LED Streetlight problems

[archfan]

Streetlights from one [[of four) light suppliers are failing. They were expected to last ten years, but instead they're lasting two or three. The vendor has already apologized, but missed a deadline for a plan to fix, so Detroit is suing them in federal court. Rather than wait for the vendor or the lawsuit, Detroit will replace the lights - using a different vendor.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...rs/3650465002/

[Meddle]

Wish I could say I was surprised, but I've had a few LED units die prematurely. And when it comes to municipal contracts, well ....

[Honky Tonk]

I can't believe they were only "anticipated to last for at least a decade". Is spending millions replacing street lights every 10 years going to be the norm?

[Honky Tonk]

"Rather than wait for the vendor or the lawsuit, Detroit will replace the lights - using a different vendor."

Different vendor + same lights = same problem. Vendors and installers usually don't "make" their own lights, they source them from a manufacturer, and that's usually Chinese because of pricing. When something like this happens with a manufacturer, they close their doors, rebrand the product, and open under a different name and logo. Buyer beware.

[sirrealone]

Is spending millions replacing street lights every 10 years going to be the norm?

Yeah, it probably will. Stuff wears out and it costs money to replace.

[Scottathew]

I can't believe they were only expected "to last a decade". Is spending millions replacing street lights every 10 years going to be the norm?

You can't use quotes if that's not what was actually stated...

The LED lights provided by Leotek were anticipated to last for at least a decade.

The lights had a ten year warranty. As with most warranties, it doesn't cover the entire useful life of a product.

The city was smart to use four different vendors and it looks like they're taking prudent steps to protect the taxpayers and hold the vendor accountable.

[401don]

The vendor has clearly decided not to replace the bulbs. How large is this company? Are they a subsidiary of another company? Are they not replacing them because they are so small they can't afford it or have no reputation to protect? Will they still be in business after this goes to court? Clearly if they do lose the lawsuit it will cost them a lot more to reimburse the city after the city buys from a 3rd party. Lots of unanswered questions.

[Bigdd]

Three points;

1. TEN years is a LONG time for an LED to last actually.

The 25 year spec on LED bulbs in a store is a guess, based on it being used an hour or two a day. Leave it on 12 hours a day like street-lights, and that 25,000 hours equals 5.7 years. I have bulbs that are on 1/2 the time,.. and many of the LED's don't last a year.


2. Pretty much all LED's in the world are made by Samsung. But various "manufacturers" will use differing power supplies and mount them in different housings. SO,.. the lighting dept need to look at what power supplies are lasting the longest and which ones are failing,.. and make their selection based on that.

3. Much of the cost of getting the street lights to work a few years ago was running all new power to them. The hood-rats had stolen some of the copper in the poles and in the ground, and much of the rest of it had just gone bad from corrosion and age. So new power had to be run underground,.. or in many places,.. strung from pole top to pole top. [[Which is cheaper and easier than what Detroit did back in the day, putting them underground.)

So if Detroit has to replace ALL of the light-heads,.. it should only cost 1/3 of what it did the first time around. Perhaps even less than that as the prices of LED products continue to fall.

[bust]

Samsung makes only a small percentage of LEDs. In 2017 they ranked 6th among LED chip manufacturers by revenue. It appears they're not even the top Korean manufacturer. LEDs are made mostly by companies few of us have ever heard of before. Nichia is the industry leader.



In 2015 China had 40% of the market, up from 35% the year before. Taiwan and Korea had 19% each. Korea only had 14%, and it was a shrinking share. It could be Samsung makes some of their LED chips in China or Taiwan, but if so I don't think it represents a large share of the chips manufactured there. And I'd be surprised if they make any in Japan.

Analyses of Five Major LED Manufacturers Vertical Integration Strategies [[Part 1)
https://www.ledinside.com/outlook/20...rategies_part1



Last year I wanted some 4000k LED bulbs. I didn't want "smart" bulbs that change color on a schedule, programmable by an app. I was unable to find any manufactured outside of China so I took a chance on some by a company named Hyperikon I found on Amazon. They promised a 45,000 hour lifespan. We used them at most 6 hours a day. Every one of those bulbs is now already dead. They only lasted around 2000 hours at best, and many much less.

I'd love to know the name of a better brand.

[Bigdd]

Yep,.. there are literally hundreds of LED Packaging companies. It's usually the power supply in them that goes bad though. Just like with CFL's.

I have had both Cree and Feit branded lights not make it 6 months. Sometimes with just light use,.. like the switched lights in a garage,. 1/3 of which died after perhaps 20 hours of use.

[ptero]

The problem seems to be heat damage to the LED ‘lamp’ itself. It’s packaged in the fixture tightly with the power supply and there’s no relief from heat buildup. The failure mode is dimming and changing color, eventually entirely going out. Replacing the LED is not gonna fix the issue. I don’t have the link handy but that was spelled out in one of the local stories this week.

[Johnnny5]

The vendor has clearly decided not to replace the bulbs. How large is this company? Are they a subsidiary of another company? Are they not replacing them because they are so small they can't afford it or have no reputation to protect? Will they still be in business after this goes to court? Clearly if they do lose the lawsuit it will cost them a lot more to reimburse the city after the city buys from a 3rd party. Lots of unanswered questions.

Leotek USA appears to be a subsidiary of LiteOn Technology Group. LiteOn is Taiwanese company with annual revenues of around half a billion U.S dollars, so one would think they would be able to cover the costs of replacement. The problem is Detroit isn't the only city where Leotek has installed these LED's. If more of the lights start failing the company might be in trouble.