This thread is all about very cheap led-bulbs, just thought it was fair to join in with an experience with a quite expensive one, I bought it half a year ago for I think it was 30 dollars at the time, a GU10 reflector bulb replacement:
Output is similar to a 50W halogen, beam is better than most halogen lamps, tint is really pleasant (got the ww version). Gets too hot to touch when running longer periods, but it has not failed yet, with at least 4 hours of use every day.
When opened up you can see 4 XP-E emitters on a board screwed onto an alu heatsink that is one big piece forming most of the body of the lamp, the light is colected by 4 TIR's that are frosted on the outside, all looks like a good design:
Isn’t it amazing how in just over a year technology could change so fast? Now if only prices could catch up, that’s the only factor that’s keeping me off LEDs lol. But perhaps a review of the current, expensive LEDs should be done too just to even it out, not just those from ebay as they’re mostly cheap knock-offs? I would suggest reviewing from different parts of the world such as http://www.ikea.com, http://www.ledlightsmart.co.uk/, http://www.ledcentral.com.au/, and http://www.illustralighting.com.
I know it could be quite an expensive review for one person, so how about those who already have lights from these manufacturers post theirs here and we also agree to some standards for the tests?
Ikea led, 400 lumens, 5€ (maybe 7$ in the us). Warm tint (claimed to be 2700K). Better build quality than budget led bulb. Even cheaper than brand fluorescent bulb and no warm-up delay.
I love them! They’re very close in beam and brightness to a narrow flood PAR16, and actually cost less, despite being LED! I havent tried the dimmable version but I am going to. I know when I do, the choice of dimmer can make as much difference as the quality of the bulbs.
But I’ve just watched a vid a similar bulb where the guy explains how dangerous these bulbs are. I don’t understand exactly why but it was something like this bulb not being earthed so there was a 50% chance the heatsink housing could become live if inserted the wrong way. He said the LED area was an aluminum plate which was live, and it was separated from the housing by only a few microns. This sounds really dangerous.
Would this be the same for the globes I purchased which look identical? Should I just throw them out? The BG rating seems to be quite high and customers are happy with their light output.
The “couple of microns of insulation” is all circuit boards . . . I wouldnt worry about that. The aluminum plate itself isnt live.
The exposed electronics at the bottom, that I dont care for. It would be easy to coat the “input” solder joints with some insulating material. Even clear nail polish would make a difference.
I wouldnt sell them to customers unless they knew what they were getting.
The points that are circled. There is a small chance it you touch one of them you could get a shock. It depends on how the bulb is installed, and if they are grounded. Pretty unlikely, but still surprising.
Those points are low-voltage DC. If you were to stick needles into your heart, then short them directly across to those connectors, I could see that you might have a bad day, but your body's resistance is so high, and the power on these bulbs is so low, that it is safe. Think touching both contacts on a 9V battery. Or even a 12V car battery...
A static shock from shuffling on carpet is thousands of volts and is just an "Ouch"...
According to the video the OP is referring to, the way the power supply is configured, neutral goes straight through to the emitter board, and is not isolated by a transformer. Therefore if the polarity in the bulb is reversed, 120vAC will go straight through.
All of the LED bulbs I have taken apart have a transformer in the power supply so this would not be an issue.
need help. i want to buy a best quality bulb for bathrooms of all my home. I have searched for best quality in terms of lumens per watt, cri, power factor, warranty as well as led life.
no dude you are not right… technology is gearing up nowaday. LED manufacturers are giving brightest led chip day by day. just you have to keep in touch with latest specification. I found charlston and philips brands in india with the best quality product. Charlston is however small company but very competitive price with quality too.
I bought a few of the “ebay specials” led 120 volt bulbs several years ago with varying degrees of success. 6 out of 8 or so are still working well. At that time a philips 10 watt (or so) yellow bulb (looked like a bugs eye) was about $30 Cad. I recently bought some of the newer philips flat white bulbs and they are below $10 Cad. The price on the ebay bulbs went up after I bought them and I’d no longer consider them since the philips are almost in the affordable range.
I still have a bunch of cfl’s working - they refuse to die - so with these and spares I won’t need more led’s for some time.
On today’s work site I used a couple of the Utilitech 60W equivalent LED bulbs and they seemed to be just about right up there with incandescent on color, diffusion, and lumens. And much cooler when I took one out this evening; I would have had to let an Incan cool down but you could handle this one easily, even on the heat-sinked area. I didn’t touch the metal but I probably could have. These have definitely come of age now and are still improving as can be seen in this thread.
LED home lighting is no longer the wave of the future, it is NOW!
