Yep, and the risk is generally in the driver, not the LEDs themselves (what most people refer to as LEDs are in fact LED bulbs or light fittings, which incorporate the LEDs and a driver). If the driver is external then it's much easier to replace.
There are ways to set up LED fittings so that they are immune to surges. I have used 24 volt DC power supplies to drive strings of power LEDs which have their current limited by a simple robust linear LED driver. The only thing that can die in this setup is the power supply, which is a cheap off-the-shelf switchmode unit. Of course, this means you have to make the LED fittings yourself, but it isn't rocket science.
But really, any good quality LED bulb or fitting will have a reasonable degree of surge immunity built into it...
Posted Friday 8 Oct 2010 @ 9:20:47 am from IP
#