Teardown of a flat LED panel ceiling light.

[@JerryEricsson]

I have always been intrigued by round lights such as this. When I was a small child, we lived on a farm, we always referred to as "up North" being that it was some 25 miles Up North from town. We had neither power nor running water, we used to claim we did indeed have running water, dad would send us with a pail, running out to the windmill to fetch a bucket of water! At any rate, one of dad's brothers lived some 8 miles away, and they had power, and an indoor cistern pump for water. In their kitchen was this wonderful round florescent light that I would gaze at for long periods trying to get my 4 or 5 year old brain to lock onto how it worked. Perhaps that was part of the beginning of my love of electrical devices, that and watching my father dig into the back of our old tube battery pack radio and pull out tubes that weren't lighting, and replacing them with tubes he had picked up from old junk radios he found from time to time till he had it once again playing our favourite radio programs (The SHADOW KNOWS!) This video brings this all back, as I sit here in our 35 foot Class A Motor Home in west central Arizona, the weather going from hot yesterday to cool today with overcast ski's and threatening rain in the midst of the sandy Mojave Desert. Thanks a million for the memories!

[@davethompson8934]

the dot matrix pattern is indeed done by laser, cheaper versions use an adhesive cover with reflective dots but these dots lose reflectiveness over time. The dot size is governed by the power of the laser pulse and it is designed to trap differing amounts of light across the panel, shallower dots nearest the light source and deeper dots towards the centre of the panel, a small area like this has a large dpi to make allowance for the fact that there is not a lot of light to be caught in a small area. larger panels allow more light refraction over a larger area so need less dots to create an even light source. The brightness of a particular panel can be varied by light source or by trapping more of the incoming light in a specific area. Cost savings for office lighting etc are impressive, running a fluorescent light for two months will cost the same as an led panel will in a year. I design these dot matrix panels as part of my job. recently I have been experimenting with using actual laser engraved photographs to develop a light panel..... why have a boring white light to light your room when you could have a large mural or portrait instead.

[@RobMcKeown]

Really interesting Dave! Do you have any visual representations of the dot matrices for larger panels? I'm particularly interested in the 2'x4' panels. Thanks!

[@jaishetty8586]

A commercial way is to print the dots with chloroform, that melts acrylic or use a pattern screen and have it sand blasted. Lasers take forever, believe me. I have attempted it.

[@jaishetty8586]

@@RobMcKeown use a thrown away lcd tv. they have some of the best backlights and you get it free.

[@jlucasound]

Clive!! You've come a long way, baby!! I love watching your videos and I am making an effort to watch them all to give them a "new" thumbs up. I have not found one that has prompted me to be neutral. Keep up the good work!! 549K. You deserve that. You deserve more. I think it will grow. Thank You.

[@jaishetty8586]

When you tried illuminating the light guide with the torch, you should have held the non etched (smooth) side to the camera. That is where the light come out of. it is a 90 degree kind of turn for the lights. Some lights also use "BEF" , (Brightness enhancing films) made by 3M to multiply the lights so you get better brightness. As usual, a brilliant video. Keep up the great work.

[@chrissnyder2091]

I just bought a kit of 10 of these for about $50 from Amazon they work great on 48 volts DC which is what I used to power the renewable electric system in my home.

[@paulhendrix8599]

I just realized ... this might be awesome for making a ring light (for cameras)!

[@thelovertunisia]

This first generation led panel was used a lot here in Tunisia in cafés and public spaces as well as homes to replace fluorescent tubes. However these edge lit ones burned out relatively quickly. Now the more modern back lit SMD last longer.

[@jusb1066]

you are so right about the being sent a duff one on purpose, i have bought a few items, both on buy it now, and then seeing the same items on auction and trying my hand, won them cheap, and then the quality is so much worse

[@arrowstheorem1881]

Creative led illumination technique!!!

[@stevecoatesdotnet]

I got a similar one on ebay a while back. I was really impressed with the way it diffused the light, but I wasn't too keen on the colour rendering of the LEDs. But then, that is something I am rather fussy about.

[@udayavitharana2946]

Great Video, learnt lot

[@southjerseysound7340]

Neat stuff,you could easily set this up with the proper spacing on the rgb led's and it would be very cool for a kids project or anything you imagine.

[@vibingwithvinyl]

I have one of these, although square. The driver failed though, it had a 400V 10uf capacitor that had bulged so I replaced it with a 450V version. The circuitry is slightly different, as mine is a dimmable version.

[@thelovertunisia]

The biggest ones available with 12 volt driver are 6 watt. I once rewired a burned out 18 watt light for 12 volts, it worked but then I could not fit it inside its casing again because it got too clumsy with all the solderings and extra wires lol.

