lesson on how LED bulbs fail

[Doug Lasiter]

This is just a note about LED bulb failure. We had a desk lamp in which the A19 LED bulb would only go on after flipping the switch several times. In fact, once on, it would turn itself off after a few hours and then mysteriously pop back on. Ah, no sweat. Power cord is just not secure. I resecure it. Same problem! Ah, maybe the bulb isn't making good connection? So I pry the contact up. Same problem! OK, then, just need a new switched lamp socket, right? I go out, plunk down five bucks, and replace it. Same problem! Duuuuh? Good grief, that new socket must be bad. Gotta get a new one. I did. Same problem! I try it with another bulb, and EVERYTHING WORKS. So the problem was with the bulb and not the lamp hardware.

The lesson here is that when an LED bulb fails, it doesn't necessarily just refuse to go on. If an LED bulb is doing screwy things, the FIRST response should be to try a new bulb.

 

[DPG]

This is just a note about LED bulb failure. We had a desk lamp in which the A19 LED bulb would only go on after flipping the switch several times. In fact, once on, it would turn itself off after a few hours and then mysteriously pop back on. Ah, no sweat. Power cord is just not secure. I resecure it. Same problem! Ah, maybe the bulb isn't making good connection? So I pry the contact up. Same problem! OK, then, just need a new switched lamp socket, right? I go out, plunk down five bucks, and replace it. Same problem! Duuuuh? Good grief, that new socket must be bad. Gotta get a new one. I did. Same problem! I try it with another bulb, and EVERYTHING WORKS. So the problem was with the bulb and not the lamp hardware.

The lesson here is that when an LED bulb fails, it doesn't necessarily just refuse to go on. If an LED bulb is doing screwy things, the FIRST response should be to try a new bulb.

I think the lesson is actually this: if a lamp appears to be faulty, then it probably is.

(From the novel 'Sherlock Holmes and the Most Singular Case of the LED lamp')

 

[Doug Lasiter]

I think the lesson is actually this: if a lamp appears to be faulty, then it probably is.

(From the novel 'Sherlock Holmes and the Most Singular Case of the LED lamp')

Well, the point was that the lamp appeared to be faulty, and it wasn't. The fault was the bulb. My incandescent bias is that if a bulb is faulty, it just won't light up. Ain't so for LEDs.

 

[littlespark]

True.

LED lamps are full of electronics, so there are various stages that could cause an issue.

The old incandescants were a spirally thin bit of wire that lit up when heated as electricity passed through it. Light on = good…. Light off = bad

My usual detective work when a lamp isn’t good is swap it out. Try a known good lamp in suspect fitting, and your suspect lamp in a known good fitting.

 

[DPG]

Well, the point was that the lamp appeared to be faulty, and it wasn't. The fault was the bulb. My incandescent bias is that if a bulb is faulty, it just won't light up. Ain't so for LEDs.

Ah, the old bulb/lamp semantics. Yes, I was meaning lamp as in the 'bulb'.

Either way, no offence intended.

 

[Carolina]

once on, it would turn itself off after a few hours and then mysteriously pop back on.

One of the bulbs at home did this today.

Guess it'll be on its way out soon. It's often a single weak LED that fails but I know how to replace it, doing that often does the trick but sometimes I have to replace some of the driver electronics.

 

[littlespark]

One thing I do with a faulty LED lamp, the mains 230 or 110v is, when they start flashing, dimming or just not good any more is take them out the fitting, and replace straight away.

I find a faulty lamp heats up more than a good one, even if left on for hours… and in my little head, that could be a fire risk, or at least the heat would melt the lamp or fitting…. Making removal difficult.