LED filament teardown and experiments. (short version)

[@IanJames001]

A very clear informative explanation of how filament LEDs are constructed... Thank you.

[@bigclivedotcom]

They've evolved. The substrate is usually ceramic or glass with new LEDs called flip chip LEDs that are soldered directly to the substrate without bond wires.

[@SuperBrainAK]

wow cool little led strips!, thanks for sharing and exploring with those things!

[@mrDarktrooper]

LED filaments have really come a long way.

[@MegaWayneD]

I've been dying to get hold of some of these for a retro 7-segment display clock to see if they can mimic the old numitron filament look.

[@bigclivedotcom]

The slight downside there is the high voltage of all the series LEDs. But with a nixie style driver it should be viable.

[@MegaWayneD]

Actually, now that you've mentioned Nixie tubes these look perfect for a modern version of the Burroughs B7971 alphanumeric Nixie tube. Certainly a lot cheaper!

[@bigclivedotcom]

MegaWayneD Nixie voltage is going to be current limited to a few milliamp at around 90V so a simple resistor change should be all that's needed to drive single segments. These LED filaments will light brightly at just a milliamp or two.

[@MegaWayneD]

Thanks for that! I think I've still got a nixie driver circuit lying around so I'll experiment.

[@BenjaminEsposti]

MegaWayneD Wow great idea! I'm tempted to do this :)

[@realflow100]

the holes i think help the phosphor stick on. AND promote the light to go through both sides somewhat more evenly.

[@mickeythompson9537]

Thanks, Clive - useful video indeed. Just got ten of these... 50% broken... just chucked in a plastic bag from delhanway. The negative on mine seems to be marked by a tiny hole through the connector at that end.

[@tookitogo]

+mickey thompson 50% yield? You got lucky, then! I bought 10 and got only 1 unbroken, had them resend, and only 2 of those 10 were intact. It seems those morons can't figure out to put them in a small box and mail that. (As I've received other, less fragile components from China.)

[@mickeythompson9537]

It is astounding, isn't it! I wonder if they are actually broken to start with - factory rejects, posted badly in the hope we don't complain.

[@mickeythompson9537]

Actually, I fared much better getting some from "bicoins" - they packed the filaments in some bubble wrap.

[@mspenrice]

PS this is really damn cool and I can't wait for my whole house to finally be lit like this. You could maybe even do away with dimmers by just having a variable number of filaments be switched fully on or off using small mosfets or the like instead of having to add resistance or chop the mains wave, which is both inefficient and seemingly pretty unfriendly to anything that isn't tungsten... or have a bunch of these in a cool spiral pattern within a bespoke light fitting... or just woven into your ceiling with an even distribution or.. etc.

[@therealjammit]

The holes in the metal strip may be used to make it cheaper. Less metal used.

[@JohnEdwardDoyleOnGoogle]

I bought 10 of these. They're really nice but man are they delicate. 2/10 came dead on arrival. I broke 2 more soldering them, the pins become detached with very little force rendering them useless. I think you're right about they're supposed to be crimped, but I can't imagine them being very sturdy then either. But the end result was pretty nice, and now I have 4 I can dissect.

[@philpearson1714]

Hi Clive, I have a 4W version of this lamp made by Meridian lighting sold at Toolstation. Out of the 8 that I have bought 2 have started flashing. It's not a problem with the fitting just those two particular lamps which I have replaced. I have not dismantled them yet but would appreciate it if you could have any idea what would cause them to flash. The internal circuitry appears very simple so what component would you think might cause this problem?

[@markhughes6968]

Thanks for this video. Do you know if anyone is testing the blue spectrum output, to ascertain if the levels are safe for our eyes over long exposure times.

[@michaelrobertson575]

How is it that these tiny Power L.E.D.'s can be used without the quite extensive Heatsinking we seemed to need in earlier L.E.D. Light Bulbs? Are they more advanced Power L.E.D.s Clive?

[@bigclivedotcom]

They can tolerate much higher temperatures now. But they still push them too hard.

[@michaelrobertson575]

@@bigclivedotcom Thanks Clive! That was what I wanted to know.

[@vulcanbreeze]

Hi Clive, I don't know if you've seen this video on the making of the filament LED bulbs. How It's Made LED filament Bulb Regards Mark

[@bigclivedotcom]

I had seen that video and LOVE the fact these are made like traditional filament lamps. The large series arrays make the lamps very suitable for simple capacitive or even resistive droppers and the LED chips themselves are just common mass-produced chips as used in 3 or 5mm LEDs. I can see a really significant trend towards decorative LED filament lamps in the future. I spontaneously ordered one last night. I wonder how long I'll have it before I take it to bits.

[@vulcanbreeze]

Just wanted to check, knew you'd be interested. I might order some myself, used to be an engineer. Keep making the videos they're very interesting!

[@Appalling68]

vulcanbreeze Depressing. Yes, interesting to see how they're made, but look at the manual labor involved. Even worse, it turned my stomach to see the young girls (almost children) slaving away starting at "4.13" in the video. Just sayin. :-(

[@bridgendesar]

When I pulled one of these out of its clear plastic retail packaging (in near darkness) I noticed a flash. They seem to be sensitive to static charge, unless it's something to do with the electronics

[@bigclivedotcom]

The LEDs are super sensitive, and will glow visibly with just a few microamps.

[@bridgendesar]

contactless live wire detector / light switch illuminator anybody?

