1 00:00:00,070 --> 00:00:03,320 Hello, and welcome to Technology Connections 2! 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:07,640 This is the very first video for this channel where we are gonna be taking apart one of 3 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:08,640 these. 4 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:11,570 This is a 12 inch traffic light module. 5 00:00:11,570 --> 00:00:16,030 Normally these are sitting up high in the air and telling you whether to stop or to go. 6 00:00:16,030 --> 00:00:20,150 Now, these newer styles--I've always been a little bit curious about what the optics 7 00:00:20,150 --> 00:00:25,689 are inside, how exactly the LED emitters are arranged and, you know, what's inside of these. 8 00:00:25,689 --> 00:00:27,789 So today I'm gonna take one apart. 9 00:00:27,789 --> 00:00:32,259 Now, this one I featured in my video on Technology Connections which is probably how you got 10 00:00:32,259 --> 00:00:33,259 here. 11 00:00:33,259 --> 00:00:36,370 If you didn't get here from seeing that you might want to check out this card, or there 12 00:00:36,370 --> 00:00:38,329 will be a link on the end screen. 13 00:00:38,329 --> 00:00:46,480 But in addition to this red one, I also have a yellow one. 14 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:52,289 You'll notice that their wires are color-coded -- Very handy! 15 00:00:52,289 --> 00:00:55,520 And what's more, I also have 16 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:01,179 a green one. 17 00:01:01,180 --> 00:01:06,840 Now, this green one is a little bit different from the other two because the green one-- 18 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,340 its lens is clear. 19 00:01:10,340 --> 00:01:15,660 So I did buy a set of three but this one probably does not match with the others. 20 00:01:15,660 --> 00:01:17,340 So I'm gonna take this one apart. 21 00:01:17,340 --> 00:01:20,930 There doesn't appear to be a way to take these apart without destroying them because they 22 00:01:20,930 --> 00:01:22,119 are sealed. 23 00:01:22,119 --> 00:01:25,350 So, uh, let's just take a look. 24 00:01:25,350 --> 00:01:26,350 One thing before I take it apart. 25 00:01:26,350 --> 00:01:30,460 Let me turn it back on. 26 00:01:30,460 --> 00:01:34,600 This is what I've been using to power it for the video by the way, this is a, uh...power 27 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,110 pack but it has a 110V outlet. 28 00:01:37,110 --> 00:01:42,320 These do run on 120V AC because that's what would be commonly used in America during these 29 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:43,320 installations. 30 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:47,420 Now, one of the things about these particular stoplights is you'll see they have a very, 31 00:01:47,420 --> 00:01:49,080 pretty tight focus. 32 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:51,580 So I'm shining this at you. 33 00:01:51,590 --> 00:01:55,610 And of course the reason why they have that tight focus is because they might as well 34 00:01:55,610 --> 00:01:59,660 be pointed in the eyes of drivers so that way they can see them better. 35 00:01:59,660 --> 00:02:03,189 So they're focused pretty narrowly that way you can see them. 36 00:02:03,189 --> 00:02:07,380 So what exactly is on the inside of these to make that tight beam? 37 00:02:07,380 --> 00:02:08,970 That's what I want to find out today. 38 00:02:08,970 --> 00:02:10,290 So, let's take a look! 39 00:02:10,290 --> 00:02:15,220 Alright, to make this just a little bit easier on myself, you are on a tripod on top of the table. 40 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:16,300 Hello! 41 00:02:16,300 --> 00:02:18,040 And you're gonna just watch me do stuff. 42 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:19,070 Because that's fun. 43 00:02:19,070 --> 00:02:24,780 So these traffic lights have a rubber gasket around them that we're gonna remove. 44 00:02:24,780 --> 00:02:29,690 And as I was saying in my last video, these are designed to be sealed so if you take a 45 00:02:29,690 --> 00:02:35,350 look around the edges, there's really no way to get into these. 46 00:02:35,350 --> 00:02:42,550 On the back, there was a single screw right here, but that screw just covered the wire 47 00:02:42,550 --> 00:02:44,280 terminal connections. 48 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:49,200 And really there appears to be no way to get inside this without being destructive. 