Marl Optosource are pleased to announce availability of LED drivers and power supplies from Magtech as part of our distribution portfolio. 

An extensive range of drivers and power supplies are available, from low voltage dimmable drivers to high voltage AC power supplies.

The drivers are suitable for powering high power LED light engines and complement Marl's range of Lamina Atlas, Titan and TitanTurbo LED light engines.

All models are designed to meet stringent energy conservation requirements and  are RoHS and CE compliant.

Visit the Magtech website for more information
Contact the Marl Optosource sales team to place an order

Following three months of discussion and negotiation, Adrian Rawlinson has acquired the controlling interest in Marl International Ltd.  Graham Round has increased his minority shareholding, whilst Brian Ainley retains a shareholding interest in the Company.

The existing structure of the senior management team will remain in place, with the exception that Brian Ainley’s position as Chairman will now be as Non-Executive.

David Moorhouse and David Ford will remain on the Board of Directors.  It is worth noting that between the five senior officers of Marl, they have 125 years of experience with the company.

The shareholders have decided to make an additional significant investment into the Company in order to take advantage of the exciting opportunities which are emerging in the solid state lighting market for general lighting.  This is an exciting time for the industry and an exciting time for Marl.

Protection is key to making the most of an LED’s lifetime potential

by Nathan Orton, Design and Quality Manager
Marl International Limited

Service lifetimes of 70,000 – 100,000 hours, and power savings of up to 85% are leading to growing adoption of LEDs in place of other forms of indication and illumination. Incandescent bulbs, halogen lamps and even fluorescent tubes are being replaced in control panels and ambient lighting applications alike.

Since the rated life of the LED can be longer than the service life of the system in which it sits, the component is potentially maintenance free. Not only does this eliminate the direct cost of having a fitter replace the component at intervals, but it also reduces or eliminates the cost of a supporting stock of spares, as well as the need for preventative maintenance inspections.

However, the surrounding environment contains many hazards that can bring about the premature demise of an LED component. Given that an LED has twenty times the operational life of an incandescent bulb, it is also twenty times more likely to encounter abuse or accident. Environmental factors – shock, vibration, moisture ingress - can be to blame. An electrical malfunction or error during installation can expose it to a spike or a reverse current. A silent ‘killer’ is heat. Junction over-temperature can slowly but surely eat away at the life of the component – and impair its efficiency in the process.

A well designed LED fixture provides appropriate protection against such issues, and makes the difference between a component that is essentially maintenance-free, and one that still requires inspection and replacement at intervals.

The environment
In the industrial or transportation environment, specifying an IP67 sealed component that is fully potted for maximum resistance to vibration and shock is a no-brainer. In truth, there is no application where there is zero risk of the component being bathed in coffee or coke, or falling to the floor from an overburdened pair of arms. Marl, for this reason, fully pots almost every LED lamp providing outstanding protection against fluid ingress, shock and vibration. The cost overhead of doing so really isn’t that great, and is infinitely smaller than the cost to the customer than replacing a damaged device in the field.

Marl pots all its LED components to provide protection against damage by fluids, shock and vibration.

To ensure the fixture survives should the equipment be dropped, or worse physically attacked, the front needs to be toughened as well. Precautions that can be taken include the use of shatterproof glass and polycarbonate lenses and metal housings. Where there is serious risk of vandalism, tamperproof fixings can be provided.

Electrical malfunction
In electrical environments that are ‘noisy’ no engineer would dream of fitting an LED without providing appropriate over-voltage and reverse voltage protection. But in the end over-voltages and reversed polarities can come the way of an LED in any circuit. One can never entirely discount the risk of the power supply being connected backwards or adjusted incorrectly.

Fitting a diode or bridge rectifier is straightforward, and need not occupy much space. These simple precautions give reverse voltage protection or allow AC operation, making life easier for the designer, the production engineer and the service manager alike.

This bulb replacement LED incorporates a bridge rectifier to simplify electrical connection – but still fits into the same physical form factor as the bulb it replaces.

Similarly, some LEDs will survive higher levels of overvoltage than others. A 24V LED should not be exposed to more than 24V, but a quality device may survive exposure to as much as 32V. A lesser component will blow at 28V or less. If this sounds a fine distinction, the issue should be considered in the context of our expectations of the component. For an incandescent bulb with a service life of 5,000 hours, the expectation is that it will require frequent replacement. For an LED with a rated life of 100,000 hours, the expectation is that it will not, and it is much more noticeable when it does.

Thermal factors
LEDs are moving from indication to illumination – from the control panel to building and vehicle lighting applications. Although an LED generates minimal heat by comparison with other lighting technologies, it does still generate some. At 1W or above this thermal output can be enough to create issues, especially during prolonged use. Management of the heat output is critical to the longevity for LED components.

The key factor here is the junction temperature of the diode. Keeping the junction cool improves not only the service life but also the efficiency of the LED. The Lamina light engine used by Marl can be used at a junction temperature of 125°C – but is much more efficient if its junction temperature is kept to 55-60°C.

