LED in Princeton Tec Yukon headlamp worn out?

Princeton Tec has a "lifetime" guarantee. For the third time, one LED started to oscillate in brightness. When it gets warm, its OK. However, my prior two Yukons developed permanent oscillation eventually. So, I'll be taking this one back, too, for a replacement under warranty. The "wear" or "durability" of LED bulbs is something usually not mentioned by test product reviews.

I'd guess that I've used these Yukon LEDs about 100 hours before one started light-oscillating, first intermittently, then permanently. And, back to the dealer, I go.

Also, this latest Yukon has bluer (not as nice, to me, anyway) LEDs than the second one.

There is other differences between my third PT Yukon headlamp and the first Yukon headlamp: Elastic seems stiffer, headplate is oval, not square.

I liked my very first Yukon headlamp the best. The second one had a brown/blue light matrix on LED mode. Also, the incandescent bulb was weaker.

Have other headlamps exhibited similar "wear"? If so, which brands/models, and how soon did the LEDs go?

Will Princeton Tec honor a warranty claim on the incandescent bulb? Never had an inc-bulb go yet, but heard those were $8/retail. How does PT treat a "lifetime warranty" claim on those?

Also, there are PT Yukon "clones" offered from Hong Kong recently on Ebay. Anybody care to post a user review of one of those, from first-hand experience?

REI sells the Yukon replacement bulbs for just over $6 if memory serves me correctly. They are also avalible from brightguy.com. I doubt the bulb will be under waranty. I have not seen much of an "Incadescent Lottery" in my experience. Your problem may lie inside the lamp, the batteries or simply your perceptions. If you can compare old lamps with new and switch out parts, perhaps you can track down the problem. For $7 you can know if it is the bulb and carry a spare. I think it has a place to carry one.

I can't help you undersatand your oscillating LED problem. I have seen incans oscillate when the batteries get weak, but never LEDs.

PT has a decent waranty department, though. I had a Solo that had a crack in the plastic where the nut screws in. It was my loaner lamp, so I didn't really bother with it until it finally broke after 2 years of service. I sent it back and they sent me back a mostly new one (the bulb and module it fits in were the ones I sent in, but the rest was new). Shipping was less than $3 to send it in, so I think I did allright. I could have just ordered a new strap from REI for $7.50 plus $hipping, but the lamp wasn't worth that to me.

Black Diamond and Petzl both make lights pretty comparable to the Yukon. The bulbs are not as nice as the Yukon, though. In fact, I have a Yukon bulb in my Lunar. If the Yukon focused, I would probably get one. Perhaps I will buy a Yukon HL once I have some money. It has a focusing mechanism and I hear it is a good light.

Cheap headlamps are not worth messing with IMHO. Name brand "quality" headlamps are shoddy enough. Headlamps just tend to be used in situations where reliablity is key more often than hand held, so if you are going to do it, do it right.

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mrme said:
I can't help you undersatand your oscillating LED problem. I have seen incans oscillate when the batteries get weak, but never LEDs.

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Weak batteries was the first thing I thought of too. I used to have a Petzl LED headlamp that would do this... if the batteries were low, it would flicker for a few seconds after I turned it on. Replacing the batteries made the flickering go away.