chinese led lights

[radbluesfan]

These EPILEDs are on Ebay selling for between $150.00 and $380.00. Personaly I'm not familuar with the actual LED's they are using but since these are suposed to be 3 Watt leds they are runnng at 2 watts I would be very skepticial. I now when I rtan three different brands of LED's suposedly rated the same I noted a big big difference in the light they emitted. I'm also skepticial of the 20,000K rating on white LEDs I kow when the higher the K rating on LED's between 2,700K and 5,000K the less lums you get out out the LED.

While for T-5's I like 6,500K to 10,000K in my bulb mix for the whites I d prefer the 4,000K to 5,000K LED's when mixed with Royal Blues and Blue LEDs. Actualy the best perfect whit is a 5,500K which no one makes in a star mount yet. The next closest is the CRI-90 which has the sme issue not enough demand to put in the start mount yet.

Without pouring back through the previous 27 pages, I am fairly certain that I read that a number of these other "Chinese" lights had 3 watt lights running at 2 watts with no adverse effects reported by the owners of them. I am a total newbie and from your posts you obviously have much more knowledge on the subject than I. However, from what I grasped, the extra what (3 versus 2) would help the light penetrated deeper. This would be more critical in a deeper tank than a shallower one, like a 30" tall versus a 22" tall---correct?

 

[Ucyibd1]

Thanks, Ucy, I am interested in these lights. The seller does not have very many ebay feedbacks. I hope they are a good product. Most of the LEDs mentioned on this thread are not dimmable and the ones that are have a higher price than these. I am looking forward to your pictures and opinion. Thanks for replying.

I actually went to their website and contacted one of the sales people, I believe his name was Richard. I to was concerned about the minimal feedback but after researching them I went ahead and bought them. I'll keep you posted.

 

[jrp1588]

Just curious, why do they all drive these at 2 watts? My lights seem to stay extremely cool. What would it take to bump them up to the full 3 watts should I ever see the necessity?

 

[radbluesfan]

I actually went to their website and contacted one of the sales people, I believe his name was Richard. I to was concerned about the minimal feedback but after researching them I went ahead and bought them. I'll keep you posted.

On St Louis Craigslist someone is selling a different style light that appears to be a ledbell.com light---different to what we were talking about but from the same place.
CL ad---- http://stlouis.craigslist.org/for/2905312906.html

same guy's ebay ad http://www.ebay.com/itm/60W-CREE-Di...281?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item231b0259e9

from ledbell.com http://www.ledbell.com/sdp/1302330/...567/60W_dimmable_cree_led_aquarium_light.html

Less than 24 hours later and these responses pop up on craigslist. One guys dimmer stopped working, another guy says to buy only expensive lights and the cheap ones are no good without much to back that up, and the next guy pokes at the previous guy saying he is wrong and the expensive lights are unnecessary. Kinda like on here too....haha. The last guy seems like he is directing his comment on the second post to the owner of a lfs since I know he builds and sells these rock walls (at a very, very high price for what it is) but I don't know how he could tell it was the lfs guy that made the second post.
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/for/2906593869.html
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/for/2907739773.html
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/for/2908105407.html

I hope you like yours and have no problems. I am a month or two away from needing any lights so your feedback is priceless. I really like the light you bought. I prefer to hear the comments and opinions of those who have actually owned and used the product versus the people who read this or that or whose buddies and friends experienced this or that. This thread might be half this size if that were the case .

 

[TropTrea]

Without pouring back through the previous 27 pages, I am fairly certain that I read that a number of these other "Chinese" lights had 3 watt lights running at 2 watts with no adverse effects reported by the owners of them. I am a total newbie and from your posts you obviously have much more knowledge on the subject than I. However, from what I grasped, the extra what (3 versus 2) would help the light penetrated deeper. This would be more critical in a deeper tank than a shallower one, like a 30" tall versus a 22" tall---correct?

Hogher Watta of quality leeds more light is commng out to them . I say quality as there are some low quality leads on the market that prodice as much light at 3 Watts as some of the quality ones do at 1 watt. Even if you look a Quality Cree leeds you will find a range of 70 to 120 lumens per watt produced dependent on the series and the % of max current they are run at.

But yes the higher the wattat the more illumination the depper the penetration. It can also mean less total number of LED's are needed to get the same amount of light.

But there are other factors involved as well. One big one is cooling. The hotter a LED runs the shorter its life span. The higher the wattage it runs at the more heat it will generate. But if it properly cooled with a heat sink or the addition of a fan the heat issue should not be a factor.

Now someone had a question on why the dimmable fixtures cost so much. Wellll this goes int the use of comercial drivers rather than designing a specific driver for the fixture. An example is a fixt 60 watt driver costs roughly $26 retail while a dimable one can cost up to $150 from the same manufacturer. Yet is someone were to scratch build a driver there would less than $5.00 difference in there cost.

 

[birdsandsoap]

Can someone check these out and give me an opinion? I love the mix of color of these lights and I'm not familiar with the "super bright" LEDs. All anyone talks about on here are the 3W CREES and I want to know if these lights will grow anything or if they are just for aesthetics. Is there a minimum Lumen # to go off of? I am entranced by the video and I think they look great. Thanks!

 

[kbell2433]

I am interested in these cheaper chinese led's. Would one of these black boxes be ok on a 29 gallon?

 

[Vince]

One unit would be plenty over a 29.

 

[kbell2433]

One unit would be plenty over a 29.

Thanks for the reply, but i was wondering if 1 unit would be to much light for a 29g? Or would 1 unit bo OK?

