I don't routinely run LED's IR or otherwise, at the absolute maximum ratings, you'll probably get more life out of them at more reasonable currents.
You'll have to be more specific about my "2-detector" setup, can you provide a link? Note that the collector current of a phototransistor will be determined by the external IR light detected, the maximum is just a limitation to keep from toasting. So, if you had a 5VDC power supply, you'd want around a 1k ohm load on it to avoid exceeding the maximum collector current rating of 4.8ma.
Having had a very good nights sleep and having the family over for our traditional Good Friday fish and chip supper I would like to offer my two penny worth of information. During your calculations do not forget to include the following:
Volt drop cable length and cable size, volt drop over diodes 0.7 volts for silicon and 0.35?? for germanium diodes, with out these you could easily think that something was wrong, so please build them into your factors, also remember that there is a difference in potential with LED'S.
Just some thoughts from an old old spark
