Forever Bright 2003?

[Chris M.]

Thankfully all of my dead ones failed short. Infact it was only after I`d brought everything in after the season that I discovered just how many had failled. Oddly the dead ones didn`t seem to be putting much in the way of extra load on the rest of the bulbs, as happens with the shunted bulbs in regular light strings. I wonder if the voltage drop accross each dark LED was similar to the lit ones? I did try some of the "duds" that I`d been removed accross a constant voltage power unit and they lit, but I forget what the voltage was. Probably more than was being dropped when they were in the series circuit.....

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

 

[Deth]

Good news boys!

Well, first the bad news... I still haven't had time to take pictures of the 5 color strands, *BUT*...

Brookstone is carrying the *SIX* color 70 light strands! That's red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple! Only one shy of ROYGBIV!

And the best part is the price... only $19.95! Not bad, considering the $24 I spent for the five color 70 light one.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

I just ordered the 6-color set of LED Christmas lights with "flame tip" "bulbs".
They do charge you tax though (I think it was $2.28), so be wary of that when you order up. :O
(Maybe they're based in Washington state though).

Thank you for the URL!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Deth]

They are surprisingly bright, Craig... hell, I don't have an standard incadesents to compare 'em to, but I'm guessing they starting to approach that level of output.

And of course, the blues and purples are gorgeous /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Are these Foreverbrights, or some other brand?
Not that I'll send them back when I receive them, but it would be nice to know, especially if I want to put them on my website. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Deth]

I'm 95% sure they're FBs... damn I hope they are /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[asdalton]

Thanks for the link, Deth. I searched in vain for those lights last year, and now I just ordered two strands.

 

[Deth]

Okay, according to the customer rep I've been emailing at Brookstone, the lights are manufactured by Fiber Optic Designs Inc.

Uh oh /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

But *WAIT*, there's more. Apparently, that's the name FB uses on their own website under the where to buy page, so I guess it's them alright /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Then I can go ahead and add these to the queue of "things to review" and add them to the Foreverbright page when they get here. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[The_LED_Museum]

I just got my string of LED Christmas bulbs. It comes with red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple "bulbs". The purple appears to be a white LED with a purple "bulb" around it; the others appear to be LEDs in their native colors.

As a whole, I think they're brighter than 2002 Foreverbrights, but I'll have to go compare them side-by-side before I can make that assessment for sure.
There are no spare bulbs or fuses with the set, so if you blow one or the other, you're SOL. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
(Edit) There ARE two spare fuses with the set; I found them in a small plastic baggie on the receptacle end of the string, rather than at the plug end where you usually find them.

The white box they come in is not marked with "Fiber Optic Designs" or "Foreverbright"
It has the white, black, and orange Brookstone barcode label, plus another label that reads:
"SKU #000040135 70-Lamp C6 Strawberry, Multicolor Lamps"

Guess I'll have to take some pictures of them and mail them to the guy who runs Foreverbright and see if these are his.

(Edit) These lights DO look a little brighter than the 2002 Foreverbrights. The green LEDs appear to be InGaN types instead of the much dimmer GaAlP or GaP yellow-green LEDs in the other set, and the blues are a greener color (they look to be around 475nm), probably GaN on sapphire instead of the 430nm blue LEDs in the other set. The greens and blues are also significantly brighter than the ones in the other set.

Guess it's time to get out my diffraction grating glasses and have a look...

(Edit) The purple ones are definitely white LEDs with a purple "bulb" around them. The blue and green are InGaN, the yellow, orange, and red are conventional chemistry AlGaAsP GaAlAsP and InGaAlP type LEDs; all but the purple are quite expected to find in LED Christmas lights.

The "purple" ones are probably whites with a purple covering because real violet LEDs have such a short lifetime when compared to the rest, the near-UV component would cause unwanted yellowing of the outer bulb and unwanted fluorescence of other materials outside the light strings, and wavelengths that short might not look as bright as the other lamps in the set.

(Edit) I emailed Fiber Optic Designs, so I'll know soon if these are Forever Bright 2003 or some other brand.

