 100% guaranteed.