Reasons for LED light bulbs burning out: why this happens and what to do

LED lamps can burn out for several reasons, which can be divided into problems related to product quality and operating conditions. Most often this happens due to the very structure of the LED, defects in its configuration and the condition of the electrical wiring. Also, the service life of the lamps is affected by the stability of the voltage in the network and the correctness of their connection. Turning on lighting fixtures too often has a negative impact on their service life. To change lamps as rarely as possible, you need to find the main factor in their failure and try to eliminate it.

Types of LED lamps for chandeliers Source strojdvor.ru

Main reasons for failure

The main reason why LED lamps burn out is faulty wiring.

Faulty or rotten electrical wiring in an apartment or car is the main reason why LED light bulbs burn out. Most of the cables were installed many years ago, so the parts and wires are worn out. Changing wiring is time-consuming, expensive, and not always possible.

“Human factor” - mistakes made by electricians, builders, and other craftsmen are not uncommon. Incorrect calculation of the required voltage, poor connection of contacts, selection of unsuitable elements - all this leads to arcing of the network, failures, disconnections and other problems.

“Incorrect” lighting fixtures (sconces, chandeliers, lamps) are another reason for the constant burnout of LEDs. About a third of the consumed voltage is spent on lighting, the remaining 2/3 is transformed into heat. Therefore, when developing devices, it is necessary to take into account the heating of the crystals and provide for the possibility of timely cooling.

Only a professional electrician can often understand why LED light bulbs burn out.

Faults and wiring defects

Faulty electrical wiring in the apartment

LEDs burn out due to frequent power surges and surges. Problems arise on power lines, during a thunderstorm, or directly indoors. Timely checking the integrity of the wires will help avoid unexpected breakdowns and reduce the frequency of burnout of LED lamps.

LED lamps do not work well in low voltage conditions. The quality of connections in the junction box should be checked, twists and kinks should be eliminated. Old switches and blocks can also cause energy-saving light bulbs to burn out prematurely.

Checking the chandelier, identifying defects

Faulty cartridge

Chandeliers have a simple structure and the main “problem” area is the socket. Signs of trouble:

• excessive heat;
• sparking;
• blackening and soot.

LED devices cannot be used in chandeliers with closed shades and with the ceiling bulb placed downwards. With this arrangement, heat accumulates and there are no cooling options.

Poor quality LED lamps

A low-quality LED lamp burns out quickly

One of the recommendations of electricians is not to buy devices cheaper than 120 rubles. Less expensive models are made without the possibility of cooling, stabilization, ballast capacitors and other methods of protection, and they have a flimsy body. Although such devices “without everything” are disappearing from the market.

To minimize the consequences when working with cheap mechanisms, you can install a varistor - a special device that stabilizes the voltage during power surges. Typically, a device with a response level of about 470 V is used. Additional methods are to install a filter capacitor and a fuse on the board.

How LED works

Light is emitted when an electric current passes through the pn junction of a semiconductor.

The LED passes current of direct polarity and blocks reverse current from the voltage source. It is selected experimentally, taking into account the magnitude of the luminous flux and thermal processes.

The magnitude of the applied voltage to the electrodes (anode and cathode) is limited by the capabilities of the semiconductor - the internal electrical resistance of the pn junction.

Output characteristics

An LED lamp consists of a large number of LEDs combined in one housing and connected to a voltage source via a built-in power supply.

Together they provide:

• light output;
• color temperature;
• a certain angle of dispersion of the light flux.

These characteristics are published in a separate article. Their quality depends on the operating conditions and design of the lamp.

Reasons for frequent burnout of LED lamps

It's one thing when incandescent lamps burn out, the cost of which is quite low. In this case, we, as a rule, do not attach much importance to the problem and simply replace the burnt-out products with new ones.

However, things are completely different if the LED bulb in the lamp often burns out, the cost of which is several times higher. In this case, there is no point in resigning yourself, because... the cost of frequent replacement can put a significant dent in your budget. It is necessary to understand the possible causes of the malfunction and eliminate them.

Next, we will tell you why LED lamps in an apartment burn out and what to do to solve the problem.

Poor quality products

Unfortunately, the main reason for LED burnout is poor build quality. In our search for cheap LED products, we often fall for the trick of Chinese brands - bright light bulbs that, as advertising, shine quite well on the stand and at the same time have a stylish design.

The fact is that most LED products from China are manufactured in such a budget version that the light bulbs burn out due to the lack of elements for protecting the LEDs from surge current in the driver circuit.

As a result, during voltage surges, the current increases, due to which the LEDs heat up above the nominal temperature and, of course, burn out.

In addition, let’s return to one more reason, which is closely related to the advertising move when demonstrating the glow of a light bulb on a stand.

When choosing an LED lamp for the home, we all try to find an option that will shine well and at the same time be cheap.

That is why some manufacturers select resistors and capacitors in light bulbs in such a way that the LEDs work at full power, but brightly. As a result, the service life of the products is quickly reduced and they burn out.

Also, another reason for the frequent combustion of LED lamps is a defect in the configuration and a violation of the soldering technology, which is typical for cheap Chinese products.

You can verify the above by watching these videos:

What else could it be?

When we looked at the technical characteristics of LED lamps, we pointed to such a parameter as the number of switches. In LED light bulbs, as a rule, the number of switches declared by the manufacturer is unlimited.

But in practice, frequent turning on of the light affects the service life of the LEDs, and if you turn on the light switch in the room dozens of times a day, then it may well be that the lamps burn out for this reason, especially if they are Chinese.

We should also talk about backlit switches.

If the chandelier is controlled by such a switch, then most likely you have noticed that the LED light bulb sometimes flickers or even lights up dimly when the light is off.

