So I went ahead and purchased the dimmer controller with it because he said it wouldnt work without one. Is there anything else besides fans and the controller that I should look into?
Also, what are all the things that a newb led owner should know going in. I know I read somewhere not to run them at full blast. Keep it under like 90%. This can be adjusted within the drivers and using a multimeter, correct?
I don't know anything about the not full blast thing. These are diodes... they conduct current one way and not the other. LED's shunt some of the current to ground. In simple terms the resistance process of shunting current to ground is used to produce the specified light frequencies according to the shunt circuit design and materials used. They "turn on" when enough current & voltage is provided, and usually have a fairly broad range of voltage they will pass and draw current from. I would have to have the "not full blast" thing explained to me.
As for myself, I'm not worrying about the not full blast thing. BUT.. you must properly sink the heat produced by the LED chip!!!!
Now, it could be the "not full blast" thing came from having trouble with the drivers handling the current draw, too. Depending on the circuit design, in some cases the opposite could be true. Reducing the class A amp. output, if done by shunting inside the driver, could produce more heat than running wide open. If your drivers run hot wide open reducing power (dimming) could add life, if they run cooler.... or if dimming causes more heat then turn them up... you get the drift. .. I suspect the not wide open thing is all about heat. and.. I can't logic any other reason.
I would expect the LED was designed to be run wide open or they would of designed it to be "less wide open" in the chip, at the factory (meaning they would limited the current draw to manufacture a quality product with reliable failure rates)....
as long as you properly sink the heat away from the LED chip. This means using the proper amount of heat sink compound and getting a good contact with the heat sink. Too much or too little compound can result in the LED not sinking enough heat and being damaged. ...In fact... the race for fame in LED's is to see who can produce the most light at the least current draw and specified light frequencies. (Some are so bright and produce so much heat they are liquid cooled. These are being used in the latest state of the art flight simulator projectors. The graphics being produced from those LED's are bright and mighty realistic after being projected on the inside of a mirrored dome. It is getting hard to tell you are not actually flying a real aircraft.)
I put about a "two BB's" sized dab of heat sink compound on the center of the back of mine and every one of them squeezed out some compound when I screwed them down. I looked under a few to be sure and was happy with that amount. If any failed to squeeze out compound all the way around, I checked the compound spread by taking them back off and added a touch if I thought it necessary. I think that happened once.. maybe twice, out of 52 LED's. To accomplish this I was careful to place the LED chip straight down on the heat sink and try to keep it level within reason as I tighten each of the two screws in turns so the compound wouldn't squeeze out some odd direction and thus not have enough on the opposite direction. I got my screws tight enough to feel comfortable that the compound was thin but in good contact with both the heat sink and the back of the chip, ... that is tight enough!
Does all this mumbo jumbo help?
