Heat problem

[boikonur]

I noticed that my string blade is getting really hot at the beginning of the string. I have reinforced the common-anode with additional copper wire but the heating is still there. My concern is that the heat there will damage the leds. the current is around 2A at 3,4V for the whole string. Can someone suggest how to rewire/ reinforce the blade in order to save my precious leds?
Regards,
Bobi

[Jedi Madoc Mo'gu Red-Moon]

copper is a conductor, not an insulator. it only insulates against magnetic fields and not against heat sources. seems like you might just need some venting. but dont take my word on it im just a noob, but try using an insulating material rather than a conductor is my poke at 2 cents.

[JakeSoft]

copper is a conductor, not an insulator. it only insulates against magnetic fields and not against heat sources. seems like you might just need some venting. but dont take my word on it im just a noob, but try using an insulating material rather than a conductor is my poke at 2 cents.

Unless the heat is being caused by a short, wrapping the area with an insulator will likely only make the problem worse in terms of prolonging LED life. The heat needs to be dissipated into the air. Wrapping it with a heat insulator would be like wrapping yourself in a winter coat and expecting to become cooler. The air will remain cooler, but the electrical components will become hotter because they can't get rid of their heat as easily.

[Jedi Madoc Mo'gu Red-Moon]

Unless the heat is being caused by a short, wrapping the area with an insulator will likely only make the problem worse in terms of prolonging LED life. The heat needs to be dissipated into the air. Wrapping it with a heat insulator would be like wrapping yourself in a winter coat and expecting to become cooler. The air will remain cooler, but the electrical components will become hotter because they can't get rid of their heat as easily.

by that logic yes exc3ept a technical term for an "insulating Material" means both heat absorbing or heat dispersing, depending what the material is as there are many. youre right that a winter wool coat is an insulating material. but so is fiberglass. get what i mean?

[boikonur]

read carefully, reinforce the common anode - > it means that the bus have less resistance, allowing more current to pass,

[JakeSoft]

by that logic yes exc3ept a technical term for an "insulating Material" means both heat absorbing or heat dispersing, depending what the material is as there are many. youre right that a winter wool coat is an insulating material. but so is fiberglass. get what i mean?

I think I follow you. I'm drawing on the experience I've had in managing heat in home-built computers and other electronics projects in the past. The processor's heat-sink is always a metal like copper or aluminum (a good conductor of heat) and big, so that the heat is absorbed from the component and then dissipated into the air with the help of a fan. Over time, if the heat-sinks get covered with dust and grime (dust is an insulator of heat, as it turns out) then they don't cool as well and can lead to component failure. So, I surmised that wrapping a heat-generating component in a heat-insulating material was potentially problematic.

Upon closer reading, I think what boikonur was intending to express was that he made the lead on the anode thicker to accommodate more current in the hopes of reducing heating from inadequate wire thickness at that point in his circuit, which at the very least should do no harm, but he's still got heat issues and cant figure out why.

Boikonur, did you reinforce the anode side of your bus all the way up your string, or just at the bottom where you're feeling the heat?

[Obi1]

Did you measure the Forward voltage of the LED segments? Maybe you overdrive your LED's. What do you mean beginning of the string? Do you have the Problem with the first Segment only?
If you reinforce it, the extra current will make it even hotter. Maybe you Need a resistance to Limit the current.
(BTW, does anyone know how to get rid of this annoying Auto spelling check, which keeps changing letter to uppercase?)

[Weaver]

I have also read that voltage gaps between the LEDs and the pack voltage can cause heating issues. It might have been from the CF LS manual (I don't remember). If you're using a 7.4v pack, but the string is using ~3v, it will cause heat issues. Series/Parallel segments ("seriallel" wiring) can bring that voltage requirement up, which will reduce the heat issue. I'm guessing that your blade is all-parallel. If that's not the case, then ignore me (I'm still new to this).

That's my only guess. If it helps you, I'm happy.

EDIT: It was the CF LS manual I was referencing. Here is a quote directly from the manual: "The resulting gap between the battery pack voltage and the LED strip voltage multiplied by the current leads to a huge heat sinking."

So, yes, if you're using a 7.4v pack and a ~3v string, I would guess that's where your heat is coming from.

[Ambrosius Malachai]

if you see some of the more famous bladesmiths led string blades, you notice that there are 2-3 small holes drilled in a row at the base of the blade, where you are having a heat problem.