Current advice

[GooeyGus]

I'm running my open can at 400mA and it's doing about 260mW... seems fine so far but as tocket said, it's all about your definition of long life. For the price of these diodes, one can usually afford for them to only last a few hundred hours before replacement.

[FourDee]

I get what you are saying, but it's more of a reliability issue than it is a price issue for me you see