Well, the last, rarely encountered situation is when 12-volt LEDs in spotlights burn out.

Here the situation may be either in the wrong backlight connection diagram or in the power supply (incorrectly selected power or poor quality).

We provided the correct wiring diagrams for spotlights. As for the power supply, it must be selected with a power reserve (at least 20%).

We draw your attention to the fact that sometimes apartment owners think that all the 12-volt LED lamps in their suspended ceiling have burned out. First of all, it is better to check the power supply, because

Most likely, it burned out, not the light bulbs!

These are actually all the reasons why LED products burn out.

We hope our information was useful to you and now you know why LED lamps burn out, and what to do in this case! We draw your attention to an important nuance - each lamp has its own warranty period, so if in your case the burnout occurred immediately after purchase due to poor build quality, you can safely go to where you bought it and solve this problem with the seller!

It will be interesting to read:

The same lamp in the ceiling light constantly burns out

Greetings to all! A problem arose: in the ceiling in the kitchen there was spot lighting with 220 V halogen lamps - 5 lamps in a row. Regularly (once a month - sometimes more often, sometimes less often) the same lamp burns out - the last one in the row and wiring. Once the lamp in front of her burned out - the rest are fine. I also changed the halogen lamp to an energy-saving one, but it burns out maybe a little less often, but regularly. Experts, can you tell me what the reason might be?

Most likely the contact on the cartridge is crappy, maybe the cartridge itself is crappy, in general something is definitely crappy

When replacing a lamp, do you handle it with your hands or gloves? Not many people know that halogen lamps should not be handled with bare hands.

Kostyan Chelyab wrote: When replacing a lamp, do you handle it with your hands or with gloves? Not many people know that halogen lamps should not be handled with bare hands.

The chandeliers even come with a glove.

Kostyan Chelyab wrote: Not many people know that halogen lamps should not be handled with bare hands.

I heard about this, but never understood why. I've heard two versions: 1) Moisture and grease from the fingers remain, which negatively affects the lamp. (how?:confused 2) Formation of microcracks in glass.

Not to everyone. And IMHO, not for installing lamps, but in order not to stain the mirror surface. And she is such a size that

In places where they blurted out with their fingers, fat remains. There will be increased heating in this place. Halogen lamps operate at higher temperatures than conventional lamps. Well, in a place of increased heating, glass may melt. Something like this. Correct me if I wrote something wrong.

Maybe for two reasons

1. Shitty cartridge and therefore poor contact
2. Transient processes in a circuit where there are capacitances and inductances and sharp voltage pulses (can be many times higher than the mains voltage). It very much depends on the turn-on phase and especially the turn-off phase if there are inductors connected to the network. If case 2,
   try to power this light bulb not with a cable, but separately from the first one in the cable.
3. place a 1-2 microfarad 600V bipolar capacitor in parallel with this light bulb

see what the result will be.

we were taught that if there is a problem in the circuit, then 95% of the problem is in the contacts, go through the chain, stretch the connectors, clean the contact pads of the cartridge

ARKHI wrote: we were taught that if there is a problem in the circuit, then 95% of the problem is in the contacts, go through the chain, stretch the connectors, clean the contact pads of the cartridge

You were taught correctly! Problem 1 contacts. As a rule, any problem lies on the surface. When troubleshooting, you need to start with the simplest. As one of my sys admin friends said. “If the computer does not turn on, check whether you have plugged it into the outlet?

After the first lamp burned out 2 weeks after connection, it was replaced with a fluorescent one and the contact socket was replaced. After that, less often, but still burns out periodically. Unfortunately, LEDs do not fit into these lamps (they are just a little short in width). There may be a problem in physics, because... In my bathroom, the last lamp in the row burned out in a similar way. Question from Vadim-1 about the capacitor - is it possible to install it on a fluorescent lamp?

Most likely you have some kind of large inductance on the same line (most likely an underloaded transformer). The moment you turn off such a load on it and, accordingly, in the circuit that is connected to it, the voltage briefly and sharply increases (can be tens or hundreds of times higher than the voltage network), and the capacitor will smooth out such a peak. In addition, it will reduce interference on the power supply network and the reactive component of power, which is also not bad. It can be installed at any load (any lamp)

Vadim-1 wrote: a capacitor will smooth out such a peak. In addition, it will reduce interference on the power supply network and the reactive component of power, which is also not bad. It can be installed at any load (any lamp)

Can you tell me more about the capacitor?

And another question: will a capacitor help with poor contact? Maybe it makes sense to plug a capacitor into a chandelier where the lamps often burn out and not bother with replacing the sockets?

el_dm wrote: Can you tell me more about the capacitor?

And another question: will a capacitor help with poor contact? Maybe it makes sense to plug a capacitor into a chandelier where the lamps often burn out and not bother with replacing the sockets?

The capacitor will somewhat mitigate the consequences of bad contact for other consumers and will remove high-frequency interference in the network from bad contact, but the contact itself will not correct it.

So, the reason needs to be corrected (replace the cartridge) or abandon the cartridges altogether, which is what I did by switching almost the entire apartment to LED lighting (there were a few T5 lamps left).

Besides that, I forgot the last time I bought light bulbs. I pay for electricity instead of 2.5-3 thousand as before, now it’s 1-1.5 thousand despite the fact that the lights in the house are almost never turned off.

