Where to buy LED at a good price?

[Stage X Tuning]

Looking to find out where you buy your LEDs from. Im looking to get Luxeon and Cree.

 

[Fallingwater]

You sure you want Luxeons? They are obsolete. People usually get SSCs and Crees.

Anyway, you can find them at dealextreme - but be advised, shipping can take a few weeks.

 

[datiLED]

Remember, cheap can be expensive.

You can buy LEDs from the discount sellers, but it is money well spent to buy your LEDs from a reputable seller. PhotonFanatic sells Seoul LEDs, and Endeavour sells CREE LEDs when he has some spares. There are other sellers here on CPF that have a good reputation of providing quality parts.

I made the mistake of buying USXOH Seoul LEDs from a Chinese vendor who shall remain unnamed at this point. (I think that I was sent "T" bin, not "U" bin LEDs. So much for my Killer Deal. :shakehead) I ended up replacing 3 out of 5 LEDs with better performing LEDs from PhotonFanatic. It would have been cheaper to go with the better LED in the first place.

Bottom line - Do not skimp on quality. You will not regret starting out with the best part available at the time.

 

[mds82]

There are a lot of online retailers as well.

http://LEDSupply.com
http://LEDLightingSupply.com ( min order $100)
etc..

 

[Fallingwater]

Remember, cheap can be expensive.
You can buy LEDs from the discount sellers, but it is money well spent to buy your LEDs from a reputable seller. (...)
I made the mistake of buying USXOH Seoul LEDs from a Chinese vendor (...) I ended up replacing 3 out of 5 LEDs with better performing LEDs from PhotonFanatic

I can't know where exactly you bought those LEDs, but I can tell you that I've bought plenty of LEDs from DX, including several Cree P4 and Q5 and a SSC P4, and have had a generally very good experience - so much so that I just yesterday placed another order for, among other things, three more SSC P4 U-bin, two coloured Crees and a white Cree R2.
In contrast, the only slightly defective LED I got (a Cree Q5) came from a US dealer.

I'll obviously change my mind if I get bad products in the next package, but so far as far as I'm concerned the cheapest way is also the safest.

 

[JohnR66]

I agree with DX as a source. BTW, DX = dealextreme.com
I got six 6 Cree XR-Es all tested perfect. They have Luxeon and others too. When I got mine a few months back, shipping was free.

 

[jeffosborne]

You will get the best price and great service buying Luxeon LEDs from Future Electronics:

http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/Pages/index.aspx

Luxeon LEDs have a much better tint and smoother dispersion than Cree or Seoul.

Cheers!
Jeff O.

 

[Stage X Tuning]

Thanks for all the info guys, just found out that Mouser has SSCs, but ill make sure to check out the sites you guys listed

Thanks again

 

[Fallingwater]

Luxeon LEDs have a much better tint and smoother dispersion than Cree or Seoul.

Cree yes, but I've seen Luxeon-to-SSC conversions where the end result was basically the same, just a hell of a lot brighter.

 

[glockboy]

But, less than half as bright for the same runtime.:shakehead

Luxeon LEDs have a much better tint and smoother dispersion than Cree or Seoul.

Cheers!
Jeff O.

 

[mossyoak]

k2 tffc and rebels are made by lumileds which people call luxeon by mistake

 

[R33E8]

k2 tffc and rebels are made by lumileds which people call luxeon by mistake

http://www.philipslumileds.com/products/luxeon/luxeonrebel

http://www.philipslumileds.com/products/luxeon/luxeonK2

 

[Black Rose]

but I've seen Luxeon-to-SSC conversions where the end result was basically the same, just a hell of a lot brighter.

That's what I'll be doing as soon as I get my SSC P4 U-bin stars from DX (I've purchased SSC P4 U-bin emitters from them before with no problem).
I'm swapping out H-bin Lux 1 stars for the SSC P4 U-bin stars.

Same runtime, twice as bright with no additional heat.

 

[Fallingwater]

You're gonna need thermally conductive spacers for that. SSCs aren't as tall as Luxeons, and this can mess up the beam as not all the light is collected by the reflector.

 

[Stage X Tuning]

im leaning more towards the P4 and P7 as i found a led driver that will power at 1A and up too 50W off a 12VDC (Car use) and im close to finding a 2A one for the P7s

 

[Black Rose]

You're gonna need thermally conductive spacers for that. SSCs aren't as tall as Luxeons, and this can mess up the beam as not all the light is collected by the reflector.

It's been reported for the lights that I am modding that simply swapping the stars is sufficient - no need to alter the emitter height.
No other alterations to the light are needed, although a small reflector mod can be done if desired to smooth out the spill.

The Lux star is 7.6mm tall vs 6.78mm for the SSC star. It's only a 0.82mm difference, so it's not too bad.
The stars are suspended in a plastic cage that locks it all together.

 

[mossyoak]

dorcy super 1 watt?

 

[Black Rose]

dorcy super 1 watt?

Yep. Going to do at least 2 of them.