i have made a tornado machine/simulator and using led's as the light but after about 20 minutes the led's are quite warm. the thing is though these aren't normal high intensity led's they are actually out of a dead train signal light. there are about 50 on the board (haven't counted them yet)and i think they run off 12 volts under 7 volts they don't light. i was wondering if it is normal for these to get hot or am i over powering them(they still work). i don't think it is shorted because the switchmode power supply hasn't shut itself off. any info would be appreciated.

 

LEDs that get hot won't last long.
An ordinary 5mm LED has a max allowed current of 30mA. It will get warm when it is by itself in the open air. Usually they operate at 20mA which doen't make much heat.

You have 50 LEDs crowded together without cool air blowing on them.
You don't even know how much current each one is using.

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Uncle $crooge

 

It is possible to FAR exceed the current rating of LEDs if you pulse them. They can be pulsed so quickly as to not be noticeable yet still produce a dramatic increase in output. If you don't know the absolute maximum surge rating for your LEDs you'll need to sacrifice a few experimenting.

 

as i said they are out of a dead train signal so i have no idea on their specs but i do know that they run on about 12 volts and are very very bright orange as i guess they would have to be for a train signal. they are orange\amber colour and do hurt your eyes if you look at them directly.

 

also their is some air ciculating as they are in a tornado machine\simulator that uses a fan and blower to create the tornado