GE 31554 strip AC or DC, voltage/amps, series or parallel please

[realtomatoes]

Pulling the strips out of a case of these bulbs to create a single 25 bulb fixture. Checked and 120AC house current direct-wired in series will light more than one of them but not sure if AC is the correct way to go or how many strips I can light without degrading the light they produce. The bulbs are only 12 watts so if I feed them 120VAC at 15 amps I am thinking I should get 1800 watts so a dedicated line should be enough to power all 25 bulbs. I don't know enough to be sure my thinking is correct though. Recall seeing that only 3 of the integrated LED fixtures could be in connected in series but don't know why. I can always wire them in parallel but want to avoid all that soldering and extra wire if possible. thanks!

 

[Airwalker16]

Pulling the strips out of a case of these bulbs to create a single 25 bulb fixture. Checked and 120AC house current direct-wired in series will light more than one of them but not sure if AC is the correct way to go or how many strips I can light without degrading the light they produce. The bulbs are only 12 watts so if I feed them 120VAC at 15 amps I am thinking I should get 1800 watts so a dedicated line should be enough to power all 25 bulbs. I don't know enough to be sure my thinking is correct though. Recall seeing that only 3 of the integrated LED fixtures could be in connected in series but don't know why. I can always wire them in parallel but want to avoid all that soldering and extra wire if possible. thanks!

They have little AC-DC drivers in the housing you'll have to wire every single driver onto the fixture. I would toss this idea immediately.

 

[realtomatoes]

They have little AC-DC drivers in the housing you'll have to wire every single driver onto the fixture. I would toss this idea immediately.

They light without the drivers?

 

[Renfro]

The bulbs are only 12 watts so if I feed them 120VAC at 15 amps

Dude, you have no idea what you are doing do you?

An LED is a light emitting diode. A diode only allows current to flow in one direction and therefore they require DC power. Also, you can't just throw 120 Volts DC at a chip thats designed to run at much less voltage.

If the LED chip was designed to put out more light then they would have done so or just used a smaller LED chip in the bulbs.

 

[Airwalker16]

They light without the drivers?

No they won't?

 

[realtomatoes]

Yes, they will. They simply blink at 60hz (60 times a second) which is not discernible by the human eye under normal circumstances.
What I am trying to find out is how much resistance these strips (This particular strip in this bulb which I have removed from the plastic tubes and cut away from the drivers.) has and when the resistance will be great enough to dim the diodes to any appreciable degree. The effect I am trying to avoid is the same thing you would see if a rheostat (dimmer switch) was used to dim them intentionally.
Just trying to avoid doing a bunch of testing. Will probably just purchase a DC power supply big enough to power the fixture to avoid the blinking.

 

[Airwalker16]

Yes, they will. They simply blink at 60hz (60 times a second) which is not discernible by the human eye under normal circumstances.
What I am trying to find out is how much resistance these strips (This particular strip in this bulb which I have removed from the plastic tubes and cut away from the drivers.) has and when the resistance will be great enough to dim the diodes to any appreciable degree. The effect I am trying to avoid is the same thing you would see if a rheostat (dimmer switch) was used to dim them intentionally.
Just trying to avoid doing a bunch of testing. Will probably just purchase a DC power supply big enough to power the fixture to avoid the blinking.

You're saying you can hook those BARE strips, drivers removed, DIRECTLY to a 2 wire plug, plugged into an outlet and they emit light?

 

[X6xsilverx6X]

I don’t think anyone here is going to tell you that whatcha doing is right or a smart idea but if you do it please share the hazardous results with the rest of us... (also seriously don’t do it is so dangerous)

 

[realtomatoes]

You're saying you can hook those BARE strips, drivers removed, DIRECTLY to a 2 wire plug, plugged into an outlet and they emit light?

yup

 

[Mak'er Grow]

If your VERY careful then you can measure the DC voltage at the strip.
Then also check the amps drawn.
With these 2 values you should be able to do the math for the 25 you want to wire up.
I used some LED bulbs and found each bulb had a 60 VDC driver in each casing, but can't remember the amps drawn atm.
I took the main 120 VAC from the wall and added a bridge rectifier to convert AC to DC then added a low value high wattage resistor since each bulb used 60 VDC I put 2 bulbs in series and attached all the pairs in parallel.
BE VERY CAREFUL AND DONT TOUCH LIVE CIRCUITS !!!



P.S. Post some pics of the lights and parts so we can see them and get a better idea of what your dealing with.

 

[Airwalker16]

yup

@Renfro WTF?

