Why a mains filter with overvoltage protection makes sense.

While our LED lights have been on the market since 2013, there have also been occasional complaints. This can never be completely avoided, even with the greatest quality efforts.
Unusual, however, are those (only approx. 0.1% of all orders) in which LED strips already showed partial or complete failures after a relatively short operating time of only a few weeks and months. As a result, these defective LED strips were replaced by us, but unfortunately this only provided a short-term remedy and a similar error pattern was soon apparent. Here the assumption was obvious that overvoltage in the network of the customers was the reason for the failure of the LED lighting. We have therefore examined this topic more closely.

Observe overvoltage protection.

Even if you immediately think of a thunderstorm and lightning strike, overvoltage damage to the LED lighting usually has other, less conspicuous and insidious causes.
A lightning strike leads to a short-term overvoltage and to immediate failure and irrevocable defect of the lighting. Cause and effect are immediately and clearly recognisable. But there is also the long-term overvoltage. This initially goes unnoticed, but considerably impairs the service life of the LED lighting until visible damage and progressive failure occur after just a few weeks and months.
It is already sufficient if fluorescent tubes are operated in the same circuit with conventional ballasts (e.g. another older aquarium lighting) or electric motors (e.g. in vacuum cleaners, drills, etc.). This results in voltage peaks in the nano- or microsecond range, i.e. short-term increases in the mains voltage caused by switching operations in the electrical circuit or electrostatic discharges. For a short time, up to 10,000 volts are released into the line, only for fractions of a second, but this is sufficient to irreparably damage LED modules, electrical components or power supply units. Even power failures in the environment indirectly cause considerable overvoltages when the power is restored and all possible consumers suddenly resume operation at the same time.
How such an event affects the mains in your home and consequently the LED lighting depends on the type of installation and the protective circuits installed by the electrician. If you experience a massive failure of the LED lighting within a few weeks or months, it is in all probability not the quality of the LED lighting, but external influences. A mains filter with overvoltage protection should be installed on the affected supply line. Our LED lights can reach the value of a computer or television set, so you should protect them at least equally against overvoltage. Damage to the LED lighting caused by overvoltage is expressly not covered by the warranty. This is why we recommend the EMZ 504 broadband mains filter with overvoltage protection in the event of an unclean mains supply and/or overvoltage problems, or it can be seen preventively as a kind of "insurance".