0

(The gist is in bold)

I recently got a PiGlow and started playing around with it. When I have the yellow LEDs set at > 200 for an extended amount of time, one of them starts to flicker and eventually goes out. It comes back eventually on a lower power setting, but it keeps going out with prolonged use at high settings.

I don't know the slightest about hardware and LEDs—so before I angrily ship it back to Amazon, I'm wondering if 1. these LEDs have an expected lifespan which is substantially below infinity, 2. I am misusing them in any way.

If no, should I just send it back and get a replacement? Is there anything I can do in the future to avoid this bummer? I really like my colorful swirly lights and am making cool patterns with them ^.^

edit: I should also allow for the possibility of something else being wrong with it, I guess, maybe on the raspberry pi level.

edit 2: I have not been able to reproduce the issue by simply turning on the yellow ones, or the particular one, only by turning most of the LEDs on to a high setting, after which no matter what I do, the yellow one at hand will start to flicker and turn off.

4
  • I'd try a slightly larger power supply and see if the problem goes away.
    – Tyson
    Aug 16, 2014 at 20:16
  • Try removing it from the header and plug it back in. It might be a connection problem (though very unlikely). There shouldn't be anything you can do wrong with this product. Also, life expectancy of led is typically around 10000 hours. Most likely a bad led, or a bad solder connection. I would just return it.
    – Gerben
    Aug 17, 2014 at 14:28
  • @Tyson I didn't think power supplied by USB varied at all. I guess the bit that converts wall power to USB is what you're referring to? (I probably sound like an idiot—sorry).
    – user19727
    Aug 18, 2014 at 14:13
  • @Gerben I thought it'd be a connection issue so I did try jiggling it about a bit, reseating it, and cleaning the little pins. I will return it and get a replacement.
    – user19727
    Aug 18, 2014 at 14:14

1 Answer 1

0

I just spoke with the guys at Pimoroni (the makers of PiGlow):

Apparently, they had at one point received a batch of bad LEDs and are aware of the problem affecting some of their PiGlows. They offered to just send me a replacement with working LEDs a day after I contacted them.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.