Features of replacing the DRL 250 lamp with an LED

Gas-discharge lamps live out their lives. The development of production technologies ensures the dominance of LED technology in the public and industrial lighting market, from which other light sources are gradually squeezed out. In addition, in 2014 Russia joined an international agreement banning the production of products containing mercury. The days of lighting fixtures of the DRL series are numbered.

Advantages and disadvantages of replacement

DRL-250 with standard base E40

Despite the justified prohibition, DRL has been successful for a long time for the following reasons:

• low cost;
• good efficiency (high light output);
• long service life;
• wide range of operating temperatures.

Video: LED modules for replacing DRL lamps in street lamps

For decades, there was no alternative to mercury devices for lighting non-residential premises, but now life is forcing them to be replaced with modern sources. Of course, this is semiconductor lighting technology. Replacing DRL with LED lamps is overdue, they say in her favor advantages of LED lighting:

• absolute environmental friendliness and low cost of disposal, minimum requirements for storage conditions for serviceable and faulty devices;
• natural colors of light transmission;
• longer service life;
• higher efficiency;
• low sensitivity to changes in the supply voltage;
• no warm-up time is required - they shine at full brightness immediately after applying voltage;
• the design of the luminaire is less conducive to the deposition of dust and a decrease in the luminous flux;
• the absence of an ultraviolet component in the radiation spectrum;
• reduced power consumption allows the use of cables of a smaller cross section, which reduces the price of conductor products and the requirements for supports for laying power lines;
• ballasts are not required for LED illuminators - the cost is reduced and the reliability of operation is increased;
• slower loss of radiation intensity during service;
• comparable unit cost per resource hour.

According to the results of the comparison, it is obvious that LED lamps beat mercury lamps even in those parameters where the latter had advantages. There are no drawbacks to replacing devices with modern ones, except for the need for some labor costs.

How to replace old bulbs with LEDs

Directly replacing a gas-discharge lamp with an LED one will not work - due to the peculiarities of the operation of the DRL, it is connected through a ballast, the main element of which is a current-limiting choke. This inductor in the AC circuit creates a significant resistance. Therefore, if you screw in an LED lamp directly instead of a gas discharge lamp, the brightness of the glow will decrease significantly.Also in the circuit there is a capacitor to improve the compensation of voltage surges and a fuse that protects the mains from possible short circuits in the lamp.

Scheme of connection of a mercury lighting device.

This problem can be circumvented by upgrading the driver of the LED lamp or by developing a new one that will not contain fundamental technical solutions. Just adapting to new working conditions. But from an economic point of view, this makes no sense, because it is much easier to remake the scheme.

DRL

To adapt the lamp to the LED lamp, follow the steps:

1. Remove choke and close contacts, to which it was connected, with a jumper. You can not delete, but simply close it - it will still work. But it is better to dismantle.
   The appearance of the throttle
2. Capacitor does not work, you can leave. But it’s better to dismantle it too, because current will flow through it. This will require an increase in the cross-section of wires, imperceptible in the case of a single lamp. But when there are a lot of lamps, the effect will be noticeable. Yes, and an extra element of unreliability, in which a short circuit, insulation breakdown, etc., can occur, it is better to remove.
   Ballast capacitor
3. Fuse - fuse - not important. Protection against abnormal modes in modern networks is performed by automatic switches. They perform their functions efficiently, and do not need safety fuses. In the event of an overload in the protected line, the machine can simply be cocked (after the fault has been eliminated), and the fuse will have to be replaced. To do this, you need to have a supply of fusible inserts. There is no reason to continue using this element.It is also better to dismantle it, and close the contacts.

There are DRL lamps that do not require throttle. For ignition, they have a special spiral installed inside. This is the easiest option - replacing the DRL 250 with an LED lamp with an E40 base in this case is done by simply unscrewing the old lighting device and installing a modern one in the same place. We only need check the presence of the capacitor and fuse – they can be installed “just in case”.

Situations are also possible when various craftsmen connected DRL lamps without a chokeusing capacitors, incandescent lamps, etc. as ballasts. Of course, all this must be turned off and dismantled.

DNAT

Sodium lighting device DNAT-250.

Along with lamps of the DRL series, gas-discharge lamps of the series DNAT, the action of which is based on the glow of sodium vapor with a sufficient degree of ionization of gases inside the flask. These lamps do not fall under the agreement to stop the production of mercury devices, they do not have a phosphor layer, their environmental friendliness is much higher than that of mercury ones. In terms of electrical parameters, they also outperform DRL.

Many experts question the need to replace sodium lamps with LEDs, because the HPS lamp:

• cheaper than LED;
• has energy efficiency comparable to LEDs;
• produced according to proven technologies, which leads to high quality workmanship and service life, approximately equal to the actual (not declared!) Service life of LED lamps from little-known manufacturers.

Connecting HPS to a 220 V network requires a special device - pulse ignitera (IZU), since ignition requires high-voltage pulses, and a choke. If the decision to replace sodium lamps with LED ones is nevertheless made, it will be necessary to dismantle the IZU. The connection diagram can be found directly on the case. When replacing with LED, all unnecessary elements must be removed.

The circuit is usually drawn on the body of the device.

Scheme of connection of sodium light source.

Wiring diagram

Eventually LED wiring diagram lamp instead of mercury comes down to a very simple option. You just need to remove everything superfluous.

The final wiring diagram for LED instead of DRL.

No ballasts. Everything you need to work is inside the lamp or luminaire. And this is one of the many reasons why LED lighting has taken over the global market.