[Youtube Video] Consumers Are Getting Ripped Off By Some LED Light Bulb Makers

martinaee · Jan 24, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfyHGNOLEik

We all love CREE and their amazing emitters, but even I have to admit anecdotally that I've had SO many problems with the LED bulbs I've purchased from them. I think literally 3 out of maybe 8 or so died from a few years ago and I have one that flickers badly and I may as well just get rid of it. I don't know if this is just an issue with CREE, but it really looks bad with the promises of LED bulb tech to the mass market. Maybe it was just specific bulbs for specific years they produced that are not so good, but it seems this might be a pretty big issue for them. Some of the bulbs from them I've had burn out literally have fin-heat-sinking around the base of the bulbs too so it's strange to see them burn out.

Anyone else have problems specifically with CREE led bulbs? I do have a few more expensive spot-light bulbs from them I use as bounce lights directed upwards towards the ceiling and they are great.

Kestrel · Jan 24, 2019

I had many failures with one batch that used plastic bases/heatsink fins. A subsequent redesign had that specific component made from metal, and those have been flawless for me. (My guess would be die-cast zinc for the newer revision.)

It would seem logical that poor thermal performance was an issue with that particular generation. I probably have one or two survivors of that failed batch around, if a comparison pic would be of any interest.

Also, some of the failed bulbs were on a dimmer circuit - while I believe they were rated for that application, it may have been a marginal design in that respect.

martinaee · Jan 24, 2019

Hmm. Yeah, the ones I had fail all had the cast metal fins of some kind. Pretty heavy bulbs actually for outputting 800ish lumens each which made it surprising they had so many failures. Must have been a particular generation of them where something was wrong in design or parts. I am amazed at some of the very cheap newer bulbs that are sold for several dollars each, but seem like they have little to no real heat-sinking. I don't know how long some of them will last from different companies, but there definitely is a huge portion of the LED bulb market that is entirely doing away with trying to make bulbs that will last for years and years with good thermal regulation/control. Race to the bottom! Obviously more efficient LEDs are being used in many bulbs, but I have some putting out 1500 lumens that feel like they weigh an ounce at most lol. No way they will last 5-10 years of heavy use if I had to guess.

Burgess · Jan 24, 2019

Interesting post here.

lovecpf

Can you kindly tell me (us)
WHICH brand(s) I should purchase ? ? ?

Thank you for your help.

TD-Linux · Jan 25, 2019

Heh, I came here because I had another Cree fail and was wondering what I should get instead.

In my "100W" bulb case, the actual LEDs are fine, but the driver electronics failed. Unfortunately it's hard to tell what exactly went wrong because the whole board is potted. The internal construction looks to be quite nice, but of course none of that matters if it doesn't actually work.

MeMeMe · Jan 25, 2019

martinaee said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfyHGNOLEik

We all love CREE and their amazing emitters, but even I have to admit anecdotally that I've had SO many problems with the LED bulbs I've purchased from them. I think literally 3 out of maybe 8 or so died from a few years ago and I have one that flickers badly and I may as well just get rid of it. I don't know if this is just an issue with CREE, but it really looks bad with the promises of LED bulb tech to the mass market. Maybe it was just specific bulbs for specific years they produced that are not so good, but it seems this might be a pretty big issue for them. Some of the bulbs from them I've had burn out literally have fin-heat-sinking around the base of the bulbs too so it's strange to see them burn out.

Anyone else have problems specifically with CREE led bulbs? I do have a few more expensive spot-light bulbs from them I use as bounce lights directed upwards towards the ceiling and they are great.

30+ bulbs and lights can't remember any failures. Never bought Cree bulbs ... Making LEDs does not make you an expert at drivers, power supplies, design for reliability or testing for reliability. Mostly Philips bulbs, some Osram bulbs, 4 from some company that escapes me, a bunch of Cooper downlights, all running like new.

louie · Jan 25, 2019

Many Cree lightbulb failures here. I bought maybe a dozen of the early 60W ones, metal finned bases, glass under silicone, including the high CRI ones, when they were maybe $8-10USD. They have all failed now, and it's not worth it to send them in under warranty. They would usually start to randomly flicker first. They were also heavy, and spring-arm lamps would droop. I tore one apart, and they looked very expensive to produce. I chipped away all the potting on the electronics, and I figure the electrolytic capacitor in there is the weak point.

I've gone to Feit high-CRIs from Costco now. We shall see how they last, but at least they are lightweight, all plastic. The tint is a little different that the high CRI Crees (all rated as 3k soft white).

TD-Linux · Jan 26, 2019

I motivated myself to take apart the 100W Cree. It contains a custom Cree labeled driver board of the buck converter type (non-isolated). R1 and R4 are clearly cooked. I think R1 is the shunt resistor for measuring current. Not sure what the original failure was - it could be Q1 failing short for example, which would probably burn out the resistor. The lap actually starts up for a tenth of a second or so before cutting out. There's quite a few other transistors near the output, no idea what function they serve.

[Youtube Video] Consumers Are Getting Ripped Off By Some LED Light Bulb Makers

martinaee

Flashlight Enthusiast

Kestrel

Flashaholic

martinaee

Flashlight Enthusiast

Burgess

Flashaholic

TD-Linux

Newly Enlightened

MeMeMe

Banned

louie

Flashlight Enthusiast

TD-Linux

Newly Enlightened

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