The LED is what? How LED works

Everywhere there is a replacement of conventional lamps with LED. For today it is the best way of illumination for cars and houses, more durable and easy in replacement. So, what is the principle of the LED and how to choose it correctly?

LED and the principle of its operation

LED - this is a special electrical appliance, which processes the current into some glow. To date, LEDs are better known as LED, which means "light-emitting diode".

The device is a semiconductor device and consists of a chip-chip, a casing, contact terminals and an optical device. Light comes from the crystal, and its color can be different and depends on the material used. The brightness of the LED, as well as its color, can also be different. So, for example, for a greater light effect, a single crystal is often inserted into several crystals that produce a monophonic light, which in a complex forms a bright glow.

The brightness of the device depends directly on the strength of the electric current applied to it. In turn, too powerful a flow of electricity causes a rapid overheating of the internal crystal and disables it. In view of this, the design of the LED is somewhat costly in terms of the cost of materials, which somewhat negatively affects the choice of such lamps.

By brightness, LEDs are divided into categories:

• Ultra-bright, their minimum power is 1 W;
• LEDs of increased brightness - reach 20 mW;
• Standard lamps.

To date, a widely used block of LEDs, which is built into the lamp. Thanks to it, it is possible to adjust the brightness and select the optimum mode of illumination.

The advantage of LEDs over other types of lighting

LED - this is the best choice for today of the type of lighting, which has a number of advantages:

• Durability.
• Ability to adjust the color and brightness of the lamp.
• Color saturation, the ability to pick up a red, blue, green LED or make the color change.
• The possibility of electronic control.
• Environmentally friendly materials that do not contain heavy substances that are harmful to the environment and dangerous for improper disposal.
• Low power consumption, per watt a few times more light.
• The light is clean and closest to the natural.
• Do not overheat thanks to a competent light output.
• Reliability and durability.

Why LEDs have become popular in the automotive industry? This type of lighting is ideal for cars, gradually replacing halogen and xenon lamps. Its positive qualities:

• The possibility of directing lighting behind the steering wheel - the creation of adaptive headlights;
• Aesthetically superior to other types of headlights;
• Increased safety through improved visibility on the road;
• Resistance to vibration;
• Often LEDs are installed in the housing, where moisture does not penetrate;
• The achievement of the working state is faster, for this reason the brake lights work better.

Of course, these advantages are inherent only in really high-quality products, so it is not worth saving for them, especially since the period of their operation is significantly increased in comparison with Chinese products. In addition, the period of operation of LED lamps, when compared with conventional, is also much larger.

Classification of LEDs

There are 2 main types of LEDs - for lighting (indicator) and for lighting. Their strength and durability depend on the supply of electricity, because of this, the second type of LEDs serve a shorter period, since the crystal wears out faster. Nevertheless, these lighting devices are very durable and serve several thousand hours.

Lighting LED is a device that provides reliable and powerful light. It is widely used in design, creating the right level of illumination.

According to the type of housing it is customary to allocate a LED in the form of "Stars", "Piranhas" and SMD. Among them, the most popular are the Piranhas, since their luminous flux is more qualitative. Their design feature is the shape of a rectangle with pins on the edges, with the help of which a rigid grip with the surface is provided. In addition, the substrate of the device has excellent heat dissipation. These devices are widely used in cars and in advertising. They are diverse in size and colors: red, white, green, blue LED.

Indicator LEDs have a simpler design, their light is not so strong and is used to illuminate displays and dashboards. In the form of a round, oval and rectangular indicator LEDs.

Lenses also differ from each other, they can be built into both the lighting and indicator lights. Some are designed to disperse light (these devices are overwhelmingly large), others are designed to focus, thanks to a directional beam of light produced. And in the second group, the lenses are flat, conical and round.

The color of the lens LEDs are:

• Colorless transparent;
• Colored transparent;
• Painted matt.

In addition, the color scheme of the device is very diverse now. There is a yellow, red, blue, green LED, etc. These colors are skillfully combined, creating an even wider range. The most difficult, oddly enough, to get a pure white color.

