• Re: CoB LED filament analysis

    From Don@g@crcomp.net to sci.electronics.design, sci.physics on Tue May 19 03:30:13 2026
    From Newsgroup: sci.physics

    Don wrote:
    Arie de Muijnck wrote:
    Don wrote:

    <snip>

    My attempts to appease audience obsession with a series shunt resistor
    caused me to flip the scope's input impedance to "1M ohm AC" and
    inadvertently leave it at that incorrect current probe setting.
    After the scope's set to "1M ohm DC" a flat-line trace appears when
    the two half-wave rectifiers are "off:"

    <https://crcomp.net/ledfilament/curveprobe4.png>

    If that's what Arie means by "required shunt load resistor," then the
    original current probe curve also shows a more-or-less flat-line trace:

    <https://crcomp.net/ledfilament/curveprobe.png>

    And the anomaly again indicates capacitive current curve corruption
    caused by the solderless breadboard.

    No, the phaseshift was caused by the current transformer being unloaded.
    The perfect load of a CT is a short (e.g. a transimpedance amplifier).
    The breadboard would not cause a measuremable shift. The scope probe alone is
    more capacitive.

    <snip>

    In the end, I need to pay more attention to the response curves included
    in Fluke's manual. If I remember correctly, in TROUBLESHOOTING ANALOG CIRCUITS Bob Pease said he finds graphs more revealing than mathematical analysis.

    It's time to end my participation in this thread. In closing, I hope
    this Chinese aphorism is correctly displayed:

    E+i*>#E|A*-eN+iE+iuUEE|A*>+N+itAcoUo*Ci*iiN+it2>ta|u!uo+#pCe

    Not tempted by praise, not intimidated by criticism; walking
    the path of principle, one remains upright and true to oneself.

    Now is the time to re-engage with this thread.

    A cheap CoB LED filament probably uses a Graetz bridge, constructed
    with aluminum wire bonding:

    COB technology is widely used in LED designs, providing
    higher lumen density and improved thermal management.
    Wire bonding enables compact LED arrays with efficient
    heat dissipation, leading to brighter, longer-lasting
    lighting solutions in automotive, industrial, and
    consumer applications. ...
    Wire bonding remains a crucial technology in modern
    electronics, offering flexibility and cost-efficiency in
    a variety of applications, including 3D ICs, power
    electronics, and COB LEDs. While material and
    manufacturing costs can vary, especially for high-volume
    production, the cost advantages of wire bonding become
    evident as production scales. [1]

    In regards to Arie's remarks, the Fluke i1000s is an AC current probe.
    In other words, a capacitor couples its current transformer to its transimpedance amplifier. Perhaps that capacitor is culpable?
    The Fluke i1000s 100 mV/A Users Manual [2] response curve shown in
    Figure 2 for a 100 mV/A range indicates a large phase shift is
    plausible. Yet all phase shift disappears when a CoB LED bulb is
    substituted for a bare metal filament. The breadboard's parasitic
    capacitance of 31 pF is negligible.

    EUREKA by USA Poet Laureate Edgar Allan Poe, argues that scientific
    inquiry begins with an intuitive leap of imagination and more-or-less
    ends with measurement. In other words, a hypothesis provides a roadmap
    to give direction to measurement.

    Here's the first image shared by me in this thread:

    <https://crcomp.net/ledfilament/curveprobe.png>

    It shows a color mismatch between the blue tinted voltage trace and the
    green tinged current curve. That's a crucial clue.
    My mind mulled this clue during a bicycle spin up a nearby mountain
    with Bach playing through the earbuds. Then an intuitive leap of
    imagination took place.
    What if neither the breadboard nor the probe's intrinsic parasitic capacitance causes the phase shift? Is it possible that an idling
    transformer mounted near the breadboard causes the anomaly?
    Yes, the idling transformer creates the problem. And a power switch
    added to the transformer to power it off when not in use restores the
    current curve to zero phase shift.

    Note.