49 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,760 You can sort of see around the edges here that you can see the clear plastic of the 50 00:02:53,760 --> 00:03:00,130 lens, in fact--I'll bring the red one over. 51 00:03:00,130 --> 00:03:09,570 Maybe you can see on video but that is red plastic you're seeing behind here. 52 00:03:09,570 --> 00:03:13,900 So I think the easiest way to get inside of this is to just use a cutting wheel and, uh, 53 00:03:13,900 --> 00:03:15,960 cut it open. 54 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:24,360 I might try just prying it open real quick with a screwdriver, see if that's productive 55 00:03:24,370 --> 00:03:25,370 at all. 56 00:03:25,370 --> 00:03:29,600 And after that I have, uh, a Harbor Freight Dremel tool. 57 00:03:30,980 --> 00:03:33,760 That oughta get us in. 58 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:36,800 So let me grab that screw driver. 59 00:03:37,140 --> 00:03:41,440 (sped up) 60 00:03:46,180 --> 00:03:48,520 I think we're gonna make it without the Dremel tool! 61 00:03:48,980 --> 00:03:52,800 (sped up) 62 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:00,620 Ahh! 63 00:04:02,340 --> 00:04:04,700 We have layers! 64 00:04:05,780 --> 00:04:06,680 OK. 65 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:14,260 So apparently this clear plastic thing--this is probably the only part that's colored on 66 00:04:14,260 --> 00:04:16,400 the red and yellow ones. 67 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:21,530 So I would imagine that, uh, down below this is the same. 68 00:04:21,530 --> 00:04:27,130 And then we have this sort of prismatic lens. 69 00:04:27,130 --> 00:04:30,440 This is what gives it the look of the incandescent light. 70 00:04:31,700 --> 00:04:41,100 And then there's a Fresnel lens beneath it. 71 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:45,760 That's a lot less interesting than I thought it might be! (laughter) 72 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,160 So let's take a look. 73 00:04:57,260 --> 00:04:59,419 Right (said with a bad Scottish accent). 74 00:04:59,420 --> 00:05:02,460 I'm just kidding, I'm not Big Clive. 75 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,160 I do not have his expertise here. 76 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,090 But, let's go ahead and turn this back on. 77 00:05:08,090 --> 00:05:13,710 This by the way is how I've been driving these, this is a little power pack with a 110V plug 78 00:05:13,710 --> 00:05:14,840 on there. 79 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:16,900 Really cool. 80 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,380 Let's see how painful this is. 81 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:29,260 Now, when these are running off of true line voltage they don't buzz at all, it's just 82 00:05:29,270 --> 00:05:31,610 on the inverter that's it's kind of buzzing here. 83 00:05:31,610 --> 00:05:39,900 But yeah it's just, let's see, four-- eight individual chips, probably eight 1-watt LEDs down here. 84 00:05:42,420 --> 00:05:43,640 Let's blind you. 85 00:05:45,220 --> 00:05:47,560 Oh it's not too bad actually. 86 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:49,500 So the Fresnel lens, here... 87 00:05:53,220 --> 00:05:53,920 Oh wow! 88 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,530 That's really... 89 00:05:57,860 --> 00:06:01,160 So this is basically magnifying them. 90 00:06:01,170 --> 00:06:05,900 I'll show--I'll point you up at the wall so you can see how it's pointing at the ceiling 91 00:06:05,900 --> 00:06:06,900 right now. 92 00:06:06,900 --> 00:06:13,480 And then this distributes that so it's a little less crazy. 93 00:06:18,180 --> 00:06:22,310 Here's the weather seal. 94 00:06:22,310 --> 00:06:23,580 So this keeps moisture out. 95 00:06:23,580 --> 00:06:28,950 In fact, you can see... let me turn this back off. 96 00:06:28,950 --> 00:06:31,360 The interior of this is remarkably clean. 97 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:35,880 And I'm sure these were in service, I doubt these are new. 98 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:42,560 Their exteriors are a little dirty, especially in here, but inside it's almost immaculate. 99 00:06:50,900 --> 00:06:54,460 (sped up) 100 00:06:54,460 --> 00:06:56,600 Let's go further! 101 00:06:56,820 --> 00:07:01,340 (sped up) 102 00:07:01,340 --> 00:07:02,640 Oh! 103 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:07,580 OK 104 00:07:10,820 --> 00:07:13,160 So this is the board that the actual LEDs 105 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,080 are on and I noticed this is aluminum. 106 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:22,310 Here, so this is its heat sink. 107 00:07:22,310 --> 00:07:28,040 It's a bit surprising there's no thermal compound between the two. 108 00:07:35,900 --> 00:07:41,260 But I suppose in, these aren't--especially for green, they're never--well none of them 109 00:07:41,270 --> 00:07:43,770 really, they're never gonna be on for more than two or three minutes at a time before 110 00:07:43,770 --> 00:07:49,480 they're off again, and even if there were a flashing red that would only be a 50% duty cycle. 