 

[Darell]

Howdy guys!

I finally have some 2003 whites here as well. Just 35-bulb strings though. The short strings bug me, but it was all I could get. I also wanted blue, and got white. I think I have the ForeverBright curse or something. Haven't had time to take them out of the boxes yet, but I plugged one in, and they do look brighter than last year.

 

[BuddTX]

Forever Bright 2003 Icicle Lights?

Does anyone know if Forever Bright has Icicle lights for 2003?

 

[Chris M.]

Re: Forever Bright 2003 Icicle Lights?

Darell - did you ever hear back from the guy who runs Foreverbright about my duff lights? Just wondering cos the Season is approaching once more and I`m reluctant to use those defective lights for another year...

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

 

[Deth]

Re: Forever Bright 2003 Icicle Lights?

[ QUOTE ]
BuddTX said:
Does anyone know if Forever Bright has Icicle lights for 2003?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not according to their website, nor anyone selling their products.

I'd love to see them, but I doubt it'll be anytime soon.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Re: Forever Bright 2003 Icicle Lights?

I just took a couple of pictures of these for my website...here they are:

Here is the set - or part of it anyway. The whole string is not shown in this picture.

And this picture shows blue, purple, and green bulbs lit up.
The blue and green appear to use 475nm and 525nm GaN and InGaN LEDs respectively.
The purple one appears to use a white LED and a purple FT (flame tip) lens covering it.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Re: Forever Bright 2003 Icicle Lights?

[ QUOTE ]
The LED Museum said:
I just took a couple of pictures of these for my website...here they are:

Thanks for the photos. Are the purple ones much dimmer
than the others?

Hmm, if the purples are really whites, and
the whites are really blue with a yellowish
phosphor, is it possible to make a blue with
a purple phosphor and save some efficiency?

I've seen those "pink" LEDs which are really blues
with a red phosphor. I know the red phosphor
wears out pretty quickly, so maybe that's why
they're not doing it that way.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Re: Forever Bright 2003 Icicle Lights?

The purple ones are roughly the same brightness as the other bulbs in the set; maybe slightly dimmer but not much.

The reason there isn't a purple phosphor on a blue LED is because purple (or violet) is a shorter wavelength than blue, and most phosphors emit a substantially longer (redder) wavelength of light than the chips that excite them do. You could probably produce a purple or violet LED by using a 350nm UV chip and a purple emitting phosphor, but I think it would be rather short lived - much shorter than the white LED/purple lens combo than they used in these lights. Not to mention dimmer too, since the current production of 350nm UV LEDs generates only about 30uW (microwatts) of power - or about 0.03 milliwatts.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Re: Forever Bright 2003 Icicle Lights?

OK, I just heard back from Fiber Optic Designs, and much as I suspected, they ARE Foreverbright. Even if the box doesn't say what they are, and calls the lenses by the wrong name ("Strawberry" instead of "Flame Tip").

Here's the entire email I received...

Thanks for the email --- and YEP --- the Brookstone LED light sets are Forever Bright !

Hope this helps. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Deth]

Forever Bright 2003

Great to hear it, Craig!

 

[Darell]

Re: Forever Bright 2003 Icicle Lights?

Been meaning to post that yes, Fiber Optic Designs is Foreverbright.

Chris - Believe me when I tell you that I've been thinking of you, man! Spent most of this year trying to get my emails answered. I guess the company had some serious issues with the SARS problems earlier in the year, and there was just a void of info for way too long.

While I was expecting to have all of the *blue* 70 strings replaced (mine AND yours!), what I recieved was some white 35 strings. I'm afraid that my satisfaction with the guarantee is somewhat lacking, to say the least. Something did come through, but not without lots of effort and heartache on my end... and then I still ended up with the wrong product. I wish I had better news to offer - the silver lining here is that these DO look to be better built. Still don't know how long they'll last, but they're certainly sealed up better. Don't know if the electrical connections are better or the circuits are better, but there you go.

So there's where we stand. Is it worth it to send you my white 35's? If you're like me, you still want blue - and it doesn't look like that's gonna happen through my channels.

Wish I had better news.