LED lamp failure mode
 

Less than a month ago (Feb 20th) I put 3 bulbs from a 4 pack of GE 60 w equivalent dimmable LED bulbs in a ceiling fixture in the bathroom. Two are dead now. I've tried them in other fixtures and they don't work; I've tried other bulbs in the bathroom and those do work.

The weird thing is the symptom. Screwing them in and out, occasionally they will flash on, as if a connection was making briefly. This is true in multiple sockets.

They have a 5 year warranty, but must provide the proof of purchase, which nobody saves, and mail to GE at my cost. Pretty safe warranty risk I'd say.. The box says 13 year life. I got about 3 weeks out of these.

LED lamp failure mode
 

On 3/13/2019 8:42 PM, Tim R wrote:
Less than a month ago (Feb 20th) I put 3 bulbs from a 4 pack of GE 60 w equivalent dimmable LED bulbs in a ceiling fixture in the bathroom. Two are dead now. I've tried them in other fixtures and they don't work; I've tried other bulbs in the bathroom and those do work.

The weird thing is the symptom. Screwing them in and out, occasionally they will flash on, as if a connection was making briefly. This is true in multiple sockets.

They have a 5 year warranty, but must provide the proof of purchase, which nobody saves, and mail to GE at my cost. Pretty safe warranty risk I'd say. The box says 13 year life. I got about 3 weeks out of these.


Happens quite often with cheap LEDs.

LED lamp failure mode
 

I think this was in Electronics Design: The solder joints for the LEDs were a vulnerable point, and they attributed it to insufficient heat sinking. The lifetime was maximized in the bulb up position and minimized when the bulb was down, presumably due to the difference in the convection. The apparent amount of heat sinking varied from brand to brand.

You can test this hypothesis by opening the dead bulb (voiding your warranty) and applying power to each of the LEDs individually. I think you need 10-12V for each LED.

LED lamp failure mode
 

On 2019/03/13 5:42 p.m., Tim R wrote:
Less than a month ago (Feb 20th) I put 3 bulbs from a 4 pack of GE 60 w equivalent dimmable LED bulbs in a ceiling fixture in the bathroom. Two are dead now. I've tried them in other fixtures and they don't work; I've tried other bulbs in the bathroom and those do work.

The weird thing is the symptom. Screwing them in and out, occasionally they will flash on, as if a connection was making briefly. This is true in multiple sockets.

They have a 5 year warranty, but must provide the proof of purchase, which nobody saves, and mail to GE at my cost. Pretty safe warranty risk I'd say.. The box says 13 year life. I got about 3 weeks out of these.


I have run into a similar failure mode on other 'dimmable' LEDs. A few
we bought from Home Depot stopped dimming or even turning on IF they
were installed in acircuit with and LED rated dimmer. Sometimes they
would flash on. If they went into a similar fixture without the dimming
(direct wall switch) then they work just fine.

Nothing wrong with the LED, it runs on the bench power supply. The
circuit is cUL approved, so is not a really cheap knock-off. I'm
assuming the power supply is at fault, but haven't traced the circuit to
see where the failure points are. The primary filter cap charges up just
fine though.

If you bought them at a big box store they should take them back and
probably have your transaction record on file. If you bought on line
then you are likely out of luck unless you can dig out the receipt from
emails and credit card statement.

John :-#)#

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LED lamp failure mode
 

On 03/13/2019 08:42 PM, Tim R wrote:
Less than a month ago (Feb 20th) I put 3 bulbs from a 4 pack of GE 60 w equivalent dimmable LED bulbs in a ceiling fixture in the bathroom. Two are dead now. I've tried them in other fixtures and they don't work; I've tried other bulbs in the bathroom and those do work.

The weird thing is the symptom. Screwing them in and out, occasionally they will flash on, as if a connection was making briefly. This is true in multiple sockets.

They have a 5 year warranty, but must provide the proof of purchase, which nobody saves, and mail to GE at my cost. Pretty safe warranty risk I'd say. The box says 13 year life. I got about 3 weeks out of these.


There's a large indoor mall down the road from me that was quite the
happenin' spot in the 1990s, but like so many malls in the US
post-Amazon is still hanging on but has seen better days.

At some point they replaced all the accent lighting on the support
pillars on the right and left of this image with LED bulbs but they
cheeped out and now about 500 of 'em are busted or flickering making the
whole place look like a seedy German discotheque. No funds to pay anyone
to replace 'em. Oh well.

https://imgur.com/a/U5jWgpO

LED lamp failure mode
 

On Thu, 14 Mar 2019 02:06:03 -0400, bitrex wrote:

On 13/03/2019 08:42 PM, Tim R wrote:
Less than a month ago (Feb 20th) I put 3 bulbs from a 4 pack of GE 60
w equivalent dimmable LED bulbs in a ceiling fixture in the bathroom.
Two are dead now. I've tried them in other fixtures and they don't
work; I've tried other bulbs in the bathroom and those do work.

The weird thing is the symptom. Screwing them in and out,
occasionally they will flash on, as if a connection was making
briefly. This is true in multiple sockets.

They have a 5 year warranty, but must provide the proof of purchase,
which nobody saves, and mail to GE at my cost. Pretty safe warranty
risk I'd say. The box says 13 year life. I got about 3 weeks out of
these.

The Chinese made 5 watt LED lamp in my bedroom stopped
working, then it started working again.

There's a large indoor mall down the road from me that was quite the
happenin' spot in the 1990s, but like so many malls in the US
post-Amazon is still hanging on but has seen better days.

At some point they replaced all the accent lighting on the support
pillars on the right and left of this image with LED bulbs but they
cheeped out and now about 500 of 'em are busted or flickering making the
whole place look like a seedy German discotheque. No funds to pay anyone
to replace 'em. Oh well.

Need to place someone on light duties.

LED lamp failure mode
 

On Thursday, 14 March 2019 00:42:41 UTC, Tim R wrote:
Less than a month ago (Feb 20th) I put 3 bulbs from a 4 pack of GE 60 w equivalent dimmable LED bulbs in a ceiling fixture in the bathroom. Two are dead now. I've tried them in other fixtures and they don't work; I've tried other bulbs in the bathroom and those do work.

The weird thing is the symptom. Screwing them in and out, occasionally they will flash on, as if a connection was making briefly. This is true in multiple sockets.

They have a 5 year warranty, but must provide the proof of purchase, which nobody saves, and mail to GE at my cost. Pretty safe warranty risk I'd say. The box says 13 year life. I got about 3 weeks out of these.

Common problem. Opening them may reveal a faulty LED or melted/oxidised solder joint. Or less likely something else.


NT