3 watt led from China

[bayondai]

Has anyone used the 3 watt led's from china? I always look at them on ebay, but never tried any. I need about 48 more so it would help out a lot in cost.

Thanks,

Mike

[krisko]

From what i have read they are crap. Don't put out any par and made cheaply. If your looking for cheap LEDS that people have good results look for stevesleds there about $2.60 a pop. http://stevesleds.com/ You have to email him your order there is no online ordering. Also IF you spend the money on CREE led's I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Hope that helps.

[blasterman]

Steve's are made in Greenland, right?

[Hans Dorn]

Only the green ones

[krisko]

Steve's are made in Greenland, right?

 

 

Lol... There made in china to I wasn't even thinking except, Steve has tested his LED's and knows the quality. But most other Chinese unknown name brand LEDS people say there crap.

 

Here's some info:

 

http://dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=94&t=66885

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=235946

[Hans Dorn]

i'm not going to read all this. Did he ever post how many milliwatts his RB LEDs are putting out?

[Ace25]

Lol... There made in china to I wasn't even thinking except, Steve has tested his LED's and knows the quality. But most other Chinese unknown name brand LEDS people say there crap.

 

So is he actually releasing the data sheets for his LEDs yet? All I see on RC is people flaming him for not releasing any real data about the LEDs used and the ones that have tried it state they only put out 1/2 the light as a Cree XP-G. Personally I have no clue and not even going to try and guess. Just throwing that info out there.

[blasterman]

Only the green ones

 

+100

 

When it comes to using any and all manner of LEDs there isn't any class of LED I haven't used. Hell, if the North Koreans made LED's, I'd be using them for cheap projects.

 

Most of the cheap Ebay LEDs are Semis or clones, and they have a particular performance curve I've learned to work around. The Chinese make decent blue LEDs, and if money is absurdly tight then by all means go with Satistronics or Steve's - for blues. I respect anybody trying to run a business and I frankly don't get the facination with Ebay when the same LEDs are available from more reputable store fronts (Satistronics', etc).

 

However, I will implicity plead with you to stick with name brand LED's when it comes to white LEDs. Rebels, Crees, what-ever. The chinese can't make a white LED worth a darn in terms of color, and this does make an impact on your tank as we've proven in the aethestics thread. Yes, the Cree XP-G is pretty much in a class by itself in terms of efficiency, but it's the better color of the name brand white emitters that really is the difference.

 

I'm sorry, but the nutcases on Reef Central will only promote what DWZM tells them because they ban accounts that disagree. While I don't agree with some of Steve's claims, Cree hasn't proven the value of their royals.

[bayondai]

Thanks for all the replies. Are these the blue led's Satistronics you recommend?

 

http://www.satistronics.com/3w-high-power-...35lm_p1316.html

[evilc66]

FYI, Steve's LEDs are Prolight Proeon series LEDs

 

http://www.prolightopto.com/productsinfo.h...46529-amgKM.pdf

[Zeadon]

FYI, Steve's LEDs are Prolight Proeon series LEDs

 

http://www.prolightopto.com/productsinfo.h...46529-amgKM.pdf

 

are they gd? lol, how do the compare with others, worth their price tag?

[Ace25]

Something about that PDF doesn't quite add up.

 

White 147.7 lm

 

Here is Cree XP-G specs

Cool White = 139lm

 

So Steve's cool white LEDs are actually better than Cree XP-Gs according to that PDF.

[sae647]

Something about that PDF doesn't quite add up.

 

 

 

Here is Cree XP-G specs

 

 

So Steve's cool white LEDs are actually better than Cree XP-Gs according to that PDF.

 

the figure for the prolights is @ 700mA while the figure for the XP-G is @ 350mA. dont compare data if youre not gonna look at all of it.

[evilc66]

Exactly. At 700mA, the XP-G pushes ~243lm. At 1000mA (something the Prolight LEDs can't do), it jumps to 347lm. At 1500mA, 458lm.

 

Then take a look at the new XM-L (T6 bin).

 

@350mA - ~165lm

@700mA - 280lm

@1000mA - 378lm

@1500mA - 532lm

@3000mA - 910lm

 

Sorry, but Cree (love them or hate them) has the best LED efficiency in the industry by a long shot.

[Ace25]

My bad.. I am just used to seeing all 3w LEDs measured at 350ma for our purposes/data sheets.

 

That said, it does appear the RC people are right, the Steve LEDs are about 1/2 the output of the Cree XP-Gs if it works out that you cut the mA in 1/2 the lm are cut in half as well, so Cree=139lm@350mA and Steve's would = 73.85lm@350mA.

