7 Years later, this Cree 4FLOW LED light bulb finally gave up the ghost.
Based on my limited failure analysis thus far, the only failure I can see thus far is 1 of 8 cree SMD LED modules.
The large electrolytic capacitor charges up to 300 V, when powered off a 30V bench power supply.
I thought the mechanical design of this light bulb was very innovative for its time.
Ultimately this bulb style never caught on. I don't know that it performs any better or last any longer than the sealed round globe bulbs.
Here are a few teardown photos:
Update: It Works!
I removed the dead LED module and replaced it with a 10 Ohm 0805 resistor to compete the LED string and so I can measure the LED drive current.
Let there be light!
Each LED module appears to have 10 individual LEDs
I powered the bulb with two power supplies in series totaling 81V and measured an operating current of 95 mA. Pin = 7.70 W
The drive voltage to the LED string was measured at 202V with a string current of 33.5 mA, Pout = 6.77 W
So for this test the efficiency was 88%, reasonable enough.
The first time I reassembled the bulb nothing happened. I had the second PCB inserted in the wrong orientation. Its a shame they didn't arrange the PCB spring contacts such that you can only make electrical contact when the PCB is inserted in the correct orientation.
