5mm LED fade testing continued
- Thread starter JohnR66
- Start date
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
Hi,
Yes I can test them. I wonder how these Chinese power LEDs stack up. The smaller ones sure don't. :shakehead
Re: 5mm LED fade testing wrap-up
Here are the final results of some LEDs I've been "fade testing" for a couple years:
Radio Shack 276-0017 (sometimes shown as 276-017). After TWO YEARS of continuous testing at 30ma, the LED has not faded below initial brightness. Amazing for a 5mm LED. I am 99% sure these are made by Everlight 334 series 5mm LEDs. I also found that the LED contains an ESD zener diode protector.
Osram surface mount LED. It has been under test for about 23 months. It has dropped to 80% of initial output. Considering it has been driven at 39ma with little heatsinking, it too is a quality product. The graphs have been updated in the OP.
Cree CLM3C series: These are low power "grain of rice" sized surface mount LEDs with excellent brightness (twice the intensity of the Osram LED above at the same current). I started testing it in July and 3.5 months later it is still above initial brightness. There are no graphs for this one.
I have decided to end the testing on these LEDs. Who knows how long the RS and Osram LEDs will continue before dropping below 70% of initial intensity.
I have tested some ebay LEDs and other cheapo white 5mm LEDs to see if they are improving any since my initial fade tests of three or 4 years ago. The answer is NO! They still have overblown specs and some faded below 70% of initial brightness in less than 1 week. junk remains to be junk. :shakehead
Thanks for following my fade tests on low power LEDs!:thumbsup:
Here are the final results of some LEDs I've been "fade testing" for a couple years:
Radio Shack 276-0017 (sometimes shown as 276-017). After TWO YEARS of continuous testing at 30ma, the LED has not faded below initial brightness. Amazing for a 5mm LED. I am 99% sure these are made by Everlight 334 series 5mm LEDs. I also found that the LED contains an ESD zener diode protector.
Osram surface mount LED. It has been under test for about 23 months. It has dropped to 80% of initial output. Considering it has been driven at 39ma with little heatsinking, it too is a quality product. The graphs have been updated in the OP.
Cree CLM3C series: These are low power "grain of rice" sized surface mount LEDs with excellent brightness (twice the intensity of the Osram LED above at the same current). I started testing it in July and 3.5 months later it is still above initial brightness. There are no graphs for this one.
I have decided to end the testing on these LEDs. Who knows how long the RS and Osram LEDs will continue before dropping below 70% of initial intensity.
I have tested some ebay LEDs and other cheapo white 5mm LEDs to see if they are improving any since my initial fade tests of three or 4 years ago. The answer is NO! They still have overblown specs and some faded below 70% of initial brightness in less than 1 week. junk remains to be junk. :shakehead
Thanks for following my fade tests on low power LEDs!:thumbsup:
Last edited:
jtr1962
Flashaholic
Thanks for the updates. I was wondered just the other day how the Osram LED is fairing. Those are pretty amazing results. That explains why the nightlights I modded with 25 of those LEDs each nearly 21 months ago are still going strong ( and they're on most of the time because we often forget to turn them off). Based on your data, it certainly looks like 100,000+ hours to 70% when driven at 20 mA is possible.
