Does anybody know why the 519a 4500k is seeming to be discontinued? Skilhunt switched from 4500k to 5000k in their offerings. And Hank doesn’t offer the 4500k any more… Simon still has them for now…
Why oh why would they do this? Finally after much experimentation I’ve settled on 519a 4500k DeDomed as my super duper favorite. And so now of course that’s the one thats being discontinued. And Yea yea, 5000k DD is okay… heavy sigh but the 4500k DD just really hits that sweet spot for me.
I suppose I’m just curious if anyone knows anything about the why, or is there a replacement for it that’s coming?
Any recommendations for an alternative?
I do really love the sft40 3000k (sft40 3k and 519a 4500k DD are my two equal favorites, depending on the application, if I need throw or flood), but can’t stand xhp 70.3 hi 3000k (too green), to get an Idea of my persuasion…
Yes I too am looking for 519a 4500k and have noticed a couple companies Acebeam & Wurkkos use 5000k 519a, but not 4500k, although this might just be by choice. I have S21D with quad 519a 4500k but 2 of the LEDS have self-decapitated so now it has become a mixed 2 domed 2 dedomed. Need replacement with intact quad 4500k.
BTW I just checked Hank’s web site and it seems D4V2 doesn’t but D4K does still offer 4500k 519a. If you are thinking XHP70.3 then I could very very highly recommend Simon’s XHP70.3 HI 4000k, the R70 version. I have it in M21E and the tint is neutral particularly in the (central) hotspot, no ugly green tint.
@Simon_Mao once told me he bought 219b sw45k in the thousands (?? - whatever, some surprisingly big number LOL) just in case stocks run dry. I suspect he does the same with 519a 4500k. Still available in H1 and S21D, but I am asking if he could put it in M21H.
Maybe some big player snatched a large chunk of the production? 4500K LEDs from Cree (4A and 4D tints) have been pretty much unavailable since … forever?
If that were the case, the sensible response from Nichia would have been “let’s make more 4500K to meet the increased demand and make more money”, not “let’s discontinue it forever and lose this big customer right away”.
They certainly are available, such as this 4500K XHP50.3 tested by koef3. It’s somewhat sensible to not see them from distributors like Simon: a granularity of 500K is arguably unprofitable, as most folks would find a granularity of 1000K enough. Nobody seems to complain about lack of 3500K Cree’s, so if he did stock them, they might end up as surplus.
None of this really explains why Nichia wants to discontinue the 4500K though. My guess would be that 4500K almost never serves as a direct drop-in replacement for common sources, so maybe they didn’t see enough demand to justify continuing production. All the other CCTs are pretty much accounted for: 2700-3500K replaces incan/halogen, 5000/5700K replaces daylight, and 4000K for some odd reason is occasionally seen in LED bulbs, sometimes under the misleading description “cool white”.
