My white led's are yellowing

[fishyj]

I have a rapid led setup thats about 6 years old.It has royal blue and and cool white. I have noticed that all my whites are yellowing now. I have a few extra led's that I ordered with the kit. I did test them and they are very white in color. Any ideas on what is going on with it. Could all 12 leds be going bad at the same time or could it be my driver causing this.

[Horerczy]

Pics?

[evilc66]

Yellowing when they are on or off? When off, white LEDs are yellow looking. The phosphor that converts the blue light to broad spectrum white is yellow in color.

[reefbern]

Yellowing of the LED's is evidence of failure from heat. The epoxy resin they are sealed in begins to yellow, changing the color output. The near-uv LED's do this quickly, as the light spectrum basically ages the material. I had a modified Marineland reef capable light that I swapped LED's on, and the near-uv's started to yellow the optics. I took the optics off to discover the LED resin had itself turned nearly copper in color.

 

I would suspect the lights are either overdriven, or the cooling isn't sufficient. Or they could just be aging.

[welight]

A couple of possible issues, heat is the obvious one, chemical incompatibility is another, what materials, glues etc were used in the assembly, sealing leds in waterproof housings without a burn in(unsealed) can introduce chemical activity, that will cause leds to discolour over time

[fishyj]

Thanks for the replies. The lights are yellow while running. This was a kit from rapid, it came with everything needed. I checked and they are not over driven. I think the leds are just aging, which is perfect timing for an upgrade in my lighting.

[Chadf]

Headlight lenses yellow just the same. Maybe the lifespan of the leds will actually depend on the yellowing, Changing par, color, and anything else led people will argue for longevity.

[johnnyb1999]

I had this problem and following another answer I tried melting off the "rubber" coating. They were still bluewhite underneath so the answer is 1 melt the covering 2 order some without covering (not waterproof . or 3 I am told a silicon covering will not deteriorate

[Bluebaby101]

I work for an electric utility. We work with LEDs.   If your bright white, cool light or day light LEDs seem to be yellowing it’s probably because the bulb or lens is plastic.  Glass bulbs and or lenses will not yellow

 

Dont get confused with the soft white spectrum that will throw a yellow light. 

 

A simple tooth “paste” with a whitener or peroxide added when applied to the lens and gently scrub with an old toothbrush will clean the lens giving your LED a longer brighter life.