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In the very near future, LED technology will advance to a level
enabling a broad range of new home lighting products.
Previously, the LED has appeared in numerous low power indicator
applications.
For example, a green 5mm LED incorporated into the speakers on
a sound system for a personal computer,
provides a reminder that the sound system has been left on. Within
the past several years, LED technology has advanced dramatically
and now provides the possibility for "illumination applications".
Several newer LED products include night lights, hand held flash
lights, and area or task lighting.
The benefits of LED technology are most beneficial in the low
voltage ( 12 to 24 volt DC)
automotive, marine and alternative
power areas.
The next level of advancement will include a line of products
incorporating capable of providing an
even higher level of illumination.
Consumers are now seeing traditional fluorescent, incandescent,
and halogen light bulbs being replaced by high power LED lights.
In fact, some existing technologies have already extended beyond
the limits of most well known LED applications! The key to advancement
within the realm of LED lighting starts with a good understanding
of LED efficiencies.
The two primary industry standard concepts of efficiency include,
LED power efficiency, and LED cost efficiency. Power efficiency
provides engineers and designers with a means to calculate and
compare various lighting systems.
Power efficiency, commonly expressed in "lumens per watt",
provides an indication of the total luminous output,
compared to overall power dissipation of the device.
On the other hand, sales and marketing agencies tend to focus
more on LED cost efficiency.
Cost efficiency, commonly expressed in "lumens per dollar",
provides an indication of luminous output
compared to actual costs associated with manufacturing the product.
A truly successful LED product will most likely feature a combination
of superior power as well as cost efficiencies. Existing LED technology
can provide lumen outputs equivalent to many incandescent, halogen,
and florescent bulbs found within the home or office.
In most cases, a professionally designed LED circuit can provide
a level of energy efficiency equal to or better than most traditional
light sources.
However, high production costs offset energy efficiency to the
point where overall cost savings only occur over an extended period
of use.
Over several years, a modern LED light fixture in the home or
office will eventually lead to justification of the initial investment.
However, many consumers are looking for more immediate results!
Unfortunately, this only becomes possible after manufacturing
costs have dramatically decreased. There are many legitimate reasons
for the high manufacturing costs associated with LED lighting.
Most traditional light sources produce heat that is dissipated
directly into the surrounding atmosphere.
For example, a 100 watt incandescent light bulb dissipates a significant
amount heat directly from the glass bulb, and outward into the
air.
The light bulb does not require any additional thermal management.
LEDs operate much differently! Most of the thermal energy produced
during the operation of an LED light moves in a reverse direction,
downward into the circuit board.
Standard circuit boards feature a relatively high thermal resistance,
and do not transfer heat very efficiently.
For this reason, designers and engineers must pay additional attention
to thermal management to ensure that heat can properly dissipate
away from the LED.
Otherwise, the LED and surrounding electronics may suffer as a
result of induced thermal stresses.
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GENERAL QUESTIONS:
What are SMD LED?
SMD usually just means Surface Mount Device.
Basically any LED which is mounted directly onto a PCB board is called an SMD LED
Why use internal LED drivers?
Traditionally LED bulbs have been driven using
series resistance, this usually works okay if there are no external
loads applied to the circuit which may affect it.
If an external heavy load is applied when an LED bulb is running
for example as the compressor or pump switch is turned on the
current and the voltage immediately decrease.
These dips in voltage and current seriously affect the lifetime
of the LED bulb.
Examples of heavy inductive loads include swimming pool pumps
and large refrigerators, these can cause traditional incandescent
and halogen bulbs to fail at times. Constant current LED drivers
however have a small integrated circuit incorporated which sense
any voltage variations within the lighting circuit and will automatically
compensate for any losses.
LED bulbs are infinitely more susceptible to current and voltage
spikes due to their low start-up demand.
Low battery voltages can cause heat buildup due to increased resistance
and high voltages can cause the LED to overdrive risking premature
failure or dimming.
Also in the manufacturing process, there are sometimes minute
variations in the chemical substrate, this can cause fluctuations
in current demand.
Temperature is also a serious consideration in that it is hard
to control without proper current regulation.
As current increases the temperature correspondingly rises.
This can cause the voltage to rise across the junction leading
once again to early failure if not properly regulated.
Over the last six years The LED Shop Australia has converted nearly
all stock to internally driven products.
Our light bars, marine
products and halogen replacement
bulbs now all utilise internal constant current drivers.
About the LED Shop:
Where is The LED Shop Australia?
The LED Shop is situated just outside Herberton in Far North Queensland,
Australia.
Do you have a shop where I can see and purchase
your products?
