12v LED voltage tolerance?

Fordulike

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Feb 26, 2010
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I know that normal filament bulbs have a small tolerance for increasing the rated voltage, and usually blow fairly quickly.

But what tolerance do LED's have?
Can I run a 12v rated LED on 48v?

If not, what is the most efficient way of reducing 48v to 12v to power an LED?
 

amigafan2003

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Jul 12, 2011
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All LEDS are 3.3v or thereabouts. What determines input voltage is the "driver". i.e some drivers have boost - i.e. they can run an LED by "boosting" a 1.5v (AA battery) source for example. Others have a buck driver - i.e. they take a 6v input and "buck" it down. Some clever drivers are buck/boost - they they can "boost" up or "buck" down - so could have a wide voltage range - i.e. 3v to 18v typical.

Some buck drivers are however linear drivers so they buck voltage down by bleeding off the excess voltage as heat. I have a flashlight that has a 3v to 8.4v range but if using two RCR123 batteries (4.2v each) you can't run in in high mode for too long due to excess heat.

At the end of the day, I'd reconmend running the light within it's rated voltage range.

Do you have a specific light in mind? I might be able to advise.

Another option is to invstigate DC-DC converters - i.e. convert a 48v source to 12v source before it gets to the battery, but they can be quite pricey and large.
 
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Fordulike

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I was originally going to wire an LED in with the battery switch, just to warn me when the system's on.

After a bit of research, I'm going to fit a Cycle Analyst.
This will kill two birds with one stone, acting as an indicator of the bike being on, plus a speedo function along with a host of other handy utilities.
They now manufacture one that can plug directly into a Cycle Analyst modified controller, with a geared motor set-up.

The Cycle Analyst Homepage - Ebike Amp-Hour and Watt Meter
 

rog_london

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Jan 3, 2009
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Busch and Muller, German (I think) manufacturers of high-end bicycle lights (among other things) have a range of high brightness LED front and rear lights which are intended for the e-bike market - consequently their rated supply can be anywhere from 6 volts to 42 volts. Pretty well any such set up would use a switch mode converter to avoid wasting lots of power as heat.

I'm sure there must be others available. LEDs are starting to appear in lamps which plug straight into a mains socket, and the ones I've seen don't produce much heat at all, although they're only just getting to the point development-wise where they put out useful amounts of light.

Rog.
 

Fordulike

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Thanks for all the answers.

Just wondered, do LED's have a higher tolerance to voltage variation than filament bulbs?
 

flecc

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LEDs vary according to rating and colour of output, red LEDs use lower voltages, blue higher, very much like the light wave frequency spectrum. They have published voltage curves for designer use. They don't have much tolerance to over-volting when the current source isn't limited.

I can't say for certain the comparative tolerance with filament bulbs, but I doubt there is much useful difference, both suffering shorter life as voltage rises above specified maximum, followed by failure.
 

rog_london

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Well, there's a problem with that right from the outset as it's current rather than voltage which is the issue.

A basic LED is much more of a constant-voltage device. That means they don't conduct much at all until they see about a volt, and then only a small increase in voltage produces a large increase in current, and you can burn the thing out easily. Consequently it's standard practice to use a series resistor to limit the current in the most basic applications.

What confuses things is that what appear to be higher voltage LEDs are in fact hybrid devices - an LED with some sort of driver circuit incorporated. Any LED rated with a forward current limit (up to 60 mA is common) will be 'just' an LED, but where the rating is in volts you can be sure there's a driver circuit incorporated. Those high-brightness LEDs which are becoming common in torches (and bicycle lights) generally have driver circuits. Sometimes you may find an array of LEDs in series with a single driver circuit - again, cycle lamps often have such a set up to give more light without using expensive ultra-high-power LEDs.

In general if there's a driver circuit the device will have a wider tolerance to voltage variation than a filament lamp will, but there's huge variation relating to intended usage and purchase price. The Busch and Muller kit I mentioned above is seriously pricey.

Basic LEDs will produce some light at very low forward currents (1mA), and will be at their most efficient at around 20-30mA, with not much more light being produced as the current increases up to the maximum rating, typically 50 or 60mA, when heat dissipation becomes a problem. If there's a driver then a whole different set of rules applies depending on the design, so it gets complicated!

Rog.
 

flecc

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Well, there's a problem with that right from the outset as it's current rather than voltage which is the issue.
Hence my comment: "They don't have much tolerance to over-volting when the current source isn't limited."