Marl uses a simulation driven design process in order to achieve a thermal design for its products that balances good heat removal with maintaining the minimum size and weight of heat sink. Thermal analysis using SolidWorks COSMOS 2007 software gives the temperature distribution, temperature gradient and heat flowing in the product – as well as the heat exchanged between the product and its environment. The movement of heat through the component and heat sink into the environment can be pictured by plotting heat flux vectors. The investment in software is amply repaid by the results it achieves. All prototypes are subjected to tests in a temperature chamber, and the measured temperatures are normally within 3-4° of the simulation result. Using this process, Marl has never had to redesign a product following the building of the prototype.

A heat distribution image from Marl’s thermal modelling software.

Fit and forget
LED panel indicators and lighting are revolutionising the industry by offering fit and forget illumination that can be all but eliminated from the maintenance schedule. A well designed fixture around the diode itself is needed to allow the LED component to achieve its full potential, in the face of the environmental, electrical and thermal issues it is likely to encounter during its operational life. 

Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow displays sensitive antique objects for the first time with Lamina LEDs.

Lamina, developer of the only 2000+ lumen commercially available LED light source joins the Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow, Scotland in celebrating its 200th year. To mark the occasion a complete redisplay was undertaken by the museum’s in-house lighting design team.

As part of the lighting scheme, approximately 330 LED lighting modules were installed, enabling certain delicate and ancient objects to be illuminated for the first time. Dave Russ, an engineer for the museum explains that Lamina’s warm-white LEDs allowed the replacement of many halogen light sources resulting in minimal maintenance costs and a vastly reduced energy budget.

"Most importantly, due to the low heat output and zero UV emission from the LEDs, we are able to illuminate sensitive parts of our collection in a much more aesthetically pleasing manner," says Russ. "The result is a stunning display of many objects that have never been presented to the public before."

These displays are based around Lamina’s Atlas™ Warm-White LED Light Engines. The emitters are bonded to a modified aluminum block and channel that acts as a heat sink and as a structural part of the display case. Buck puck drivers provide a constant current source, and coupled with a microcontroller and PWM signal the complete system can be gradually dimmed when the area is unoccupied.

The museum is divided into zones, each with sensors so that when a visitor leaves the zone the lights are dimmed after a few minutes. This reduces the energy consumption and also the exposure to light of sensitive objects.

“Effective lighting design enables museums and galleries to communicate with their public and provide a creative, safe, and meaningful context in which objects can be studied and enjoyed,” said Frank Shinneman, president and CEO of Lamina. “The promise of zero UV and IR in the light beam has made our LED products much sought after by museums around the globe.”

Recently, Lamina introduced two new product lines. The first is a series of light engines with outputs as bright as many traditional lights used in home, office, retail, commercial and exterior applications. The TitanTurbo™ series represents the state-of-the-art in high-output LED light engines. It is immediately available to lighting application designers in 2 models that deliver more than 2,000 lumens in daylight white and more than 1,000 lumens in warm white light.

The second line is comprised of LED-based replacement lamps designed as a direct, ready-to-plug-in retrofit for 20-watt MR-16 halogen and comparable compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). The first of its kind, the Lamina SoL™ MR16 LED line integrates a high power light source, optical lens and thermal heat sink shell in a traditional MR-16 halogen form-factor. This innovative design, which fits most existing fixtures, produces as much light as the 20-watt halogen bulb it replaces, but consumes less than 8 watts of electricity. As are all Lamina LED light engines, the SoL™ MR16 LED is fully compliant with the EU’s RoHS Directive restricting mercury, lead, cadmium and other hazardous substances.

Marl Optosource are proud to be the exclusive UK distributor of Lamina light engines.

Marl Optosource has launched the world’s brightest LED lamps in the UK, offering equivalent outputs to the spotlights widely used in commercial and residential recess down lighting, architectural lighting and lighting for streets and perimeters.

Lamina TitanTurbo™,  distributed in the UK by Marl Optosource, are the first LED lights to match a 100W tungsten lamp, and are designed to replace the popular R-20 flood lights. Until now, the brightest commercially-available LED light sources have only been able to rival the light output of a 20-30 watt tungsten accent lamp. TitanTurbo™ is immediately available from Marl Optosource to lighting application designers in 2 models – a 3000°K “warm white” version equal in light output to the widely used 75-watt halogen PAR-30 and equally popular 100-watt R-20 flood lights; and a 4700°K “daylight white” (cool) model twice as bright.

Delivering more than 2,000 lumens in daylight white and more than 1,000 lumens in warm white light, TitanTurbo LED light engines offer unsurpassed performance for all general lighting applications. The TitanTurbo Warm White has an enhanced red and orange color spectrum that makes it ideal as a halogen or incandescent replacement.

They feature a standard 60-degree beam pattern with additional wide, medium and narrow optics available. An integral EZ-Connect™ board eliminates the need for soldering and the metal base of each is electrically isolated, allowing wiring in parallel or series on a common heat sink. Both models feature integrated protection from electrostatic discharge (ESD) and superior thermal performance, resulting in long life, high lumen maintenance and outstanding reliability. All Lamina LED light engines are manufactured by combining high brightness LEDs from industry-leading LED manufacturers with the company’s own proprietary packaging technology. This technology is a breakthrough in thermal performance for LED packaging, a key factor in determining LED life and reliability. Unmatched thermal performance coupled with package interconnectivity allows Lamina to densely cluster multiple LEDs to achieve exceptionally high luminous intensity in very small footprints.