Poor wiring connection

The quality of contact in the electrical wiring has a great influence on the service life of any lamp, as well as any electrical appliance. The most common reason for light bulbs to burn out is a poorly made or weakened connection at the junction of the wires over time. This problem, in most cases, occurs if the electrical wiring in an apartment or house is made of aluminum wire. If all the wires are in order, then it is likely that the problem is in the contact. In this case, you need to diagnose all the electrical wiring in the house as quickly as possible, and you need to start from the place where the lamp is connected. Today, electrical goods stores sell various modern wire connectors, the use of which significantly improves the performance of all wiring in the apartment. If you do not have special skills or relevant experience, then this work is best left to a professional electrician.

Factors affecting the longevity of light bulbs

• Clean appliances regularly, possibly using a vacuum cleaner;
• do not use liquid detergents;
• service only when the lamp is switched off;
• LED strips should be installed on a special aluminum profile that serves as a heat sink;
• To connect lighting fixtures in office or public spaces with a large number of units, seek help from employees of specialized organizations.

The user must understand that the service life declared by the manufacturer is either a marketing ploy or the calculated result of research carried out in laboratory conditions. In practice, such conditions do not exist, which limits the average service life of light bulbs to approximately 3 years. You should take care of its safety from the first days of operation, since it is impossible to repair a burnt out lamp.

How to disassemble the LED module?

To repair a faulty lamp, you must first dismantle it. There are no special difficulties in performing the procedure

But to avoid problems, you need to be careful and show skill.

Some lamp components cannot be repaired, so they must be handled with care during the disassembly stage. The circuit board requires special attention.

Method 1: unscrewing

Being a fragile device, the lamp can fail if disassembled incorrectly. To prevent this, you need to follow the instructions and follow some rules.

To dismantle the diffuser dome, you need to take the product by the edges with both hands and gradually separate the upper part from the body. The problem is solved without much difficulty, because the connecting sealant layer has a minimum thickness.

Next you will need to perform the most difficult part of the work - separating the plate from the body. The problem is solved by removing the bolts securing the structure. The heads of these fasteners are extremely tiny, so special precision screwdrivers must be used to unscrew them.

After this, you should separate the plate from the radiator using a sharp flat object

You can use jewelry tweezers as this, which allows you to carefully pry the edge of the plate and then remove it entirely

Method 2: Heating with a hairdryer

The next option involves using a hair dryer to heat the lamp body. It may become popular when disassembling devices with thick glass that cannot be removed with a screwdriver.

After heat treatment, the LED module is easily removed from the base. When exposed to hot air, the components expand and the adhesive becomes elastic. As a result, the product breaks into several parts.

If you don't have a hairdryer, you can use another method. It consists of using a solvent, an awl and a medical syringe with a needle.

The awl is carefully drawn along the edge, and then the solvent is applied using a syringe. After a few minutes, the sealant becomes pliable and the dome can be unscrewed without additional effort.

Other manipulations are carried out according to the same instructions as in the previous method.

Reasons for frequent burnout of LED light bulbs

The main factors influencing the service life of LED lamps:

• quality of product manufacturing;
• condition of electrical wiring and connection points;
• voltage stability in the power supply circuit;
• the presence of a radiator for uniform cooling of the LEDs;
• frequent turning on and off of lamps;
• using a switch with a control indicator.

Low quality of the lamps themselves

A common reason why LED light bulbs burn out is poor workmanship. To reduce product costs, power stabilization controllers are excluded from the design, which leads to increased load on the LEDs. Since, to save money, the lamp does not have a radiator, the elements overheat and degrade. The lamp will work for several hundred or thousand hours, but will fail before the end of its declared life.

Some manufacturers achieve maximum brightness by adjusting the voltage on the LEDs. The elements work to the limit, which causes increased heat generation and structural destruction. An additional problem in this case is the insufficient amount of solder and special paste for heat removal.

Faults and wiring defects

If LED lights burn out quickly under normal operating conditions, you will need to check the condition of the electrical wiring in the room. It is necessary to find distribution boxes located on the walls under the ceiling. At the same time, the connection points between the electrical wiring and the lamp sockets are inspected. If melted insulation is detected, it is necessary to cut out the damaged area and connect the cables with twisting or spring terminals (for example, Wago).

Unstable voltage in the network

LED lamps are designed for a voltage of 220 V (alternating current); when the voltage changes, the devices blink and burn out. To ensure stable voltage in the power circuit, a built-in driver is used, which is the first to fail.

If lamps designed for a voltage of 12 V are installed in the room, then in the absence of backlight it is necessary to check the functionality of the power supply.

Insufficient heat dissipation

When installing lamps in a chandelier, it is necessary to ensure heat dissipation. LEDs do not heat up as intensely as the filament of an incandescent lamp, but to ensure a factory resource, a radiator is required. Ceramic sockets in the chandelier allow you to partially reduce the temperature, but it is recommended to purchase lamps with an integrated radiator. The element, made of ceramic or light aluminum alloy, is located on the bottom of the lamp; there are fins on the surface to increase the cooling surface area.

In lamps with reduced power, the radiator is located inside the bulb; it is impossible to visually check its presence. Cheap products use a heat exchanger with reduced dimensions that does not provide cooling for the LEDs. To determine the size of the radiator, you can weigh the lamp on a scale or in your hand. It is not recommended to purchase light lamps. An additional problem is the insufficient layer of paste located between the diode and the radiator.

Frequently turning lamps on and off

LED lighting fixtures often burn out when power is applied due to a power surge. As a result, the electronic component or conductive paths printed on the printed circuit board are destroyed. Since LED lamps are energy efficient, it is not recommended to turn the power on and off frequently.

An additional challenge are switches with integrated LEDs. When using LED standard bulbs, it is recommended to remove such a switch, since a low current flows in the circuit, which can ignite the LEDs. Constant illumination negatively affects the electronic ballast, which prematurely fails. If the user intends to keep the switch with an indicator, then it is necessary to install an additional 50 kOhm resistor.

