EBAY LEDs I bought: Explain please

[bur01014]

So I bought a couple of these
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370411428134&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT....

They are by TMC and are aluminum pucks with 3 3w leds (Crees supposedly the seller said) Anyways, he had them soldered up and it came with an adapter.....just a regular old adapter you plug in the wall????? Is this right???? I heard about all this "driver" stuff etc.....the adapter allows you to run them at 7.5, 9, and 12 volt....12 volts is actually surprisingly bright for moonlights and I like the shimmer.....I ran them for about an hour and then came by to check on them and they were out??? I could not get them to fire up again.... I was checking the heat on my aluminum heat sink and the LEDS didn't get over 90 for that hour.....did these LEDS burn up the little power adapter? He said he will send me another adapter, but it seems shady....how are these two pucks of 6 3 watt leds supposed to be powered.....???


btw- specs of adapter: "Switching Universal Powersupply" 12 V, 1000 mah max....

Any help about my dilemma..... if it is reasonable to think all I need to power these lights is a simple wall adapter, and perhaps any help of why you think they won't fire anymore???

 

[Saltyfin]

I thought most pucks run at 24v. I'm no led expert but I'm thinking the power supply might not be sufficient in power. It might say 1000mh but those cheap china made adapters will not be able to hold that power rating it's more of just a peak max.

 

[bur01014]

okay, so can I just go pick up a stronger power supply for home depot or something? Or do I need a driver to actually run these? If that is the case, then I need to let the seller know, that he needs to provide me with some type of driver, I just need to make sure I can tell him "why"....

 

[Saltyfin]

Also what you can try is if you have any 12v power source to try out with it I would see if it is indeed the power supply. I got my 12v power supply for my canopy off one of my old laptop power adapter. The output is 12v 2200mah and it works great. I dont know if this will help you. You could get a power supply from eBay but it's hard to trust some of those shady sellers. Im using a brand called bright-on that I bought of eBay to power a set of diy cheap 5mm moonlights and it still hasn't failed on me yet and it's been almost 2 years, but I'm not running as many mah as you are. Just a thought

 

[Saltyfin]

The pucks just need a power supply if it runs a 12v your going to need to go to a frys or something and get it. Your probably not going to find anything at home depot. Radio shack might have it but for an inflated price.

 

[Saltyfin]

I was looking at the item and it looks like the LEDs might not have enough cooling to keep the LEDs cool enough to keep the LEDs from burning out. Also that the LEDs use a 12v power supply. Too bad your not closer to me I would test it for you.

 

[bur01014]

these are "pucks" as in 3 leds mounted to a circle piece of aluminum.....it is not the puck alternative to a driver idea....can you look at the link for me to confirm this adapter suggestion you gave me...

 

[dublo8]

radio shack will carry the one you need and any adapter you could possibly want.

 

[bur01014]

ok, so I took your advice, got my old laptop power adapter and did a brief (very brief) test....the leds fired up just fine....so its the power supply....so explain this to me.....my leds somehow caused my powersupply to go bad? Again, they ran just fine for an hour....is there a fuse in the universal adapter that you think blew? How would the leds cause the power supply to be fried? I did notice the power supply itself got quite hot even though the LEDs didn't....

 

[bur01014]

another question...on each aluminum puck with leds, it says
TMC : 12 VDC, 1ma max.....so does this mean I want an adapter that runs at 24 V at 2 ma, since I have two led pucks stringed together to one powersupply? Or do I just want a 12 v adapter to power both of them?

 

[jfarabaugh]

FYI
Those are not Cree LEDs....just incase you care.

 

[evilc66]

If you want those LEDs to live for a reasonable amount of time, you need to change the way that you are powering them. Direct driving the LEDs with a non-current limited power supply is a good way to kill the LEDs. You need an LED driver of some description to limit the current to the LEDs. There are a few ways to do this, some more efficient (and costly) than others. Simplest (but by no means the best) is using a current limiting resistor. Better way is to use a Buckpuck or similar driver.