 

[realtomatoes]

I don’t think anyone here is going to tell you that whatcha doing is right or a smart idea but if you do it please share the hazardous results with the rest of us... (also seriously don’t do it is so dangerous)

I have only been badly electrocuted once. And then there was the time I was blown up, but save the deafness and brain damage I am doing reasonably well. Now I have a shunt that drains any excess spinal fluid off my brain into my abdominal cavity so no more worries about dementia. Although I couldn't tell you what day of the week it is or how to get home for the life of me most of the time. I rarely fall 'up' stairs these days although turning around quickly has its problems.
Yeah, I can see your point. Just this one last experiment and I will settle down to just the occasional...

 

[Airwalker16]

I don’t think anyone here is going to tell you that whatcha doing is right or a smart idea but if you do it please share the hazardous results with the rest of us... (also seriously don’t do it is so dangerous)

I completely agree, even though he does seemed well versed in electrical knowledge.

 

[Airwalker16]

I have only been badly electrocuted once. And then there was the time I was blown up, but save the deafness and brain damage I am doing reasonably well. Now I have a shunt that drains any excess spinal fluid off my brain into my abdominal cavity so no more worries about dementia. Although I couldn't tell you what day of the week it is or how to get home for the life of me most of the time. I rarely fall 'up' stairs these days although turning around quickly has its problems.
Yeah, I can see your point. Just this one last experiment and I will settle down to just the occasional...

Jesus Christ man... I'm terribly sorry. I'm hoping to god youve worked in electrical for a number of years and these are just the unfortunate realities of it and not just a tinkerer who got unlucky twice...

 

[realtomatoes]

job of this
If your VERY careful then you can measure the DC voltage at the strip.
Then also check the amps drawn.
With these 2 values you should be able to do the math for the 25 you want to wire up.
I used some LED bulbs and found each bulb had a 60 VDC driver in each casing, but can't remember the amps drawn atm.
I took the main 120 VAC from the wall and added a bridge rectifier to convert AC to DC then added a low value high wattage resistor since each bulb used 60 VDC I put 2 bulbs in series and attached all the pairs in parallel.
BE VERY CAREFUL AND DONT TOUCH LIVE CIRCUITS !!!

View attachment 4554226

P.S. Post some pics of the lights and parts so we can see them and get a better idea of what your dealing with.

Yes thinking the combination of series to parallel will make for the quickest job of this. I was also thinking of using multiple low wattage power adapters (have a box full of them). Thanks for the idea!

 

[realtomatoes]

Jesus Christ man... I'm terribly sorry. I'm hoping to god youve worked in electrical for a number of years and these are just the unfortunate realities of it and not just a tinkerer who got unlucky twice...

You wouldn't believe me if I told you half the stuff I have done or been part of. I am very careful actually but you can't always control the uncontrollable. This light fixture will go into a greenhouse I am working on as part of my retirement hobby. I don't have a ton of time left but wouldn't trade a second of my life for another. Do what you love doing and take care of the people that matter to you and you will never have a regret.

 

[Airwalker16]

You wouldn't believe me if I told you half the stuff I have done or been part of. I am very careful actually but you can't always control the uncontrollable. This light fixture will go into a greenhouse I am working on as part of my retirement hobby. I don't have a ton of time left but wouldn't trade a second of my life for another. Do what you love doing and take care of the people that matter to you and you will never have a regret.

Humble Post, my friend.

 

[Renfro]

They simply blink at 60hz (60 times a second)

Wonder how much heat is dissipated due to the diodes blocking the reverse voltage 50% of the time?

 

[Airwalker16]

Wonder how much heat is dissipated due to the diodes blocking the reverse voltage 50% of the time?

So is that what's happening? I thought LEDs straight up couldn't work on AC power at all. Do I need to be learnt a few things?

 

[Renfro]

So is that what's happening? I thought LEDs straight up couldn't work on AC power at all. Do I need to be learnt a few things?

Well a diode doesn't by nature allow current to flow in both directions. So basically if it is working it is going on and off 60 times a second, spending half it's time off. When a diode is blocking the reverse bias heat dissipation would be increased. Likely shortening the life of the diode as well as producing half the light and generating excessive heat.

When forward current is applied there is a little resistance and therefore some heat is generated. When flow is reversed the diode acts as an insulator. Forward voltage drop is increased as temperature increases and therefore blocking the reverse current half the time and creating excessive heat will further degrade performance of the diode during the time voltage is flowing forward.

Honestly it's not something I have ever experimented with for the aforementioned reasons. It's just not how LED's are supposed to be implemented.