Why do light bulbs in spotlights and chandeliers burn out quickly?!

Hello! Today I want to talk about how to correctly connect and properly operate spotlights, chandeliers, sconces, etc.

I will also try to explain clearly why light bulbs burn out quickly. Today, due to violations during the installation of electrical wiring for lighting, the issue of quickly burning light bulbs is becoming more and more acute.

I’ll probably start with spotlights

since this is the most popular method of lighting in modern apartments, and spotlights are placed not only on the ceilings to illuminate the apartment itself, but they are also installed in various furniture for lighting - cabinets, sideboards, kitchen units. The list can be endless.

Why do light bulbs in dots burn out so often?

And there can be many reasons for this disease, especially if you have halogen light bulbs. Such lamps are especially capricious if installed incorrectly.

1) The first reason is the incorrect connection diagram of the spotlights. When all points are connected to one wire one after another. With this scheme, the load of each subsequent lamp falls on the connection of the previous one. And the total load of all lamps falls on one wire. This can be seen in the diagram.

This connection diagram is not correct, and often leads to rapid burnout of conventional incandescent and halogen lamps. But nevertheless, this scheme is used everywhere and by everyone, from lighting in cabinets to room lighting.

What happens with such a connection? And this is what happens: Let’s say that on the first light bulb on the side of the distribution box, the contacts of the socket have oxidized due to the strong heating of the halogen lamp (the temperature there is very high, and the socket is naturally Chinese - overheating cannot be avoided), then a chain reaction begins, the wires coming from the socket gradually begin to heat up, then the connection to the common wire heats up. And when the connection heats up, oxidation of the wires connected to each other will not take long to occur. Here the following lamps also put a large load on the already heating connection. Accordingly, due to heating and subsequent oxidation of the connection, the resistance between the connected wires increases, voltage drops occur on this line, which lead to frequent burnout of light bulbs.

And with the correct connection diagram, a separate wire goes from the junction box to each lamp. In this case, the load is distributed evenly. Seen in the diagram below

But if you have completed a version of the first scheme and there is no way to fix it, then I recommend this procedure to my clients: I remove the spotlights from the ceiling (cabinet, headset), cut off the oxidized part of the wire and throw out the old sockets from all points, install new ones cartridges and connect the chain. But I advise you to abandon halogen and incandescent lamps, otherwise the problem of burnout with such a connection scheme will not be long in coming again. And I install LED lamps instead of halogens.

They are not afraid of voltage surges, although surges will not occur, since LED lamps are slightly above room temperature, even with prolonged use. And they work for up to five years. The average price of such a lamp in Ufa is 200 rubles, which will easily pay for itself over a given period of operation. At the same time, you will save on electricity, since LEDs consume significantly less incandescent and halogen lamps (virtually none at all). So you are saved. Everything is easy and simple to treat.

The most important thing is that LEDs come in a variety of shapes, so you can easily match them to your old fittings from spotlights.

This is another savings.

And we move on to the second reason for frequent lamp burnouts.

2) The second reason,

is caused by poor connection of spotlights to the supply wires. These are the so-called twists (this is usually always done). If you simply twist the wires, even the correct connection diagram will not help; the light bulbs will still burn out (halogen, incandescent lamps).

What happens when twisted? I'll try to explain now. The first thing that comes to mind is the natural oxidation of twisted wires; even with very tight twisting, darkening of the copper is always visible; the wires literally turn dark over time. This is not visible to the naked eye. And oxidation leads to an increase in the transition resistance at the junction of the wires. Again, this all leads to a voltage drop and rapid destruction of the lamp.

But there is another reason not to put wires on twists, and this reason is called “Eddy currents” that arise in our twist, since it is something like a “coil-inductor,” roughly speaking. Well, as always, this leads to interference and further, further, further to consequences that you already guessed.

Well, it’s also not difficult to treat. The lamp is removed from the ceiling, the socket is replaced, the twists are cut off, and the wires are reconnected, but already tightened through the immortal terminal block.

Well, when you combine these two rules (circuit and correct connection), even halogen lights will work for a long time. Although they usually combine not two rules, but these two errors. Brrrrr, this paradoxicality even makes it unpleasant.

And now I’ll move a little away from the topic of burning light bulbs, and come to the case when the light disappears simultaneously in all lamps. Usually this happens quite often, but don’t rush to buy new light bulbs, because most likely it’s not them.

Usually the reason for the simultaneous shutdown of the lamps is either a break in the power cable, or most likely your step-down transformer has malfunctioned.

Such a transformer is installed if the fittings and halogen or LED lamp are designed for a voltage of 12 V. And since transformers are usually selected mainly at the lowest price, they often fail. Over and over again, after each breakdown, owners have to call a technician to replace the step-down transformer. In this case, I suggest that the owners replace the torment with the transformer by completely removing it and connecting the lamps directly. But at the same time it is necessary to replace 12-volt light bulbs with 220-volt ones.

Let's move directly to the chandeliers

Namely, let’s first consider Chinese budget chandeliers with LED lighting, halogen bulbs and a seductive control panel.

