I installed a pair of Matrix 5 leds in November, and some of the smaller leds that surround the larger center one started to burn out... Now, my entire left led is history! These are the '194' wedge bulbs that are positioned just to the outside of the headlight itself.
Now, to their credit, superlumination has given me "fair options": return em' for refund, or return mine in for a replacement pair.
We ALL know the absolute PAIN N THE AZZ it is just to remove/replace any headlamp bulb on our cars!
They explained how the "heat" (and u better believe HIDS get Hot!) affects leds greatly, and can cause burn out. My question to my fellow Z'ers:
Anyone else have this problem?
If not, how long have you ran your leds?
Is there an led that tends to hold up to the heat?
Should I go with a Polarg wedge bulb or the such?

 

After I read this thread I went out and checked my Superlumination 6 led lamps. One of the 2 is fine. The other has three of six leds burnt out. This sounds more like a quality issue than a temperature issue. Otherwise I would have had leds burnt out on both lamps. I purchased mine 10/27/04, so I probably installed them 11/1/04.

I've noticied today that they offer a 60 day warranty for a fee. I thought there was a longer free warranty when I bought mine. Paying for a warranty is pretty lame.

 

yup, i had the same issues. had them exchanged one, got the same problem after awhile.

i noticed that with the 5LED matrix bulb, it might actually be the connector rather than the bulb. i tried sticking them in the rear license plate lights and when i pushed it in harder, it would turn on, as soon as i relieved pressure, it turned off, which leads me to believe the base of the bulb needs some more adjusting (how to do it i don't know, i tried prying apart the little metal parts to make more contact but that didn't do anything).

 

Ahhhhhhhh... I see.
Thanks for the input.

 

one possible problem may be them overdriving them to increase output... remember 99% of the people are somewhat like you or worse and wont even ask for a refund.

but the extra voltage is what makes them so bright. cant say for sure without knowing the details on the LEDs and resistors they use though.

 

Superlumination refused to exchange mine after 4 months. I doubt that my LED's were on for more than 10 hours. Everyone that 's considering buying leds from Superlumination should remember this... BAD customer service. I doubt that I will buy anything else from them.

 

CORRECTION Sir........ I definitely do NOT fall into your 99%. I am a business man # 1, and I will not hesitate to express my concern over poor CS and or faulty products. And proceed to the next level(s) if I'm NOT satisfied.
I will however post up the results of this instance with Superlumination...

 

I never trusted that Matrix bulb design. They're so prone to cold solder joints which cause connection problems with the LEDs themselves. That design is too complicated to get done perfectly by hand.

Superlumination does not make bulbs. They just distribute this stuff from Asia. You can talk to Chris, who runs the site for replacement bulbs. I get plenty of them from him. The bulbs range from simply non working, missing lights, to burnt resistors and other parts. The bulbs aren't even consistent. Two of the same bulbs can be put together differently. Most of the problems I see are the bulb leads popping off due to bad solder connection. He's a great guy, and hopefully he'll offer replacement bulbs for you. I don't think there's much he can do about the bulbs coming from Asia. They're just dirt cheap.

I had issues when I made my bulbs because of a crappy Radio Shack solder tool, so sometimes connections go bad or the heat from the tool degrades the LED. That or the Luxeon mysteriously goes bad internally despite feeding it correct amount of current. I've had these problems as well while working on my friend's cars. These things sometimes pop for no apparent reason :-(

That's why I gotta invest in a better tool like MetCal... expensive though. It's the same tool I use at work, and they're awesome.

Drop me an e-mail...

-Phuong

 

I meant not wanting to go in and even bother with it due to the bother of replacing, and what if it fails again ect(their selling point is lifespan...). which is no fault of your own. though Im positive he'd rather replace than refund. I know where he gets them from... or atleast an equal source. considered selling them for a while. required a 5000$ order though; didnt want that many bulbs. but that 194 bulb? between 3-10cents depending on configuration and color. I was shocked. the markup is in the thousands percent range. thats true for alot of electronics though.

 

I see... Hmmm... So the business or should I say marketing of leds is "more than meets the eye". So is it safe to say that leds used in applications like say: G35, Benz, Cadillac, etc, tail lamps are of a much higher quality? Or is it the 'design' itself?

 

those are all to my knowledge Luxeon LEDs. of which from what Ive seen use a proprietary kind of mounting system where they appear to kind of "clip" to a track that happens to also power it. some might use regular circuit boards, not sure.

whtaever the case, they are obviously created with more precision and care. plus the LEDs are of higher quality.

 

http://www.luxeon.com/newsandevents/...Audi_Final.pdf

http://www.luxeon.com/newsandevents/...81604_F_SS.pdf

 

Wish i had read this before installing them this weekend, along with a HID kit.. So far, so blue (color of the Matrix 5LED i got)

This should be interesting to see how this turns out, has anyone seen a better company that vendors better quality LEDS?

Sully

 

I have had the same issue with all the LED products I have used in my headlight housing, except for the ones I got from ares.

It is the heat that shortens the life of the typical wedge led bulb.

 

errr not really heat... cause even so youd probably notice no measurable heat. oddly luxeons create loads of heat; but they are designed to withstand it.

its just too much current; it accelerates their life span. or it vibrates loose due to crappy solder joints. probably much more of the latter(even accelerated; you do get a substantial life of a few years of normal use atleast); specially when you see more than 1 go out.

Ive purchased bad bulbs from them; I yank the LEDs and use the base. I did this for the design so I didnt have to order bulk before I finished the design. every single one just had a resistor broken off the board.

downsides of a 6year old asian kid soldering 500 bulbs a day I suppose .

 

edit: to all of you that have a few out; you probably can fix them if your handy with a soldering iron. get a needle tip on it; and find the broken connection.

 

well thats just what the mfg people told me. I went through 30 or so of them . . .even tested some prototype pieces. They swore it was the heat from the housing. All my other led bulbs eleswhere are fine with no issues. Only ones I put in headlight housing failed.

 

If only I could get someone to make or sell me the luxeon ones. *wink* *wink*

 

I had my left one burn out within a month of putting it on....

I ordered a replacement but I've been too busy/lazy to put them in.

Where can we get some QUALITY bulbs? I wouldn't mind shelling out 20-30 bucks for a pair that is guaranteed to not burn out for a couple of years (since these ARE LEDs...).

 

The Luxeon bulbs made by Ares & a few others on this forum is the only LEDs that I know of that are of the highest quality. Ares is the only person that actually sells them, the other guys just made them for themselves.

However, I don't think Ares does it anymore, because it is quite time consuming and costly to make them.