Help with repairing LED fixture

[Achilles]

Hello all,

A friend and I are having the same issue with one of our LED fixtures. Long story but pretty much no warranty and yes these are eshine led fixture not a DIY fixture we did. We each seem to have a fixture where one channel is not working. These are two channel fixtures. We are both not really diy people and have no idea what or how to fix what is wrong. Is there any led knowledge or diy led people on this board?

Thanks

[Medym]

Do you have a picture we can see so we can understand the problem better?

Has it ever worked properly before?

[percula99]

The picture below shows the fixture in question. The two cables on the side each control one circuit, one with royal blue LEDs and the other with warm white LEDs. These lights were purchased in February and have worked well since then, until recently of course. Now only the white circuit comes on for each of the  defective fixtures. we each own three of these fixtures.

[Achilles]

Hello,

Here is a pic of the insides. To note in my case I was able to switch the power and the other channel came on so I know the leds are fine. The company did send me what I think is a power supply which I did change but that did not help.

[76brian]

Do you have a multimeter to read the voltage going to various points on the non-working channel?

[percula99]

I received one as a gift but don't know how to use it, so there it sits.

I just tried switching the cables and in both instances the white channel comes on but the blue does not. So we know the cables are fine. Now how do we fix the blue channel?

[76brian]

learn how to use the multimeter and get back to us

[percula99]

If I knew how to use a multimeter I wouldn't need help, now would I?

[76brian]

If I knew how to use a multimeter I wouldn't need help, now would I?

It was tongue in cheek really... don't take offense, but it's a hard thing to diagnose with words and pictures on a screen. Ham radio is my other hobby, so I tinker with electronic circuits quite a bit, I'm just trying to help. I can't really tell you "do this and this and it will work" without some diagnosis.

The first thing to do would be to see if there is power coming from the power supply on the non-working channel (read the voltage on the red and black wires with your multimeter set to read volts DC, black to black and red to red). If there is power, you have to find out if it's the correct voltage (by reading or otherwise knowing the voltage on a working unit).

If the voltage isn't correct, then you have to open the power supply and determine what component is not functioning, and replace it. It gets a little more complicated here. There should be a transformer (to step down the household 120v), a rectifier circuit (diodes to convert AC into DC), a voltage regulator (transistor to limit the voltage the circuit puts out), and a few capacitors (filtering, etc). But overall, they're pretty simple circuits.

If a voltage regulator has gone bad, and the power supply was not designed adequately, it may have overdriven the LEDs with too much voltage, meaning they're no good anymore either... in which case you're pretty much screwed unless you replace them all. Looking at how it was constructed (radio shack type project boxes, electrical tape, etc) doesn't give me much confidence in its design, but you never know.

[percula99]

Your comment did seem a little counter productive so I replied sarcastically. If you are not offended, neither am I. I do thank you for taking time to explain the matter. Unfortunately, you did lose me after "The first thing to do..." As Achilles explained, neither he or I are comforatble doing DIY electronics. We are looking for someone with practical knowledge to help us fix the problem. I guess that means we bring it to you, or you come over here. I beleive the tape you see in the picture was his attempt to connect the part they sent him. We did not receive any instructions, just a part that when replaced did not fix the problem.

[BadTiming]

They did say that they switched the cables and the blues came on, would it be the pwr supply on the blue side is toast? the new pwr supply didn't solve the problem unless it's toast as well
0.02 cents

[nissannx]

if you want to drop it off i live in richmond. i am an electrician by trade and have made many led fixtures. send me a pm to get my info

[Achilles]

Thanks everyone for there help with this. Might just take you up on that nissannx. Another question even if we determine what is wrong, these insides look very different from the drivers and such that I have seen on various diy led sites. Since the company has written us off, has anyone seen these types of driver(power supplies) for sale anywhere?

Thanks

[nissannx]

Even if your exact driver is unavailable to the public there are comparable drivers out there that can be used. I can trouble shoot it first if you want. Shouldn't take long to figure out where the power is going

[percula99]

if you want to drop it off i live in richmond. i am an electrician by trade and have made many led fixtures. send me a pm to get my info

PM sent. Thanks.

[percula99]

A big thank you goes out to Nissannx today from both Achilles and myself. We went over to his place today and he took apart and found different problems affecting both the defective fixtures we had. I would have thought having the same fixtures for the same amount of time we would have had the same issues, but this was not the case. With a bit of tinkering and rewiring Nissannx was able to get both fixtures working again. Needless to say he has saved us both some cost and grievance. Thanks again.

[Achilles]

Huge thanks. He truly knows his stuff.