Why are you worrying so much about these LEDs most LEDs will last 10-20,000 hours. Also Mike wolf will never answer your question here. 

I now have the engine, and 12 cars with LEDs  that will run everyday from thanksgiving till the first week of January. I don't even think about how long they may last. I ran most of the cars last year also. 16-18 volts is fine when they are running in command or conventional. 

My advice is to just run them, and enjoy them. 

Btw, When I talked to Mike Wolf at York I did ask him when the new cars would be delivered and he said the end of November. ( think December )

Dave

As you said, David, "most," but not all so I'm just seeking, information, David. After all isn't that partly the purpose for this forum, to seek out advice about best practices and share information about products?

I just replaced three LED light bulbs in my train room that were advertised as 12,000 hr bulbs.  They *may* have had 12 hrs on them, not above twice that.

palallin posted:

I just replaced three LED light bulbs in my train room that were advertised as 12,000 hr bulbs.  They *may* have had 12 hrs on them, not above twice that.

I've had similar experiences with both "household" LED lamps, as well as those 3 AA battery powered 30 micro LED bare copper wire sets so that's why I'm somewhat leary of what to expect from the micro LEDs MTH uses.

Inside lamps - I replaced all incadescent bulbs inside our house with LEDs about two years ago and have already needed to replace "8" of those so-called 12,000 hour guaranteed bulbs. Outside LED PAR floodlamps in stake holder have fared much worse, as I've had to replace 50% of them during 2018.

Btw, KennJr. of Trainworld just said in another  post that if one bulb fails on the  micro LED strings, the remaining lights on that string remain lit. Also, that if these micro LEDs are powered at 18 volts they should last a "long" time. Only time will decide that prediction which I'm hoping proves accurate during the years ahead.

david1 posted:

Why are you worrying so much about these LEDs most LEDs will last 10-20,000 hours...

Dave

Here's another thread, Dave, that contribute, despite the assurances yesterday from Trainworld's KennB. Jr. and MTH,to my trepidation about this car set's LEDs. Maybe the cars you have from last years initial production run work fine, but already two forum members are discussing problems with cars, like mine, from, MTH's most recent production run. It does make me somewhat cautious, David. Here's that discussion thread, New MTH CP Christmas Stage Boxcar Up in Smoke.

A premium was paid to have the lights on that already-expensive set, and they are an integral part of the appeal.  Why should the owner NOT be concerned about maximizing the life of them? 

Mallard4468 posted:

A premium was paid to have the lights on that already-expensive set, and they are an integral part of the appeal.  Why should the owner NOT be concerned about maximizing the life of them? 

Agreed, One of my CP holiday cars had to go back to MTH for a power supply issue. But I was told if it was an LED issue they did not have extra LED strands. That was in January, maybe they did get extra for repairs with this order.

IF MTH decided to offer the LED strands independently for adding to buildings, bridges, etc.  I would at least think I had a possible replacement path.

~Bill

If I were concerned about the longevity of the LED strings, I'd do a little research into how they're wired and powered to verify for myself if they should have a long life.  LED's that aren't mistreated should last for many thousands of hours.  If they're run beyond their ratings or suffer excessive reverse amplitude voltage spikes, they can fail in seconds.