Sparko UFO LED lights

[hillbilly1]

Anyone have any experience with these? Customer installed these a couple of months ago, and are having multiple failures. They are running on 208 volts, infrared is saying 160F on the working ones, and 194F on the ones that are failing. Can’t find anything wrong with the voltage. I know excessive heat kills LED’s, and the ventilation on these looks pretty poor. The heat sink is in the middle of the fixture, but is hard to see, so probably not much ventilation going on.

 

[d0nut]

I have never seen them before, or heard of Sparkoe lighting before. A quick internet search shows they are made by Shenzhen Spark Optoelectronics S&T Co., Ltd., so it may be a case of cheap Chinese LEDs. The cutsheet claims a 5 year warranty.

 

[hillbilly1]

Just got off the phone with the supplier, he is saying it’s too hot at the ceiling level, and wants them dropped down at least a foot. He claims to have sold thousands of them, and only had an issue at a body shop where the paint solvents in the air caused them to fail. I think it’s BS, the ceiling temp is 80F right now, and the fixtures are pretty hot (209F at the LED)

 

[d0nut]

The cutsheet for these lights claim an operating temperature of -40 - +50 degC. 50 degC is 122 degF.

 

[James L]

The cutsheet for these lights claim an operating temperature of -40 - +50 degC. 50 degC is 122 degF.

That's ambient temp, right?
Is there a cooling fan built in, or only heat sink?

The problem is more than likely cheap components that are "barely" rated for the wattage. No cushion for inrush, some are only gonna stay somewhat stable if they're left on all the time

 

[hillbilly1]

That's ambient temp, right?
Is there a cooling fan built in, or only heat sink?

The problem is more than likely cheap components that are "barely" rated for the wattage. No cushion for inrush, some are only gonna stay somewhat stable if they're left on all the time

No fan, heat sink is barely visible through about a 3” hole in the center under the driver housing. Don’t see any way of that being sufficient cooling. The row that is burning out rather quickly is left on 24/7, but the other rows are showing failing LED’s.

 

[James L]

No fan, heat sink is barely visible through about a 3” hole in the center under the driver housing. Don’t see any way of that being sufficient cooling. The row that is burning out rather quickly is left on 24/7, but the other rows are showing failing LED’s.

So the heat sink is between the driver and the LEDs?
If so, that's a serious design flaw.

Heat sinks need to draw the heat out of the driver so it can dissipate into the open air. Sounds like yours are drawing the heat into the diodes

 

[hillbilly1]

So the heat sink is between the driver and the LEDs?
If so, that's a serious design flaw.

Heat sinks need to draw the heat out of the driver so it can dissipate into the open air. Sounds like yours are drawing the heat into the diodes

There is about a 2” gap between the driver housing and the led housing,

 

[James L]

There is about a 2” gap between the driver housing and the led housing,

But if I'm seeing the pictures right and reading right, the heatsinks are inside the housing, somewhere between the driver and diodes?

 

[James L]

Those heatsinks should be on the outside, like the one pictured here. Just like a car stereo amplifier, it has to draw the heat out of the electronics inside. It may be the manufacturer wanted more of a sleek look and put a housing all the way around.