how to tell genuine luxeon rfom pics?

hi guys, i stumbled across this light on ebay ;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8787639420&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1
i was wondering if theres any way to tell if its really using a luxeon led just from looking at the pic? from the others that ive seen, the plastic ring around the emitter on ko's are usually white, and real lux are black. this one's black. what do u think?

Unless they guarantee that it's a true Luxeon, don't expect it to be.

Pictures as good as they may be doesn't guarantee that what yer getting it exactly as it's represented in the photos...

That one looks like a clone also. The black should cover the surface of the star where the words "Lumileds" appear and the lettering will be white on the black background On Lux-III's. That seller claims it is a 3 watt, so it is either a clone or a Lux-I.

Post edited for error and clarification

i see, thanks for the info morelite

As from the first look, I'd say it's a fake one. Ask the seller if it's a genuine Luxeon LED from Lumileds USA. If he says it is, and afterwards you can clearly see it isn't, leave a negative evaluation on Ebay. There's not much more you can do I think.

Morelite said:

That one is a clone also. The black should cover the whole surface of the star and the words "Lumileds" will appear as white letters on the black background.

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If they use Luxeon III, but it appears a Luxeon I Star to me

are there any high power single led other than Luxeon and Nichia(jupiter)?? i thought if it is 3w single led it would always be Luxeon?

rizky_p said:

are there any high power single led other than Luxeon and Nichia(jupiter)?? i thought if it is 3w single led it would always be Luxeon?

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A lot of fake and bad cloned Luxeons... Each high power LED can be driven at 3W, but there can be a huge difference in output, lifetime and color tint when comparing a genuine Luxeon with a fake one.

-=RelakS=- said:

If they use Luxeon III, but it appears a Luxeon I Star to me

Click to expand...

Visually there is no difference between a LuxI & III

Morelite said:

Visually there is no difference between a LuxI & III

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.......... jeez so how can we tell them apart if they get mixed up ?

-edited-

Morelite said:

Visually there is no difference between a LuxI & III

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I think, the LuxI is mounted on an MCPCB (looks like an smd)

The LuxIII is mounted to an aluminium plate with a pcb. The pcb have a hole, where the led can touch the aluminium. This is, why the LuxIII and LuxV holders are lower than the LuxI holders

RelakS has made a good point. Here are genuine Lumileds star pics from thier site.
Its appears the star is the only visual difference, the emitters will appear to be the same.

I purchased a lot of three MXDL 3W Luxeon AAA lights from an eBay vendor. Two of the lights worked right out of the box, but the third flickered a bit and was finicky. When I opened it up, I found cold solder joints, and a luxeon of unknown origin. While the light works very well now, it has more of a flood than pinpoint spot beam. I don't mind this whatsoever, as it is very bright and provides a wonderful halo of light for room or camp. The light has a very slight bluish tint to it, although if not comparing side by side to a pure white beam, you'd never notice. Anyway, it got me curious about the other lights as they have a whiter brighter beam with a much more intense spot although still providing a great spill beam. The brightest light has again a different luxeon and board of unknown origin. It works great! The last light has a geniune Luxeon Star. It's performance is nearly the same as the brightest in brightness, whiteness and beam pattern.

I guess you just never know what you're going to get from eBay. However, although I'd prefer the genuine Luxeon Stars, the nameless luxeons work so well, I'm not complaining.

Oh.........forgot to mention it was from the same seller.....

1.If it looks perfect, it could still be a counterfeit.
2. A real Luxeon may still not have a bin code on the back. It may even be wiped off if the mfgr cleans the star with alcohol, I wiped mine off with isopropanol -a common industrial alcohol used to prep a surface for adheseive, or paint. I was prepping mine for Arctic Alumina
3. A counterfeit can still be excellent.

If you only risk a few dollars, don't be afraid to try it just because it's a counterfeit. The best value in 2 X CR123 LED flashlights in my opinion is the "Golston 7Watt" At around $30 it outperforms flashlights costing much, much more. It is believed to be a counterfeit Lux III. Incidentally, based only on the posts on CPF, the Golston is more reliable than the SureFire U2. The golston is at least as bright, and throws farther too. If you are in the market for a cheap bright LED, you may want to try it.

Bernie

look at that pic closely.
a 3 has thicker leads like a v
its easily seen in that pic.
and as for clones who makes the die?
there are like 3 mfrs of power led dies.
care in asembly of these clones would be the biggest issue.and phosphor quality.

There are only a rew name-brand, market leading manufacturers of LED dies. There are countless "back alley" LED mfgrs in China, and Hong Kong. It only takes the counterfeiters a few weeks to reverse engineer an electronic product and manufacture it.

Like I said, just because its counterfeit doesn't mean its junk.

Bernie