Test Your New LED Lights

jayflash

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 4, 2003
Messages
3,909
Location
Two Rivers, Wisconsin
If you have an accurate and repeatable means to measure current draw and light output of your new LED flashlights, you may want to compare your experience with others. I'm suggesting we test our lights when new and, periodically, thereafter.

Enough of my LED lights have diminished in output while increasing their current consumption that I'm wondering if others have noticed similar behavior.

My incandescent lights have not varied when using the same meters. Any other ideas? I hope a few of you feel this is a worthwhile undertaking and that it will improve our knowledge of LED characteristics.
 

INRETECH

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 22, 2002
Messages
1,318
Location
HILLSBORO, OR
Long time ago, in a galaxy - far far away
I suggested a standardized test procedure that would assign a "score" to Flashlights, it would be fair to all - but, no matter how I tried - it always made someone upset, so I quit trying
 

3rd_shift

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Messages
3,337
Location
DFW. TX. U.S.A. Earth
More than a few led lights have an overdriven emitter(s).
That shortens thier service lives considerably.
Where-as, properly heatsinked and driven (not overdriven) leds seem to last 4ever.
I have a 3x3 watt luxeon setup that has performed nicely with no visible dimming.
I'm actually hitting it kinda hard with as much as 2.95 amps. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
The good heatsink it is mounted on, and the good thermal contact with the 4d magg head seem to have helped.
The 3 watt luxeons seem to be lasting longer than most other types of leds when properly heatsinked. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

357

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 15, 2004
Messages
1,951
Location
usa
So, even with good heatsinking a Luxeon will degrade quickly when overdriven? My Pelican M6 LED, and several other flashlights are clearly overdriven but appear to have good heatsinking. Will I lose as much brightess in the first 100 hours as the other poster mentioned (he lost his brightness in 20-25 hours IIRC).
 

jayflash

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 4, 2003
Messages
3,909
Location
Two Rivers, Wisconsin
With the popularity of LEDs, here, I was wondering if anybody else bothers to, periodically, measure the current and luminosity of some of their lights.

Manufacturers provide performance graphs for LEDs but I'm curious if actual use closely follows those numbers.
 
Top