White LED is obtained in three ways:

• Simultaneous use in the correct proportions of red, blue and green colors gives a feeling of white;
• Application of a blue diode with an admixture of yellow;
• The third method requires the use of luminescent materials, which converts ultraviolet, acting on the principle of a fluorescent lamp.

White LED is the most common, although it is somewhat difficult to get it. It can be cold and warm. On a light bulb, usually this parameter is indicated in kelvin, the smaller the index, the color will be yellow and warmer. Manufacturers recommend to stop the choice on the averaged parameter though also to a cold, bluish light also it is possible to get used quickly quickly.

Choosing a Home Lamp

The choice of the lamp for the house includes several stages, where it is necessary to determine the type of network, the diameter of the socle and the appearance of the lighting device itself.

LED 220 volt is released in the most common types of socle - E27 and E14. The numbers indicate the thread diameter in millimeters. The first type of lamps often occurs in the form of a ball, the second - a ball or corn.

What are their main advantages? First, it is the ability to lock and adjust the brightness of the glow yourself. Secondly, it is the choice of color lighting and the ability to remotely control it. Thirdly, the durability of operation and increased reliability.

Choosing the form, you need to pay attention to the fact that the lamp-corn, although they have quite good characteristics, they are still unsafe. Their contacts are coming out, and manufacturers are reluctant to release such devices of late.

To illuminate non-residential premises or bathrooms, less powerful lamps are used, so if you do not need to use a 220-volt LED, you can do with small flat devices with a G53 and GX53 cap. These are round lamps, where several diodes are used.

Color is recommended to choose the usual white, as it is not too warm and not very cold color, the optimal characteristic of which is 4200 K.

To pay attention when buying a lamp is worth the following characteristics:

• The number of diodes - on how many LEDs are in the lamp, its brightness depends, especially with a long period of use, when they begin to fade and burn out;
• Operating temperature mode - you need to take into account that when choosing a street lamp it should be effective and at possible frosts, this is usually indicated in the device's passport;
• The possibility of pulsations - flashing occurs in cheap lamps, usually when buying expensive it is reduced to a minimum;
• Operating conditions sometimes require increased protection of the device, for example, resistance to moisture, it is necessary to ask about this parameter from the seller;
• When choosing a manufacturer, you need to pay attention to the diameter of the socle, as not all import developers produce a 220V LED;
• The necessary luminous flux, which is measured in the Lumens, - lighting or indicator lamps.

Select a manufacturer

There are many manufacturers on the market that demonstrate a different level of quality. Accordingly, their pricing policy for suppliers is also significantly different.

The main drawback of LEDs is their cost. Therefore, if you already pay a lot of money for a product, you need to have it really high-quality. Therefore, it is with responsibility to approach the choice of the manufacturer and supplier.

Manufacturers can be divided into 5 groups.

1. Chinese cheap not known brands.
2. Famous Chinese and Asian producers. The most popular are Selecta, Camelion, LG. They use modern equipment, and the quality of their products is quite high, therefore a rather large segment of the domestic market is occupied by goods from Asia. Separately it is worth noting the LG LEDs, which since 2016 significantly reduced the price of their goods through the use of new technologies in production. And the quality remains at the same level. This can not be doubted. The company specializes in medium-power lamps and performs relatively well with respect to analogues.
3. Domestic manufacturers that make a product of high quality, but their technology is quite expensive, so the price of lamps is appropriate. Unfortunately, on the territory of Russia it was learned late about the broad possibilities of LEDs and domestic producers so far not so much. This, for example, "Optoman" and Gauss. These companies have their own product line and are available throughout the country.
4. European manufacturers are represented mainly by German firms Philips, Osram, Bioledex, which have a huge experience in the production of lamps. Perhaps, Philips remains the leader in this segment of the market, although it is relatively expensive.
5. Sino-Russian projects such as Ecola, Newera are also good in quality and price brands that are significantly younger than competing firms.

Thus, among such an abundance of producers it is sometimes difficult to choose a worthy brand, so it is especially important and should pay attention mainly to the characteristics of the product and the conditions of its use.

