Ebay LEDs - inconsistent color and brightness (and smoke!)

[bpsims]

Grabbed some cheap LEDs off ebay and finally got around to installing them.

They looked fantastic for about 58 seconds and then things started to go downhill fast!

The color and brightness start off excellent. Perhaps just slightly dimmer than the original incandescent bulbs but the color was nice and warm. About a minute after being on, I notice the color starting to look cooler and they appeared to be dimmer too. 5 minutes later and it looks like a completely different light! Very dim and an awful blue hue.

And then - they got so hot that they literally started smoking.

I put together a few time lapses which span about 7 minutes or so. Camera is a DSLR locked at f/2.8, 1/30, and ISO 400 for every exposure.





Smoke! These are supposed to run cooler!


What's going on here? Is this typical of the ebay LEDs? Anyone else notice the color/brightness shifts?

These are the LEDs

[pikeman]

I've used this guy with excellent results in two different trailers.
http://m4products.com/

Good luck.

[westend]

Ok, this is getting further afield than what is necessary or what is applicable for this topic.

Parts Express is not a surplus-only seller. Yes, they sell some mfg buyouts on occasion, notably speakers. To characterize them as you have is from ignorance or disingenuous. MCM electronics is also not a surplus-only seller.

"Many of those sellers have ADDED Ebay to their sales to get the folks that exclusively only look at Ebay.." This is correct.

There are reputable asian sellers of LED bulbs and panels on E Bay. Many members of this Forum will attest to that, myself included. Seller 2011_led, as was mentioned, has a good track record with RV replacement LED's.

[Gdetrailer]

westend wrote:

Relying on Ebay for modern day electronics or most other still in production items is pretty much playing roulette with your time and money..

You ARE more than welcome to continue on.. But some day, you to WILL find yourself with the very same problem as the OP..

You presume too much.

Many reputable online retailers have a presence on E Bay, including electronic retailers. Parts Express

Parts express is a SURPLUS buyer..

They buy from manufacturers LEFTOVER SURPLUS PARTS, over runs and seconds when an item has been discontinued. Same with MCM, Skycraft, All Electronics, Halted Electronics and lots of other places.. But keep in mind that the names above WILL "honor" their warranty when buying DIRECT FROM THEIR WEBSITE.. From Ebay, that may be another matter..

Many of those sellers have ADDED Ebay to their sales to get the folks that exclusively only look at Ebay..

But keep in mind that instead of buying through Ebay and all its charges and hoops you CAN buy directly from those sellers I listed above.. Heck you do not even need Paypal if you buy direct from the above vendors..

The problem however is all the sellers who are nothing more than a overseas address that are scamming folks with worthless junk.. That IS where most folks buying from.. Ebay has no "jurisdiction" over any overseas sellers.. They can ban them if enough complaints are brought up.. But those sellers just start another store front and begin scamming all over again..

If you WANT first rate electronic parts YOU WILL have to pay a bit more.. Quality does not come cheap or from Ebay..

If the lowest price is your main concern and not quality then have at it with Ebay.. But don't complain if it does not last or is of poor quality..

On edit..

I should also note that I do have a friend who HAS a 12x12 shed chock full of auto parts and electronic parts that he has amassed over the years from Ebay.. Most either were wrong parts SENT by the seller, didn't fit or plain didn't work.. He tells me that the shipping back is often more than what the part is worth so he keeps it..

Yeah, Ebay IS his go to first place when he needs or wants something :S :h

I keep telling him that at least with Amazon if the part doesn't fit or work you CAN send it back AND get full refund and often times even the shipping back is refunded or free.

I have only on two occasions return items to Amazon, both times refund in full AND shipping back was free and I can tell you this, I HAVE bought a lot from Amazon over the years.

[westend]

Relying on Ebay for modern day electronics or most other still in production items is pretty much playing roulette with your time and money..

You ARE more than welcome to continue on.. But some day, you to WILL find yourself with the very same problem as the OP..

You presume too much.

Many reputable online retailers have a presence on E Bay, including electronic retailers. Parts Express

[Gdetrailer]

westend wrote:

GDEtrailer wrote:
There IS a reason Ebay is cheap, you get cheap stuff, cheaply made, a dumping ground for not even seconds but often thirds in "quality" and plain cutting room floor junk that was supposed to be scrapped..

This is not accurate in even a generalization of products sold on E Bay.
A buyer may find that many E Bay vendors also sell through Amazon.

