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I have opened an LED light bulb today, and there are two thick wires sticking out of the center to power the LEDs.

enter image description here

I know it will vary by design, but I can't find even a range of voltages, therefore I ask. What is a typical voltage used to power the LEDs in such an LED lightbulb ?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Depends on country too. And the power supply it has in the base. It all has to do how many LEDs are in series, and if those are single LED packages or multi-LED packages. Guessing 70 to 200 volts. And they are not safe to touch as they can be assumed to be not isolated from mains. \$\endgroup\$
    – Justme
    Commented Jan 21, 2021 at 20:52
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    \$\begingroup\$ As you said, it varies based on the design. Somewhere from 2V up to 300V. \$\endgroup\$
    – Stack Exchange Supports Israel
    Commented Jan 21, 2021 at 21:11
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    \$\begingroup\$ Usually voltage is pretty close to, but lower than, rectified line voltage in order to keep costs low. That is why 9v LED packages exist (3 diodes in series in one package). \$\endgroup\$
    – user1850479
    Commented Jan 21, 2021 at 21:37
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    \$\begingroup\$ Ah, Big Clive is my friend. :) bigclivedotcom on tearing down LED lamps youtube.com/user/bigclivedotcom/search?query=LED+lamp. \$\endgroup\$
    – tlfong01
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 1:08
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Mike Schroedel, I have almost completed my answer. Big Clive's YouTube (Ref 1) is the best reference I found on power electronics on LED, explaining how the "Capacitive Dropper" is used to interface directly with 110~230VAC, not using transform or switching power circuits. He even guided me how to read the power electronics IC datasheet and commented on the critical part of the schematic. I really enjoyed his lecture! :) \$\endgroup\$
    – tlfong01
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 7:15

4 Answers 4

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Question

What is a typical voltage used to power the LEDs in such an LED light bulb as shown below?

led lamp

Answer

Short Answer

led ceiling module

ws3441 summary

1W Power LED Tutorial - Components 101

  1. Voltage applied between Anode and Cathode: 3.0 V to 3.5 V (Typical Operating Voltage : 3.3 V)

  2. Current through LED (Light Emitting Diode): 300mA to 350mA (350mA being absolute maximum forward current allowed through LED)

  3. Operating Life: 100000 hours

Long Answer (TL;DR)

led spec summary

References

(1) 6W LED Lamp Teardown With Schematic - Big Clive, 2017jul04

(2) LED Tutorial (Including power LED) - Nick Poole, Bboyho, SparkFun

(3) LED Lamp 1W (3V ~ 3.5V, 300mA ~ 350mA) Tutorial - Components 101

(4) What’s all this stuff about capacitive power supplies for LEDs? - Lee Teschler 2017jun14

(5) Why do we need all this LED driver stuff, anyway? - Lee Teschler, 2017jun14

(6) WS3441 Non-isolated Buck Offline LED Driver DataSheet -WinSemi

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Count the LED's (in series) and multiply by ~2.8V

I did this the other day, get a variable power supply that can go up to 50V and has a current limit.

Plug in the LED's to the supply with the correct polarity (and make sure the electronics are removed)

Then set a current limit at say 50mA and set the voltage high, like 40 or 50V. Then keep turning up the current limit and watch the voltage go up. When the LED's get about as bright as they are in the bulb then record the voltage and that's how much they would take.

Make sure you don't apply too much voltage, because it could burn them out.

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    \$\begingroup\$ For multi-chip LEDs, it also needs to be multiplied by LED chips in series inside the LED package (which might be 1 but in case it isn't). \$\endgroup\$
    – Justme
    Commented Jan 21, 2021 at 21:20
  • \$\begingroup\$ Good point (I guess my count the LED's statement still holds) \$\endgroup\$
    – Voltage Spike ♦
    Commented Jan 21, 2021 at 21:21
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White LEDS start at 2.85V and operate near 3V. The designer chooses series, and maybe shunt arrays for redundancy to match the generated voltage. So if there were 80 LEDs that's almost a 240V string or two 120V strings.

The big contacts in the centre are for mechanical rigidity not current.

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commonly POWER LEDs are powered with a constant current supplied by a led driver. that means the voltage can vary depending on the temperature of the semiconductor material as well as the it's type. powering an led with a constant voltage especially a high power one may shorten it's lifespan significantly.

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