Of course we can rely on efficient LED lighting for those production process where stability of the luminous flux and resistance to chips and liquids are required. And though state-of-the-art manufacturing luminaires are extremely performing even under extreme conditions, it's important to know what effectively puts at risk their long operational life.
TEMPERATURE
The inside of a machine can develop very high temperatures, while up-to-date machine LED lights are specifically designed to efficiently dissipate their specific internal, operational heat. So if, thanks to the shape of their components, they perform to keep a specific temperature while on, how do they cope with the machine heat?
Power dissipation caused by the internal functions of the luminaire could be a major contributing factor and since approximately 70 to 80% of the energy spent on making the light shine is converted into heat, the luminaire may have to endure temperatures as high as 100 C° during use. This limit must be taken into consideration when installing a LED light inside a machine. LED luminaires like ours contain proper heat dissipators, but environmental heat is a hugely important factor to consider. So when picking a LED machine luminaire and before installing it, make sure all the temperature ranges listed on the official documents are respected.
OILS AND COOLANTS
Heat carries a lot of problems. Other than pure operational temperature crossing, it affects also materials that comescome into contact with the surface of the luminaire. This is the case with coolants.
There are now several types of machine coolants on the market, the most common of which can be broadly categorized as cutting oils or water-miscible fluids. Water-miscible fluids, including soluble oils, synthetics and semi synthetics, are now used in approximately 80 to 90% of all applications.
Well designed machine lights such those by CCEA, offer an efficient internal heat dissipation guaranteeing a cold surface of the luminaire which stays cold to the touch. This way, the front protection is not affected by the temperature of lubricants and oils it gets in contact with while the machine is working. This helps keeping the front protection of the luminaire clear and transparent, with no brown shadows and perfect efficiency during its lifetime.
LIQUIDS AND DUST
Many industrial machines use water for several production phases. The main reason in manufacturing machines is the need for constant and stable lubrication and heat dissipation. This could create problem in specific parts of the production phase if the luminaire suffers inflitrations at any stage.
Dust also has an important role in shortening the life of machinery lighting devices: in general, industrial dust is any dust created during the processing of certain materials in the workplace. These processes could include sanding, crushing, conveying, mixing, or any other activity that create fine particles. Sometimes these particles are almost invisible and can penetrate the luminaire.
Well designed machine luminaires guarantee a certain degree of IP protection in order to avoid this to happen. Precise layout and measuring during the designing process and production, combined with the choice of high quality materials is fundamental to achieve higher IP degree.
CHIPS
We talk about “chips”, to refer to excess material that’s created as a byproduct from a manufacturing machine or process. When performing a manufacturing process on a workpiece, chips are often created as a byproduct. Using a lathe to cut a metal workpiece, for instance, will create chips in the form of metal shavings. Even sanding a wooden workpiece will create chips in the form of sawdust. While metal shavings are obviously very different than sawdust, they are both considered chips because they are a byproduct of manufacturing processes.
Chips hit the front protection of the luminaire and can cause severe damage:
scratching the front protection jeopardizing the clearness of the luminous flux and the transparency of the lighting output
breaking the front protection causing potential harm to the operator due to splinters of glass while exposing the internal space of the luminaire
Impact damage caused by chips is covered into the IK protection degree. IK Ratings are an international numeric classification to indicate the degrees of protection provided by enclosures for electrical equipment against external mechanical impacts. This classification provides a means of specifying the capacity of an enclosure to protect its contents from external impacts in accordance with IEC 62262:2002 and IEC 60068-2-75:1997. See more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EN_62262 .
WHY AKNOWLEDGING THE DANGER
Lighting devices are a fundamental part of the manufacturing industrial process. Bad quality luminaires put the operator's safety at risk, causing eye damage and exposing him or her to the risk of splinters and electrocution if the luminaire breaks due to impact or misdesign. Also, bad quality luminaires cannot stand the basic environment hazards of a production plant such as splinters, dust, liquids and coolants or oils, and provoke mistakes during the production, slowing the general capacity of the production plant.
Here starts the importance of picking a high quality luminaire for your production plant and why doing it now.