[@bigclivedotcom]

bridgendesar LEDs are already used in light switch illuminators by wiring them across the lightswitch with a suitable resistor or capacitive dropper circuit. The lamp isn't going to be sensitive enough to be used as a non contact tester. It required the significant charge of drawing it out the packet to make it flicker,

[@mspenrice]

OK, I'm not big on the full knowledge of how electronics works at this level - how come you could put one, two, or three of these in series without issues or the voltage seeming to significantly change? Especially a chain supposedly rated for first 80, then 160v, on a 230v supply? Also if they're nominally 80v (and 0.4w) each, could you just chain three together with a bridge rectifier and wholly optional capacitor for a cheap and dirty 1.2w lamp? Or indeed, make the rectifier out of two (four?) 3-unit chains of them and plug it directly to the mains for a flickery but super simple 2.4w (4.8w?) one? ((or would it only actually be 1.2w still, using twice as many filaments, each only receiving half as much average voltage, but no other components save maybe a couple of smoothing caps?)) FWIW, 80v divided by 28 is a little under 3v ... or to be exact, 250 divided by 3, then by 28, is JUST under 3v. So they've been careful to engineer things so they'll stay in spec quite nicely. You might even be able to make the aforementioned no-other-components light-emitting-rectifier work with a pair of single-filament conductors on a 110-ish volt supply, as the peak will be just on the low side of 170v before RMS is considered... and it only actually gets half the wave...

[@PuchMaxi]

Hey Clive, thanks for enlightening us (pun intended). Did you manage to upload the 40 minute long version?

[@bigclivedotcom]

+PuchMaxi1988 I couldn't at the time, but I really should try again to see if I can get it to upload.

[@PuchMaxi]

+bigclivedotcom That would be very nice indeed! Did you by any chance read the CLASP report on LED filament lamps? www.eceee.org/ecodesign/products/domestic_lighting/TestingClearLEDLamps1000hTestUpdatefinal.pdf

[@bigclivedotcom]

+PuchMaxi1988 I'll have a brose through that later. I've had a quick glance and it looks pretty good so far. I wonder how many of the filament style lamps came from the same factory.

[@doomsdayrule]

trouble uploading again clive?

[@danielduncan746]

Hey Clive, I didn't have time to watch the whole video so I'm sorry if you talked about this in it. Do you think the filament would be more evenly colored if the LEDs were placed in a spiral?

[@rupert274]

It would be fine if they were just on both sides of the strip, maybe running at half the current so you don't get twice the heat.

[@extrawarmwhite3946]

Where I live the lighting engineers are installing tubular LED’s lamps in old Low Pressure Sodium or SOX lighting fixtures Does anyone know if the LED lamps run directly off the SOX ballast or does the engineer have to disconnect the ballast?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Sox lamps have a combined ballast and step-up transformer, so I'd guess they may be bypassing the ballast and just taking mains to the lamp, or even retrofitting an electronic driver.

[@lucidrinestudio]

hi clive, I bought this one a long time a go, now i want start using it, but i received mine without anything that state the polarity, and it comes loose. how can i tell the polarity just by looking at it? thanks in advance

[@bigclivedotcom]

lucidrinestudio If they're the rubbery versions then look at the ends and one will have a slight white blob inside at one end. That should be the positive.

[@lucidrinestudio]

ah yes, thanks for the tips, it works great btw did you by any chance have dimmable led bulb circuit or video? thanks

[@tookitogo]

+bigclivedotcom Where can one get the rubbery ones? The glass ones are useless, on account of it being seemingly impossible to get them delivered intact.

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Antonio Tejada Do a search on ebay for LED filaments and select the cost and shipping lowest option to try and limit the listings down to the bare filaments. It should be visible in the pictures if they are the rubber or glass ones. But that doesn't guarantee that you will actually get the type in the picture. If in doubt buy from a few different listings. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301379430602

[@Ghozer]

What are the grey clips you're using for the cables?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Search my channel for Wago they have their own video.

[@EscapeMCP]

Saw a video on the "up next" list demonstrating how they make the LED filament bulbs ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5SkeWBtrqugiJo ). From the video it looks like they spot weld these onto the bulbs, rather than crimping as was suggested by BigC on this (or some other) LED filament vid. Worth a watch if this sort of thing floats your boat :)

[@dannyjaar]

nice wago clambs

[@PrypjatFox]

As long as he doesnt touch both wires. he'll be fine.

[@gigabytex64]

It's a shame that they require so much voltage to turn them on. It would have so many applications if it was on a lower voltage.

[@rupert274]

You can get 3 V and 12 V versions now.

[@harviecz]

Man that's dangerous... Your fingers are really close to mains voltage. Hope you at least use isolation transformer (which would still not make it completely safe). I've almost killed myself when experimenting with capacitive supplies like this. Do not try at home kids.

[@arrakisspicetrader8794]

+Harvie Clive knows his stuff sir so fear not!

[@tennicktenstyl]

actually he is very cautious and somebody mentioned that his desk is completely isolated from ground so no worries (unless he holds both wires and there is no current flowing through the earth wire to trip the breakers lol)

[@colinkraus7139]

Harvie oh wow! yea! So true! I wonder if clive even survived the making of this video

[@killer1479]

almost looked like an R

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

That was weird we just had an earthquake here in Oklahoma. No idea how strong yet since I am typing this minutes after it happened.

[@reymed1670]

Need to use battery 🔋 not electronic is dangerous

[@cloviscareca]

LED light sucks