Electronic – Small circuit board issue

bridge-rectifierpcb

Background of issue:
I have a LED lamp with 2 different modes and an on/off switch for each of these. There is a fan that's supposed to be cooling off the LEDs but is not functioning in 1 of the modes, so after taking the thing apart I found a small circuit board (illustrated in the attachment).

I have very limited knowledge in electronics but it's obvious the fan won't work for switch 1 since the wires are isolated and only the 2nd switch is connected to the fan wires through a bridge rectifier(MB10S).

Seems to me that the board was either set up wrong to start with or it's just wired incorrectly, and I'm trying to understand what's going on here.

What purpose does the bridge rectifier serve in this case ? Would it be an issue if I wired Switch1 directly to the fan wires ? Or is there a better way to make this work ?

**I have no idea what the L and N stand for, that's just how the board is labeled on the back.

enter image description here

Best Answer

Please forget about the switch 1.It's not connected anywhere.Come to the point of switch 2.The L and N stands for Line and Neural in the AC power supply,which you get in your home.Current flow from Line to Neutral.The MB10S,as you said is a bridge rectifier.

    A bridge rectifier will convert an AC current to pulsating DC current.In AC current we use Line and Neutral,in DC current,as you know,we represent +ve and -ve terminals.
    Your output to the fan may be a DC motor,so you use a AC to DC converter like the bridge rectifier.But actually,this circuit is supposed to work.Make sure that the AC input given voltage limited(below the maximum voltage that bridge rectifier can tolerate and work fine).Otherwise,the rectifier will burn or damage.
    You can find the line and neutral by using a tester.If you put the tester in Line,The LED inside will glow.If it's neutral,the LED wont glow.
    In your PCB,add a capacitor in-between the +ve and -Ve output parallel to the output to stablise the DC current and so that you can get almost a good DC voltage.The capacitor will eliminate the ripples from the rectifier(the smoothing of pulsating DC voltage) and you'll get a better DC current.The more capacitance you add,that much ripples are eliminated.
    Use a step down transformer to the L and N point of the PCB like 9-0-9 V transformer or 12-0-12 V.I don't find anything wrong with this circuit.
    If you think to control also by switch 1 solder the switch 1's L to switch 2 L.Also for the N wire also.Here is the picture
resolder

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