"Drive" it like you stole it

[Warhead]

At what point do you think LEDs will become expendable? So when a pill, or drop it, or module is so easy and cheap to replace...that they're driven to the point they will only last for X number of hours and be designed for a comparatively short life? ie:not xthousand hours?

 

[Dodge]

Most consumers would much rather have something that lasts 10,000 hours (effectively a lifetime) rather than something that produces 30% more light but has to be replaced regularly. So "never", if we're talking about the mass market.

Incidently (and this isn't meant to be personal in any way) I hate that "drive it like you stole it" phrase. Apart from the fact that I'm not sure that "stole" is the correct second person past tense of "to steal", I feel it glorifies car theft.

 

[HKJ]

At what point do you think LEDs will become expendable? So when a pill, or drop it, or module is so easy and cheap to replace...that they're driven to the point they will only last for X number of hours and be designed for a comparatively short life? ie:not xthousand hours?

I do not believe it will ever happen in flashlights. What kills leds are temperature and as long as the led has a good connection to the body of the flashlight, the light will get to hot to handle before the led will take any damage.

 

[Cydonia]

The LED might theoretically last 10,000 hours... but will the driver electronics?
I don't think 99% of all LED flashlights will get to see 1000 hours use let alone 10,000. The flashlight will get dropped and cease functioning long before the LED fails anyway.
Or the electronics will fail from poor heatsinking or the light being dropped. And if we are talking about those AA and AAA lights, where people will use alkaline cells, then, the major failure mode will be leaking alkalines. Obsolescence will kill the rest off. Fast forward 20 years... how many of today's LED flashlights will be around? By then your keychain light will be putting out thousands of lumens

 

[nerdgineer]

I think this has already been the case for quite a while with the 5 mm single LED lights. The original Arc AAA (and possibly also later models) got 3 lumens by driving it's LED at something past 60 mA, 3x spec. That meant the 50% LED life was in the neighborhood of 1500 hours. Many of the original Arc AAA's competitors such as the CMG Infinity Ultra followed suit.

The high powered LED (Luxes, et al) lights vary a lot in their design but there are certainly a few in there where the LED is overdriven or undersinked or both.

I think most manufacturers are aware that the customers' typical usage is such that a shorter lived, higher driven LED will outsell one "properly" designed for the long term.

[Edit - wrong data given] I found the original research article, and corrected the 60 mA 50% lifetime to 1500 hours (page 9 of article).

 

[defloyd77]

Ya know the whole driving like you stole it thing doesn't make sense in the way people use it. If you ever watch those shows where the cops have a bait car with cams, they theives drive all slow and paranoid. So really they already do have flashlights that are driven like they're stolen:nana:.

 

[fluke]

"Drive it like you stole it" strictly speaking is wrong.

"Drive it like you rented it" is much more fitting

 

[scottaw]

I'm pretty sure this has already happened. Last time I placed an order to lighthound they gave me a free light. It's they're new $1 fauxton, and it's awesome. It puts out plenty of light and it's not worth replacing the battery in a $1 light, so i'll just buy 10 more next time I order from them.