I am receiving a Astrolux S43S in trade and the trader informed me that one of the emitters has turned blue randomly. It is currently enroute and am wondering if it is okay to run just as is, or have it sent it to someone to get it looked at and checked for any type of shorts/problems. Thank you everyone!
Blue is the original color of the led. What we see, is the result of that blue light and a layer of phosphorus. In that layer the blue is absorbed and changed into another color, depending on the properties of the specific phosphorus layer.
The same goes for the black-light neon tube in disco’s. That’s the original color.
So you are looking at a led with a damaged dome (or coating) and a damaged phosphrus layer.
Unless you are able to swap that led, you are stuck with a damaged light that emits an ugly color. This must have happened while assembling the light. And would have been seen by QC.
If your trader was a car-dealer, he would have said that something happened while unloading the car, but the metal is still OK. Eg, he scraped off the clear coat and the paint. But you do not mind, do you? Because it happened randomly.
Would you accept that car? Same goes for the light. Randomly turned blue? The correct word is damaged.
Thank you for the information! He did disclose this to me and I understood and still accepted it since there was more in the trade and this was more of a freebie. What would be the proper steps to get this fixed and can i use this as is or will this present a problem that should be fixed right away?
The steps to fix the blue emitter would be to reflow a new emitter in its place.
The damaged emitter shouldn’t have a problem continuing working as is, so the problem isn’t necessary to be addressed immediately.
You can use it as is, but the beam will likely have a blue-tinted region in it. How bad it looks depends how much of the phosphor is damaged. It may get worse over time.
The proper fix is to replace that emitter. It involves basic soldering skills, although it can be a little bit difficult to avoid getting a cold solder joint because the metal core printed circuit board (MCPCB) used is so effective at dissipating heat.
I believe the bezel of the S43 unscrews, allowing you to desolder the MCPCB that the 4 emitters are mounted on. The entire MCPCB could be replaced with one of the same layout (I don’t know, but I’m guessing it’s a pretty common 20mm quad board), which would allow you to choose what emitters you want, or the bad emitter could be replaced by reflowing a new emitter of the same type on.
You can use it as is. Or give it away (don’t look a gifted horse in the mouth).
The fact remains that the emitted light will be ugly for most of us. Things can be done, but that depends how good you are with your hands. Cheapest is to swap one led. Swapping the whole ledboard with four leds will cost you more. Either way, it involves the use of a soldering iron.
Sorry, but answering that one was interrupted by dinner 
Don’t stare at the blue emitter.
Putting some diffuser (Scotch magic tape works) over the lens might help even out the beam.
Thanks everyone for the replies! I’m pretty handy but soldering and wiring is not one of my strong suits. Is there someone here that is trusted that would be able to fix this? Of course i’d compensate them for their labor and supplies.
It would help if we knew where “here” is, for it can cost you an arm and a leg in shipping cost. And then it would be cheaper if you forgot all about it, or tossed the light.