An LED mirror goes dark one morning, or half the light strip stops working, or the demister no longer clears the glass. The first assumption is usually that the mirror has had it and a replacement is due.
That is rarely the case. A mirror is two things bolted together: the glass and frame, which last a very long time, and a small set of electronic components, which are the parts that actually go wrong. Almost every fault traces back to one of them, and most can be swapped out.
The mirror and the electronics are separate problems
The glass, the backing and the frame are built to outlive the electrics by a wide margin. Mirror glass is cut, shaped and finished from large sheets, and frames are made from high-grade aluminium for dimensional stability and rust resistance. Short of physical damage, those parts are not usually the issue.
The electronics are a different matter. An LED mirror typically carries a light strip, a driver, an infra-red on and off sensor, and on many models an anti-mist demister pad and a shaver socket. Those are the components that fail, and each has its own symptom.
What the symptom usually tells you
Nothing comes on at all. The instinct is to blame the LEDs, and it is more often the sensor or the supply to the mirror. Check the circuit and the breaker before anything else.
A section of the strip is out, or noticeably dimmer than the rest. That points at the strip itself or a connection to it, not at the whole unit.
The light flickers or pulses. This normally sits with the driver rather than the LEDs.
The glass steams up when it did not before. The demister pad or its connection. On most models the pad runs automatically whenever the lights are switched on, so if the lights are behaving and the glass is not, the pad is the place to look.
The shaver socket has stopped working but the light is fine. That is a self-contained component and can be dealt with on its own.
The sensor is the most common culprit, and not always faulty
On a lot of models the infra-red sensor sits on the underside of the mirror rather than on the face of the glass. That position keeps it out of sight, and it also puts it where steam, hairspray residue and anything stored on the shelf below can interfere with it.
A sensor that has become unresponsive is worth wiping over with a soft cloth and clearing space around before it gets written off as a fault. A fair number of reported failures turn out to be exactly this.
What the guarantee actually covers
LED mirrors and cabinets carry a ten-year parts guarantee, and Hollywood mirrors carry a lifetime parts guarantee. The wording that matters is parts. The component is replaced free of charge, and the labour to fit it is not included.
In practice the process is straightforward. You get in touch, the faulty component is identified, and where it is in stock the replacement is sent out free of charge on next working day delivery. The guarantee applies to the original purchaser rather than transferring with the house or with a resale.
The full terms sit on the terms and conditions page, and they are worth reading before you assume a fault is or is not covered.
Fitting the part is your side of it
Anything electrical or electronic should be fitted by a qualified electrician, and that cost sits with you rather than with the guarantee. It is a small job for someone who does it every day, and it is not a job to improvise.
These mirrors are not double insulated, so they need a connection to earth, and they run from a standard 240V lighting circuit. The supply needs isolating at the mains before anything is opened up. If the mirror is in a bathroom, the usual electrical zone rules apply on top of that.
Where a mirror is made decides what happens next
This is the part people only think about once something has gone wrong. A mirror assembled overseas and imported as a finished unit tends to have a short parts window. Once the model is discontinued, the replacement is a whole new mirror. Manufacturing in the UK changes that, because the components are held as stock and the people who built the mirror are the people sending the part.
It is the difference between a fault being an afternoon's work and a fault being a refit.
Repair before replacement
There is an environmental case here as well as a practical one. Mirrors are built to be repaired, with components stripped out and reused where they can be, and made to be recycled at the end of a genuinely long service life. The approach to environmental responsibility covers how that works in more detail.
A mirror that has one failed component and nine working ones does not belong in a skip.
What to check before you get in touch
Confirm the circuit is live and the breaker has not tripped, and see whether anything changed recently, since new work on a bathroom circuit is a common trigger. Wipe the sensor and clear anything sitting close to it. Note which parts of the mirror still work, because that narrows the fault quickly. Have your order details to hand.
Then get in touch with the symptom and the model, and the right component can usually be identified without a visit.
Worth knowing before you buy, too
If you are choosing a mirror rather than fixing one, the same logic is worth applying up front. Ask what happens in year six, whether parts are held, and who supplies them. It is a duller question than lighting style or shape, and it decides how long the mirror or cabinet stays in service.
The Hollywood range sits under the lifetime parts guarantee, which tells you something about how these products are expected to be treated: kept, maintained and repaired, rather than replaced every few years.
