I have a led light fixture that I installed about 5 years ago. The led's are built in and not replaceable. I run this light 24/7 because it's low energy and it keeps a little bit of light on through the house at all times.

When I woke up this morning I noticed the light was off but the switch was still turned on. My first thought was a breaker, which it wasn't. I then turned the light off and back on, nothing happened. I left the light off for maybe two minutes and flipped the switch again and it worked.

I left it on for a minute and it seemed fine. I didn't really have time to mess with it before work but I turned it off just to be safe.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this and should I be worried about a fire?

The way it acted my first thought was something is getting hot and after I turned it off for a few minutes it cooled off and began working again. I am obviously no electrician and this is just a guess.

 

Discarding a wiring problem to the light itself, most LED lights have a transformer in them to change the input power into whatever voltage the LED(s) are rated at. Others have both a transformer and a rectifier to run the LEDs on DC to help eliminate flicker. (The transformer and rectifier are likely contained in a single component.) You didn't mention how old the light was, but the transformer or diodes in the rectifier may be breaking down when they become hot. That would explain the operation after cool down. In an effort to manufacture things at a good price point these days, some manufacturers design components very close to rated capability. This can cause components to run hot and fail earlier than we would like. Good for them, bad for us. LEDs run hot by nature but transformers and diodes aren't necessarily heat friendly. If it is a large expensive light, I would try to find a replacement transformer for it. Good luck with it.

 

If you've had that light on 24/7 for 5 years, you have close to 45,000 hours of life on it. Most LED bulbs I've seen are rated for around 30,000 hours, and a very few for up to 50,000 hours. My guess is that the LED's are nearing the end of their lives. Unfortunately, the whole fixture would need to be replaced. You might want to consider replacing with a conventional fixture, then using LED bulbs in it. That way, you could have some control over the amount of light it produces, as well as not having to replace the entire fixture when the LED bulb finally expires.

 

Excellent point, LED's are not made the same.

We've been through 4 small multi-LED bedside reading lamps over the last 8-9 years. In each case some of the 20 LED's fail, or worst, start flickering and the entire fixture is thrown out.

Fooled me twice, not a third time!

 

Bypass the switch and see how well it works or just replace the switch. Not being used for a long time the internal contact points could have corroded.

 

Thanks for all of the replies. I think I am going to replace the switch first just because of the cost and if that doesn't work I guess I am replacing the light next.

 

You could just take the switch out and temporarily connect the two wires together for testing.

If that doesn't keep the light on then it's most likely not the actual LED's but the power supply that runs them. That would still require a fixture replacement.