Heads up on Cree LED bulbs

http://www.marco.org/2013/09/04/cree-led-flaw

….in case you already have some.

The caption is misleading. Cree makes leds, not lights, so it is not their fault.

WRONG! Cree IS making bulbs. They are sold by Home Depot under the CREE name. They have A19 and PAR30 style bulbs.

They do both.

They make street lights:

http://www.cree.com/lighting/products/outdoor/streetlights/xsp-series-streetlight

They make light bulbs:

http://www.cree.com/lighting/products/indoor/consumer/60w-replacement-warm-white-type-a-led-bulb

And many other lights.

Lol, glue dies if it gets hot…

I like it that the cover can be separated so that we can mod it…

Yikes, I was thinking of buying some of those at my local Home Despot. Think I’ll wait now, thanks for the heads up.

Not a problem for me, but I hope this means they put them on clearance while waiting for revised bulbs. I'll buy all those bad bulbs.

This makes me feel better about the time I took to add more fins to the base.

i seen these at Home Depot. looks like they use the XT-E emitter.
i havent tried one yet to see if ther is an issue with the glue.

lol @ home despot, was that a typo or what you call them?

lets hope the 10 year warranty covers this and that they fix the problem in future bulbs, i want to be able to recommend these to people

This is a YouTube video of “An extreme teardown review” of this bulb. Very well done and thorough.
Don’t expect this light to last as long as is alluded to in the advertising, driver components (or perhaps glue :wink: ) will fail long before the actual led’s.

When I tested one (in open air), the heatsink got to 100 degrees C! The capacitor in the driver is rated at 105C. In a base-up installation or in a can, I suspect that cap is not long for the world… at least not 10 years long…

Oh, and the LED strings are driven with a high voltage. You could get quite a surprise without that glass dome/slimy rubber bulb condom protecting you.

Good to know. I have 2 of these (I think), so I’ll be careful when removing them. I like them- you can’t tell it’s an LED in the fixture. If I find the glue is bad in mine I’ll just re-glue them, or put on some lock tite.

Yeah, I can see some real problems in the future with this bulb. Is there no isolation or fault interrupt on the driver? The reviewer in the video seems to take great comfort in pointing out that there is a fuse.!

Of course I have to believe that this is just a knee-jerk reaction on our part, Cree can’t be THAT negligent, can they?

Did the package say "base down only"? If so it's not a flaw, it's user error.

No… and even base down it gets freaky hot. Base up just helps channel more heat into the driver compartment.

I mentioned these bulbs to a guy at a lighting supplier. He knew about them and said that several of his customers had bought them, had problems, and were looking for other options in the same price range.

The video guy hasn’t said which ambient temperature he had, or have I missed some things?

I’ve been doing that for a couple years and you are first one to comment on it, haha. Sometimes I call them “Home Labyrinth” :wink:

How about Home Cheapo, or Cheapo Depot.

I looked it up, there is (was) a “Cheapo Depot” in Texas at one time!

I’ve had some bad experiences with them, so I like to call them something that reflects the evil, heartless mega-corporation they are. I think ‘Home Despot’ is more accurate :wink:

he also contradicts himself, he says the light runs at 85 - 100ºc then repeatedly says its “really cool”……. :bigsmile: