overcurrenting a led

[vari]

Is there some consensus over how overcurrenting a led affects it's lifespan (and brightness)?

I have a resistor to choose for my led driver that defines the current, and the specification is 1.5-1.8A for the led. I have plenty of heatsinking so the led will run at ambient temperature. Should i settle for 1.8A or can i safely bump that to say 2-3A?

I know laser diodes are sometimes run with up to 100% overcurrent succesfully for extended periods of time. Do leds behave the same?

 

[lasersbee]

Think of applying more that 120Vac to a standard 120Vac Light bulb.
The higher the voltage across the light bulb the more its life will
decrease while the brightness goes up until it blows...

Jerry

 

[Cyparagon]

The light output with respect to current is not as linear with LEDs as it is with laser diodes. Increasing the current that much above max will not increase the light output too much. Assuming it doesn't blow right away if you drive it that hard, it will slowly dim down to nothing over the next few days

I prefer to run (chinese off-brand) LEDs at no more than 60% their rated current.

 

[rhd]

I prefer to run (chinese off-brand) LEDs at no more than 60% their rated current.

I've had the same experience with chinese-off-brand LED emitter "plates". Running them at around 70% of their rating produced an amount of light almost indistinguishable from running them at their actual rating. Running them higher than their rating was a negative return.

Something like an SST-90 might be a different story.

What model LED is this?

 

[saabluster]

Is there some consensus over how overcurrenting a led affects it's lifespan (and brightness)?

I have a resistor to choose for my led driver that defines the current, and the specification is 1.5-1.8A for the led. I have plenty of heatsinking so the led will run at ambient temperature. Should i settle for 1.8A or can i safely bump that to say 2-3A?

I know laser diodes are sometimes run with up to 100% overcurrent succesfully for extended periods of time. Do leds behave the same?

No way to answer your question without knowing what kind of LED you have. And what is "plenty of heatsinking"? Are you using an mcpcb?

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

Is there some consensus over how overcurrenting a led affects it's lifespan (and brightness)?

Yes, it affects lifespan negatively and brightness positively

I have a resistor to choose for my led driver that defines the current, and the specification is 1.5-1.8A for the led. I have plenty of heatsinking so the led will run at ambient temperature. Should i settle for 1.8A or can i safely bump that to say 2-3A?

That depends on the LED and how much and how efficient your heatsinking is.

I know laser diodes are sometimes run with up to 100% overcurrent succesfully for extended periods of time. Do leds behave the same?

Again, it depends. Some makers are better at making LEDs than others, and there are many more "generic" LEDs than there are laser diodes.

What kind of LED is it, and what kind of heatsinking are you providing it?