Warning! Ebay LED Lght-FIRE!!

[janetora]

I bought this light http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=281021489328 and a 30 watt 12000K. The Actinic light caught fire around midnight the 24th of December. The fire started somewhere in the LED housing. Insurance company fire investigators now have the unit. Luckily the schools sprinklers put out the fire. Unluckily the sprinklers flooded the school. I not only lost all my fish, corals, tanks, pumps, etc to the fire, everything in my room was ruined and is now unusable because of the water damage. Years of teaching materials gone! Between the smoke and HUGE water damage to seven other classrooms, the cost of repairs is going to be somewhere between $500,000 to a Million dollars. Insurance is suppose to cover the costs but it can't bring back what is lost! :furious:

 

[brittanysmith18]

Wow! I'm so sorry that happened to you. I bought a lighting fixture on Ebay, and now I'm worried! It's not the same nor from the same company, but you never know with the cheap stuff! I'm so sorry

 

[Davey Bones]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Wow, that's terrible! So sorry for your losses.

 

[Chaucer]

Very sorry

Very sorry

I'm sorry for your loss and the loss to the school. Please update us if you are given any info by the investigators as to the lights failure.

 

[bhazard451]

The first indication that it is a shady product (and seller), is that it claims 30w of leds can replace a 250w metal halide, which is completely false. It also doesn't include any form of information on what the led is aside from a fake 450nm claim.It looks like a generic chinese led flood light.

Sorry to hear about the damage, but this product has tons of red flags in it that should have been researched a bit further before purchasing.

 

[gcarroll]

First off, sorry for you loss and even sorrier for those affected by the loss of the facilities. You are not the first and will not be the last to fall victim to Chinese quality control. Once this thread goes dormant, more will line up to buy them. There are plenty of reefers buying these fixtures claiming they are just as good as the US made fixtures. At least until something bad happens. IMO, we spend so much money on livestock to be cheap on equipment.

 

[bhazard451]

First off, sorry for you loss and even sorrier for those affected by the loss of the facilities. You are not the first and will not be the last to fall victim to Chinese quality control. Once this thread goes dormant, more will line up to buy them. There are plenty of reefers buying these fixtures claiming they are just as good as the US made fixtures. At least until something bad happens. IMO, we spend so much money on livestock to be cheap on equipment.

This is a blanket statement. Aside from a few companies, the majority of US based fixtures are made in China, or the parts originate from there and Taiwan. SemiLEDs is not a US company, but the Radion Pro uses their leds in their fixture. The Iphone is made in China too, yet quality control is extremely strict. You would not have any lighting over your tank if you refused to own a fixture made in or with materials from China. It all depends on the company making it. There are plenty of good quality fixtures out of China (Does Maxspect and Orphek ring a bell?), and plenty of bad ones.

 

[reeferlover]

agreed i always buy the best equipment that is also the correct price. these are the worst equipment at the right price. would you buy a chinese made skimmer? you know the pump will fail and it wont skim. same with these lights they are made in large masses and as cheap as possible they cut every corner. stop buying these things

 

[125mph]

Interesting.. the product description says it runs for 17 years at 8 hours a day.. thats a long time..

 

[gcarroll]

This is a blanket statement. Aside from a few companies, the majority of US based fixtures are made in China, or the parts originate from there and Taiwan.

That may be true but those fixtures have American companies who are liable for the products. It is in their best interest to keep a tight reign on quality control.

SemiLEDs is not a US company, but the Radion Pro uses their leds in their fixture.

Once again an American company that is standing behind it.

The Iphone is made in China too, yet quality control is extremely strict.

Once again an American company standing behind it making sure the job is done right. As a matter of fact, Foxconn is continually complaining about the strict quality control standard!

You would not have any lighting over your tank if you refused to own a fixture made in or with materials from China.

And I will have the ability to bring action agaist the American company in the event that the Chinese crapola that they used failed due to poor quality control.

There are plenty of good quality fixtures out of China (Does Maxspect and Orphek ring a bell?), and plenty of bad ones.

You don't really consider Orphek good do you? Just another Chinese front company without enough faith in their product to disclose a phone number or address of their company!

 

[mcgyvr]

Interesting.. the product description says it runs for 17 years at 8 hours a day.. thats a long time..

thats approx 50,000 hours.. Thats very "common" spec for LEDs


To the OP..
Please let us know the results of the fire investigation if possible.. (or get us pics of the insides)
I'd bet its the driver inside that caught fire.. I will ONLY buy meanwell drivers but have no problem buying the cheapish multichip LED's. The cheap LED drivers on ebay just look like a fire waiting to happen..

 

[mcgyvr]

Exactly the reason the national electrical code requires all lighting fixtures to be UL listed..

Hope that the insurance company doesn't deny the claim.. I believe they actually could as your installation of a non-listed light fixture caused the fire...

 

[Chief Hill]

Exactly the reason the national electrical code requires all lighting fixtures to be UL listed..

Hope that the insurance company doesn't deny the claim.. I believe they actually could as your installation of a non-listed light fixture caused the fire...

Sad but very true and a possibility. In Canada we have to have UL and CSA listings on electronic equipment. If insurance finds out it wasn't listed So sad too bad they won't pay out the claim..
I'd be surprised if they do cover claim like this without UL listed equipment . Insurance people get big bucks finding ways not to pay out claims.
Sad but a reality these days hence why their are big investigations before paying a claim.

 

[rtparty]

This is very sad and the second one I've heard of unfortunately. The other involved the ever so popular Chinese black box LEDs that so many people have bought on here.

 

[BigAl2007]

Miss Janet I'm so sorry to hear about this. Thank goodness it was as minimal as it was. It could have been a lot worse and best of all no kids in class to worry about. Thank goodness.

Good luck and keep us posted. This is a HUGE community and I'm sure we can help replace lost live-stock when the time comes.

Hopefully the insurance company won't try to stick it to the school but it's possible.

Keep your head up and hang in there.... better days are just ahead

 

[janetora]

Sorry to hear about the damage, but this product has tons of red flags in it that should have been researched a bit further before purchasing.

I wish I had seen the "red flags" you are talking about! I did do research, and I didn't find nor still find anything anywhere about these units having problems.

And FYI to everyone, I just looked up EcoTech Marine Radion (the best?) on BRS and no where in the description it says it is UL listed. So how do you know which is and not.

And thank you for all the well wishers! I don't mean to sound to defensive but I tried to do everything right, and I looked at these units for months and no where on any report or forum etc, did I find a fire hazard. All pieces parts etc are made overseas!

 

[JulieS]

Hmm, we have one of this guy's white 10K adhesive strips of LEDS supplementing the stock Marineland hood lighting on my 13-year-old's cichlid tank in her bathroom. Might be time to take it out. :-(

 

[ganjero]

The UL mark should be on the product, that's how you know.

Sorry to hear about this.

 

[Pittsburgh]

Sorry for the mishap... *it happens, thankfully no kids got hurt! Stuff, including the tank is replaceable.

UL is not the only authority in the appliance safety world, there are other authorities, such as CSA, ETL and CE. Ecotech products in your example are not UL listed at all but they are CE certified, which is European equivalent to UL. Compliance information can be found in the safety section of radion manual http://ecotechmarine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/pn10627_RadionQSG_rev2.pdf

It looks like the ebay seller of your lights is in TX. If he is the manufacturer or the official distributor in the US, the company will feel some heat (no pun intended) from your insurance company lawyers...