Caps that are rated 105C or less, worse if they’re not japanese. Good ones are rated 130, only 6 cents more… They’re always potted with grey stuff, have fun with that…
Once had some overpriced chinese ones rated 85C (viribright) needless to say they die fast >_<
Ok, i’ll crack one open after work and report my findings.
Chinese put meaningless markings… you never really know the real values… even Adam’s chinese sunlike have inaccurate document/rating according to him…I don’t trust chinese electrolytic capacitors. Probably why the reviews are so bad.
Even if they “can” last advertised ratings, Chinese products have a higher error rate than Japanese. USA-made suffers a similar problem sometimes, misleading measurements…
Not necessarily saying its bad as there isnt much info on the new brands, but China loves to rebadge stuff…
I bought a 4 pack of the “100W” equiv Feit bulbs from Costco a few weeks ago. I could probably get spectral readings one of these days.
On another note I bought some of these EcoSmart brand “filament style” LED bulbs with clear glass casing. Color temp of 3000K is really nice and they dim with my cheap Lutron dimmer with NO BUZZING. It’s a miracle. I’ve tried like half a dozen bulbs with this dimmer and they all buzz so that is very exciting even though the bulb might only be 80CRI, need to test it as well.
At around $2/bulb i’m definitely willing to give them a shot. I’ve been searching for a while and i’ve yet to find any other bulbs even near this price range with this CRI/R9 and dimmable.
That being said, i would’ve gladly paid slightly more for better electronics. I wish these could be opened up without destroying them. It may be worth it to swap the caps.
I was worried about dimmability too. The Feit’s dim with no issues on my Caseta dimmers. They just don’t get quite as low as my recessed lights. I’d say about 10-15% dim.
I believe the Feit’s buzz a little (like most LED bulbs to be honest) but really it’s only an issue on bathroom lights for example where it’s quiet and you commonly have down facing globes right next to your face.
Thanks for the tear-down elwood. I’m going to visit my local Costco and see what they have.
Another thing that I’ve been debating is to just modify all of my Walmart brand LED bulbs. Every one that I’ve opened so far has used 9 series 3030 mid-power chips that share a footprint with Optisolis. A couple of strap wrenches and heat from a hair dryer twist of the plastic diffusers which are held by a white silicone. Problem is I don’t have enough Optisolis emitters right now to even do one bulb in a low CCT.
Damn,I have allocated some time to search for DIY parts to build similar “sunlike” led bulbs. And only now realized how big that bulb would be… Seems 7W-9W (based on sellers specs) is the biggest TDP I could afford while purchasing Al LED bulb shell. That plastic diffusor on powerfull led bulbs takes too much space.
Good thing about those bulbs is that you can just screw the diffuser out, which isn’t needed if you have a diffusing fixture or ceiling bounce the light for example.
yes, thx. It might (will) look ugly but at least something.
Will try to find more info about this shell 
The one on the left might be a solution.
He posted where he gets his parts somewhere… said the ones on aliexpress were cheaper and broke.
https://shop.tbfocus.com/item.php?id=18603492069#3497744845763 was one of the links
Could you post a picture of the rest of the bulb and emitters please?
“Remez” brand offers led bulbs on Seoul 3030 sunlike LEDs.
http://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2019/nov/seoulsemi-051119.shtml
“En” version is not ready (https://remezlight.com/en/).
All led lamps on “ru” site are in preorder (https://remezlight.com/production/led-bulbsz/) and no international shipping.
I’ve had terrible results with most LED bulbs I’ve purchased… well ever. I have a couple brand name units which are going strong but most of the normal replacement LED bulbs (is it A19?) seem to fail in the same or less time than the old incans.
I’m not super picky, just looking for something which will last, is affordable and offers 4000k or warmer with 80 or better CRI. Is there any particular “go-to” replacement bulbs which would fit this requirement?
Only DIY… unless you’re using low power “commercial” bulbs (usually max 600 lumen) rather than off the shelf “consumer bulbs”. The package can’t dissipate the heat, and many consumer bulbs are built to fail.
Some DIY implementations are pretty easy and simple…$500 photographer panel for $72 parts, but tools are always needed no matter the route
Honestly, I’ve used Walmart’s Great Value brand 2700K 60W (and a few 80 and 100s) almost exclusively over the years. I’ve bought dozens of them and never had a single one fail during use. Maybe I’m lucky, but I think they’re pretty reliable.
As for CRI, I don’t know where they stand. Tint from revision to revision has varied above and below the BBL, but never really objectionable. Warm white mid power emitters probably have 80ish CRI as standard I’d guess as <3000K black body curves are much easier to replicate. I’m going to swap one of mine to Optisolis and see how it compares in the real world. Just waiting on a shipment…
Buy a name brand and keep your receipt + the cardboard part of the box. Philips stood behind their warranty for me i’m sure the other big name brands would too. I’ve also taken a current model CREE bulb back to home depot and exchanged it for its same model with no receipt. It’s rather absurd to say no consumer bulbs are good.
The fixture, line power, weather, and a dozen other variables come in to play as well when it comes to the reliability of these bulbs. I think initially and to some extent still these are marketed as lasting a “lifetime” or never having to replace them in order to justify their higher cost but it’s simply not true.