Arc AAA UV warranty...why only one year?

Howdy...

I am pondering purchasing an Arc AAA UV light for the purposes of detecting all things counterfeit. Does anyone know why there's only a 1-year warranty on the UV lights instead of the 10-year warranty on their other lights?

It's almost enough to force me to forgo the Arc UV and get a Photon UV (...thus saving more money up for the Arc LS, if I can ever find any in stock for around $100 anymore)...

Yes, the Arc is a superiorly crafted tool compared to the Photon (and yes, I DO like my Photons! ), but at the price of these UV lights, a 1-year vs. lifetime warranty will make a difference in my decision. Are the Arc UV lights prone to failure moreso than other UV LED lights? Anyone here use one? Have you used both the Arc and the Photon UV and can provide feedback on both? Anyone?

JM-99

Basically it's because the LED self destructs, UV light damages the epoxy in the LED itself.

Arc and LRI (makers of Photon) use the same LED. LRI overdrives theirs much harder (shortening its life more). They warranty theirs for a lifetime, we warranty it for 10 years (edited).

Peter Gransee

Peter..
If LRI ovberdrives theirs, then it burns out faster, Right? So they replace it with a lifetime warranty. Now the Arc only has a one year warrany, is it because of not being overdriven as hard it will last longer and doesn't need replacing?
I'm curious as I'm thinking of purchasing one as well.

I see two ways to look at a warranty: Either as a guarantee of quality or a service plan. We think that service plans are not always a good deal for the customer considering the time and money spent and would rather just make the product better. That is why our warranty is a guarantee, not a service plan.

Some manufacturers figure that in a couple of years, the item will be lost, obsolete or given away. They figure most people will never use the "lifetime warranty". Now, lifetime warranties are fine in themselves as long as you seen them as a form of subsidized service plan. But some manufactures may use it as a substitute to spending more money on improving the product.

We wanted our focus to be on the up front quality of the product.

Not sure if I explained this correctly.

Peter Gransee

Originally posted by Gransee:
We wanted our focus to be on the up front quality of the product.

Not sure if I explained this correctly.

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I honestly don't mean for this to sound disrespectful, but if you're focusing on the quality of your products, why not cover the UV AAA for 10 years (or longer)? The 1-year warranty implies a lack of confidence in the durability of the UV light.

That said, I think I understand what you're saying about the "lifetime" warranty...most people will never use it (will throw away the light, etc.) yet all pay for it in the built-in price of the lights (i.e. the LRI Photons)...the fact that it's built into the price for everyone allows others to repair/replace the few folks do bother to send to LRI to be fixed.

Here are my ideas and concerns with buying the UV light...
1. In a year, I would be very dissappointed if I had to plunk down another $44.95 + $8.00 shipping if the Arc AAA UV light failed for whatever reason.

2. Are the LED's user-replaceable by folks skilled in soldering? My guess is they probably aren't field replaceable...

3. If they are not user-replaceable, is there a fixed price we can expect to pay to get them repaired if they do fail? Is it the LED itself that usually craters? What usually goes wrong with the UV LED lights? If you don't overdrive them, it seems like it should take longer than a year to toast them? What is a realistic lifecycle for these lights?

I hope you understand my concerns here...I intend to use the light on a regular basis and while I have heard excellent things about yourself and your products in the past and am almost willing to trust you on your excellent reputation alone, I need to know what I'll be getting into if I end up having to replace the LED every year. If you can provide this information and it isn't going cost $45 to fix it when it does fail, I will probably order one in the next couple of days.

Thanks for your honest and very fast responses, Peter.

JM-99

Why not offer replacement Heads only in a baggie. That way you can have one body and different LED Heads or just replace the head if it breaks.

I honestly don't mean for this to sound disrespectful, but if you're focusing on the quality of your products, why not cover the UV AAA for 10 years (or longer)? The 1-year warranty implies a lack of confidence in the durability of the UV light.

Basically it's because the LED self destructs, UV light damages the epoxy in the LED itself.

Arc and LRI (makers of Photon) use the same LED.

arc designed the body, head, and electronics. no lack of durability here. not the led. this is inherent of all uv's.

Glad to see I am not the only one who missed this: ever since we switched to the new 12mW UV LED (happened last year), the LED has become more durable and I increased the warranty to our standard 10 year warranty. I updated the product page last year but forgot to update the FAQ.

When you asked about the warranty, my mind slipped a cog or something.

The Arc-AAA UV has had a 10 year warranty for the better part of a year now! I updated the FAQ today. The UV product page has been updated for quite a while.

Peter Gransee

Originally posted by Gransee:
... updated the product page last year but forgot to update the FAQ.

When you asked about the warranty, my mind slipped a cog or something.

The Arc-AAA UV has had a 10 year warranty for the better part of a year now! I updated the FAQ today. The UV product page has been updated for quite a while.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Ok, Peter...that's good enough for me. Order will be placed tonight. Thanks again for your help here...I was also confused by the FAQ wording vs. the info on the UV LED light page. It's all cleared up now -- will be ordering an LS2 (LS3? ) soon, I hope. Also, any idea when another batch of Arc AAA LE's will be available from you direct from your website? Is there a waiting list? Can I get on the waiting list for one now? How about the LS3?

JM-99

BTW, it's a very sad day here today...I live about 90 miles from Johnson Space Center and have never felt closer to the folks there than now. Thoughts and prayers for the fallen and their families.

I have a new one in B/S/T for $41 shipped

Hmmmmm...my UV packaging says 10 years

And that is correct.

Peter

So, it's the older Nichia metal can, quartz lens lights like mine that are one year only? *sniffle* It's already out of warranty. Guess this means I get to really start beating on it.

It'll soon get supplanted by the 7-11 LED UV ARC-LS cased monster I'm working on. Thank you, Peter, for the grey kits. This was a great idea.

If you or CNCDan could keep offering a 'body' kit that worked with dat2zip's boards, I think the lot of us would be very, very happy.

I'm thrilled to know that I finally get to make the UV and RB lights that I've always wanted.

So, to repeat, thank you, thank you, Peter.