Company H is a specialized manufacturer of various lighting fixtures, and handles residential lighting, commercial lighting, etc. Recently, the company embarked on the development of a new model of "high-brightness LED lighting for the stage" to be installed in theaters and other venues, but faced several challenges. Director O of the development department at Company H explains:
"LED lighting is generally considered to have a long lifespan, but the lifespan is affected by the temperature of the LED element. In particular, in recent years, high brightness is required for LED lighting, so cooling measures to suppress heat generation from LED elements have become an issue. Our current LED lighting was equipped with AC Cooling Fan, but the expected lifespan of the fan at an ambient temperature of 60°C was 25,000 hours. Because the area around the fan gets quite hot, the lifespan is shorter than that of an LED lamp, and maintenance such as replacing the fan midway was necessary. Maintenance is costly and time-consuming, so we were looking for a maintenance-free AC Cooling Fan, but it was difficult to find one."
Therefore, Mr. O and his development team considered installing DC Cooling Fan, which has a longer expected lifespan than AC Cooling Fan. However, to secure a DC power source, it would be necessary to install a power supply inside the device, which would increase its weight and size, which was an issue.
While continuing to gather information for new product development, Mr. O. learned that his problem could be solved with the "ACDC Fan" proposed by SANYO DENKI CO., LTD., one of the manufacturers he had contacted. Mr. O. was very interested and immediately decided to hear more about it from the person in charge.
The first thing that caught Mr. O's attention was that the excellent performance of DC Cooling Fan, such as its long life and low power consumption, could be obtained with an AC power source.
"ACDC Fan are based on DC Cooling Fan, and are powered by converting AC power to DC power inside the fan. Compared to AC Cooling Fan that our company had been using, the expected lifespan has increased by 2.4 times, from 25,000 hours to 60,000 hours(*). We were convinced that we could achieve maintenance-free new models of LED lighting. What's more, the power consumption of the fans has been reduced to one-third, which also contributes to energy savings." (Mr. O)
(*) L10: Survival rate 90%, 60℃, rated voltage, continuous operation, free air condition
"Since we can use the same AC power supply as is, we no longer need to incorporate a power supply unit inside the device, which was a concern. Also, because ACDC Fan uses a plastic frame, it is nearly 30% lighter than the aluminum frames of current AC Cooling Fan, making it possible to reduce weight and size," said Mr. O.
In addition to these benefits, the fact that ACDC Fan can be used over a wide range of AC from 90V to 264V also supported the decision to adopt them.
"Because our products are also sold overseas, the fact that they can be used anywhere in the world without having to worry about voltage was a huge attraction. Previously, we had to prepare fans with different voltages to suit each export country, but with a wide range, we can use just one model, which makes it much easier to procure fans and manage inventory. This was another major benefit," said Mr. O.
Mr. O was satisfied with the explanation given by the person in charge and carried out an evaluation together with the development team. As a result, the team also gave it a high evaluation, and H company decided to officially adopt SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. 's "ACDC Fan".
"Development progressed smoothly, and we were able to overcome the initial challenge of making it maintenance-free, and produce a product with features such as energy saving, lightweight and wide range.
"The full-scale adoption of LED lighting overseas has yet to come. With this product, we believe we have laid the groundwork for aggressive expansion into the global market in the future," said Mr. O.
For more information about ACDC Fan, please see "Features of ACDC Fan ".
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