Has anyone else found that LED light go out after just a few months?

[Kablooie]

I bought some LED chandelier lights because they are so much trouble to change I wanted bulbs that would last a long time. A long time turned out to be 4 months when they started going out. By 6 months they were all gone.

I later bought an LED bulb for the foyer because we leave it on all night to so we don't trip over things if we get up in the dark. This lasted all of 7 months.

In both cases regular bulbs have lasted several years.
It seems the lifespan of these things is grossly exaggerated.

Anyone else have similar experiences?

[hlthe2b]

1. If you have the receipt you should return it---or even try if you paid by credit card...

That sounds like a defective bulb. They should last for years, as I understand.

[ejpoeta]

2. I have heard they last 20 years. I have one in my kitchen and it has been going

strong for several months now with no sign of stopping.

[intaglio]

3. I've been running LEDs for about 4 years

One or 2 of the earlier ones, replacements for low wattage GU10 halogens, had bad electronics (ballast) and made me doubt my choices. Persevering, I have had none have fail for 3 years. At current prices a 5 Watt GU10 replacing a 40 watt Halogen is paying for itself rapidly - given that the halogens used to fail every 10 or 12 months.

What might be affecting you is that you have a "dirty" power supply, try putting a surge protector socket between the raw supply and the lamp outlet.

[Kolesar]

4. I bought LED nightlights at Costco that were real lemons

Every one of them in the package burned out in a year or two. I could not figure out how to return them. They were probably that crap "Lights of America" brand.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Don't suppose you're using a dimmer by any chance ?

.

[madokie]

6. I purchased a couple of the early ones

maybe ten, twelve years ago where they grouped a bunch of the small leds together and assembled them in a screw in base and those weren't worth bringing home but I've not read anything negative about leds since then. I'm simply waiting until the price comes down where I don't have to give up my first born to get one then I'll put them in every fixture in the house.
One thing you might want to check is the voltage at your home. Where we used to live we were going through light bulbs like they were going out of style and then one day it hit me that maybe we had high voltage so I checked and sure enough we were at 126 on one leg and 128 on the other. I called the electric company and they came out and went up the pole changed the tap on the transformer to where when I checked we were at 117 on one leg and 119 on the other. The problem with burning the bulbs out went away after that.

[sunney]

11. Spam deleted by pacalo (MIR Team)

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. LEDs? not the ones we have. Have lost many a CFL, though. :^( I hope you can track down what

is going wrong with the chandelier.

[Kablooie]

8. It's filled with conventional bulbs again that work fine for a few years.

I was hoping not to have to replace for several more years though.

(I've got to balance a tall step ladder on the stairs to replace them. )

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. Yeah, I don't care to climb on ladders myself. :^(

[Javaman]

10. I've had two "first generation" LED bar lights in my kitchen go out...

I put them in about 6 years ago. They crapped out after 5. I replaced them with new generation LED bar lights and so far so go.

I put in LED bulbs in my fan in my living room, however, contrary to popular belief, they do not do well with dimmers. (Neither did the bar lights in my kitchen. I had to take out the dimmer)

So back to compact florescent bulbs for my fan.

On edit: I also tried replacing my holigen lights with LED's. No workie. Even though the manufacturer claimed there would be no problem.

While the tech is still developing, there is still a lot of hit and miss. Mostly miss.

[Fledermaus]

12. No, they work fine. I purchase only name brands like GE or Pillips...no off brand names.

I have had them for over a year. Some I have used 24/7/365

They need to be kept cooler than normal lights. If they over heat they will fail.

http://www.digikey.com/us/en/techzone/lighting/resources/articles/LED-Heat-Dissipation.html

The better ones will have large noticeable cooling fins.

Don't block the air flow!

[OKIsItJustMe]

13. Have you noticed that some incandescent bulbs last longer than others?

Seriously, quality does vary between products.

However, I wonder about the quality of your power. Unlike an incandescent bulb, which is simply a wire which gets heated hot enough to glow, an LED needs some sort of power supply, to convert your household AC into low voltage DC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED_circuit#Mains_supply

Each of your chandelier bulbs must have its own power supply, which (to keep costs low) must be made as inexpensively as possible. I’d bet that this is the source of your problem (that, and your household current may be a bit “dirty.”)

[Kablooie]

14. Is there a do it yourself way to check that?

[OKIsItJustMe]

15. Yeah…

To do it “right,” you really want a special instrument, which you may be able to rent.

The problem is, if you’ve got transient power problems, you may not see them in the time you have your instrument connected.

I have a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) for my computer. It kicks in (and sounds an alarm) when the voltage dips a bit, which it does with some frequency (once or twice a month?) Our power is not so “dirty” that our CFL’s (or other electronics) seem to suffer though.

However, you can perform some simple, but important, tests using nothing more than an inexpensive "multi-meter."
http://ecmweb.com/mag/electric_diagnosing_power_problems/