Street Light Malfunction Turns Street into a "Rave"

[munchito696]

Nice timing with the music in this one
[video=youtube;t3XPNcSvYmU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3XPNcSvYmU[/video]

[J-Dude]

Saw this happen on a work shift recently. Think it's something to do with the LEDs.

[Reagy]

[QUOTE=J-Dude;48539994]Saw this happen on a work shift recently. Think it's something to do with the LEDs.[/QUOTE]

LED timing likely off, considering LEDs are never constantly on but flicker at a high rate, if the controller goes poof this can happen but theres also a thousand other reasons for it like bad power supply.

[Drake1o2]

[QUOTE=Reagy;48544232]LED timing likely off, considering LEDs are never constantly on but flicker at a high rate, if the controller goes poof this can happen but theres also a thousand other reasons for it like bad power supply.[/QUOTE]

Huh, AFAIK LED's aren't being used for street lighting yet? At least, that's the case in Belgium, so I might be completely wrong

[editline]26th August 2015[/editline]

Actually, I don't think they're LED lights at all. When turning on, the raving lights are white-ish blue, yet the lights after that are orange. Change of colour spectrum after heating up (due to being on for a while) is pretty common for certain Fluorescent lamps (which have pretty great energy efficiency when turned on for long periods of time, hence being used for lighting the streets).

[Reagy]

[QUOTE=judgeofdeath;48544295]Huh, AFAIK LED's aren't being used for street lighting yet? At least, that's the case in Belgium, so I might be completely wrong[/QUOTE]

Those looked like LED lights, the light was really bright and clear for one. Could be florescent bulbs though but those don't flicker that fast.

[a dumb bear]

Was expecting a large group of people blocking traffic and dancing in the road, pretty disappointed

[Trumple]

[QUOTE=Reagy;48544232]LED timing likely off, considering LEDs are never constantly on but flicker at a high rate, if the controller goes poof this can happen but theres also a thousand other reasons for it like bad power supply.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure what you mean by "LED timing"? Do you mean the day/night controller?

And I'm again not sure what you mean by LEDs are never constantly on...an LED will emit light continuously if powered by a continuous current (E.g. DC). Flickering *might* occur if the rectifier that converts AC to DC is poor, which it may well be, but then it would flicker according to the frequency of the mains that powers it. If the rectifier broke, it wouldn't flicker at some lower frequency, it just wouldn't work at all, since it is the mains power supply that determines the frequency of the flicker, not the rectifier itself

I think there's just some bug in the software that controls the lights and it's gone haywire

[l337k1ll4]

[QUOTE=judgeofdeath;48544295]Huh, AFAIK LED's aren't being used for street lighting yet? At least, that's the case in Belgium, so I might be completely wrong

[editline]26th August 2015[/editline]

Actually, I don't think they're LED lights at all. When turning on, the raving lights are white-ish blue, yet the lights after that are orange. Change of colour spectrum after heating up (due to being on for a while) is pretty common for certain Fluorescent lamps (which have pretty great energy efficiency when turned on for long periods of time, hence being used for lighting the streets).[/QUOTE]

They're LEDs, hence the color, most American cities have begun completely replacing streetlights with LEDs and the ones that aren't are on a "replace them with LEDs when they break" policy.

[Drake1o2]

[QUOTE=Trumple;48544430]I'm not sure what you mean by "LED timing"? Do you mean the day/night controller?

And I'm again not sure what you mean by LEDs are never constantly on...an LED will emit light continuously if powered by a continuous current (E.g. DC). Flickering *might* occur if the rectifier that converts AC to DC is poor, which it may well be, but then it would flicker according to the frequency of the mains that powers it. If the rectifier broke, it wouldn't flicker at some lower frequency, it just wouldn't work at all, since it is the mains power supply that determines the frequency of the flicker, not the rectifier itself

I think there's just some bug in the software that controls the lights and it's gone haywire[/QUOTE]

He's probably talking about a common method of dimming an LED. If you make an LED flicker on and off really fast, it'll look less bright to the naked eye.

[JennyC6]

[QUOTE=Trumple;48544430]I'm not sure what you mean by "LED timing"? Do you mean the day/night controller?

