LED Trailer Lamps
In the mid 20th century the most used lamp for large wattage units for search lamps was the atmospheric arc lamp. In due time there grew a requirement which are powerful but small in size. This requirement was fulfilled by the use of luminescent lamps. These lights produce less heat than incandescent lamps. These lights are electric discharge lamps, semiconductor lamps and chemical lamps. The LED or Light Emitting Diodes are example of semiconductor lamps. This is a crystalline semiconductor diode. The property of electroluminscence is used in light emitting diodes. Some of the electrons are boosted to higher orbits in the atoms of the semi conductors, when they are charged. These atoms of the semi conductors emit infrared radiation when the electrons fall back to the lower orbits. When a phosphor atom is hit by this radiation that atom emits visible light. This energy, which is realized, is emitted as photons. The LEDs can be of different colors like red, amber, super white etc. depending on the type of material used during its manufacturing. A single LED cannot produce sufficient light for illuminating purpose. But they can be formed into a matrix which when lighted can be used as a normal light source. These light sources can be used as trailer lights.
It consumes less power and operates for a longer time than a bulb. Another advantage of using LED in place of a normal light source is that if a bulb in a trailer light burns off, the light would not light up at all. In case of a LED if one LED goes off others still carry on functioning making the light partially serviceable.
LED lights are brighter, safer and longer lasting than conventional trailer lights. It uses only one-tenth the power of a conventional lamp. They can be configured into any shape as they are small and are not a single unit. So any shape of matrix can be built up according to specific need. These lights are now gaining much popularity, as they are very easily available and easily configurable. LEDs are very cheap. Their maintenance is very easy. The main advantage is about the power it consumes. It consumes very negligible power. They work in the power range of 7. 7 to 14 volts. It consumes about 1 amps of current.
These lights can be used, in boats trailers, trucks and even submersible trailers. The trailers, be it on road or water should be seen from a long distance. So the marker lights on these should be bright enough to be seen by other vehicles. The LED with its bright light very effectively serves this purpose. Some lights are designed such that they can be submerged while other still better quality and durable lights are labeled as "water proof".
The main disadvantages of LEDs are if they are connected to the wrong polarity they will not light at all, still more they can burn off. These LEDs cannot even sustain high voltage surges. To overcome these surges they require special electronic circuitries. These are the many uses and advantages of LED lights.