typical led: how long can i leave it on before it poops out?

[binhjamin99]

6 mo?
a year?
a long time?

[Rodgre]

i'll go with a long time. I have gear in the studio that hasn't been shut down in years and the LEDs are still on.  YEARS, I say, YEARS!

Roger

[Nasse]

There is info about that in manufacturers datasheet. But I say 10-12 years is a common value you can except. They are supposed to last longer than that, but manufacturers has to give some figure when they are not responsible any more

Intersting and good article about super ultrabright leds and their technology was in this months Elektor Electronics

[binhjamin99]

it's a relief to know that guys. Thanks!

[Rob Strand]

For an effect your looking at 10years+.  They rarely pop under normal circumstances, they just get dimmer over time.  I also depends on environment, amount of current etc and if the dimming over time is a factor - it's not for effects.

[Mike Burgundy]

I just finished a project concerning LEDs. If you apply the same rules as conventional lighting (-50% light, not failure) we're looking at 11 years of *continuous* usage for some types.
datasheets often have data on this.

[Rob Strand]

I read an article about two month ago which said some LEDs which replaced neon signs only lasted a year but other LEDs were available which lasted over 10 years.

[Mike Burgundy]

correct - the problem so far is heat when you really want some serious light out of a LED. It's coming though, and fast.
One year is very, very poor though.

[Brett Clark]

The lifetime is a strong inverse function of current. The lifetime (to 50% brightness, as stated above) is, very roughly, decreased by 10 times if you increase the current by 50%. (I don't remember the exact function, but that's about right.)

So, for example, a typical LED may be rated for 100,000 hours (11 years) at 20mA (this is a very common rating). At 30mA, it might be 10,000 hours (a bit over 1 year). A lot of the early tail-light and signage LED's were run well beyond their ratings, which is why they didn't last.

SO, run them within ratings if you want good lifetime! If you don't have any specs on your LED's,  20mA is normally the max for normal T-13/4 visible-light LED's.