anonymous coward wrote:

BTW, do you need to use zener diodes / transorbs with aircraft power
systems as you do in cars, to avoid problems with voltage spikes?

AC


In one form or another, I'd say the answer is a qualified yes. Again, I
didn't add any sort of regulation to the LED array. As I remember it,
and it has been quite a while since I looked at it, the larger LEDs can
absorb rather large transients themselves. Their construction is not
that far removed from zeners or transorbs after all.

As I understand it, the limiting factor of the LED's ability to suck
down transients is their ability to dump the internal heat is the reason
why 'overdriving' them with higher but pulsating current works. You can
drive more current through them, just not for very long. In my opinion
(vs me sitting down and running actual numbers which will only happen
when I'm ready to build my own prodution models), if you derate the LED
to about 80%, it'll be able to take whatever a barely functioning
regulator will ever throw at it. Anything more is overdesign, adds
complexity, and one more solder joint is just one more chance for me to
screw something up.

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alleviated by information and experience."
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