No we don't have a retail premises, Its the reason we can offer LED
products at such reasonable prices.
Our website is updated regularly and has a fully comprehensive
list of all stock items.
How long have you been in business?
Since August 2003. LED technology has improved since then and we've improved right along with it.
What if my product doesnt work ?
It's just horrible when a product breaks down.
Not just for the consumer, the supplier is also affected.
If a product breaks down the consumer will at best be slightly concerned that he's had a problem with the supplier and at worst won't trade with that supplier again.
Meantime quite often the supplier has had to either refund or replace the product and the suppliers are never compensated properly by the manufacturer.
It's a lose lose situation when a product breaks down and we want to avoid it at all costs.
Since we commenced trading in 2003 we have stressed to all our manufacturers that quality is of primary importance.
We've also had some technical input into the manufacturing environment to make sure our product is better than the rest.
All our product carries a standard 12 month warranty, just get in contact with us and we'll go from there.
Where do you get your LED lights from?
We have several established factories in Taiwan, US and China. We
use US, Korean and Taiwanese chipsets mainly.Some of the best
commercial LEDs in the world are now being produced in Taiwan
and China is fast catching up.
What Are LEDs?
LEDs are light emitting diodes - in layman's terms they're like
electrical one-way only valves that glow instead of getting hot
when a lot of pressure is put through them.
They simply put out light (glowing photons) instead of heat like
a normal diode on a PCB board.
These diodes are also then sealed in resin to make them shockproof
and waterproof.
This is very different to the traditional filament bulbs that
rely on a very thin piece of wire strung between two poles that
burn very brightly when a current is passed through it.
The wire burns continuously whilst giving off quite a deal of
wasted heat.
Glass filament bulbs are thin and also fragile which keeps an
industry alive replacing light bulbs.
Advances from VHS to DVD get a lot more attention these days than
cheaper, better lighting although the outdoor enthusiasts have
recognize the incredible potential of LED lighting particularly
in the form of headlamps and torches.
The difference at night time is incredible -you will see colors
truly represented as they are seen during daytime - spiders and
other insects eyes glowing back at you !
How long do LEDs generally last?
The industry standard for LED is around 50000hrs.
As all things do they will degrade initially up to 10% over the
first 1000hrs of operation followed by a slower rate of decline
to 30% loss after 50000hrs.
Commercially available LEDs are generally blue LEDs with a fluorescence
applied to them and its the fluorescence that degrades not the
chip/diode itself.
It also depends if the LEDs are being "driven" hard
or voltage is variable.
The types of commercial dome-typeLEDs available these days are
called "static sensitive" and can be badly affected
by variations in voltage and current - that's why they're OK on
batteries (if not run too low) but sensitive to other forms of
power like 240vAC/12vAC transformers.
Will flat batteries affect them?
Nowadays - no - the new constant current drivers take care of
this problem.
Slowly we've been introducing an 8~30vDC range in nearly all our
low voltage bulbs.
What about using 240v LED bulbs?
Our 240vAC customers certainly
using less power when they use LED bulbs but they are also getting
substantially less light -
the new 3x1w available in the GU10 E27 and B22 base are generally
60% of the luminous output of a 50w halogen bulb.
I am in the USA. I am looking for comparable
LED lighting for my home. What would you recommend for me?
My bulbs right now are Medium Edison socket 120V 60 watts
We have produced some new E27 (Edison screw bulb) and GU10
bulbs.
They have a voltage range of between 90 and 260 V which allow
for both Australian and US markets.
They are 120° units powered by the latest /3 x1 watt LEDs
from Cree and Nichia.....equivalent to 60% of the luminous output
of a 50 w halogen bulb
We use Cree's diodes for the Cool White and Nichia for the Warm
White, this has been the most successful combination so far.
We are currently fitting out a display home here in Australia
with this type of bulb and retail prices for these units are approximately
$40~$45 Australian.
They are the best of the best and fade rates for these units are
extremely low meaning that they should last for many years giving
consistent light output.
For Australian customers we charge 10% GST on all products with
a maximum charge of $11.00 for express shipping per entire order.
For international customers we use that 10% GST component to
offset the extra shipping charges involved with shipping internationally.
You pay the same price as Australia for the products but we
charge only $10.00 Australian per entire overseas order for
first-class air mail shipping.
RoHS stands for Restriction of Certain Hazardous
Substances. More detailed information on the the website: http://www.rohs.gov.uk/
;Here some info in a nutshell: It is aimed to remove six hazardous
substances from the manufacturing process: " Cadmium (Cd)
" Mercury (Hg)
" Hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI))
" Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs)
" Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs)
" Lead (Pb).The aim of the standard is to restrict hazardous
substances polluting the environment when being disposed of at
end of serviceable life.
