Have you ever blown a Luxeon Star LED ?

I am wondering if anybody has blown a LS LED in any of their lights? I know that they will burn out if too much power is run through them, but Has anybody ever had one go out from a drop or anything of that sort?
thanks

Only time from a drop will a luxeon mess up is if the circuit board (if it's being powered by one) takes a shock and breaks off a component (won't happen if it's potted in epoxy). I've never heard of one being hurt by massive g-forces. A drop might hurt it if an optic or something gets pressed into the dome and cracks it, but it will still probably light, but the beam would be ruined.

You aren't gonna "blow" an LS by droping it. Isaac summed it up pretty well. You'll mess up everything else before the LS bites it.

I assumed the question here was going to be about over-current, and I was getting ready to ship you a batch of "blown" LS's along with my emphatic answer of, "yes". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I've done some stupid things, and have lived to tell about it.

Well, I've a Lux III SVOL from a MM+ that took 2x123. It's dead now. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I ruined a lux III TWOK recently when the emitter came loose from the heatsink and cooked itself to death. Lesson here.. wait for your epoxy to properly cure before turing on your light, otherwise the bond will eventually come loose. The funny thing is that the TWOK didn't actually stop working all together, only about half of it lights up now and it is really dim, i could look directly at it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Hi Darrel,

Not to hijack the thread, but you can send me that batch of blown LS's if you like. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I want to see if I can shave down the package size some, but all of my Lux's are currently in good working order.

pb

I lost one by dropping it.
It was a 5 watt LS and was very overdriven...
It was already way hot and I slipped and dropped the light in my already hot attic...
When it hit the floor...
--Blink--
It went out... After further inspection inside after determining the LS was toast, I inspected the die with a microscope and noticed that one of the lead wires in the LS had popped under stress during the fall. I don't think it would have happened if the LS in question were not so over driven.
My guess was that the leads were "soft" (probably glowing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif) or expanded and at risk to the fall due to being over driven so hard. I was pushing the LS hard and I guess it could have just popped on it's own, but the 5 foot drop on to a 2x4 in extreme heat seemed to expidite it's predestined life span. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

But as the other guys have stated... I don't think this is or will ever be a common occurance.