Such a filling at a low price naturally gives rise to a lot of problems regarding the quality of the product. And in the first place we have burnt out halogens (light bulbs), this problem is the first symptom of a complete breakdown of the chandelier. The reasons are basically the same - first, due to severe overheating from the lamps, the contacts of the sockets lose their elasticity (this is due to the quality of the metal of the contacts), when elasticity is lost, the contacts weakly compress the pins of our halogen lamps. Which leads to poor contact and further, constant burning of the lamps. You can come to terms with all this, and light bulbs, in principle, are not so expensive, you can buy them, but the harmless combustion of light bulbs is being replaced by another, more serious one. After this stage, the electrical wiring in the chandelier begins to get very hot, and since the wiring in it is very thin, they literally smolder. And when the time comes for the insulation to melt, the entire bundle of wires fuses together, thereby causing a short circuit. In some cases, the chandelier completely stops working because the step-down transformer fails; in some situations, several lamps remain working, or only the backlight works. In this case, it is necessary to change all the wiring of the chandelier, as well as the sockets and the transformer with the control unit. But this process is quite labor-intensive, and most often it is not possible to remove the cartridges.

By the way, exactly the same problem occurs with chandeliers without remote control. Only you no longer need to replace either the transformer or the control unit.

Which lamps will last long?

When selecting LED light sources for a living space, it is recommended to purchase products manufactured by large companies (for example, Wolta, Osram or Philips). Products from Chinese manufacturers Camelion or Gauss do not differ in durability from lamps produced by European companies. It should be taken into account that European manufacturers have brought the assembly of LED lamps to China

When purchasing, you need to pay attention to the declared service life and light temperature

There are products on the market from Ecola and Newera, which are claimed to be Russian developments. The products are assembled in China, and the manufacturers provide a 2-year warranty on the lamps. According to user reviews, these LED lamps are highly reliable and correspond to the stated parameters.

Purchasing products on AliExpress allows you to save money, but this trading platform often offers low-quality products. Before purchasing, it is recommended that you read the reviews left by previous customers. It is necessary to take into account that high-quality products are sold at prices comparable to the cost of LED lamps in retail stores in Russia.

How to extend service life

In order for the source to serve until the stated period, you must follow some rules:

• During installation: do not install immediately when brought in from frost; do not apply much force, as this will cause external damage; LED strips are not allowed to be glued directly to wallpaper or furniture.
• The lamp must have an indicator diode.
• If the lamp is not protected from humidity, then it cannot be used in bathrooms, kitchens, etc.

Checking the chandelier, identifying defects

If the wires are in good condition as a result of the test, you should check why the LED bulbs in the chandelier burn out. It is quite possible that the reason lies precisely in the unsatisfactory technical condition of the lamp. Since LED light bulbs are highly sensitive to voltage changes, you must first check the quality of the connection of the chandelier to the wires of your home network.

After this, you need to check the lamp itself. The design and electrical circuits of most chandeliers are quite simple, which makes it easy to understand the problem and identify a possible malfunction. At the very beginning of the audit, it is recommended to check the contacts located in the cartridges. They should not only be inspected, but also be cleaned.

Particular attention should be paid to the central contact, commonly called the tongue. If necessary, it bends upward, which significantly increases the reliability of the connection between the contacts and the light bulb.

Blinking when off

This type of malfunction can be explained by:

1. The presence of LED lighting in the switch. The current flowing through it can recharge the lamp capacitor over time. As a result, a faint glow occurs. To prevent this from happening, you can try replacing one of the LED devices with a regular incandescent lamp. This device will simply “take” the excess voltage onto itself. Its strength is simply not enough to light an incandescent lamp.

2. Inconsistency of the lamp itself with quality standards.

LED light bulbs blink frequently when turned off due to a fault in the electrical wiring of the house or apartment. Also, in some cases, this phenomenon occurs due to the operation of a large number of sources of high-frequency interference (microwaves, electric stoves, washing machines, etc.). In this case, the problem can be corrected by including a stabilizer with a filter in the network circuit.

One of the reasons is the voltage converter

Many high-quality LED lamps produced by well-known companies are equipped with quite complex electronic circuits. The main function of these devices is to convert 220 volt AC network voltage into DC voltage, the value of which is required for this type of LEDs. In addition, they qualitatively smooth out the resulting pulsations.

A standard board usually consists of 1 or 2 chips and other elements. This design significantly increases the life of the lamps, but at the same time increases their cost. Therefore, in order to increase product sales, unscrupulous manufacturers replace normal complex circuits with so-called ballast, which was already mentioned earlier. In this regard, many consumers during operation have a logical question about why LED light bulbs quickly burn out.

The main reason is current surges, which cannot be leveled out with simple ballast. As a result, the structure of the semiconductor is disrupted, and the luminous layer - the phosphor - becomes inoperative. Therefore, it is recommended to buy products only from well-known manufacturers that are reliable and of high quality.

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Comparison of LED lamps and incandescent lamps

Low quality products

Most LED lamps from Chinese brands burn out due to poor quality assembly. Under the stylish appearance of the product, several unpleasant surprises may be hidden:

• a cheap electrolytic capacitor that gradually loses capacity when operating in a high-temperature environment;
• lack of high-quality heat removal;
• lack of a good driver;
• “cold soldering” of contact pads, etc.

If you look inside the body of a burnt-out LED lamp, you will find that the thermal paste is only partially applied to the aluminum substrate. As a result, heat transfer from the board to the radiator occurs unevenly, which leads to overheating of the emitting SMD element, which is in the worst temperature regime.

Clever Chinese engineers calculate the ballast power supply so that the output voltage on it is slightly higher than the rated one. The initial brightness of such a product impresses the buyer, which means the commercial goal has been achieved. In the best case, after several months of operation, the luminous flux will decrease by 30%, in the worst case, the lamp will burn out.

The listed facts indicate a deliberate deterioration of the technical characteristics of the product by the manufacturer. After all, if everyone switches to high-quality LED lighting, then who will buy the lamps?

