As a manufacturer, distributor, or upfitter, you want to ensure your customer receives a complete, quality product that will last for years and is able to survive under all conditions. In addition, it is important to reduce the opportunities for failures and warranty claims as both can be damaging to your business and reputation. To reduce your risk, you need to source reliable components & products from quality driven suppliers.

Now how does this relate to lighting? Well, not all lighting fixtures are built the same. Some lighting manufacturers use low quality components to keep their product cost low (typically manufactured in China). This leaves the lighting circuit and LED’s vulnerable to becoming internally damaged or open to operational issues such as light flicker, shortened LED life, dimming over length, or complete light failure.

That said, what if I were to tell you that these issues can be prevented? Well, they can with constant current IC’s.

What is Constant Current Regulation?

Constant current regulation is the process of maintaining a “constant current,” through a circuit board, regardless of the input voltage experienced. This is done by integrating a constant current driver IC chip on to the PCB. The constant current driver monitors the voltage across the LED and circuit and will adjust the current accordingly to match the required current needed to power the LED’s. This IC chip will ensure that the LED’s always receive the designed current input, in the event of unexpected voltage inputs or voltage transients.

What Are the Benefits of Constant Current Regulation in LED Lighting?

There are several benefits to using constant current regulated LED lighting fixtures. These benefits include:

• Consistent Brightness: Constant current regulation helps to ensure that power is maintained over the length of the circuit thus ensuring that all the LEDs in the span can maintain a consistent brightness (no dimming or fading over length). LED fading is very noticeable and will affect the overall lighting quality and general aesthetics.

• Extended LED Lifespan: Constant current regulation helps to extend the lifespan of the LED by protecting it from damage caused by voltage fluctuations/transients. A damaged LED will have a shortened life and is likely to burnout quicker.

• Improved Efficiency: Constant current regulation helps to improve the efficiency of the LED and circuit by reducing energy waste.

• Flicker Free: Constant current regulation prevents flicker, which can be annoying and even harmful to some people (consider a patient being transported with a seizure). This flicker is a common issue in ambulances, emergency vehicles, and applications that may observe unexpected voltage swings. Typically the flicker will be experienced in lights that utilize resistors (etc: tape & rope light).

Conclusion

In general, sourcing constant current regulated LED lighting fixtures is worth the investment. While typically more expensive, you will be guaranteed a quality fixture that will last a long time, especially when installed in applications that could experience voltage transients. As a quick recap, the benefits of constant current regulation include consistent brightness over the length of the tape light or fixture, extended LED lifespan, improved circuit efficiency, and the elimination of light flicker. In addition, to justify the investment cost, you should consider that you will reduce your overall risk for a product failure & warranty claims. Plus you should always be looking for opportunities to integrate new technologies & products that will help differentiate from the competition and deliver life-long results and satisfaction to your customer!

Need help finding a quality lighting fixture? Check out our solutions here! All of the Garnsey Technologies lighting fixtures use constant current IC’s, are manufactured in the United States, and have been utilized in military shelter & mobile hospital applications, ambulances & emergency vehicles, commercial vehicle, truck, trailer, and workbench industries. Feel free to contact us through our contact page or email if you have any questions or need us to design a custom light for a special application. We hope you consider us for your next lighting project!