[@eddiespencer1]

I think it would be neat to see a series on household appliance and fixture repair.

[@HifiCentret]

Guess that each LED contains 15 dies each. That would as you said fit the voltage and it also conforms with only one dead LED. I believe Ikea used similar 15 die LEDs in some of the RYET series.

[@Plu54f0x]

I've got several 6W ones and a 18W one and so far no problems after 2 years. Still got the nagging feeling in my head that a driver is gonna set fire to something in the ceiling though!

[@ChoppingtonOtter]

I'm looking at using them in my new build house but have that concern about the cheap drivers too.

[@MichaelBeeny]

Looks like the Chinese have never heard of the plug being on the appliance and the socket being on the powered end, or more likely they just have no concern about safety as I have found out time after time buying stuff from China via eBay. You almost have to open things up and make safe.

[@emilen2]

Michael Beeny That male powerplug is pretty standard with the most common being this 5 mm version. Most 12V powerbricks have it.

[@erg0centric]

so, just like laptop power supplies aren't?

[@MarkVerstappen93]

We have likes at work which are similar to this, every time one is broken it's always the led driver that came with it.

[@unknownsauce3768]

Did you end up making anything with this? I'm tempted to buy a couple to convert to 12v run off battery and solar. Great video.

[@packratswhatif.3990]

Clive: The one thing that I hate about these little power supplies is that they have NO surge protection. I am starting to add my own movs to these units. I have already loss an number of led lamps because of surges.

[@erg0centric]

also in Ontario, but possibly closer to my power plant, i have never had a surge. I would suggest a whole house surge protector on your power panel though. Available at all the big box hardware stores.

[@peterowens290]

Just bought a set of 4 (15 watt), no flickering, very bright. But it defeats me how the ceiling retaining clips are to be used. The attachment for these on the edger of the lamp looks hopelessly inadeqaute. The box has no useful pic or instructions. Maybe you can spend a bit more of the video dealing with the use of these finger mashers? Thanks

[@bigclivedotcom]

the hole is cut into the ceiling to fit the inner rim and the spring loaded side clips are pressed up as it is passed through the hole so they snap back down when released and hold the light in place. Very common to typical downlights.

[@phonotical]

You might be able to bypass the colour correction of the iPad by introducing a purely white light into the picture, if the camera is set to spot mode it may not work, but if it reads the brighter white light, in theory it shouldn't alter any other light

[@bigclivedotcom]

Latterly I locked off both the exposure and colour with a grey-scale card.

[@CookingWithCows]

ha! I bought the same, just as a square, about a year ago from dealextreme :D Same LED driver too

[@doitaljosh]

I notice how you discharged that capacitor with a non-isolated metal screwdriver.

[@sumobear1777]

i would like to make my ceiling into a full color changing flat panel unit like a huge phone screen.

[@spikeydapikey1483]

Hi Clive, I got one of these from Ebay, just,well, because.... Now, I'm thinking it'll make a decent 'infinity lamp' but would like to get the light a bit dimmer. What would be the best way? Cheers.

[@theoneohmresistor]

Hi! I know it's veeeeeery late, but open up a driver, locate the shunt resistors (often 1Ω, 3Ω, or more of them in parallel), and put bigger value resistors, until brightness gets to your liking.

[@alejandromartin6844]

Great...! I'm about to buy one from some kind of ebay (in Agrentina called "mercado libre"). Now I'get a perfect clue of how these panels works and will try to make my own square version with the back diffusers of old useless LCD monitors... Have someone do this? Will it work? I'll try...

[@regpollock9403]

You must have warehouse of bits.

[@raymondj8768]

and bits n bits n bits n bits hahaha

[@shadowzedge5793]

Is Big Clive becoming the Isle of Mans version of DigiKey? 🤔🤣

[@zaprodk]

How was the isolation between primary and secondary? It looks a bit iffy to me ...

[@bigclivedotcom]

Isolation is probably down to the quality of the transformer manufacture, since the only point the mains and output seem in close vicinity is the windings.

[@mehulpindoria1321]

what if the leds go burst.. can i replace them easily?

[@davidk.3450]

JSG == ExtraStar today?

[@mucek4]

I got similar one like this one for a test. It was really annoying as it was flickering. Did you notice any flickering?

[@bigclivedotcom]

+mucek4 This one didn't flicker. The iPad tends to pick up even the slightest sniff of flicker.

[@mucek4]

+bigclivedotcom is was square one. I can link slow motion movie. will do that in the afternoon

[@squishy312]

+bigclivedotcom I recently received some 18W versions of this. They put out horrible EMI or RF noise that makes the AM radio go absolutely bonkers. They are the 110V version for US, and they have a very similar circuit board with a different chip 62YL6A2NU. What would you suggest as a remedy to eliminate the interference? A noise suppression capacitor or a line filter or something completely different?