Electrical wiring problems

But the main factor that affects the service life of an LED lamp is the instability of the voltage in the electrical network. It’s clear how increased voltage affects a regular incandescent lamp. The tungsten filament overheats, the structure of the filament is destroyed, and as a result the lamp fails.

A problem with electrical wiring can be detected by the frequent burnout of lamps in a certain place. In this case, first of all you need to check the condition of the wire that powers the LED. It must be insulated and free of visible damage. If the need arises, the wire can be connected using WAGO reusable terminal blocks. They have special levers that allow you to quickly disconnect the circuits and test each element separately.

If, when inspecting the wiring, you do not find a defect, then you should carefully inspect the cartridge. If there is visible damage or signs of burning of the wires, then such a cartridge must be replaced. To be sure of the long service life of the LED lamp, it is better to immediately replace suspicious wires and sockets.

What to do if the LED lamp is broken

These days, there is a huge amount of lighting equipment on store shelves made using diodes. The cost has become affordable, moreover, there are many cheap options. For all their advantages, they are unreliable and fail very often, especially if there are power surges and power outages.

Expert advice

Starikov Mikhail

Senior Electronics Engineer

Ask a Question

If a lamp or light bulb stops turning on, you should check the warranty period. If it has not expired, the broken equipment will be replaced with new one. Therefore, there is no need to throw away the sales receipt and the product box during the warranty period.

Often faulty parts can be found by simple visual inspection.

After a breakdown, first check the equipment. If there are traces of melting on it, most likely it will not be possible to repair it. Also, products with physical damage cannot be restored. If they are dropped or broken, it is easier to throw away the lamp than to repair it. It is important to turn off the lamp or chandelier at the first sign of malfunction; in this case, the likelihood of a successful repair is many times higher.

Can it be repaired at home?

Repairing LED lamps and lamps is not a difficult job if you understand the design features. The process is simplified by the fact that the device for all varieties is the same, they consist of the same components:

1. Lamp body. The load-bearing part of the structure, which contains all the main parts. It can come in different shapes and sizes, it all depends on the model. It is most often made of plastic, but can also be metal. If we talk about light bulbs, then there is a base made of ceramic, heat-resistant plastic or metal. There are different types of socles, it all depends on the standard.
2. Driver. The main working unit, which is responsible for power supply, compensates for voltage surges and converts alternating current into direct current, supplying it to the LEDs. There are two options - capacitor, which are cheaper and are used in budget models, and electronic, which are more reliable, but more expensive. The equipment is designed for temperatures from -40 to +70°C, has good efficiency, but at the same time is the most vulnerable part of the structure.
3. Circuit board. It contains LEDs and other necessary working units. Most often it is made of aluminum - a durable material that removes excess heat well.
4. Diodes provide luminous flux. The more of them are installed on the board, the brighter the lamp or light bulb. The most common types are SOV and SMD chips.
5. Wires go from the driver to the light bulbs; they can be soldered or connected with terminals. Depending on the brand of the lamp and the functions available to it, one light bulb can have from 1 to 12 wires.
6. If the chandelier is remote controlled, it will contain an antenna, a control unit, a voltage regulator and modules responsible for automatically configuring the equipment.

Typical design of an LED lamp with a control panel.

Contents may vary. For example, transformerless capacitor-type power supplies are used in cheap lamps. They serve as a current and voltage limiter. Ideally, it is better to find instructions with a diagram of the lamp, usually it is on the packaging or insert leaflet.

Defects in electrical wiring or electrical appliance

LEDs become unusable due to constant power surges. Variations can occur due to disruption of power lines or improperly laid in-house wiring.

Old or incorrectly routed wiring

Fluorescent energy-saving and LED light bulbs do not respond well to a decrease in voltage in the network, so before using them in residential lighting, it is necessary to check the insulation in the distribution boxes and in the lamp connections.

If possible, you need to replace the twists with complete wiring. It is convenient to use terminal blocks for connection, from which you can remove the metal tip of the wire and reconnect without damaging its integrity.

Problematic operation of the lamp

Another common cause of light bulbs burning out is problems with the lamp itself. First of all, before screwing in the lamp, you need to check the condition of the lighting fixture:

• inspect the contacts in the cartridge. Due to high temperatures and chemical reactions, plaque may form in the base, which must be cleaned with a sharp object or sandpaper;
• if necessary, bend the tongue, which ensures good contact of the socket with the lamp base.

How to fix it yourself

Repairing diode lamps will save significant money, since workshops most often charge half the price of the equipment for this work. It’s also possible to make light bulbs if you have the necessary spare parts on hand.

Lamp

Ideally, you need to have a diagram of the equipment on hand, so when purchasing, you need to find it (on the package or in the instructions) and save it so it doesn’t get lost. This will greatly simplify the work and help you understand the design much faster. Options without remote control are much easier to repair; you need to remember these recommendations:

Remember! Before starting work, turn off the electricity supply to the panel.

In many models, the controls are not covered by anything.