Approximate algorithm for setting the LED

If there is even the slightest knowledge of the electrical and was the experience of installing any lamps, you can try to install the LED yourself. First you need to make sure that the lamps are working. The sequence of actions should be as follows:

• Study of technical characteristics and calculation, how many volts one LED consumes;
• Drawing up a wiring diagram with voltage;
• Calculation of the power consumption of the electric circuit;
• Next, you need to choose a power supply that would come up to capacity, it could also be a driver;
• On the legs of the LED, the polarity is indicated, to which the wires must be soldered;
• Power supply connection;
• Installation of diodes and their fastening;
• If everything is in order, it is necessary to measure characteristics such as the amount of energy consumed, heating, electric current;
• Correction of electric current;
• Warming for half an hour - so that nothing happens at the initial installation and in order to prevent overheating, LEDs are better to buy on a substrate in the form of a star.

In the process of operation, especially if these are Chinese-made products, it is sometimes necessary to replace the LEDs. Than to address to experts, replacement it is possible to execute independently at presence of the necessary tools. Having unrolled the lamp, diodes are called using a digital multimeter. They, in turn, are slightly highlighted, and some of them may not work. Unnecessary diodes are soldered and replaced with new ones. Of course, this happens when spare LEDs are available, for this you can take an old lamp.

To date, the popular supplement is the "Arduino" program. The LED, connecting to it, can be made to flash. The Arduino board has many possibilities, inputs and outputs, and almost any device can be connected to it. This program is able to receive signals from various devices, which forces them to work on them. This is an easy and convenient programming environment, which even ordinary users can easily handle.

Selecting LEDs for a car

Automobile owners are increasingly switching to a new type of lighting in their car. This is a really good decision not only in terms of the mode of operation, but also regarding the appearance of the car. Auto will significantly change, attracting the glances of drivers passing by. Illumination of the LED type can easily replace all the lamps that are used in the car.

How to choose the dimensions and light for the front brake lights?

Most of the automotive industry uses lamps without a cap, installed in the aperture between the headlights. The advantage of LEDs is their resistance to any temperatures, as they are close to the main lighting lamp, crystal overheating and premature failure of the crystal are possible. In view of this, when choosing the lighting, it is necessary to pay attention to the additional protection of the LEDs - the presence of an electric current stabilizer.

When choosing lamps, you need to pay attention to their series, for example, the SF series, although it does not have a stabilizer, is quite suitable for a car, as it has a large number of diodes and works in a wide range, perfectly illuminating the space.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the dimensions of the lamp, so, the above SF example is a fairly large device. It is necessary to think everything over carefully before buying lighting.

Also popular is the series for dimensions - SMD, which has excellent characteristics, but also costs a lot of money.

Rear vehicle lighting

The rear brake lights are usually equipped with two-contact light-emitting diodes. The most popular series: MSD, 14НР and 3х1W. They have a slightly different mode of operation, differ in the number of diodes. But all have high enough indicators. These LEDs are bright, provide rich light and long life.

The most affordable lamps are the SF series.

LED for saloon

Before choosing the lamps for the salon, you need to determine the type of its lighting and the size of the plafond.

In the salon you need to select a lamp of the festoon type - these are oblong devices, measuring 31-41 mm. There are 3 types of LEDs for the salon.

1. Installed in the plafond connector instead of the old conventional light bulb. In size, such LEDs are almost identical to conventional lighting fixtures, they are used when it is impossible to use another lamp because of the small size of the plafond.
2. LEDs are larger than the standard bulb. Before installing the correct one, make sure that such a device is suitable for a plafond. Due to the larger size, the number of diodes in the lamp also increases. Thus, the lighting becomes much brighter than usual.
3. The matrix containing a large number of diodes. If the plafond is large enough and can accommodate a rectangular matrix, then this type of illumination will be the brightest and most saturated.

In salon lighting, lamps such as SF or SMD are used.

In addition, in cars, the replacement of fog lamps with LED lamps is widely used. Particular attention should be paid to motorists who want to stand out among others, on the LED backlighting and on the "angel eyes".

Summarizing

The LED is an excellent alternative to old light bulbs, which helps to solve the problem of insufficient lighting of the room. Even at a higher cost than a conventional lamp, this is an excellent investment, since the LED can serve for more than a year and give a bright light to the home and the car.