$1 cheapie LEDs bought in 2012 still holding up

vermilye wrote:
Some add voltage regulation (usually listed with an operating range such as 10 - 30 volts rather than 12V).

A perfect opening to my purchase for outdoor LED flood lights on eBay.

27W (9x3W LEDs) 10-30V etc. When I measured the amps at 14V is was half of the expected value and clearly not 27W. Clearly no voltage regulator and questionable ad. I did expect full wattage with a voltage regulator but that was not the case.

For my purpose outside of the RV it does the job. But be aware.

Four years on our batch of 24-5050 panels. No issues.

They were a little pricier than some listed in this thread at $45 for 10, but still pretty cheap.

Joe

My warm white $1.00 direct from China panel LEDs are still going strong. There are some differences with the more expensive LEDs other than just mark up. Some add voltage regulation (usually listed with an operating range such as 10 - 30 volts rather than 12V). Of course, that can be a problem - many of the voltage regulation designs create RFI, which can produce a buzz in radios & even blank out weak TV stations.
Another add on is a bridge rectifier so polarity isn't required.

The biggest problem I've had with direct from China LEDs is getting more of the same lamp on a later order. Since most of the sellers purchase a batch & sell them until gone, the new batch may (and usually is) different. If you want all the LEDs to match, you better buy all of them (and a few spares) on the same order.

All of the panels and cobs I bought in 2012 are still working although the tape has failed on most of the more used panels. The big 120 count porch light went out in February after water got into the fixture during a big storm. I replaced it with the same since I couldn't find brighter.

Most all my LEd purchases have been T10 wedge base. 914/912/168/194 bulb sizes.

Some have failed. Some have just been replaced when I searched for something brighter as the tech progressed.

Now, I Pretty much have the brightness I seek, and more. So PWM dimmers on everything.

Some of the LEDs Whine audibly when dimmed on the PWM when there is not enough other white noise, like from fans.

My latest t10s are my favorite. I've purchased 10 then immediately 10 more. about 5 have failed in 10 months. Too much heat. The receptacles were inhibiting airflow. I was getting 10 for 5$ so no big deal. I've got 10 backups, and when they are done, there will be something brighter and more efficient and perhaps, just as inexpensive.

But that last part could be political.

My experience, is the 5730 LEd chipsets, give the bright white light from the fixtures I was using, that I was seeking long ago, that the 5050's never did.

2oldman wrote:

Campfire Time wrote:
you'd have to help me understand how expensive ones mean "good light"..

ctilsie242 wrote:
The light is a bit colder than I like,

The OP implied that the LEDs he bought for cheap had no color choice.

Yep.. He also implied he was willing to trade cheap for "cool" (likely really cool). I waited until manfacturers finally got the dye processes down where they could make 2700k LEDs that you couldn't tell the difference to a filiment. I can afford to spend more than $1 to get that; it's a one-time spend. In the coach, all LEDs are 2700k except the kitchen counter and MW. They are 4000K as I was looking for truer food colors. All are certinaly more than $1, and they look it.

Yep, my cheapy 36 and 48 SMD LED panels are all still working after 5 years. I ordered them in warm white so no typical blue glare.

2.5 years with led strips off a 16 ft roll of 5050 smd
We full time, and exactly 1 led has gone out, of the 300 LEDs in that roll


Now I would mention that I think sticking them to wood ( like under cabinet ) using double sided sticky is a bad idea because it insulates them, there is no place for the heat to go
Mine are stuck directly to the sheet metal that was the ballast cover and light reflector, the metal is a heat sink for the heat generated by the LEDs

I think sticking them directly to a metal strip, them screw the strip to the underside of the cabinet, will greatly improve using strip lighting around cabinets

Huntindog wrote:
On a side note: I don't think any of the LEDs are made anywhere but China... The expensive ones are likely the same as the cheapies... Just no american mark up.

"Made in" is difficult to nail down. Like a truck, an LED is a composite of lots of components.

The actual semiconductor junction, the light emitting diode is likely fabricated in Taiwan or Korea at a multi-billion dollar silicon foundry. The entire wafer gets QA and then rejects are sliced out by a computer guided water jet. They're supposed to be destroyed but I'm sure a fair number of these chips find their way out of the factory to be mounted in some generic brand product.

The phosphor coating is likely made in the USA or Germany. The optical grade silicone encapsulant is likely made in the USA, Germany or the Netherlands (talking about a high end led like a genuine Cree or Philips product).

The plastic or ceramic package is more than likely made in China, and that's where final assembly occurs, the LED chip is mounted, bond wires attached to the lead frame or directly to the package as is common for COB - chip on board type LEDs, everything gets coated with phosphor and silicone and baked for a while to cure and drive out moisture.

As at the foundry, rejects that don't bin correctly are supposed to be destroyed but more likely sold as an generic product.