Rebel LED life?

[WadeF]

I noticed on my new Fenix P3D Rebel box it states a Lifetime Luxeon Rebel LED. I believe before with the CREE's they stated things like 50,000 hours, 100,000 hours, etc. Are the Rebels supposed to last longer, past 100,000 hours of use? Obviously it would take over 100,000 hours to find out for sure, but are there any theories out there for their expected life?

 

[WildChild]

I don't think many prople can get a good answer about that! For sure they DO last for a long time but life of a LED depends of many factors. I'm pretty sure you will spend a lot more in batteries than the price of the flashlight itself because you'll be able to nice any signifiant dimming. Based on the fact that a flashlight isn't used that much, I'm pretty sure the LED can last for a lifetime.

By the way, I have 2 LED (5mm) nightlight, one is only activated at night while the other is always on. More than 1 year passed (over 10 000h) since I have it and I cannot tell if it has dimmed or not. The LED looks well underdriven as for exemple, my gf's Fenix E0 looks a lot brighter next to it and it probably did look much brighter when I got the nightlight.

 

[LukeA]

Industry best lumen maintenance - 50,000 hours life at 700 mA with 70% lumen maintenance

http://www.lumileds.com/products/line.cfm?lineId=19

 

[WildChild]

4sevens tested that the Rebel receives around 840 mA on Turbo in the P3D.

Based on that:

http://lights.chevrofreak.com/runtimes/Fenix P3D/Fenix P3D - max.png

the light will run for around 2h on Turbo before low battery warning.

If you always run the P3D on Turbo, at this drive level, if the LED last for, lets say, 15 000h down to 70% lumens maintenance, that's around 7 500 batteries change.

7 500 * 2$ per cell = 15 000$ to run the P3D until LED "dies"!!! I'm not sure it will ever happen!

Also, if you use it for 1h every nights, that's over 41 years before hitting the 15 000h limit.

More likely, the circuit will probably fail before because of a drop or a bad solder join. If it breaks, you'll only have to return it to the dealer for a replacement (if Fenix still exists when it happens). And also, by the time, more efficient lights will be released and you probably won't be using your P3D anymore.

Conclusion: Don't worry about LED life and use and enjoy your lights!

 

[WadeF]

Conclusion: Don't worry about LED life and use and enjoy your lights!

I'm not worried about the LED's in my flashlights, I was more curious about their use in home lighting, street lighting, etc.

 

[WildChild]

I'm not worried about the LED's in my flashlights, I was more curious about their use in home lighting, street lighting, etc.

They are starting to use them in street lighting. I think there's a town in North Carolina who replaced a few HID lamp assemblies with LED (I don't remember the name). Also, at least here in Québec, they replaced almost all the incandescent traffic light bulbs with LED assemblies. Much brighter and easier to see! At least, some after 4-5 years of operation still haven't shown major sign of dimming. They are rated for a 10 years life (from what they said in news papers). Also, I saw dimmed LEDs on BUS signs, but from bus older than 10 years! Some LEDs on these sings are lit for more than 12h per days, it's over 50 000h of life. Often, when those signs break, it's because of bad electronic behind and some stripes of LEDs stop working together.