Since I had received the first two of several 20W drivers and LEDs ordered from different ebay sellers I decided to go ahead and upgrade my fake 20W bench floodlights to their full 20W rating.
I decided to video it because it shows what's involved in changing the drivers and LEDs in standard LED floodlights. This means that anyone with a faulty light can get it going again, since there are really only two components.
You could also mod your light by changing the colour from cold white to warm white or vice versa. Or perhaps use one of the high power coloured LEDs instead for effect lighting.
If your light was having thermal dissipation issues you could also lower the drivers power rating from maybe 100W to 50W.
Most of the lights in the 20, 30, 50, 70, 100W range use a standard LED platform with a matrix of 100 LED mounting positions on it that are populated as required. The LEDs tend to be wired in series circuits of ten 1W chips and then groups of ten are paralleled to make up the desired wattage. It follows that if you have a 20W driver you can actually use a higher power LED array since the voltage will be the same and the current will just get distributed through more LEDs. In this case I chose to use a 20W driver to run a 50W LED to give the LEDs an easy life at less than half their normal current.
The video is self explanatory, but it's worth mentioning that I had already extended the cable length on the floodlight. If you can actually use the tiny length of cable that comes pre-fitted then you only need to thread it through the cable gland. You don't need to use soldered joints and heatshrink sleeving. You could use crimps or even terminal strip to make the connections. Just make sure the earth/ground connection is attached to the metal case for safety.
The positive side of the LED seems to be identifiable in all the LEDs I've used, by the location of two extra holes right through the body and heatsink plate of the LED. Possibly also used for alignment in manufacturing processes.
If your light has a passive infrared detector on it for detecting the presence of people then it has three wires that are connected as follows. The neutral (blue in Europe) that is commoned with the incoming neutral and the driver. The live (brown in Europe) which goes directly to the incoming live. And finally there will be a third switch wire which will probably be a different colour like red. This is the one that goes to the LED drivers live connection so it can switch the light on and off. If you have a faulty PIR you can either bypass it for continuous operation by just connecting the LED driver directly to the incoming mains supply, or you can probably get a new one cheaply by buying a basic PIR LED floodlight purely to rob for the PIR sensor unit. The power rating is not really an issue, since even the most basic PIR should handle up to 100W or more.

14 thoughts on “How to change leds and drivers in led floodlights.”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Soban Akram says:

    Awesome … Very informative video …

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Brenton Sword says:

    A more recent update: I bought a hand full of these types of lights. They have a combined circuit board of driver/power supply & LED chip now. Just an FYI

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ken W. says:

    I really like this dudes videos. I been a electronics technician for over 40 years.

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Stuart Melbury says:

    Hi Clive I have a sealed LED floodlight 20W Non replaceable with motion sensor below it purchased 15 months ago and used inside the house and all 28 LEDS have dimmed on it. Is there any way of getting into the unit to repair it as I don't see any screws just two holes in the back of the unit and what would cause this to happen?

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Paul Allen says:

    I really just want to hear Big Clive say "THIS! IS!! SPARTA!!!!"
    😁😂🤣

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars MRFUCR says:

    what would cause my led grow lite flicker? some chips flicker some dont wtf?

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ipsum the Purple Wuss - Loud Nation says:

    I want to get a work bench when I'm older, in currently 13 (14 in a couple of months)

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Minarchist 412 says:

    Most excellent Scotty. You have a new subscriber.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ram Avtar Chauhan says:

    जुगाड़ वाट की एलइडी है जो भी स्वर्ण बना रहे हैं उसका एडाप्टर जो है 12 वोट कितने एंपियर लगाते हैं भैया

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars wroughtironlighting says:

    I just removed an LED and its driver from one working light into another housing that was exactly the same. I did it because I wanted to utilize a housing unit that was in a lot better shape. I hooked everything up in exactly the same way. Now when I power up my LED blink. I did not apply new heat sink compound. Could that be a possible issue for my problem?

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Richard Newman says:

    I looked out of interest. Amazing but why bother? It looks very fiddly plus I would have to buy extra tools. It’s a job for an enthusiast. I will buy a new light. It is not that much more expensive.

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars korsez says:

    Would be ok to power led like this with 20 v battery directly? I guess i would still need dc to dc led driver?

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars David Hart says:

    Hello what’s your opinion on the led’s that don’t need a separate driver?

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Suraj Bhan Jaand Nirankari Colony Mandi Killianwali says:

    sir, how to repair its driver of 50 watts flood light. please show video in hindi

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