LED lighting should be straightforward and
fun to install, but if you have problems, it gets annoying quickly. We’ve spent many years helping people get
their LED lighting systems working and I’d like to share insights that might help you
when trouble finds you. Principle #1: Safety first. If you don’t know what you are doing, it’s
safest go get help from someone who does. A large current passing through your body
can kill you. Excessive heat buildup can start a fire. If you don’t know how to be safe with electricity,
get help. Principle #2: Read the instructions. You never know what indispensable gems you’ll
find in there. Environmental Lights spends a lot of time
writing manuals to help you have the best experience possible. You don’t have to read every word, but if
you scan the instructions quickly, you’ll probably be glad you did. Our manuals are online for all to see. Principle #3: Achieve success in stages. Failure isn’t fun.
It’s frustrating, undercuts your confidence
and wastes your time. Be sure to find enough success along the way
to keep your spirits up and make it enjoyable. Sometimes people call or email us and they
are obviously frustrated or even angry. I feel bad because it is unnecessary for them
to feel that way, and it’s also hard to help someone when they’re angry and confused. Debugging a circuit can be an emotional process. It can make you feel a great sense of accomplishment
or anguish. Let’s go for accomplishment. DON’T spend hours or days wiring your system
before you’ve experimented a bit with it to make sure you know how it operates, and
how the lighting looks. Years ago, we had a customer spend hours putting
up a large Christmas light installation before he even powered up the lights. At the fateful moment, he plugged them in
and realized he should have bought the warm white we recommended, instead of the pure
white he insisted on.
He wanted us to take everything back, but
we don’t sell used Christmas lights. Never open all the boxes or bags on a large
delivery until you’ve inspected the product to ensure satisfaction. Get a sample working before you wire the whole
project. DO test your system in stages, appropriate
for your experience and the situation. For example:
1. Pre-test your system just to make sure you
know how to hook it up, that it does what you want, and looks the way you wanted. You might learn things that speed up your
installation, too. You might even identify a defective component,
which could save time later.
2. Test your system as you build it, if possible. This helps identify bad connections or components. If you’re having problems, go back to a
simple system and re-establish success. For example, if you have a dimmer, driver
and lights, and the lights don’t come on, take the dimmer out of the circuit and see
if you can at least get the lights to come on with just the driver. In some systems, you can take the controller
out to see if the lights come on in steady burn mode. Principle #4: Don’t assume.
You might see 3 wires joined in a wire nut. That does not mean they are actually connected
electrically. One time, I asked a person to test the input
voltage on a decoder by putting a voltmeter “ON THE DECODER” and he assured me it
was the requisite 12 volts. After several more minutes of debugging over
the telephone, I asked him, “Are you absolutely sure you measured 12 volts on the 2 terminals
on the decoder?” He said yes, that he measured a wire that
connected to the decoder several feet away, and we discovered that he had a bad connection
that looked good. We wasted time because he assumed a connection
was good when it wasn’t.
Your eyes can deceive you. Please remember what you know and what you
don’t know. Principle #5: Know your tools. Digital multimeters are indispensable for
debugging circuits, but people misuse them all the time. Common mistakes:
1. Don’t test DC voltage on an AC setting. The AC voltage on a DC circuit is 0 volts. If you see 0 volts and expect something different,
be sure you’re on DC. 2. Don’t measure current with high resistance
test cables. It can really reduce the current you measure. Keep your electrical connections as clean
and short as possible for the best reading. 3. Don’t use a voltmeter to measure the output
of a dimming driver: use an oscilloscope. Most dimming drivers do not produce a DC output
or a sine wave AC output. In fact, there are numerous poorly designed
dimming drivers sold by our competitors that seem fine when you look at their outputs on
a volt meter, but dismal when you look at them on a scope. Those drivers all damage the LED lights and
shorten their lives.
If you don’t own a scope, that’s fine. Just remember that a volt meter won’t tell
you much about whether your dimming driver is working. All the driver models we sell have been extensively
tested by our staff on an oscilloscope and are known good. Principle #6: Substitute. Typically, under 1% of electronic devices
are defective, but we all get unlucky from time to time. The fastest way to determine if a component
is bad is to swap it out for a different specimen, if you have one.
This technique is underutilized. A lot of people just don’t think of it. It’s easy. Just be careful of one thing: If you connected
something in a way that destroyed the component, mindlessly substituting another specimen will
also destroy that one. Once, we had a customer destroy 7 expensive
drivers in a row before he finally ran out of drivers to destroy with his faulty set-up. Principle #7: Respect voltage drop. All lines have non-zero resistance, and that
can cause your LEDs to get less current than they should, so they are dimmer than they
should be. Even worse, voltage drop can cause your controller
not to operate correctly. Things that create voltage drop include a)
large loads, b) long lines, c) thin wires, and d) bad connections.
If you remember these 7 principles, you’ll
eliminate most problems encountered installing LED lighting. One of the hallmarks of Environmental Lights
is that we are dedicated to making your projects go smoothly, so if you’re still having troubles
with our lighting after considering these 7 principles, give us a call. Thank you for your business..
