:\ Mag 4D LED Luxeon failure

I can't believe it, but it happened. Brand new Mag 4D LED loaded with fresh Rayovac D cells. I thought this one was significantly dimmer than my other 4D Mag LED. Well, a little bit later, it became extremely dim, then half of the luxeon die wasn't glowing. I could make it light up by flickering it. Within a minute, entire thing stopped giving off light. Still voltage across LED though.

I've never seen an LED fail until now. I'm not sure if something went wrong w/ the circuit killing the LED or the Luxeon happened to be defective.

The module might not have been able to handle 6.3v OCV (brand new battery) too well or the Luxeon suffered from initial failure.


Luxeon is probably not burned in before leaving factory and in that case, it's not immune from the bathtub curve.

Let see how Maglite's warranty handle that! :touche:

WildChild said:

Let see how Maglite's warranty handle that! :touche:

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I thought i remember reading someone's post that said they warranted against everything EXCEPT led failure....?

After reading this on the warranty, I wrote to Maglite to ask about this kind of failure! They said I should send them the LED module so they could examine it. They said nothing else.

havand said:

I thought i remember reading someone's post that said they warranted against everything EXCEPT led failure....?

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That exception is for the Minimag LED, but it isn't stated on the manual for the D size Mag LED.

On the 2D MagLED module I bought it is stated that there is NO warranty on the LED module except from initial failure (dead on arrival).

Another question, how many hours have you used your MagLED 4D before it died?

Solid state electronics can be prone to early life failures, that's just a fact of life.

Whatever store you bought it from probably has a 30 day return policy and you can return it to the store for a refund (possibly an exchange, depending upon the store) That is probably easier than sending it back to Mag.

Contacting Mag is the only way of ascertaining if they will replace/repair it under warranty if you want to pursue that avenue.

Handlobraesing said:

I've never seen an LED fail until now. I'm not sure if something went wrong w/ the circuit killing the LED or the Luxeon happened to be defective.

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Perhaps the led wasn't heatsinked well (like not even to the PR base). Did it ever turn a blue-ish green color?

WildChild said:

Another question, how many hours have you used your MagLED 4D before it died?

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Like two minutes. I noticed it was *ALOT* dimmer than my other 4D Mag LEDs and it did have a bluish color.

Then, next time I turned it on, only half the die lit up and in "moon mode" brightness. It then just quit.

Thanks for the most interesting report. I truly enjoy reading these.


FWIW, I had a MagLite failure a few weeks ago. This was a 4D unit, NIB. Never turned on. I traced the voltage and the heat-sink area was getting juice but the bulb wasn't cutting on.

I got it for the purpose of LED conversion. The MagLED wouldn't work in it, the original bulb wouldn't work in it, a different 'original' bulb woulnd't work in it, a Xenon bulb didn't work it.... It had an issue.

Moral of the story:

MagLite is not infallabile and makes its fair share of cr@p. Actually, we should see even more given the sheer volume.

Test your equipment before using it. Test it extensively. Let it fail during the test phase.

The flashlight mods b/s/t forum may still be the best answer for getting good led Maglites.
There is a lot of talent there offering up led modded Maglites that really kick butt. :rock:

Sounds like the led overheated if it was blu-ish or the die was damaged. Perhaps from lumileds or when it was mounted/soldered.

I agree if you want the best most durable reliable mag led, it's to use a CNC heatsink pressed into the mag body. All my mods are rock solid and don't overheat!!

Handlobraesing

After all the posting on the Mag LED's you should have sinked it rather than tubbed it. ..............sorry.
Sharing your consternation,

Marlite

I wonder if somebody at the factory screwed up and put 2 cell guts into what was supposed to be a 4 cell base.

Mag should of really just made those bulbs multi-cell.

Hello Marlite,



Tom