1. Remove the lamp from the ceiling, first disconnecting the contacts. If there is a lot of dust on the top, you need to carefully remove it so that no debris gets inside during disassembly. Next, you need to disassemble the case to open access to the internal elements.
2. Carefully inspect the parts for damage and defects from overheating, especially contacts and connections. Often it is because of them that problems arise. Repack the terminal blocks, as well as the twists, and tighten the screws.
3. If no problems were found, proceed to inspecting the lamps or blocks if the relays and LEDs are located on the same board. A 12 or 24 V unit is connected (depending on the rating of the elements), and all LEDs with signs of damage or malfunction are checked.
4. You can do it simpler - connect the light module to the network via the power supply and close the contacts on each LED in turn. Do this until the lamp lights up and the burnt element is found.
5. Replacement of LEDs in lamps is carried out only with elements of the same rating, so it is better to order them in advance, as there may be problems with the purchase. If you install a jumper in a system that includes less than 10 light elements, the capacitors will fail due to overload. Ideally, do not use jumpers at all during repairs, but if the board consists of several dozen diodes, you can close the contacts of one with a piece of wire, after first removing the old element and cleaning the carbon deposits.
6. If everything is in order with the LEDs, the board is checked for burnouts and the integrity of the tracks. It is also worth inspecting the capacitors; if they are darkened or swollen, replacement is required. Due to overheating of the matrix, contacts may be broken; they should also be checked carefully and solder all that are in doubt.
7. If damage is detected in the control unit, it is worth replacing it with a similar one. Pay attention to the characteristics of the part, do not mix up the wires when connecting.
8. Before installing the board in place, you need to renew the layer of thermal paste if it was in the area where the cooling radiator is adjacent. Carefully wipe off the old one with a damp cloth, degrease the surface, apply a thin layer of the new composition, distributing it evenly.

For your information! Thermal paste can be purchased at any computer store.

Re-soldering the diodes is easy.

Repairing a chandelier is not difficult if you understand the principle of its operation. Most often, the problem is the LED burning out, because they are connected linearly and if one element fails, the circuit is broken. Using the same principle, you should look for faults in strip lights. If the inspection does not reveal a burnt element, you will have to ring everything in order.

Video: Repair of a 36-watt LED ceiling lamp.

LED lamp

If a standard lamp fails, the troubleshooting methods do not differ from the option described above. But there are some peculiarities that are worth considering. To find the problem and quickly fix it, you must follow these instructions:

1. First you need to make sure that the problem is with the light bulb. To do this, unscrew the faulty one from the socket and put the working one in its place. If it does not light up, then there is a problem with the electricity supply. Inspect the contacts in the cartridge. If they are dark, most likely the cause is a loose clamp; you need to clean the surface of carbon deposits and bend the antennae. The ceiling light connection block or a broken switch may also be to blame.
2. If the control light comes on, proceed with the repair first. First you need to remove the diffuser; most often it is held in place by a thin layer of sealant, so if you carefully turn the connection, you can tear the element out of place. If it holds, then use a thin screwdriver to press out the connection in several places. When this method does not help, warm up the joint with a hairdryer, this usually ensures trouble-free removal.

   
   The main thing is not to damage the parts during disassembly.

3. There is a board with LEDs attached to the platform under the diffuser; it needs to be removed. To do this, first unscrew the screws holding the part, and then separate the contacts on the board. You need to grab the wire with tweezers, and use a soldering iron to melt the tin, carefully straighten the end so that you can remove it later, and do the same with the second contact. Remember the location or color indication on the insulation so as not to confuse the wires.
4. Remove the board and inspect it. Typically, a burnt-out LED can be seen immediately by dark spots or carbon deposits on the back side. But for reliability, you need to ring the circuit with a tester. Sometimes two elements burn out; if you don’t figure it out right away, you’ll have to redo the work twice.
5. If all the LEDs are in order, most likely the driver, which is located under the board in the lamp body, has failed. You need to buy it or take it from the same lamp.
6. In the case of a burnt-out LED, you must remove it correctly. The board is secured in a holder or in any way so that it can be accessed from both sides. You need to clamp the damaged element with tweezers, and use a gas burner to heat the board from the back side at the connection point for 2-3 seconds. Pull the tweezers towards you to remove the diode, do everything carefully.
7. Instead, you should install an LED with the same characteristics. First, carefully apply a little solder with flux to the installation site, or lubricate the contacts with acid. Install the LED correctly (a large contact is always a minus), heat the board from the back side with a torch for 2-3 seconds and gently press the diode so that it snaps into place. Wipe the cooled compound with alcohol.
8. It is best to wipe off the thermal paste from the surface of the cooling radiator and apply new one. Next, carefully place the board, threading the wires through the holes, then solder them into place and tighten the retaining screws. Check the operation of the light bulb. If it does not light up, ring the LEDs again.
9. If there is any, remove any remaining old glue from the lampshade. Apply a thin layer of silicone sealant, press the elements together and leave to dry for several hours.

Advice! It is best to find the same faulty light bulb in order to take the necessary spare parts from it.

It is easier with light bulbs than with lamps, since their structure is always the same. The repair is not difficult, the main thing is to do everything carefully, do not overheat the board with the torch and observe the polarity of the diodes when soldering. There are no other requirements.

You can unsolder a burnt-out LED, but it’s easier to heat the board from the back side with a small torch.

More details in a separate article: How to repair an LED light bulb yourself

Possible reasons

Probably everyone knows the saying “The miser pays twice.” This is where the first of the possible reasons lies. Many will say that in order to save money they buy LED lamps, but the problem is in the correct choice of these devices. Poor workmanship is present in half of the lamps sold for sale. The fact is that manufacturers, in order to attract more customers, lower the price of the lamp, but accordingly they themselves use low-quality parts. Sometimes, manufacturers make light bulbs too bright, the light from them is very beautiful, but there is no protection against excess luminous flux, which is why burnout occurs.

Most LED lights are powered by a power supply or LED paths. The undoubted advantage of the power supply is that it can be used as an electrical ballast. If the power supply is not configured correctly, the lighting fixture will always burn out. This happens because the power that passes through the unit is less than necessary.

