how long do moonlights last

[philc21]

i just bought a customsealife light from someone and i love the moonlight i was just wondering how long it takes for them to burn out if u should put it on every night or just do it occasionally waht do you guys do

 

[Kohan Bros.]

i put mine on an hour in the mourning before my regular lights come on then i turn the regular lights off at night then my moon lights come on for an hour after

its good to use atomatic timers so u dont have to turn the lights on anf off yourself

 

[divemasterjim]

My moon lights are LED , I have 4 of them and leave them on 24/7. I heard that for a longer life of the LED's it is better to leave them on then turn on & off all the time

 

[RocketSeason]

Most of the people I talk to say that its best to leave them on 24/7 the power usage is minimal.

You will, however, get a slight blueish shadow which can be annoying and undesireable when it comes to photography, Of course, you can always turn it off when you take your pictures!

 

[philc21]

id have no problem leaving it on 24/7 i just didnt no if they burnt out easily i think mines led too so it should last a while right?

 

[divemasterjim]

LED should last a long time, I think?

 

[philc21]

how big r the non led moonlights cause mine is very tiny so i think its led does n e one know how long the led's last

 

[ClamKnuckle]

i have mine go on 1 hour before and go off one hour after my normal lights...i tried keeping them on 24/7, but it seemed that my starfish didnt like to come out unless it was totaly dark in the tank

 

[youronlysin]

How long an LED will last depends on several factors. Let's assume that the moonlight or DIY LED light you have is using a fairly bright LED of around 4000 to 5000 mcd, which is typical of a bright LED. Those LEDS are typically rated at 100,000 hours of continuous use under rated conditions. That would be more than 11 years if you left them on 24/7. This is assuming that the LED is powered at it's rated forward voltage and current. If your LEDS are operating at slightly less than the rated voltage or current, you can expect the longevity to increase.

To say that the LED will last longer if you leave it on, rather than cycling the power on and off, is really a stretch. An LED in a flasher circuit can last many times longer than its rated lifecycle due to the fact that it is only lit for a small amount of time. In fact, some circuits that utilize high-powered LEDS to produce an intense amount of light will often flash the LED on and off many times per second. The result is that the LED flashes at a rate such that the "on" time is greater than the "off" time, so the human eye doesnt notice that the LED is actually off. The Duty cycle is such that the LED is actually off for a measurable amount of time in a given time frame which increases the longevity of the LED itself. Also, an LED generally has a greater "peak" forward current than its continuous rated current. When the LED is "pulsed" on and off rapidly, the circuit can be designed to operate near this peak current rating where the LED will produce even greater intensity. LEDs really are very robust devices and not as sensitive as you may be led to believe.

If you build the LED light yourself and design the circuit around the LED that you are using, the LEDs themselves should last many many years. If you operate the LEDs at voltages greater than their rated forward voltage or exceed their maximum continuous forward current ratings, then the life of the LED will be shortened. I wouldnt worry about turning them off and on again. The lifecycle of an LED, even under slightly adverse conditions, should far exceed that of an ordinary light bulb or flourescent tube; which would probably be replaced ten-fold before you needed to replace a one dollar LED. If your thinking about building your own LED lighting, dont be afraid to ask for some advice and get the most out of your money.

 

[indy]

Good answer youronlysin. An LED doesn't have a filiment to burn out like a light bulb. Without getting too technical an LED produces light by launching atoms from one electrode to another, kind of like arcing. So it will continue to work until it runs out of atoms on 1 side. This isn't exactly right, but gives a better idea than the actual explanation : ) The rate of the arcing produces different frequencies (color) of light, but only in clear bulb led's that give colored light. Colored bulb led's all run at about the same frequency and depend on the plastic to color the light. Interesting side note, unlike a light bulb increasing or decreasing voltage to an led will not really affect its brightness. It either works or it won't depending on the voltage it receives.

 

[captivereefs]

The old CSL moonlights were rated for a life of 50000 hours of continuos use or roughly 6 years of constant use.