You don't need to respond but I'm guessing you had some bad experiences when purchasing through E Bay.

I think EVERYONE has had at least ONE "bad experience" with EBay..

MOST folks however will NEVER "admit" to having a problem..

BUT, take a good hard look at many of the posts on this forum that typically start with "I am having a problem.." then somewhere in the body of the post will state "bought it from Ebay.." Hmm.. I wonder as to why they are having a problem?

If Ebays policy is so "good" they WHY is the OP HERE POSTING THERE PROBLEMS INSTEAD OF DEALING WITH EBAY????

Folks treat Ebay as if it is the first place to go for COMMON everyday items that are in production (LEDs ARE COMMON EVERY DAY ITEMS THAT ARE NOT HARD TO FIND)..

It is not, and any person who is in the business of manufacturing something WILL say the very same thing I am saying..

Businesses do not buy from Ebay to build their items, instead they search for RELIABLE SOURCES of raw materials, not an auction house (IE EBAY).

There ARE plenty of more reliable sources for electronic parts, you just need to do a bit more leg work in searching..

Ebay is a place to go when you are looking for say a piece of chrome for a 1950 auto, or perhaps a hard to find in working order antique item that has been out of production for say 100 years.

Relying on Ebay for modern day electronics or most other still in production items is pretty much playing roulette with your time and money..

You ARE more than welcome to continue on.. But some day, you to WILL find yourself with the very same problem as the OP..

[westend]

GDEtrailer wrote:
There IS a reason Ebay is cheap, you get cheap stuff, cheaply made, a dumping ground for not even seconds but often thirds in "quality" and plain cutting room floor junk that was supposed to be scrapped..

This is not accurate in even a generalization of products sold on E Bay.
A buyer may find that many E Bay vendors also sell through Amazon.

You don't need to respond but I'm guessing you had some bad experiences when purchasing through E Bay.

[Gdetrailer]

SCVJeff wrote:
Every time I have ever had a problem the vendor either makes it good or the eBay dispute department (for two big ticket items) has always ruled in my favor. It's nothing more than a market place and one has to pay attention the same as Amazon, or any other internet or S&B retailers

Amazon is not an AUCTION website, EBAY IS.

Amazon VETS vendors, EBAY DOES NOT.

AMAZON EASILY REFUNDS OR REPLACES ITEMS EVEN IN THE AMAZON MARKET PLACE. EBAY DOES NOT, WITH EBAY YOU MUST DEAL WITH VENDOR AND ANY DISPUTES MUST BE TAKEN UP WITH PAYPAL..

Amazon WILL "pull" vendors or items if misrepresented by the vendor, Ebay WILL NOT.

With Amazon, you CAN buy directly from Amazon (just choose items marked sold and shipped by Amazon), EBAY you can not.

Amazon, you can buy from Amazon Market place it it will can ship from a Amazon warehouse, Just look for sold by vendor but ships from Amazon, Ebay you can not. Amazon WILL refund or replace, no hassle.

You can buy from Amazon Market place (sold and ship from vendor) and Amazon will refund or replace.. Ebay will not.

Amazon gives you real life shipping costs and shipping times (including Amazon market place), Ebay does not..

Do you STILL THINK EBAY AND AMAZON ARE STILL THE SAME?

There IS a reason Ebay is cheap, you get cheap stuff, cheaply made, a dumping ground for not even seconds but often thirds in "quality" and plain cutting room floor junk that was supposed to be scrapped..

Manufacturers do not like just throwing out junk, now days they have found that there are plenty of folks willing not only to take their "scrap" off their hands BUT TO PAY FOR IT.

But remember that more often the cheap price of a "bargain" is soon forgot when the item doesn't last..

Yes, some folks do happen to find a good "keeper", but more often than not leftover junk is what you get..

"AS IS" or Caveat Emptor..

[mbopp]

Hmmm.... I converted to LED's from Ebay seller 2011_LED, no problems after 3 years so far.

[SCVJeff]

Every time I have ever had a problem the vendor either makes it good or the eBay dispute department (for two big ticket items) has always ruled in my favor. It's nothing more than a market place and one has to pay attention the same as Amazon, or any other internet or S&B retailers

[Gdetrailer]

bpsims wrote:
Grabbed some cheap LEDs off ebay and finally got around to installing them.