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Kevin Harmala It's tricky. The drivers are notoriously noisy. You could try a local inline filter for each light mounted as close as possible. It might be possible to get a new driver with more filtering on it, but the output current and operating voltage range would have to be similar to the original. Failing that, it might be easier to get an inline filter and mount it close to the light.

[@squishy312]

+bigclivedotcom Thanks for the quick response and advice. I'll give that a go and see how that works. That was my initial thought, or adding a noise filtering capacitor. I found some other questionable ideas like huge ferrite cores and Faraday cages. Keep up the awesome work, I always look forward to new videos.

[@betta67]

Maybe I'm dumb... but browsing through the comments I did not find anybody noticing it... bigclive please explain 9:45-10:00 and the formula of capacitors connected in parallel... or are they maybe in series?

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's a common trick to save space in power supplies. By connecting two capacitors in parallel you end up with the combined capacitance (50uF and 100uF would give 150uF). It saves space and can also reduce the internal resistance over using just a single larger capacitor.

[@betta67]

That I understand I know... but please listen to what you said... 50uF+10uf and the result mentioned is 25uF (in reality 22.25uF). Best regards and wishes, you do a swell job... but let's not confuse the kids ;)

[@mrb692]

betta67 He said "fifteen" instead of "fifty". 15+10 is indeed 25.

[@tinasharmacute]

bigclivedotcom , stupid question may be, if one of the LED is dead shouldn't 5 of them be turned off? since they are connected as parallel multiples of 5 in series?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Each group if five are in parallel, so the ones that are working are passing its share of the current.

[@rexledlightingmaker1088]

+Tina Sharma Hi, This is rex from yake Led company.Glad to learn your company products are in our business line.We are the MANUFACTURER of all kinds of LED LIGHTS in China.We specialize in this field for over 5 years,with the strength of LED panel lights with good quality and competitive price.Herewith my email:[e-mail] If it is convenient，please kindly contact me for our products catalog.We’ll appreciate for your prompt reply. Thanks&Best Regards.

[@erg0centric]

bigclivedotcom or just replace the one dead LED from one of the many strips you have?

[@RadoHx]

It's called a diffuser :-)

[@yaro137]

Are these panels dimmable?

[@barrievesty1314]

The driver in the picture is awful! Its a zhongshan driver. The CCT is awful also! We did the whole of Kingston Collage with ours. The LGP (Light Guide plate) looks not bad but what about the diode type? LM80 diodes and brand being important. Happy if you test the Auraled ones. Need to test the SDCM/CRI etc.

[@expert20valvehlx]

What glow better ? That 18W panel or fluorescent 18w t5 ?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Fluorescent is still better than LED in the long term.

[@Darkassassin09]

why?

[@baconcatbug]

Because you touch yourself at night.

[@DrRChandra]

That's funny. Nearly the entire sheet/doc is in Chinese, but the one English word sprawled across it is "CONFIDENTIAL," which how confidential can it be if you were able to find and print it? Shouldn't the Chinese word for "confidential" be sprawled across it instead?

[@boydbros.3659]

are these FIRE PROOF?

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Boyd Bros. They do have a metal frame and back panel.

[@boydbros.3659]

Is there significant heat transfer to the surrounding material these are installed in; ceiling panel, drywall, wood beams, etc. ???

[@z0m123]

So it won’t burn my home?

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's unlikely. But if in doubt, get a certified one from a local company.

[@wavecreatures]

I can see a use for it as a photographic ring light. #hack

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Phil Steadman Technically speaking you could just still a hole for the lens in the middle.

[@ChongMcBong]

Hi Clive, i think you need a new microphone.. your videos never have audio on the right channel :(

[@bigclivedotcom]

Are you using a Chomecast dongle by any chance?

[@ChongMcBong]

nope, im using firefox on pc, haven't got a chromecast (or a tv) yet.

[@bigclivedotcom]

***** That's odd. I'm recording the videos on an iPad with its built in microphone, and when I play the videos using the Chrome browser it comes out both speakers, I wonder if it's a Firefox specific issue.

[@ChongMcBong]

possibly.. its happened on a few other videos too, so maybe its a codec problem at my end.. some stuff plays in perfect stereo, but some is left side only.. Thanks for checking, i will try some other browsers and see if i can find a solution :)

[@jusb1066]

firefox on pc here too, audio on both channels is fine

[@erg0centric]

I run the pdf datasheet through translate.google.com

[@erg0centric]

yes, just upload the Chinese data sheet, try it now

[@statusconfirmed]

like accent though give details schematic s