LED failure rate

[hirsch014]

just curious what other people's failure rates seem to be for LED string lights. I just spent hundreds of $$ after xmas switching a bunch of stuff over to what i thought were commercial-grade high-quality leds (bought from recommendations on this site), and they've been nothing but problems. i'm really exasperated enough that i'm losing interest in this whole light display hobby (yes, drastic).

of the dozens of led strings i bought after xmas, ~17% have failed so far...the sets go half out. most have failed just from sitting in the box untouched waiting to be used for the first time, and i just noticed last night 1 more set outside on my display has failed, after running for a total of only 36 hours. the seller has so far replaced all but this most recent failed set (which would be a couple hours of up/down on a ladder to take down and replace if i had a replacement). but with all these early failure, i have no expectation that these will even last this one season.

i'm so disgusted that i feel like i wasted my money and am embarrassed to have dead lights out on my display that i can't do anything about, and its so early in the season still. i haven't even taken a video of my own display yet. at this rate, i can't imagine how bad it'll look by the end of the season.

just wondering what others' experiences have been with led failure rates, replacements, expectations, and suggestions of where to go from here. btw, ALL 65 sets of led lights i bought from lowes have been working flawlessly for 3 years now.

[Guest Don Gillespie]

Well I can't speak for every one but my success rate has been excellent, of all the Leds I purchased only one strand has given me grief, the only thing I can think of is have you checked the fuses on the strings?

[Tim Fischer]

While that rate seems on the high side, I've found even the commercial grade lights from the "highly rated" vendors still ahve a significant failure rate.

My advice would be to go out and get yourself an LEDKeeper. It will find the bad diodes, then instead of using the "pods" it comes with, splice in a new LED from a sacrificial string.

[David Rise]

Mine have been good so far as well. Most of my LEDs were purchased last year. I did have an issue with one of my retail strings, but all my comm grade lights work great.

If you purchased them through CDI, MITS, or CLE, just call them and let them know. They'll probably replace it for free, or give a descent discount.

[Mwhite7097]

My CDI lights work great. I have only had one string out of a hundred or more go half out. Some of the other strings I bought at the same time from different vendors (because they were cheaper) have failed at a much higher rate. I haven't had a problem with vendor replacement but it is a pain to restring lights up high and does suck when it happens in a show. I believe how well they are sealed makes all the difference. I have had some non CDI-strings where the bulbs just fall out after a couple years because they rusted so much. Like everyone else, I like to get lights cheaply, but in this case, I believe you get what you pay for.

[WilliamS]

I had half a strand last year out of 60 that I got from Lowes last year. I bought extra just in case, it went bad hours after my show went live. 40 days of rain and Florida heat then cold no other issues.

[wallleyes]

My second year with my lights from mits 225 strands and 0 failures.

[frozentundra52]

I've had 1 string go out in 3 seasons. All cheapos from menards & wallyworld.

[Surfing4Dough]

just curious what other people's failure rates seem to be for LED string lights. I just spent hundreds of $$ after xmas switching a bunch of stuff over to what i thought were commercial-grade high-quality leds (bought from recommendations on this site), and they've been nothing but problems. i'm really exasperated enough that i'm losing interest in this whole light display hobby (yes, drastic).

of the dozens of led strings i bought after xmas, ~17% have failed so far...the sets go half out. most have failed just from sitting in the box untouched waiting to be used for the first time, and i just noticed last night 1 more set outside on my display has failed, after running for a total of only 36 hours. the seller has so far replaced all but this most recent failed set (which would be a couple hours of up/down on a ladder to take down and replace if i had a replacement). but with all these early failure, i have no expectation that these will even last this one season.

i'm so disgusted that i feel like i wasted my money and am embarrassed to have dead lights out on my display that i can't do anything about, and its so early in the season still. i haven't even taken a video of my own display yet. at this rate, i can't imagine how bad it'll look by the end of the season.

just wondering what others' experiences have been with led failure rates, replacements, expectations, and suggestions of where to go from here. btw, ALL 65 sets of led lights i bought from lowes have been working flawlessly for 3 years now.

What company did you buy from?

[nader]

so far none gone out from CDI 2nd year with those lights, only prop i had is box store lights and rain and rust

[Max-Paul]

1st year I made the mistake of buying from a vendor that ended up getting ran out of the business cause of his poor dealings with his customers. I have had several strings from him fail. 2nd, 3rd and now 4th year I have bought almost exclusive from CDI. I have as of yet have had a failure of any strings. I have had a few dimmable C9 lamps fail, but thats it.

[KStatefan]

I have had three string bad but they were bad from the beginning and were promptly replace by the vendor. One bad from each vendor I have used. I have had a couple of my C9 retrofits go out out of the 700 total.

[BBY2KS2K]

I have about 130 strands of these lights from 1000bulbs.com, some on thier 5th season, and had one strand finally totally crap out this year and one that would light up but wouldn't light any subsequent strings connected to them. The rest work perfectly. I did have big problems with some halogen strobes (can't remember who I bought them from, but the failure rate was probably 75% for the first season) before switching to the ones CDI sells which are far superior in quality.

http://1000bulbs.com/category/led-christmas-quick-connect-light-system-strings/

[scubado]

The green sphere lights from Menards I'm not happy with. I've been liking the sealed berry lights from Shopko. You do have to check them, get them stretched out and plug them in. I've a couple bad ones right out of the box, but if they pass the initial test they work great. I haven't had any problems exchanging them either.

[dgrant]

I'm about %90 LED or more. Most of my lights came from either Target or BigLots and all are still working, three years later. This is my first year using LOR so these all were used for two years as a static display. The only ones that have failed were the icicyle lights from Sam's Club. First year they were fine, second year, I had one led only, the lead rusted off. This third year, I've had two leds only, there a lead actually broke off causing a partial failure. Oh, do not buy "Martha" lights from Home Depot as they won't fade. They are fine for uses where they will either be %100 on or off....nothing between.

[rmturner54]

All my LED's are from CDi.....1 strand failure in 5 years.....not too bad especially with all the dimming, twinkling and shimmering done.

[Ivan Beaver]

This is the frst year I have had any LED failures. Funny thing-they are all blue (except 1 green). Some were wires chewed through by critters. A number of them are half out.

Now to start the process of figuring out where the issue is.

I am mostly LED. I like the brilliant colors and lower power draw.

[Gman7711]

That is one of the main reasons I'm sticking with incandescents.

[Duckman]

I picked up over 100 strings from Home Depot last year and they all went back up this year. I did have to replace a few bulbs where the wire lead on the led light was broken.

[Ralph Priest]

While I only buy commercial quality LEDs from PC vendors,I've had some failures.Some were brand spanking new out of the box.Most of the failures were with retro fits,but this year I did have two new strands that quit within a week and one quit after one year.With the cost of these lights I would expect zero failures.