    [1] <https://resources.altium.com/p/wire-bonding-modern-applications-technology-trends-and-cost-considerations>

    [2] <https://assets.fluke.com/manuals/i1000s__umeng0000.pdf>

    Danke,

    --
    73, Don, WD7Q veritas _|_
    liberabit | https://www.qsl.net/wd7q vos |

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From john larkin@jl@glen--canyon.com to sci.electronics.design,sci.physics on Tue May 19 08:26:34 2026
    From Newsgroup: sci.physics

    On Tue, 19 May 2026 03:30:13 -0000 (UTC), "Don" <g@crcomp.net> wrote:

    Don wrote:
    Arie de Muijnck wrote:
    Don wrote:

    <snip>

    My attempts to appease audience obsession with a series shunt resistor >>>> caused me to flip the scope's input impedance to "1M ohm AC" and
    inadvertently leave it at that incorrect current probe setting.
    After the scope's set to "1M ohm DC" a flat-line trace appears when
    the two half-wave rectifiers are "off:"

    <https://crcomp.net/ledfilament/curveprobe4.png>

    If that's what Arie means by "required shunt load resistor," then the
    original current probe curve also shows a more-or-less flat-line trace: >>>>
    <https://crcomp.net/ledfilament/curveprobe.png>

    And the anomaly again indicates capacitive current curve corruption
    caused by the solderless breadboard.

    No, the phaseshift was caused by the current transformer being unloaded. >>> The perfect load of a CT is a short (e.g. a transimpedance amplifier).
    The breadboard would not cause a measuremable shift. The scope probe alone is
    more capacitive.

    <snip>

    In the end, I need to pay more attention to the response curves included
    in Fluke's manual. If I remember correctly, in TROUBLESHOOTING ANALOG
    CIRCUITS Bob Pease said he finds graphs more revealing than mathematical
    analysis.

    It's time to end my participation in this thread. In closing, I hope
    this Chinese aphorism is correctly displayed:

    ????????????????????

    Not tempted by praise, not intimidated by criticism; walking
    the path of principle, one remains upright and true to oneself.

    Now is the time to re-engage with this thread.

    A cheap CoB LED filament probably uses a Graetz bridge, constructed
    with aluminum wire bonding:

    COB technology is widely used in LED designs, providing
    higher lumen density and improved thermal management.
    Wire bonding enables compact LED arrays with efficient
    heat dissipation, leading to brighter, longer-lasting
    lighting solutions in automotive, industrial, and
    consumer applications. ...
    Wire bonding remains a crucial technology in modern
    electronics, offering flexibility and cost-efficiency in
    a variety of applications, including 3D ICs, power
    electronics, and COB LEDs. While material and
    manufacturing costs can vary, especially for high-volume
    production, the cost advantages of wire bonding become
    evident as production scales. [1]

    In regards to Arie's remarks, the Fluke i1000s is an AC current probe.
    In other words, a capacitor couples its current transformer to its >transimpedance amplifier. Perhaps that capacitor is culpable?
    The Fluke i1000s 100 mV/A Users Manual [2] response curve shown in
    Figure 2 for a 100 mV/A range indicates a large phase shift is
    plausible. Yet all phase shift disappears when a CoB LED bulb is
    substituted for a bare metal filament. The breadboard's parasitic
    capacitance of 31 pF is negligible.

    EUREKA by USA Poet Laureate Edgar Allan Poe, argues that scientific
    inquiry begins with an intuitive leap of imagination and more-or-less
    ends with measurement. In other words, a hypothesis provides a roadmap
    to give direction to measurement.

    Here's the first image shared by me in this thread:

    <https://crcomp.net/ledfilament/curveprobe.png>

    It shows a color mismatch between the blue tinted voltage trace and the
    green tinged current curve. That's a crucial clue.
    My mind mulled this clue during a bicycle spin up a nearby mountain
    with Bach playing through the earbuds. Then an intuitive leap of
    imagination took place.
    What if neither the breadboard nor the probe's intrinsic parasitic
    capacitance causes the phase shift? Is it possible that an idling
    transformer mounted near the breadboard causes the anomaly?
    Yes, the idling transformer creates the problem. And a power switch
    added to the transformer to power it off when not in use restores the
    current curve to zero phase shift.

    Note.

    [1] <https://resources.altium.com/p/wire-bonding-modern-applications-technology-trends-and-cost-considerations>

    [2] <https://assets.fluke.com/manuals/i1000s__umeng0000.pdf>

    Danke,

    A cheap iron-core current transformer will behave very badly at low
    current.

    You are trying to measure mA with a 1000A CT. Parts per million.

    Instrument it better.


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Arie de Muijnck@noreply@ademu.nl to sci.electronics.design,sci.physics on Tue May 19 18:23:33 2026
    From Newsgroup: sci.physics

    On 2026-05-19 05:30, Don wrote:
    Don wrote:
    Arie de Muijnck wrote:
    Don wrote:

    <snip>

    My attempts to appease audience obsession with a series shunt resistor >>>> caused me to flip the scope's input impedance to "1M ohm AC" and
    inadvertently leave it at that incorrect current probe setting.
    After the scope's set to "1M ohm DC" a flat-line trace appears when
    the two half-wave rectifiers are "off:"

    <https://crcomp.net/ledfilament/curveprobe4.png>

    If that's what Arie means by "required shunt load resistor," then the
    original current probe curve also shows a more-or-less flat-line trace: >>>>
    <https://crcomp.net/ledfilament/curveprobe.png>

    And the anomaly again indicates capacitive current curve corruption
    caused by the solderless breadboard.