They looked fantastic for about 58 seconds and then things started to go downhill fast!

The color and brightness start off excellent. Perhaps just slightly dimmer than the original incandescent bulbs but the color was nice and warm. About a minute after being on, I notice the color starting to look cooler and they appeared to be dimmer too. 5 minutes later and it looks like a completely different light! Very dim and an awful blue hue.

And then - they got so hot that they literally started smoking.

I put together a few time lapses which span about 7 minutes or so. Camera is a DSLR locked at f/2.8, 1/30, and ISO 400 for every exposure.





Smoke! These are supposed to run cooler!


What's going on here? Is this typical of the ebay LEDs? Anyone else notice the color/brightness shifts?

These are the LEDs

Well, it was CHEAP AND FROM EBAY..

What else do you expect?

You GOT WHAT YOU "PAID" FOR in quality.

Now, I would suggest you buy from NON EBAY SOURCES..

I would recommend Amazon, at least there if you do have problems Amazon will step in and either get you a refund or replacements HASSLE FREE. YES, you might pay a bit more from Amazon but at least they WILL back you when something goes wrong.

Ebay first and foremost is AN AUCTION WEBSITE, EBAY DOES NOT GUARANTY OR WARRANTY ANY OF YOUR PURCHASES :S .

Hence the wording of "Caveat Emptor" which means "Buyer Be aware" at the bottom of Ebay pages..

Full definition can be found HERE

"Caveat Emptor

{Latin, Let the buyer beware.} A warning that notifies a buyer that the goods he or she is buying are "as is," or subject to all defects.

When a sale is subject to this warning the purchaser assumes the risk that the product might be either defective or unsuitable to his or her needs.This rule is not designed to shield sellers who engage in Fraud or bad faith dealing by making false or misleading representations about the quality or condition of a particular product. It merely summarizes the concept that a purchaser must examine, judge, and test a product considered for purchase himself or herself.

The modern trend in laws protecting consumers, however, has minimized the importance of this rule. Although the buyer is still required to make a reasonable inspection of goods upon purchase, increased responsibilities have been placed upon the seller, and the doctrine of caveat venditor (Latin for "let the seller beware") has become more prevalent. Generally, there is a legal presumption that a seller makes certain warranties unless the buyer and the seller agree otherwise. One such Warranty is the Implied Warranty of merchantability. If a person buys soap, for example, there is an implied warranty that it will clean; if a person buys skis, there is an implied warranty that they will be safe to use on the slopes.

A seller who is in the business of regularly selling a particular type of goods has still greater responsibilities in dealing with an average customer. A person purchasing antiques from an antique dealer, or jewelry from a jeweler, is justified in his or her reliance on the expertise of the seller.

If both the buyer and the seller are negotiating from equal bargaining positions, however, the doctrine of caveat emptor would apply."

I can't figure out why Ebay is peoples first "go to place" to buy stuff, I got burned too many times..

[bpsims]

Thanks for the replies.

Voltage measured at the outlet is 13.4v (charging) and 12.6v.

I sent the seller an email and some pictures - not expecting much but curious about his response.

[JFNM]

I did some digging and found that I purchased all my LED's from "yitamotor" on ebay - several different styles. That was two years ago.

[Sandia_Man]

Did a full LED conversion 4 years ago and purchased all the LEDs from an Ebayer highly recommended by this forum. Did the research beforehand and ordered LEDs that gave a nice warm glow mimicking our stock incandescent bulbs. Being someone who prefers boondocking and dry camping, going to LEDs amazingly dropped power usage for lights to 1/10th of stock bulbs.

I guess we were lucky although I know many are very satisfied with their LEDs from Ebay. To date none of our LEDs from Ebay have failed and they run so much cooler while providing more illumination than the incandescents they replaced. Funny thing is the only LEDs that have failed were those I purchased from stateside vendors at several times the price. Sorry to hear of your LED woes, hope future attempts offer better results.

[gbopp]

I bought some GU-10 bulbs for my S&B. They were installed in the kitchen and worked great for a year. But, I didn't like the color, they were cool white.
So, I ordered 10 warm white bulbs and put the cool white bulbs in other fixtures.

The warm white was nice. However, about a week later, every few days, one started flashing then died.
It's been two months, only one of the warm white bulbs is still working.
The cool white bulbs are still working great.

They came from the same supplier. I guess it's a gamble when buying made in China products. 🙂