 

[Vince]

I saw one mounted over a Solana that was previously lit by a T5 fixture. It looked really nice. Depending on what you are using now you may have to acclimate your corals to the leds.

 

[Ianwraab]

Sanyo vs. Sony...

Sanyo vs. Sony...

I agree with the Honda comment... Bells and whistles make a ford a Lincoln... Numbers don't lie... Salesmen do.
:beer:

 

[david pinder]

Im running 16 various eshines 3 wt cree leds. Can say I do like the lights most sps responded well at this point and their has been a huge heat reduction in my aquarium room. They are not perfect as the 60wt is not really dimmable yes you can manually dim it but whos going to adjust all day long, basically only good for start up. My first 2 144 wt were really dimmable with 24 hr control, but the last 6 I bought with plain old on and off they run $150 cheaper that way and I prefer having all my lights on one timer system

 

[TropTrea]

Can someone check these out and give me an opinion? I love the mix of color of these lights and I'm not familiar with the "super bright" LEDs. All anyone talks about on here are the 3W CREES and I want to know if these lights will grow anything or if they are just for aesthetics. Is there a minimum Lumen # to go off of? I am entranced by the video and I think they look great. Thanks!

First thing I noted was 144 LEDs for a total of 36 Watts of LEd light. That means the average LED is producing 250 ma. or 1/4 of a Watt. If you look at LED specs you find that the ratio of lumens per watt goes up with the amount of Wattage the LED's run at. With that knowledge I would say they might be good for moon lights but not for the main lighting of a tank. You would be lucky to get 200 lumens total from a fixture using 144 1/4 watt LED's. For a 72 gallon tank you would want the equivelent to somethng closer to 1,600 Lums total. so chance are you need 8 of these fixtures if you realy wanted good results.

Looking at there dimensions 1.75" wide if you mounted 8 of them close together you would have a 14" fixture which would be workable with a 72 gallon Bow tank. But at $170 for on of these times 8 you have $1300 invested. Plus I'm still leary on the 1/4 watt LED's for there ability to penetrate to the substrate decently.

 

[birdsandsoap]

Thanks so much! I didn't know the watt output and wasn't sure how these compared. My other concern was how they were wired, you know, like if one goes out, you lose the whole strip. Even with the sheer amount of lights, they are just not intense enough to perform well- bummer. I really liked the mix of whites with the violet. That is something I would try to replicate with a DIY project. I'm trying my hardest to avoid doing it myself but still get a custom color...If I go with the "Blace box" I get blue and white, and I don't get to pick the ratio. I was really hoping I found something good.

 

[birdsandsoap]

You would be lucky to get 200 lumens total from a fixture using 144 1/4 watt LED's. For a 72 gallon tank you would want the equivelent to somethng closer to 1,600 Lums total. so chance are you need 8 of these fixtures if you realy wanted good results.

They are advertising this light output at 2200 lumens, is that a fairytale or something? Is that at all possible with these lights? I did send the seller a request on LED info (watt) but they didn't respond. hmmm.

 

[Phishguy]

Birdsandsoap; Check out eshinesystems.com You are able to customize your light 100%. Colors, optics and brand of LEDs. Pricing is super reasonable. Email them or use their chat and they will send you a price list and catalog through email

 

[zathur]

Not new to using LEDs. Currently using 2x PS 200W (special edition) on my tank with 2x250HQI as peak hour boosters (5-6 hours). 85% SPS all placed at 1/2 way tank height (65cm).

Wish i could afford more PS units, but seeing the market change, manufacturers improving their skills/knowledge, there is no reason to buy a clone or own innovative cheaper brand; just as long as its suits your needs.

So have been looking at alternatives, including Eshine. I currently have other chinese vendor units on order: 2x Apollo A-8. Interesting units, don't have any experiences with them, so let u know soon.

Sorry 'bout the german, couldn't find a nicer page with their model overviews (including unit sizes)
http://www.cidly-light.eu/index.php/product/apollo-serie/apollo-10.html

 

[BigCountry74]

They are advertising this light output at 2200 lumens, is that a fairytale or something? Is that at all possible with these lights? I did send the seller a request on LED info (watt) but they didn't respond. hmmm.

Do not even consider the black boxes for main coral tank lights unless your getting at least 9k lumens out of a 120w box. Your shooting for 80+- lumens per watt. Like TropT said, those lights are geared more towards fish only (or moonlighting for reef). that's my .02 at least

 

[karsseboom]

Has anyone tried these dimmable lights yet or have they been discredited because there are better options?


Seems like a majority like the aquariumleds.com but after reading this 27 page thread, it seems that no one has had any major complaints on ANY of the function or customer service of the Chinese LEDs whether purchased from Ebay or not. I am starting my first tank, a 125 gallon, and it seems practical for me to go LED. With the prices at my LFS's it was not going to happen any time soon but after reading your experiences and seeing your pictures of these lower priced lights I may get some real soon. Thanks for sharing.

P.S. How did anyone get their E-shine prices? Did you send an email requesting prices?

That's because the LEDs that your Lfs sells are probably the proven LEDs, that are guaranteed to grow nice sps. When you buy one of these chinesse LEDs your taking a big risk and they may or may not work for certain corals. You have to pay to play. There a reason why this thread is so popular...people are searching high and low for a cheap alternative to LEDs and these little boxs can be very tempting.

 

[birdsandsoap]

Thanks for the info Phishguy. And Big Country, thanks for your opinion. I get a kick out of your posts, once in a while I come across one of your comments about your wife complaining about your setup and my husband and I both laugh. It's the same battle over here!