111 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:58,080 (sped up) 112 00:07:59,140 --> 00:08:01,420 Well that's one way to do it. 113 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,760 (sped up) 114 00:08:06,260 --> 00:08:07,360 So that's it! 115 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:11,540 This is all that's inside there, it's just a big plastic shell to direct the light from 116 00:08:11,540 --> 00:08:17,360 these eight LED chips, which the board says Lumileds here. 117 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,270 Or maybe it's "Lumi-LEDs" I'm not sure. 118 00:08:20,270 --> 00:08:25,990 But on the back, in addition to a whole bunch of gibberish it says Luxeon so I'm sure these 119 00:08:25,990 --> 00:08:28,080 are Luxeon chips. 120 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:34,669 And then this is basically just a 120V power supply here 'cause this is an American stoplight 121 00:08:34,669 --> 00:08:38,310 so it's on 120V AC. 122 00:08:38,310 --> 00:08:41,229 This is a pretty robust power supply board. 123 00:08:41,229 --> 00:08:46,050 All the components on there--granted, I am no expert but all the components on here seem 124 00:08:46,050 --> 00:08:54,490 generously sized, these resistors are quite large and the capacitor--what's it's temperature 125 00:08:54,490 --> 00:08:56,340 rating? 126 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:03,840 Ehh, I can't see it. 127 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:18,080 Oh, I don't want to talk to Florida. (received a phone call while recording) 128 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:20,520 Ooh! 129 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:26,320 It says on here, "GELcore" Maybe Gel-core? 130 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:28,910 Or General Electric Lighting core? 131 00:09:28,910 --> 00:09:30,620 I don't know. 132 00:09:30,620 --> 00:09:32,420 I don't know what that would be. 133 00:09:32,420 --> 00:09:33,420 Oh! 134 00:09:33,420 --> 00:09:36,870 There's a lot of chips down here. 135 00:09:36,870 --> 00:09:39,640 Integrated circuits. 136 00:09:40,540 --> 00:09:46,800 If Big Clive would like to have a look at one of these and tell me more what this is, 137 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:48,440 feel free! 138 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:58,670 But yeah I mean, this board here is clearly just the LEDs themselves. 139 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:09,180 I would be curious to know if this is simply, like if Lumileds makes these knowingly that 140 00:10:09,190 --> 00:10:15,120 they're for a stoplight or if this is just some sort of general purpose illumination 141 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:16,750 board that they have. 142 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,840 I should see, is there are year on these? 143 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,600 Not that I can see. 144 00:10:43,420 --> 00:10:45,400 Well anyway, that's... 145 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:46,560 I guess that's about it! 146 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:47,560 So I'll close this video out. 147 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:54,500 I will add one thing little thing, the power rating on the fixtures themselves; these days 148 00:10:54,500 --> 00:10:59,370 it's much closer but even now, they yellow lights use the most power. 149 00:10:59,370 --> 00:11:05,851 And on the particular three that I have, red was rated like 11 watts, green was 13, and 150 00:11:05,851 --> 00:11:07,160 yellow was 19. 151 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:11,390 So it's kind of interesting cause the yellow...the particular wavelength of yellow in stop lights 152 00:11:11,390 --> 00:11:15,500 is apparently not that efficient, cause it needs a lot more power to produce the same 153 00:11:15,500 --> 00:11:16,500 brightness. 154 00:11:16,500 --> 00:11:19,800 But with it being a yellow light it's only on at most six seconds at a time so I guess 155 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:21,910 it doesn't really matter. 156 00:11:21,910 --> 00:11:26,940 I may have wrecked a stoplight but I've got this neat Fresnel lens out of it--look at 157 00:11:26,940 --> 00:11:28,420 that! 158 00:11:28,420 --> 00:11:31,020 Can you see?... 159 00:11:31,020 --> 00:11:34,930 Oh yeah, yeah. 160 00:11:34,930 --> 00:11:37,660 So neat-o! 161 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:42,300 Nifty, nifty, nifty. 162 00:11:45,900 --> 00:11:50,440 So thanks so much for watching, please subscribe to Technology Connections 2, head on over to 163 00:11:50,459 --> 00:11:54,269 the original video if you got here without seeing it, and I'll see you next time!