Imagine just completing a full-scale LED lighting upgrade, but coming into work a few weeks later to find several fixtures are out. The cause? The drivers powering the LEDs failed prematurely. This all-too-common occurrence can be traced back to insufficient surge protection within your LED luminaires.
Regardless of brand or fixture style, it is most likely that the driver will go down first. One of the primary causes for drivers failing early are electricity spikes. These spikes are caused by a variety of factors including lightning storms, dirty power from the utility company, or are generated internally.
In most cases, the cause will be related to something internally within the facility. This could be a motor load turning on or off, or breakers opening/closing. These can cause confusing results within a facility, as electrical components begin to fail or act differently out of no where. Small electricity spikes are occurring frequently, and over time this prolonged exposure results in the driver failing.
Given the threat, how do you protect your LED lighting system against electricity spikes? The safest plan is to install a Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor (TVSS) directly in the fixture, or on the circuit breaker panels. TVSS products contain material that absorbs the spikes in energy before it can hit your luminaires. Eventually the spikes will drain their power and they will have to be replaced, but that is less costly than replacing the driver or entire fixture.
Your external drivers that operate your LED fixtures likely already have a small TVSS built-in to protect the driver. However, these generally offer meager protection and will soon deteriorate, leaving your LED driver to fend for itself.
The best option to protect your fixtures? Purchase and install an In Series TVSS unit like Hatch Lighting’s LSP4-480 LED Surge Protector. These are the most efficient and best of all, when the In Series TVSS has used up all of it’s material, it will shut the fixture off to protect the driver from operating without TVSS protection. An indicator light on the TVSS will change from green to red to signify it needs to be replaced. Once replaced, a new one will be able to absorb thousands of spikes, keeping your driver safe and ensuring your fixture will operate as it’s designed to for years to come
Being manufacturing unit of LED lighting fixtures require surge protector regularly
Requirement of surge protector