    No, the phaseshift was caused by the current transformer being unloaded. >>> The perfect load of a CT is a short (e.g. a transimpedance amplifier).
    The breadboard would not cause a measuremable shift. The scope probe alone is
    more capacitive.

    <snip>

    In the end, I need to pay more attention to the response curves included
    in Fluke's manual. If I remember correctly, in TROUBLESHOOTING ANALOG
    CIRCUITS Bob Pease said he finds graphs more revealing than mathematical
    analysis.

    It's time to end my participation in this thread. In closing, I hope
    this Chinese aphorism is correctly displayed:

    E+i*>#E|A*-eN+iE+iuUEE|A*>+N+itAcoUo*Ci*iiN+it2>ta|u!uo+#pCe

    Not tempted by praise, not intimidated by criticism; walking
    the path of principle, one remains upright and true to oneself.

    Now is the time to re-engage with this thread.

    A cheap CoB LED filament probably uses a Graetz bridge, constructed
    with aluminum wire bonding:

    COB technology is widely used in LED designs, providing
    higher lumen density and improved thermal management.
    Wire bonding enables compact LED arrays with efficient
    heat dissipation, leading to brighter, longer-lasting
    lighting solutions in automotive, industrial, and
    consumer applications. ...
    Wire bonding remains a crucial technology in modern
    electronics, offering flexibility and cost-efficiency in
    a variety of applications, including 3D ICs, power
    electronics, and COB LEDs. While material and
    manufacturing costs can vary, especially for high-volume
    production, the cost advantages of wire bonding become
    evident as production scales. [1]

    In regards to Arie's remarks, the Fluke i1000s is an AC current probe.
    In other words, a capacitor couples its current transformer to its transimpedance amplifier. Perhaps that capacitor is culpable?
    The Fluke i1000s 100 mV/A Users Manual [2] response curve shown in Figure 2 for a 100 mV/A range indicates a large phase shift is
    plausible. Yet all phase shift disappears when a CoB LED bulb is
    substituted for a bare metal filament. The breadboard's parasitic
    capacitance of 31 pF is negligible.

    EUREKA by USA Poet Laureate Edgar Allan Poe, argues that scientific
    inquiry begins with an intuitive leap of imagination and more-or-less
    ends with measurement. In other words, a hypothesis provides a roadmap
    to give direction to measurement.

    Here's the first image shared by me in this thread:

    <https://crcomp.net/ledfilament/curveprobe.png>

    It shows a color mismatch between the blue tinted voltage trace and the
    green tinged current curve. That's a crucial clue.
    My mind mulled this clue during a bicycle spin up a nearby mountain
    with Bach playing through the earbuds. Then an intuitive leap of
    imagination took place.
    What if neither the breadboard nor the probe's intrinsic parasitic capacitance causes the phase shift? Is it possible that an idling
    transformer mounted near the breadboard causes the anomaly?
    Yes, the idling transformer creates the problem. And a power switch added to the transformer to power it off when not in use restores the
    current curve to zero phase shift.

    Note.

    [1] <https://resources.altium.com/p/wire-bonding-modern-applications-technology-trends-and-cost-considerations>

    [2] <https://assets.fluke.com/manuals/i1000s__umeng0000.pdf>

    Danke,

    --
    73, Don, WD7Q veritas _|_
    liberabit | https://www.qsl.net/wd7q vos |



    I should have thought of that possibility.
    As a youngster, I almost got a scope for free because it had an unstable trace with lots of hum.
    "This must be a defective supply in an old scope, nobody wanted to repair." When moving the scope to get at the backside cabling the trace changed a lot. Pulling it away from the isolation transformer next to it cured the problem.
    No free scope for me that time...

