# Replacement LED hunt



## hotspurdotus (Jun 28, 2012)

Hi there. This is my first post on the site beyond the introduction forum. 

My interest in LEDs centers around landscape lighting at this point. If this is the wrong subforum for this message, kindly direct me to the right spot. 

I have a set of path lights that I really like, but one of the LEDs has gone dead. I opened it up to replace the bulb and found some unfamiliar hardware 












Where can I find a replacement for this led? I can solder the existing plug onto the new part. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## bshanahan14rulz (Jun 28, 2012)

Measure the diameter of that white board, and find a Cree XR-E on a MCPCB (metal-core PCB) board of a similar diameter.

If the driver circuitry is part of the board (are there parts soldered to the backside of that white circular board?), you may have to just buy a new part, unless you want to try to reflow a bare emitter onto the existing board.


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## mahoney (Jun 28, 2012)

It is also possible that the driver circuitry is dead and the LED is OK. You will need someone with a little electrical test gear and the knowledge to use it to trouble shoot the problem. If you update your profile to include your location, it is likely you could find a fellow CPF member who might be willing to help.


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## RoGuE_StreaK (Jun 28, 2012)

For a quick and dirty test of whether the LED is dead or not, grab a source of about 3V without too much current (say two AA or AAA in series) and briefly connect it to the "+" and "-" on top of the board. If it glows, the LED's still OK and it's the driver. If not, an XR-E on a board will cost you say $5. Sites like DealExtreme should have a heap of them, specialist LED sites may not stock them anymore (they are about 5yrs old)

If it glows very brightly for a short period and then stops, it's not my fault! Though even connecting a li-ion or li-po single cell for a second _shouldn't_ blow it.


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## mahoney (Jun 28, 2012)

If you are going to test the LED by applying voltage, disconnect the LED from the drive circuit first. I learned the hard way that "back-feeding" 3 volts into a driver can be enough to kill it. Not all drivers will die, but better safe than sorry


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## hotspurdotus (Jun 29, 2012)

Thanks very much for the replies. 

I haven't tested, but the light slowly dimmed over several weeks and then extinguished; would that suggest the emitter or the driver? 

My plan is buy both parts if I can find suitable replacements (a few extra bits never hurt anyone, right? )

After snipping the plug off I was able to disassemble the rest of the parts from the heat sink.











The emitter and driver sandwich a layer of the heat sink between them. I couldn't find anything quite like it on deal extreme. The base diamater on each part is approximately 24mm. 

I'd also be willing to consider a pre-built replacement, Something roughly the same size would be acceptable. The heat sync is approximately 28mm tall. 

Thanks again for any help!


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## Hoop (Jun 30, 2012)

Looks like the board is made by innovative electronic solutions. Contact them at http://www.ies-nc.com/

I am sure if you give them that picture they will tell you exactly what emitter it uses or be able to provide a replacement part.

It looks to be a Cree XR-E LED. [Commonly used LED emitter index]


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## hotspurdotus (Jul 1, 2012)

Hoop said:


> Looks like the board is made by innovative electronic solutions. Contact them at http://www.ies-nc.com/
> 
> I am sure if you give them that picture they will tell you exactly what emitter it uses or be able to provide a replacement part.
> 
> It looks to be a Cree XR-E LED. [Commonly used LED emitter index]



I had stumbled upon that site earlier. However, it contains no useful contact information at all, not even a generic feedback email. It might be least useful business website I've even visited.

Thanks for the idea, though. I'll keep looking.


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## Hoop (Jul 2, 2012)

Good point. Should be this:

Innovative Electronic Solutions
125 International Dr # H
Morrisville, NC 27560
(919) 466-0899


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