Cheap LED Lights Not Worth The Price
This article by Werner Mashig on www.ebnonline.com explains why cheap, poorly designed LED’s are not the bargain they may seam to be. Poorly designed LED’s make design compromises that reduce there cost at the expense of performance. These lights are prone to fail much sooner then advertised and give off less light that does not meet color expectations. The most important aspects of a good LED design include,
LED Selection- LED chip manufacturers build LED’s for very specific applications. LED chips designed for a traffic light won’t perform satisfactorily in a light bulb.
Thermal Design- A properly designed heat sink is needed to cool the LED’s. Lights with proper thermal management are brighter and last longer.
Current Management- A well designed constant current driver is needed to let the light perform as advertised. Less expensive lights often use cheap constant current drivers are less efficient and do not allow the light to perform as designed.
Shadow-Caster underwater LED lights for boats were designed from the ground up with all of these things in mind. They use LED’s specifically designed for use in underwater lights, a thermal management system that allows the lights to shine brighter and last longer and a constant current driver designed to protect the LED’s from the harsh marine environment.
http://www.ebnonline.com/author.asp?section_id=1221&doc_id=205971&piddl_msgpage=1#msgs