And I'm again not sure what you mean by LEDs are never constantly on...an LED will emit light continuously if powered by a continuous current (E.g. DC). Flickering *might* occur if the rectifier that converts AC to DC is poor, which it may well be, but then it would flicker according to the frequency of the mains that powers it. If the rectifier broke, it wouldn't flicker at some lower frequency, it just wouldn't work at all, since it is the mains power supply that determines the frequency of the flicker, not the rectifier itself

I think there's just some bug in the software that controls the lights and it's gone haywire[/QUOTE]

It's entirely possible they omit the rectifier entirely. LEDs will run quite happily on AC current as well as DC current. They are, after all, diodes, and when they are passing the positive side of the sine wave they will emit light and go dim when the negative side hits. If this is the case you'll get a 50hz or 60hz flicker depending on what the local grid uses. They'd still have to step the voltage and current down to something really low that the LED can handle, but they don't necessarily need to rectify it.

They can also use two LEDs, one wired with opposite polarity, to eliminate the flicker. As one goes out the other will light. If one LED fails in this arrangement, again, flicker.

[Trumple]

[QUOTE=judgeofdeath;48546714]He's probably talking about a common method of dimming an LED. If you make an LED flicker on and off really fast, it'll look less bright to the naked eye.[/QUOTE]

PWM? That would likely be controlled by an IC in the street lamp itself, so we wouldn't see lots of street lamps with the same issue

[editline]26th August 2015[/editline]

[QUOTE=TestECull;48546961]It's entirely possible they omit the rectifier entirely. LEDs will run quite happily on AC current as well as DC current. They are, after all, diodes, and when they are passing the positive side of the sine wave they will emit light and go dim when the negative side hits. If this is the case you'll get a 50hz or 60hz flicker depending on what the local grid uses. They'd still have to step the voltage and current down to something really low that the LED can handle, but they don't necessarily need to rectify it.

They can also use two LEDs, one wired with opposite polarity, to eliminate the flicker. As one goes out the other will light. If one LED fails in this arrangement, again, flicker.[/QUOTE]

Yes absolutely, but that doesn't explain the strange long-period flicker we see in the video, that might just explain why you see flicker in a recorded video of street lamps if your camera settings are wrong. The human eye can't see 50Hz flicker very easily
Even with a rectifier you will see flicker at 50/60Hz (or 100/120Hz depending on how the wave is rectified)

[Géza!]

[QUOTE=judgeofdeath;48546714]He's probably talking about a common method of dimming an LED. If you make an LED flicker on and off really fast, it'll look less bright to the naked eye.[/QUOTE]

That explains why certain dimmer LED lamps make my eyes hurt

[Codemaster85]

[QUOTE=l337k1ll4;48544440]They're LEDs, hence the color, most American cities have begun completely replacing streetlights with LEDs and the ones that aren't are on a "replace them with LEDs when they break" policy.[/QUOTE]

they also generate a lot less light pollution:
[img]http://nofilmschool.com/sites/default/files/uploads/2013/12/cleantechnica-led-street-lighting-lights-lamps-sodium-vapor-mercury-clean-green-la-los-angeles.jpg[/img]

[Minelayer]

[QUOTE=codemaster85;48549419]they also generate a lot less light pollution:
[img]http://nofilmschool.com/sites/default/files/uploads/2013/12/cleantechnica-led-street-lighting-lights-lamps-sodium-vapor-mercury-clean-green-la-los-angeles.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]

I've heard that they're actually generating a lot more.

[Ding Dong]

[QUOTE=Minelayer;48549681]I've heard that they're actually generating a lot more.[/QUOTE]

Can we get some data in here?

[Snickerdoodle]

[QUOTE=exhale77;48549856]Can we get some data in here?[/QUOTE]
It would seem as though LED [I]is[/I] pissing off astronomers.

Source 1: [URL]http://www.flagstaffdarkskies.org/for-wonks/lamp-spectrum-light-pollution/[/URL]
This article compares sodium light spectrums to LED.

Low pressure sodium:
[IMG]http://www.flagstaffdarkskies.org/WPdev/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/lps-spectrum.jpg[/IMG]

High pressure sodium:
[IMG]http://www.flagstaffdarkskies.org/WPdev/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/hps-spectrum.jpg[/IMG]

FLED:
[IMG]http://www.flagstaffdarkskies.org/WPdev/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/fled-spectrum.jpg[/IMG]

LED 2400K:
[IMG]http://www.flagstaffdarkskies.org/WPdev/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/LED2400K-300x36.jpg[/IMG]

LED 4100K:
[IMG]http://www.flagstaffdarkskies.org/WPdev/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/LED4100K-300x36.jpg[/IMG]

LED 5100K:
[IMG]http://www.flagstaffdarkskies.org/WPdev/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/led-spectrum.jpg[/IMG]

Source 2: [URL]http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Elxvm0qfQgAJ:www.universetoday.com/107372/leds-light-pollution-solution-or-night-sky-nemesis/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us[/URL]
(website is down right now so we have to use the cached version)
Shows a lot of examples of how bright LEDs appear vs. other lights, especially when unshielded.

