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Reminds me of the post about LED traffic lights. "But they accumulate snow!" Of course they do. And that's an easier problem to solve than having bulky, heavy
by ReactiveJelly 7y ago
Reminds me of the post about LED traffic lights.
"But they accumulate snow!"
Of course they do. And that's an easier problem to solve than having bulky, heavy, power-hungry lights that die quickly.
Having a little trouble soldering is an easier problem to deal with than having lead poisoning.
Personally, I'm pretty bad at soldering, so maybe it's time to finally swear off hardware projects.
- StavrosK 7y agoHow does the type of bulb used affect snow accumulation?
- andai 7y agoIncandescent bulbs produce a lot of heat, melting the snow. LEDs run fairly cool.
- StavrosK 7y agoAh, didn't think of that, thanks.
- Yizahi 7y agoPowerful LEDs also run rather hot, more specifically their power circuits. My pocket size flashlight would easily run up to 100 degrees I think but it has protection built-in and steps down brightness when overheated. And it only has 1 LED and 1 lithium cell for power. So it probably would have been easy to design external radiators for traffic lights internals, with a heatpipe or similar solution. But they would be more expensive that way.
- severak_cz 7y agoLED light does not produce enough heat to melt snow like old light bulbs.
- thesmok 7y agoMy bathroom mirror is LED-backlit. Old halogen-backlit mirrors do not fog because they get warm. When ordering my LED mirror I had an option to get it with a heating element built in. They just glued a heating film on the back of the mirror, and my mirror is not fogged after showering.
- xwdv 7y agoWe could solve that problem right now: Don't use LED traffic lights in areas that get snowfall.
- thanatropism 7y agoOr add optional heating elements to the traffic light package that turn on automatically based on temperature sensors.
- hannasanarion 7y agoThe benefits still vastly outweigh the costs of incandescents in electricity and maintenance. Special "scooped" visors direct wind across the face of the light to blow snow off, and for a couple extra bucks per light assembly you can get one with a heated face that still uses a tiny fraction of the power of incandescents.
- HeWhoLurksLate 7y ago> Personally, I'm pretty bad at soldering, so maybe it's time to finally swear off hardware projects. I wear gloves when soldering, and I'm building a fume extractor (currently using an out-of-room Shop Vac). Terrible at it, but getting better. Don't let your current skill level hold you back! It takes some work and practice, but so does everything else in life.
- outworlder 7y agoHow have you figured you are bad at soldering? Have you had training and _even_ then, remained bad at soldering? Or are you, like most of us, just winging it? I had some soldering lessons from people. But their technique, one way or the other, was flawed in some way. This is what I suggest: https://www.youtube.com/user/paceworldwide https://www.youtube.com/user/paceworldwide
- ChickeNES 7y agoTechnology Connections has a great video on LED traffic lights and how the concern about snow was overblown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiYO1TObNz8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiYO1TObNz8