[sae647]

My bad.. I am just used to seeing all 3w LEDs measured at 350ma for our purposes/data sheets.

 

That said, it does appear the RC people are right, the Steve LEDs are about 1/2 the output of the Cree XP-Gs if it works out that you cut the mA in 1/2 the lm are cut in half as well, so Cree=139lm@350mA and Steve's would = 73.85lm@350mA.

 

yes you are correct. i realize my post sounded kind of rude, didnt mean it to. just encouraging people to look at all of the facts.

[evilc66]

My bad.. I am just used to seeing all 3w LEDs measured at 350ma for our purposes/data sheets.

 

That said, it does appear the RC people are right, the Steve LEDs are about 1/2 the output of the Cree XP-Gs if it works out that you cut the mA in 1/2 the lm are cut in half as well, so Cree=139lm@350mA and Steve's would = 73.85lm@350mA.

 

It's not quite that linear. A twofold increase/decrease in current doesn't yeild the same lumen change. Look at the lumen numbers I posted for the Cree LEDs. Going from 350mA to 700mA doesn't net you a 2x increase in output. Only about 60%. All LEDs are the same way. Lower currents will always produce higher efficiency.

[bayondai]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I am more confused now. ha ha If I go with all cree LEDs how many should I have on a standard 125 gallon with sps, clams, zoas, lps, etc... and which drivers should I buy? I thought I would need about 72 total, but then I read I would need a minimum of 96, but that might have been with the cheaper LEDs. Sorry for the ignorant questions.

Thanks,

Mike

[MOJOEJOEJOE]

I dont have a par meter but I have running my china leds for over a year and I have been getting lots of coraline algae and have not lost a coral yet. I did have to turn them down because some of my corals sort of bleached. I agree that they are of unknown standards but imo worth the money if your on a budget.

[Reefgeek]

I have a question about that spec sheet you posted. It shows the viewing angle is 130 degrees, but Steve's are 90 degrees. So is that really the spec sheet for those LEDs or am I reading something wrong?

[Reefgeek]

Next question, we're comparing XP-G's to Steve's but most lights out there still use the XR-E's right? I can't find the Flux for the XR-E Q5 CW at 700 but at 350 it's 107. So if we increase that by 60% that puts us at 171? (my math sucks so I could be way off)

 

So in short, the XP-G puts out twice the Flux, at 4 times the price. But the XR-E is only 20% more efficient for more than double the cost? Unless I'm way off base Steve's have much higher lm / $ than Cree? I'm not trying to be a fanboy, but I really can't see why Steve's gets so much bashing.

 

edit~ typo, sorry.

[evilc66]

I have a question about that spec sheet you posted. It shows the viewing angle is 130 degrees, but Steve's are 90 degrees. So is that really the spec sheet for those LEDs or am I reading something wrong?

If he does actually have 90 degree lenses, the electrical and optical properties of the LEDs is the same.

 

Next question, we're comparing XP-G's to Steve's but most lights out there still use the XR-E's right? I can't find the Flux for the XR-E Q5 CW at 700 but at 350 it's 107. So if we increase that by 60% that puts us at 171? (my math sucks so I could be way off)

 

So in short, the XP-G puts out twice the Flux, at 8 times the price. But the XR-E is only 20% more efficient for more than double the cost? Unless I'm way off base Steve's have much higher lm / $ than Cree? I'm not trying to be a fanboy, but I really can't see why Steve's gets so much bashing.

700mA will net you about 175lm on an XR-E. That's a 26% difference at the same current. The Cree has one advantage with being able to handle 1000mA, which will get you 235lm. Now, while you may not think that the cost difference is worth the 26% gain, some of that cost is going towards the phosphors used. Chinese LEDs have notoriously bad white phophor blends and lifetime compared to the top LED producers. Cree LEDs will hold their spectral properties and brightness far longer.

 

Also, XP-Gs are only 4 times more expensive.

 

Now, Chinese color LEDs are pretty decent. His royals aren't quite as efficient, but output seems to be similar, at least based on the datasheet. They don't suffer from the same lifetime pitfalls that the white LEDs do.

[Reefgeek]

Sorry, I caught that typo, was supposed to be 4 times not 8. I was looking at an $8 LED at the time and sometimes my brain does that to numbers.

[JSVAND5]

Who sells the NW XP-G's? I am thinking about adding a few more lights to my system and would like to use the XP-G's.

[krisko]

http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php...ld2fd6ift58det3

 

I'm running 6 xp-g's on my tank and couldn't be happyer! I also have 6 royal blues 2 10 watt blues leds and 2 true violet. I'm able to dim, makes a very nice color.