[IMG]http://i2.wp.com/www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/LED-HPS-compared.jpg[/IMG]

Source 3: [URL]http://www.osa.org/en-us/about_osa/newsroom/news_releases/2013/new_led_streetlight_design_curbs_light_pollution/[/URL]
About a new development to LED streetlamps that address the problem.

[Scratch]

[QUOTE=Minelayer;48549681]I've heard that they're actually generating a lot more.[/QUOTE]

They do more in creation, but in the long term are better

[Notanything]

I would really love to see LED streetlights where I live, though, I must admit the orange glow I've been accustomed to for most of my life has a charm to it. It's a shame it's not likely to change for a long time, since replacing all the street lights to LED would be both a timely, and costly endeavor to the city.

[Drake1o2]

[QUOTE=Scratch.;48550906]They do more in creation, but in the long term are better[/QUOTE]

What? Long term light pollution doesn't make sense. Light pollution is gone the moment you turn the lights off.

[Recurracy]

[QUOTE=judgeofdeath;48551245]What? Long term light pollution doesn't make sense. Light pollution is gone the moment you turn the lights off.[/QUOTE]
no you're wrong you see the light dusts bounce off the uv-shield layer back into our earth and warm it due to global interference didn't you read anything you dum dum

[JennyC6]

[QUOTE=Notanything;48550925]I would really love to see LED streetlights where I live, though, I must admit the orange glow I've been accustomed to for most of my life has a charm to it. It's a shame it's not likely to change for a long time, since replacing all the street lights to LED would be both a timely, and costly endeavor to the city.[/QUOTE]

It's entirely possible to tune the LEDs to emit the same spectrum of light and retain that characteristic orange glow. Something the city should perhaps look into?

[pr00ch]

[QUOTE=codemaster85;48549419]they also generate a lot less light pollution:
[img]http://nofilmschool.com/sites/default/files/uploads/2013/12/cleantechnica-led-street-lighting-lights-lamps-sodium-vapor-mercury-clean-green-la-los-angeles.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]

Soviet sodium lamps ftw

Not really though, they are comfy AF during winter though

[isak]

[QUOTE=TestECull;48551531]It's entirely possible to tune the LEDs to emit the same spectrum of light and retain that characteristic orange glow. Something the city should perhaps look into?[/QUOTE]

let's put instagram filters on our streetlights

[munchito696]

[QUOTE=Minelayer;48549681]I've heard that they're actually generating a lot more.[/QUOTE]
If you look above, the one on the left has a sky that is lit up. On the right the sky above the lights is dark. This could also just be the camera's brightness adjusting to the bright LEDs though, so it's hard to tell from just a picture.

[gnomical]

I heard that it could be something to do with how the daylight sensor functioned, that it detected more bluer light and the older sodium lamps produced more yellow/red light and very little blue light, but the LEDs produce enough blue light to trip the neighboring light into thinking it is day, which them caused a loop to occur with the lights turning on and off again. Given these lights are toggling pretty rapidly it is probably LED as sodium and such requires time to heat up. Just a guess.

[Snickerdoodle]

[QUOTE=munchito696;48553740]If you look above, the one on the left has a sky that is lit up. On the right the sky above the lights is dark. This could also just be the camera's brightness adjusting to the bright LEDs though, so it's hard to tell from just a picture.[/QUOTE]

Which is why I posted the data below that

[bunguer]

[QUOTE=codemaster85;48549419]they also generate a lot less light pollution:
[img]http://nofilmschool.com/sites/default/files/uploads/2013/12/cleantechnica-led-street-lighting-lights-lamps-sodium-vapor-mercury-clean-green-la-los-angeles.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]

The yellow light is much more comfortable to the eyes imo The other makes everything look death and bright.

[Trumple]

[QUOTE=bunguer;48560287]The yellow light is much more comfortable to the eyes imo The other makes everything look death and bright.[/QUOTE]

It looks much more like natural light, which I think is supposed to be safer?

[It's crispy]

[QUOTE=bunguer;48560287]The yellow light is much more comfortable to the eyes imo The other makes everything look death and bright.[/QUOTE]

That's probably just because you're used to the yellow light, and because it's a warmer color. The other light is really neutral, which means things look their own color. Look at the trees and the line on the road for example, the colors are much more distinct whereas the old yellow lights just make everything look yellow. Brightness-wise they're about the same