Troubleshooting remote-controlled lamps

This type of chandelier is much more complex than conventional models, so it needs to be repaired differently. If the equipment does not turn on, the first thing to do is replace the batteries in the remote control; this is often the problem. If replacing the batteries does not produce results, then carry out repairs as follows:

1. Carefully remove the chandelier from the ceiling and prepare it for inspection. First, select a power supply with a suitable voltage and connect it to the contacts, then turn on the equipment using the remote control. If it works, then you should look for a problem in the wiring. When the chandelier did not turn on, but a soft click was heard, the controller is most likely working.
2. It is easy to check the driver; to do this, you need to disconnect it from the controller and apply voltage directly. If the lamp works, then the problem is in the controller. When the light does not appear, you need to buy a driver. They have approximately the same characteristics, the main thing is to take into account the number of control channels.
3. When there is no driver, but you need to use the chandelier, you can disconnect the wires of the lamps and drivers and directly connect them to the terminal block. Then you will use the equipment from a standard switch on the wall.
4. Searching for other faults should be carried out in the same way as described above; there is no difference in replacing the LEDs.

Mark of overheating on the driver housing.

If the remote control does not work, only replacing it will help.

Repairing LED lamps with your own hands is possible for anyone who understands the simplest circuits and knows how to use a soldering iron. The main thing is to be careful and not use parts that do not match the characteristics of those that have failed.

DIY LED lamp repair

Burnt-out LEDs often lead to failure of the lighting fixture. Sometimes the problem can be determined after dismantling the case. But there are exceptions when externally the components appear to be working properly. Do-it-yourself LED lamp repair begins only after identifying the problem.

Replacing light bulb LEDs

To replace the lamp's LEDs, it is not necessary to use soldering equipment. Sometimes it is enough to heat the board with a hair dryer, as a result of which the soldering area will become soft and pliable, and the diode will be easy to reach with tweezers.

A working light source is placed on the heated area, and after the board has cooled, it is firmly fixed. When disassembling the device, you need to monitor the location of the element to avoid mistakes during reassembly.

LED lamp driver repair

Repairing an LED lamp with your own hands is not difficult. Often this requires troubleshooting problems in the driver that arise due to a burnt out resistor or capacitor.

If your home workshop has multimeters and other measuring devices, the diagnosis will be performed without any difficulties. If a breakdown is determined, the part is replaced with a working model with similar performance characteristics.

How to check and replace the power supply?

If the lamp is installed in a technical room with a high level of humidity, it is equipped with stabilizing power supplies that reduce the voltage to safe values. With use or under the influence of negative factors, the stabilizer fails.

To replace it, you need to remove the voltage by disconnecting the circuit in the distribution panel.

Eliminating blinking LED lamps

Often, LED lamp repair is intended to eliminate the flickering problem. An unpleasant phenomenon occurs as a result of interruption of electrical contact. Determining the cause with a magnifying glass is problematic, so all that remains is to re-solder the sockets, which requires some effort and time. But, given the simplicity of the scheme, you can carry out the necessary manipulations on your own.

Why do halogen lamps burn out?

Halogen lamps are rarely used in household appliances. These are mainly spotlights, less often chandeliers. One of the main reasons for failure is contact with bare hands, which leads to grease stains on the surface. The products overheat significantly, which causes the flask to collapse.

Use clean gloves during installation. If dirt is found, remove it with an alcohol-soaked cloth. Halogen lamps can burn out due to technically incorrect installation of electrical wiring going to the place where the spotlight is used.

How to fix the problem?

If the LED lamp lights up when the light is off, how to fix it? There are different solutions. It all depends on the nature of the problem itself. For example:

1. A cheap, low-quality LED lamp always glows in the dark after it is turned off. To eliminate this problem, it is necessary to replace it with quality products from a trusted manufacturer.
2. If the lighting element is on because an illuminated switch is used, then this problem can be solved in different ways. For example, the easiest way out is to change the switch in the house to a regular one, without backlighting. You can simply cut off the specific wire that powers the backlight. This can be done after opening the switching device. But there is another way out - to preserve this function, it is enough to place a resistor in parallel on a certain section of the electrical circuit.
3. If the LED light is on and the reason is in the wiring, then it will be extremely difficult to solve such a problem. To eliminate it, you need to find the location of the current leak. But this may entail certain difficulties. But when the light turns off, the bulbs will not light up. We talked about what malfunctions in electrical wiring can happen in a separate article. There is another way, simpler. When the lighting element is lit, it is necessary to connect a load (relay, incandescent lamp or resistor) in parallel with it. You just need to take into account the fact that the resistance in the connected load should be lower than in the light emitter. And as a result, the leakage current will flow to this load, but due to the fact that the resistance is insignificant, it will not light up.

Another effective way to eliminate the glow of LED bulbs is to add a capacitor to the circuit. This is explained in detail in the video tutorial:

A variety of methods can solve the problem of the glow of emitters with diodes so that they do not glow at full intensity when the switch is turned off. The main thing is to understand the root cause of the problem. We hope you now understand why the LED lamp glows after turning off and what to do to correct the situation!

It will be useful to read:

• Why is the energy saving lamp blinking?
• DIY LED light bulb repair
• Connection diagram for spotlights

The best manufacturing companies

If we continue to talk about the Celestial Empire, then the answer to the question of which LED lamps are better is the products of the following companies:

1. Camilion. Lamps from this manufacturer belong to the budget category and are sold not only in Russia, but also in Europe. Most consumers believe that their quality is relatively good.
2. Maxus. The quality of the lamps from this manufacturer is slightly inferior. But they are still considered quite reliable. Most consumers advise purchasing them, for example, for a summer house or garage.

It is better not to purchase lamps from unknown Chinese manufacturers at all. Such an LED light bulb will most likely not last too long.

There are, of course, good, relatively inexpensive lamps from European companies on the domestic market. The best such manufacturers are considered to be Gauss, Osram and Philips.