Often they are simply just dumped in landfills. The substance
of most significance is Lead as it is the main element in solders
and solder pastes.
Solder comprises 60% Tin (Sn) and 40% Lead (Pb).
The challenge is to find alternative materials to Lead to make
solder.
This is no easy task, there been many attempts to find suitable
alternatives to solder and undoubtedly in the future this will
happen but right now best replacements for traditional tin/lead
solders are copper bismuth and silver.
These have drawbacks which still need to be resolved. " Insufficient
standards for leadfree solder, tin and lead has been used down
through the ages with no equivalent.
" Leadfree solders melt at higher temperatures than traditional
tin/lead solders, this can lead to damage to the sensitive electronic
components.These are targeted maximum concentrations allowable
after ROHS standards have been applied:lead - Pb
.1% max concentration mercury - Hg
.1% max concentration cadmium - Cd
.01% max concentration hexavalent chromium - Cr(V1)
.1% max concentration polybrominated biphenyls - PBB
.1% max concentration polybrominated diphenyl ethers - PBDE
.1% max concentration
We accept several forms of payment for our orders -
you can either order online through our secure server and
You can pay with Visa/MasterCard, Bankcard and American Express
or you can pay through Paypal
or you can send the funds directly to our bank account:
NAME OF ACCOUNT: The LED Shop
BANK: Westpac Atherton - North Queensland
BRANCH NUMBER: 034160
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 171808
Will you include a tax invoice?
Yes - we are a Queensland registered business
and our ABN is 11 873 113 002
Are my credit card details secure?
Yes - our gateway is provided by Verisign and its on their secure
site that you actually place your numbers.
Make sure the padlock in the bottom right hand corner of your
screen is in the locked position.
Regularly check your credit card statement online and ring the
bank immediately you see something which doesn't make sense. Despite
the media attention given to the miniscule risks of consumers
being defrauded by online merchants, it is nearly always the merchant
who is the victim of Internet credit card fraud.
The incidence of fraud perpetrated by online merchants against
consumers is fairly rare - how would they get away with it?
Consumers are typically only liable for the first $50 of any fraudulent
transaction, and even this liability is often waived by the credit
card issuers. On the other hand, credit card fraud can be important
depending upon the online merchant.
We've had a lot of problems from people using stolen cards and
we ourselves must be extremely cautious in dealing with the public
knowing that we the merchants are liable for 100% of any loss
incurred by the greedy banks.
Significant losses are incurred by merchants - especially sellers
of digitally delivered products.
For digitally delivered goods, there is no time to check out the
validity of the information provided by the customer, and the
e-mail identity and address may be as fraudulent as the credit
card number.
We usually post from here in North Queensland
three times a week although we sometimes post every day depending
on the volume and urgency.
Express Post parcels take about 3-4 working days to states like
WA and 3 days into Victoria and South Australia.
New South Wales is 2 days and Queensland parcels can be either
overnight or next business day after that.
Overseas orders can take between one and six weeks, depending
on the postal service in the destination country.
In the wet season (Dec - March) we are
sometimes inconvenienced by flooded creeks and parcel delivery
may be delayed by a day or two.
Am I covered if the parcel gets lost?
If your parcel doesn't show up we launch an investigation through
Australia Post and dependent on the outcome we replace or refund
your money.
In the case where the parcel has been officially logged as delivered
(and you didn't receive it) we cannot replace these parcels.
If you've elected to send via Registered Post then of course you
(and us) are covered.
Of the very very few parcels that have ever been lost every one
was recovered and delivered.
What do I do if it doesn't show up?
The first thing to do is ask at your local post office. Often,
the postmaster will hold parcels and you have to go in and ask
if there is any extra mail awaiting collection.If your postmaster
has not received your parcel, either contact us by email or ring
us directly and we will give you a tracking number, so you can
find the parcel's last logged address.
Australian GST and overseas shipping
For Australian customers we charge 10% GST on all products with
a maximum charge of $11.00 for express shipping per entire order
For international customers we use that 10% GST component to offset
the extra shipping charges involved with shipping internationally.
You pay the same price as Australia for the products but we charge
only $10.00 Australian per entire overseas order for first-class
air mail shipping.
Contact us and e will replace the item ASAP -
just describe the nature of the failure to us. You will incur
no additional postage fees for warranty replacements.Our policy
is that goods can be returned for either replacement or substitution....see
our link to the warranty pages
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