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Another (LED) bites the dust…

Singapore 29th September 2011

Some more developments on my experiences with the Philips 10W LED Master lamp. I have blogged previously about the temperature issues and the fact that the lamp has a mechincal fan inside to assist with the cooling of the lamp. We had already established that fan failure was the probabe cause, today I received some further information from the factory on what may have caused the fan failure after several lamps were disected, a sort of post mortum autopsy.

The engineers discovered an exessive amount of dust inside the lamp that had gradually settled on the fan and as such hampered its functioning. I have yet to receive the full report but it seems that possibly during the fit out before opening contractors at work in the areas that already had the lamps installed created considerable dust that found its way inside the
lamp. There was indeed a lot of (timber) floor sanding going on in the weeks before handing over and that may have been the cause. The lamp is designed with open slots around the front part of the lamp to allow additional aircirculation to help with the cooling. With hot air generally rising, dust from works on the floor could have easily found its way inside the lamp. It is unlikely that dust would have entered the lamp from the ceiling considering the lamp is closed at the back.

This is an interesting finding that I herewith share for the greater good and understanding for those planning to use LED MR16 retrofit lamps, certainly those using mechanical fans and with openings at the front. It is partly understandable that this issue may not have surfaced before (as is being claimed) as most retrofits are as the name says… retrofits in existing
installations. In our case we used retrofit lamps in conventional (new) downlights mostly driven by budget as conventional downlights with retrofit LEDs are still considerably cheaper then new technology LED downlight systems. The downlights were installed at an early stage and a lot of interior fit-out finishing (like sanding) happened afterwards.

A lesson learned. My thanks to Philips for their professional approach and support in helping find the cause of our problems. I am confident that we have herewith found the origin of our problems and after replacing the defective lamps the client can now fully enjoy its first fully sustainable restaurant.

IIn Light Watch today pictures from the restaurant now, hard to imagine that lamps could be so dirty. I add a picture courtesy of Philips showing the “dusty” lamp and fan as disected after just 3 months operation, compared with a lamp that has been operated “normally” (without dust) for more than a year.



Light Watch 173: Man Fu Yan Restaurant, Singapore and the “dusty” LED lamps

29. September 2011 by Martin Klaasen
Categories: Education, light watch, lighting applications | Leave a comment

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