LED lighting is characterized not only by consuming less energy in exchange for higher performance, but also by having a longer useful life than other technical and technological solutions. Today we are going to focus on the packaging process of 2835, 3014 and 3528 LEDs.
Before diving into the details, it is important to discuss a couple of technical terms. SMD LED stands for ‘Surface Mount LED’. The manufacturing process involves mounting the chip on a small desk-like surface that eventually becomes an LED.
The packaging process consists of three steps:
1. Mounting the chip on a desktop with the use of adhesives
2. Connecting the chip to the host system with a link cable
3. Color the chip with a phosphor-based color.
For a better understanding of how the naming system works, there is a simple rule to follow. It’s pretty straightforward: each packaging process is named after its respective LED product dimensions. For example, ‘3528’ means the product dimensions are 3.5*2.8mm.
The 2835, 3014 and 3528 packaging processes are all based on Epistar and chips of similar dimensions. Generally speaking, the design of SMD 2835 is newer and more advanced than that of 3014 and 3528.
The 2835’s heat sink system is substantially more efficient, because it has a larger rear heat sink than the 3014 and the 3528 has no rear heat sink at all. This allows the 2835 LEDs to draw higher amounts of current and generate more light output.
1. The bigger the chip, the better
If we take the 3528 as an example, its manufacturer could use a 10*16, 10*18 or 10*23 dimension chip to produce the LED. Although all three can work with 20 ma, each one generates a different luminous flux.
However, most lamp buyers will find it very difficult to know the actual make and dimensions of the chip, and the only real way to find out is to put the lamp through an optical performance test.
2. A controversial design
Higher drive currents will produce more light flux and heat within a chip. 3528, 3014 and 2835 use the 10*23mm chip, but the drive currents are different. It is controversial in that even though the 3014 and 2835 have a larger heat sink, a chip in these packages could run at higher currents. Still, it has become the most popular design by far.