Cheap LED MR16s and GU10s

Hobbo2006

elstimpo wrote: »

Like most things, most LED's are made in the far east. Again, like most things the difference in quality of very similar products made in the far east can be huge.

I personally think Ebay is a terrible place to buy products like LED's unless of course you have put a lot of time and effort into researching the seller and the product. We hear countless stories of guarantees not being honoured and the lifespan of the product not coming close to whats advertised. We did our own tests on 50 LED Spotlights being sold on ebay. I can't remember the exact number for around 30 out of the 50 were from the same factory and pretty much the same product dressed up differently with varying wattages despite the advertised wattages all being 5w.

You can get a quality LED Spotlight, from a proper UK company, that will actually replace a 50w halogen, will last 25,000 hours (11 years at 6 hours per day), with a 3 year warranty for around £10. You will save a lot more money buying a product like this than one for £3-£5 off ebay.

My experience is different as I had a delivery damaged in transit which was replaced immediately without question. Who is to say that the UK company isn't importing the same product and putting a higher mark up due to their higher costs? I prefer to see the feedback from many customers. If they are a good seller then they will have plenty of feedback.

I'm curious about the bulb you mention as when I did the research over a year ago there were no LED bulbs that could match the lumens and wide angle of light that a halogen gives. Could you post a link?

rogerblack

Hobbo2006 wrote: »

I prefer to see the feedback from many customers. If they are a good seller then they will have plenty of feedback.

Feedback has fundamental problems for devices that are supplied working.
If you ship a product that typically lasts a couple of weeks, you can end up with excellent feedback.

grahamc2003

I've bought plenty of bits and pieces from China, including 3 lots of leds and an £80 tablet. Never had any problems, always left the 100% feedback and always happy. The tablet wasn't released in the UK at the time, and when it was a few months later, the cheapest I saw it was £160. It's now 18 months old and still going strong. The leds were as described - but I think many don't research enough to know exactly what to expect.

I once had a power supply fail after about a month. I emailed the company, and another was sent straight away with no further questions.

The only drawback is the time to wait for delivery, which is ime 2/3/4 weeks. Always a surprise when you get a package and you have completely forgotten what you ordered.

I have always thought that at Chinese prices, you can even afford to be ripped off once in a while and still get stuff much cheaper than in the UK. Just so happens, I haven't been ripped off yet - quite he contrary in fact.

rogerblack

grahamc2003 wrote: »

I have always thought that at Chinese prices, you can even afford to be ripped off once in a while and still get stuff much cheaper than in the UK. Just so happens, I haven't been ripped off yet - quite he contrary in fact.

They may in many cases not comply with safety standards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T88ej64aXUM

For example.
I have dismantled personally about a dozen of these sort of budget PSUs.
In most cases, there is between half and a millimeter seperating the mains voltage from the output side.
Any slight contamination may result in electric shock, and/or damage to equipment.
There is typically one wrap of insulation tape between the mains and output windings on the transformer. Any slight pinching of this during construction or surge will result in the output becoming live.
The PCBs are often not properly secured, and in one case would come into contact with the live pin of the plug with minor shock.

In short - I started buying actual branded power supplies from primary suppliers.

http://www.esc.org.uk/industry/product-safety/product-testing-screening/chargers/ is an interesting report into the issue.
And yes, people have been killed.

Kernel_Sanders

elstimpo wrote: »

Thats not true.

With an quality LED product you have to design and intergrate a proper and thorough heat dissipation system using Aluminium or ceramic, buy a quality chip set from a company like Cree (hell of lot more than 4p).

The 4p figure I read of was just for each LED (the diode), not the whole product.

rogerblack

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

The 4p figure I read of was just for each LED (the diode), not the whole product.

This is for individual low power LEDs.
Lighting class LEDs are rather more.

elstimpo

Hobbo2006 wrote: »

Who is to say that the UK company isn't importing the same product and putting a higher mark up due to their higher costs?

I prefer to see the feedback from many customers. If they are a good seller then they will have plenty of feedback.

I'm curious about the bulb you mention as when I did the research over a year ago there were no LED bulbs that could match the lumens and wide angle of light that a halogen gives. Could you post a link?

Because it's a completely different product.

The products i was referring to, that are sold on ebay or as 'cheap' LED Spotlights by some retailers, almost always look like these;

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af179/cjsphotos/download-15_zpsa55173da.jpeg
http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af179/cjsphotos/download-16_zps019144e6.jpeg

Thing with ebay and feedback is that the feedback is 100% based on initial reaction only. It's very easy to get great feedback selling LED's on ebay as the only thing a customer needs to see to give positive feedback is the required level of brightness. Does that feedback get changed to negative when the product fails after a year or 2 years when it claimed to last 15?

almillar

elstimpo - genuine request for your recommendation for MR16 fitting LEDs. I'm replacing 2 50w halogen bulbs and do not want less brightness.
eBayers will create numbers to suit me if it'll sell their product (saying things are equivalent to 50w when they're not) so if the product I want doesn't exist please let me know!
Have considered dumping these legacy fittings which seem to be a massive compromise for LED and fitting a custom shape...

MrMajic

almillar wrote: »

elstimpo - genuine request for your recommendation for MR16 fitting LEDs. I'm replacing 2 50w halogen bulbs and do not want less brightness.
eBayers will create numbers to suit me if it'll sell their product (saying things are equivalent to 50w when they're not) so if the product I want doesn't exist please let me know!
Have considered dumping these legacy fittings which seem to be a massive compromise for LED and fitting a custom shape...

I've replaced halogen bulbs withe LED fittings from China via Ebay. My experience is that the three or four LED lights don't last well, but the 60 SMD blubs seem much better. I bought these ones (fitted with an LED driver also): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300820676229?var=600068222351&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 and am happy with them. They are nice and bright.

elstimpo

MrMajic wrote: »

I've replaced halogen bulbs withe LED fittings from China via Ebay. My experience is that the three or four LED lights don't last well, but the 60 SMD blubs seem much better. I bought these ones (fitted with an LED driver also): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300820676229?var=600068222351&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 and am happy with them. They are nice and bright.

Do they have a plastic heat dissipation casing? :shocked: Can't tell if it's plastic, glass or metal.

The best LED Spotlight i have ever seen only claims to have a 40,000 hour lifespan. A product that has years of design and engineering experience put into it, won multiple international design awards, made from the best raw materials possible, comes with a 5 year warranty and has multiple patented elements.

Yet this ebay version has a 50,000 hour lifespan?

The ebay spot you have linked to is also cool white. It has a colour temp of 6000 - 6500k - An LED Spotlight that would replace a 50w Halogen would have a colour temp of around 3000k