    Arie

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From john larkin@jl@glen--canyon.com to sci.electronics.design,sci.physics on Tue May 19 09:52:33 2026
    From Newsgroup: sci.physics

    On Tue, 19 May 2026 18:23:33 +0200, Arie de Muijnck <noreply@ademu.nl>
    wrote:

    On 2026-05-19 05:30, Don wrote:
    Don wrote:
    Arie de Muijnck wrote:
    Don wrote:

    <snip>

    My attempts to appease audience obsession with a series shunt resistor >>>>> caused me to flip the scope's input impedance to "1M ohm AC" and
    inadvertently leave it at that incorrect current probe setting.
    After the scope's set to "1M ohm DC" a flat-line trace appears when
    the two half-wave rectifiers are "off:"

    <https://crcomp.net/ledfilament/curveprobe4.png>

    If that's what Arie means by "required shunt load resistor," then the >>>>> original current probe curve also shows a more-or-less flat-line trace: >>>>>
    <https://crcomp.net/ledfilament/curveprobe.png>

    And the anomaly again indicates capacitive current curve corruption
    caused by the solderless breadboard.

    No, the phaseshift was caused by the current transformer being unloaded. >>>> The perfect load of a CT is a short (e.g. a transimpedance amplifier). >>>> The breadboard would not cause a measuremable shift. The scope probe alone is
    more capacitive.

    <snip>

    In the end, I need to pay more attention to the response curves included >>> in Fluke's manual. If I remember correctly, in TROUBLESHOOTING ANALOG
    CIRCUITS Bob Pease said he finds graphs more revealing than mathematical >>> analysis.

    It's time to end my participation in this thread. In closing, I hope
    this Chinese aphorism is correctly displayed:

    ????????????????????

    Not tempted by praise, not intimidated by criticism; walking
    the path of principle, one remains upright and true to oneself.

    Now is the time to re-engage with this thread.

    A cheap CoB LED filament probably uses a Graetz bridge, constructed
    with aluminum wire bonding:

    COB technology is widely used in LED designs, providing
    higher lumen density and improved thermal management.
    Wire bonding enables compact LED arrays with efficient
    heat dissipation, leading to brighter, longer-lasting
    lighting solutions in automotive, industrial, and
    consumer applications. ...
    Wire bonding remains a crucial technology in modern
    electronics, offering flexibility and cost-efficiency in
    a variety of applications, including 3D ICs, power
    electronics, and COB LEDs. While material and
    manufacturing costs can vary, especially for high-volume
    production, the cost advantages of wire bonding become
    evident as production scales. [1]

    In regards to Arie's remarks, the Fluke i1000s is an AC current probe.
    In other words, a capacitor couples its current transformer to its
    transimpedance amplifier. Perhaps that capacitor is culpable?
    The Fluke i1000s 100 mV/A Users Manual [2] response curve shown in
    Figure 2 for a 100 mV/A range indicates a large phase shift is
    plausible. Yet all phase shift disappears when a CoB LED bulb is
    substituted for a bare metal filament. The breadboard's parasitic
    capacitance of 31 pF is negligible.

    EUREKA by USA Poet Laureate Edgar Allan Poe, argues that scientific
    inquiry begins with an intuitive leap of imagination and more-or-less
    ends with measurement. In other words, a hypothesis provides a roadmap
    to give direction to measurement.

    Here's the first image shared by me in this thread:

    <https://crcomp.net/ledfilament/curveprobe.png>

    It shows a color mismatch between the blue tinted voltage trace and the
    green tinged current curve. That's a crucial clue.
    My mind mulled this clue during a bicycle spin up a nearby mountain
    with Bach playing through the earbuds. Then an intuitive leap of
    imagination took place.
    What if neither the breadboard nor the probe's intrinsic parasitic
    capacitance causes the phase shift? Is it possible that an idling
    transformer mounted near the breadboard causes the anomaly?
    Yes, the idling transformer creates the problem. And a power switch
    added to the transformer to power it off when not in use restores the
    current curve to zero phase shift.

    Note.

    [1] <https://resources.altium.com/p/wire-bonding-modern-applications-technology-trends-and-cost-considerations>

    [2] <https://assets.fluke.com/manuals/i1000s__umeng0000.pdf>

    Danke,

    --
    73, Don, WD7Q veritas _|_
    liberabit |
    https://www.qsl.net/wd7q vos |



    I should have thought of that possibility.
    As a youngster, I almost got a scope for free because it had an unstable trace with lots of hum.
    "This must be a defective supply in an old scope, nobody wanted to repair." >When moving the scope to get at the backside cabling the trace changed a lot. >Pulling it away from the isolation transformer next to it cured the problem. >No free scope for me that time...

    Arie

    Old Eico-grade scopes had low voltage CRTs and usually no magnetic
    shielding, so were very sensitive to mag fields.

    A clamp-on split-core current transformer will have some sensitivity
    to local magnetic fields. He's trying to resolve milliamps using a
    1000 amp CT!


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2