LED Bulb Failures

[cadman]

Rather than hijack the other thread, I figured I'd start a new one regarding LED bulb failures. Figured you guys might like to see pics.

This is my biggest gripe about LED lighting...in order to keep the cost down, pennies are pinched on the power supplies. Not enough suppression for radio interference, cheap capacitors that eventually fail, heat-generating components pushed to their limit.

I pulled this board out of a failed Osram 9BR30 floodlight (9 watt). The plastic housing had yellowed around the outside of the board location (yikes), and you can clearly see a failed electrolytic cap that did it in. The FR4 material is also discolored from heat and the solder joints show heat-related stress (mottling and color haze).

Judging by the date code, this was made the 37th week of 2015, so just over 3 years life.

 

[turquoisedude]

I'm extremely unlucky with LED bulbs down at the house in Ogden... About a year ago, I put in 4 as an expiriment. Only 1 of the 4 is still in service. Our power supply can be a bit hinky, especially in winter when it can wink on and off several times during a stormy night but I am surprised at how delicate these bulbs can be. Fortunately, I hoarded a good supply of 40 and 25 watt incandescents year ago... LOL

 

[henene4]

We have LED lighting at several points in our house back down in Bavaria and in several locations up here and I have yet to see a failure.

The oldest bulb is a Phillips in our livingroom back home and is in there for probably 5 years now.

While less then a year is questionable for a LED bulb, depending on runtime, 3 years can be "enough" to make financial sense.

LEDs make the most sense in light fixtures that are well ventilated and run a longer period.

Heat is the biggest issue with these systems, followed by quick and often switching.

Don't see why an LED bulb need's much RF surpression beyond a single cap...

 

[yogitunes]

LED's...especially ones like Xmas lights, can throw some other systems into havoc....its on the label, that it may cause interference.....

its been reported that ones made in China can be a poor choice to purchase....
even though it says 'Made in the USA', components inside may say otherwise...

I was going to ask how long a life are others getting from their bulbs....as many boast upwards of 9 years service....2 to 3 years is more practical....I should start writing a date on mine, just to keep track....

one advantage over the CFL spiral ones, LED's can be used in any position.....learned that the hard way with the CFL's...

since this vid was posted, LED's have come down in price.....many have energy Saver coupons attached, reducing them to about $1.50 a piece...

 

[DADoES]

 
I've not (yet) had any failures except with two of three Cree floods.  Rest of my floods are Sylvania and Utilitech.  Non-floods are variously Cree, GE, Utilitech, and Walmart.

 

[henene4]

That inteference surprises me though... The switchmodes in these run in the 1-digit MHz range, and not much more in them could cause any noticeable amount of noise, or am I missing something?

 

[cfz2882]

I have had good luck with mine...

I have several dozen various LEDs and a few CFLs in use at home,shop,outbuildings,and outdoor-only a couple failures using these for about a decade:1st was ~2009 "Lights of America"-lamp had 56 T1-3/4diodes in two series strings-1 diode would short and upset the voltage balance causing cascade failure of other diodes -two ofthese lamps did the same thing Next up was a 100w equiv.Wall Mart "Great value" from 2017,this of the latest LED"filament " typever a couple months,one strip would flicker a little then stay out-then it starting flickering like crazy for about 45 sec and went out.

 

[cadman]

Regarding interference, it's enough to cause a problem with my AM radio reception.

Surprisingly, there was no FCC requirement prior to 2016 to even take radiated emission measurements on these things from the 30-1000MHz range, which most other electronic equipment must meet. CFLs were also terrible in this regard.

 

[gusherb]

Almost every Cree bulb I've bought has failed some way or another. The worst offenders are some candelabra style bulbs I got for the island pendants, they tend to only last around a year. I made a warranty claim with Cree and they just sent me a whole case of them which surprised me at the time but i've been going through them, so they must've known those bulbs were junk.   

 

At work I began converting all the lighting to LED 3 years ago starting with GU10 bulbs for all the track lights, they were some chinese brand sold by Lighting Ever warrantied for 3 years...I went through two sets of all 18 of them before they gave up and just refunded me the entire purchase before the 3 years was up.   

 

The only bulbs I haven't had fail yet at work or at home are the Philips bulbs. I have a candelabra bulb at home that's been going for 6+ years. 

 

OTOH I have incandescent bulbs that see regular use at home that are up to 13 years old. I just replaced 2 60 watt GE Reveal bulbs in my bathroom fixture after 6.5 years. 

 

[lakewebsterkid]

1 failure

I have only had one LED fail. It was a GE branded bulb used outside. GE sent me a voucher for a new free bulb very quickly.

 

[robbinsandmyers]

About 3 years ago I bought a case of 40W Feit Electric LED bulbs from my old job because they had a True Value hardware store in one part of the complex. These run 16 hours every day and I've yet to burn any out in the house. They claim $0.72 per year to run who knows.

 

[circlew]

Overheated LED

One morning about 3 weeks ago, I flipped the switch for the kitchen light, and it didn't come on. It was working perfectly fine the night before until I turned it off. I turned the switch on again, and left it on this time. A minute or two later, I was over at the sink washing a bowl for my oatmeal, when I noticed a burning smell. I wondered if I'd absentmindedly turned the burner on without any water in the pan, but the range wasn't on. Then I noticed a bit of a haze up by the ceiling, so knew it had something to do with the light. I immediately shut the switch off, then turned the circuit breaker for that circuit off. At that time I was afraid it might be the wiring going to the fixture, so I waited a couple minutes, and the smell started to dissipate. I got a step stool, and felt the ceiling to make sure it wasn't hot from any fire in it, but luckily it was cold.

I removed the bulb from the fixture to examine it. I didn't find any damage to the fixture, but the bulb had a strong burned smell to it. It was a Sylvania 13W (100W equivalent, made in China) that had been in use for about 1.5 years. I replaced it with a new Sylvania LED 11W (100W equivalent) that is assembled in the USA, and has a glass shell. It worked fine, and it puts out good light.

I called Ledvance Sylvania to tell them of my experience, as I was afraid if I hadn't been there, the bulb may have caught fire. The lady took down all the info, and said they would send a replacement. It arrived last week, so now I have a spare.

Previous LED bulbs were Cree, and one of them started flickering, and the other's outside shell fell to the floor one day, so I tossed both of them.