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We have had a LED light in the family room for several months now. In the past week it has started to act funny. We turn on the LED light and after a while it turns off and then goes back on and then a little while later off and on again. The time between turning off and on varies. Is this normal after several months of use? Is this an indicator the light is starting to burn out? A malfunction? Or a short in the wiring?

The light is not loose in the socket as we checked that.

What should we do? I do not want to have fire result from this.

Niall C.
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Charla
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2 Answers2

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The LED light bulb is malfunctioning and needs to be replaced.

There are several possible causes of the malfunction, but the bottom line is that it is no longer functioning according to specification.

Some stores have good return policies to handle this sort of issue. In addition, some bulb manufacturers provide a replacement warranty. One of those options may help you get a replacement.

Amazon Dies In Darkness
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2

Things that happen on a 5-60 minute timescale are generally thermal.

LED emitters proper are very tiny. They must remain cool and are rather sensitive to overheat. Your LED-based light bulb has a big heat sink to remove heat from the emitter proper. Heat moves through a heat sink proportional to the difference in temperature. So as the air around the heat sink gets warmer, the heat sink loses effectiveness.

If your lamp has a confined space, or if it is a downlight with no ventilation, it can capture heat (heat rises) and the heatsink will not cool properly.

Better LEDs have thermal detection and will shut off to spare the LED emitter from overheat. That being pretty much the only way to kill an LED emitter; they will certainly outlive all of us.

Harper - Reinstate Monica
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