Me and LEDs, what's the story?

[Damned67]

OK, bought my boat at Easter. Absolutely everything was brand spankin' new. About 3-4 months ago, my LED trailer lights went out. One whole side, brake and indicator (and no, it wasn't the plug or the wires, it was the actual unit).... Replaced with the supposedly better Trojan brand submersible LED lights. About 2 weeks ago I found that I've lost half of one of the brake light banks, so I need to call Trojan and find out if they actually have a warranty...
Last week, I found that my port side LED nav light has failed, and failed in the unit itself.
Took the nav light back to the store today, and get told that they need to call the distributor to find out what the distributor wants to do about it! and they couldn't call 'cause the distributor was closed.... and it even says on the back of the packet "12 month warranty" and "return to retailer for warranty claims"... all for a $50 pair of LEDs!
I certainly hope that BLA comes to the party with replacing my nav lights, I'd hate to have to put them on my list of 'business' to never support', as they seem to supply everyone!

Anyway, I'm thinking I'm just about done with LEDs. Has anyone else had these issues or is it just me?

Cheers!

[iqarus]

sounds like vibration issues, if you're handy with a soldering iron it might just be as simple as opening the unit up and putting a dot of solder on the weak joins.

i love LED's, alot more pro's than con's imho.

[deckie]

Fairly normal i;d say.

Noone has yet come up with a single genuine advantage to submersible LED trailer lights.
Submersible trailer lights of any description are dumb..pot luck if they will last 2-3yrs even when buying the expensive ones. Normal to cost $150 kitted out and normal to be rubbish within 2yrs.
Resin encased circuitry ?...no difference.
Whizz bang ways of combatting water capillary action ?..no difference.

Not as though u need to save currwent draw coz it powers from the car.

Dunking cheap mass produced electrics into saltwater ?...still dumb after all these decades of wishful thinking by the lazy.

When purchasing a new boat the best solution is to go down to a good trailer guy and tell him to weld on two small brackets so that u can very simply take them off before hitting the ramp. Either fit the LED lights to the removeable brackets or get ones that work.

In terms of new technology LED's are fantastic for boating...but when it comes to trailers being dunked the reality is they offer us zero advantage.

If the packet says "fully submersible" or "waterproof" assume thats means "temporary submersible".

Yepp...hate em.
They suck.

[captain rednut]

HEY DAMNED67
ive seen lots of leds fail including my own! im on my third set of trailer led combos now and havent had them accept warranty on any of them, big name brands and suppliers doesnt seem to matter! all of my trailer leds filled up with moisture and they were suppose to be waterproof???????? most of them are crap quality to start with but look the part when you buy them, im lucky so far the led nav lites are still going! (lucky) i might leave them turned off to make them last longer??? good luck with warranty on yours. cheers jim