I bought this from a Chinese ebay seller to see how hackable it was for changing the colour of the LED. It turns out to be completely hackable, with a screw together LED housing that sandwiches a loose star-style LED onto the back of the housing with enough force to make a good thermal contact aided by heatsink compound.
The LED looks like it has a 3W chip in it, and the power supply is a typical miniature assembly designed to drive up to three 1W LEDs in series. The build quality of the power supply is actually very neat, aided considerably by it's simplicity. It uses the BP9011 chip by Bright Power, which has very little data available onine. A similar chip called an SM7513 has more data available.
These chips only require a rectifier and smoothing capacitor for a DC supply, and a single resistor and capacitor to set the current sensing. They drive a simple two winding transformer using current sensing on the primary, and the secondary that feeds the LEDs usually has just a diode and capacitor for rectification and smoothing.
Here's a link to the item on ebay. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301372360916

9 thoughts on “Teardown of 1w led downlight to assess for hackability.”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dave Fredrock says:

    It's fun to watch the older videos you did. Sort of the discovery and fun of these things that are really commonplace now. I think I can almost recite some of these chip numbers by heart.

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Sunsetseven says:

    Hi Clive, I have exactly the same PSU in a 4 LED mains lamp. It stopped working so i changed the 4.7uF as it measured 11ohms on my esr meter, for a new one (3ohms) it lit for a second then went off again, boo. Looks like the FET has vaporised in the driver chip (under a microscope it looks a bit scorched). Sadly I guess i'll have to bin it as fixing it will cost more than a new driver chip i would imagine 🙁

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars thagrit says:

    Hey Big Clive. Your ebay link is dead. I don't know if they are selling that particular lamp any more. If they are however they have removed that ad.

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dangerous Pictures says:

    pro tip: use a lens and hold/glue it infront of your phone camerea… it will work great as a microscope/macro camera

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Simon West says:

    why??!

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars m8e says:

    The downlight you linked to claims to be 3 W.

    Have they just taken a 3W LED chip and a 3W driver of different and non-matching amperes/volts? A driver supplying 300mA @ 3-14V and a LED chip for 900mA and ~3.3v?

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Firecul42 says:

    If earthing was still a worry for you when you wire it up to the mains just take the earth through a ring terminal and attach using one of the screws that hold the LED in place. That way you will be safe even if the supply fries.

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Miles Bancroft says:

    Interesting video. Is the white balance constantly changing? The colour seems to alternate.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dan Gunson says:

    have you got a link to them on ebay please?

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