5-Watt White Luxeon -- Latest Life Expectancy News

Well, at least BETTER news. Spoke with Lumileds today and they said the Protable V white 5-watt Luxeons are being uprated to 1,000 hours life expectancy. See, I knew it, I knew they wouldn't rate a product right to the edge of its realistic life expectancy.

I also know that in other hardware products, like for example the smaller high-pressure air chambers (as in airguns), they test to 5/3 proof, meaning they test to 5000psi if it is supposed to be rated for 3000psi, etc. If this formula (which is for air pressure, not electrical life, don't know what that one would be) is applied to 1000 hours, you get 1667 hours (the "triple 6" was rounded up for the superstitious among us). Not bad, and quite a jump up from 500 hours.

And again this is all if the product is driven at spec. I would think that underdriving would yield even longer life expectancy.

Charlie,

There's something I find contradictory with the notion of Mr. Bulk and underdriven Luxeons.....

Hello again,

The only thing i would believe from Lumileds now
is that they went out of business

Take care,
Al

Hey 'Giz, whatcha doin' postin' on the road?

Underdriven, yes, my old age catchin' up with me...want the LS to still be workin' when I'm older.

Hey Charlie,

I got an e-mail from my wife and I will have some new Luxeons to abuse when I get back home I think I'll run one of these whites at 800 mA but in a light that won't see a lot of service or long run times. I agree that with the 5 Watt, it is likely that it can be efficiently driven under spec and still provide good light. Should this turn out not to be the case, I suppose the LED could be driven with a 9 iron

I've also noticed in a few posts that Mr. Al doesn't seem to have a high confidence level in the Lumiled product line

Don

i surmise it will be 3-6 months before we see any improvements at lumileds, they are most likely jumping on the new silicon based LED wagon.

Originally posted by McGizmo:
Hey Charlie,

I got an e-mail from my wife and I will have some new Luxeons to abuse when I get back home I think I'll run one of these whites at 800 mA but in a light that won't see a lot of service or long run times. I agree that with the 5 Watt, it is likely that it can be efficiently driven under spec and still provide good light. Should this turn out not to be the case, I suppose the LED could be driven with a 9 iron

I've also noticed in a few posts that Mr. Al doesn't seem to have a high confidence level in the Lumiled product line

Don

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I don't suppose you had her standing out by the mailbox day and night, did you? Quick question (oops, I'll e-mail it)...