Daryl Posted December 24, 2010 Share Posted December 24, 2010 I've been looking at getting some LED's and have seen some that say "Constant On" on the box. Will these work with my controllers? Do the LED's have to be rectified?Daryl in Las Vegas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted December 24, 2010 Share Posted December 24, 2010 Daryl wrote: I've been looking at getting some LED's and have seen some that say "Constant On" on the box. Will these work with my controllers? Do the LED's have to be rectified?I'd stay away from any that are marked "constant on". To me, that sounds like marketing gobbledy-gook for "not dimmable". There's too many other options to take a chance you'd be throwing your money away.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted December 24, 2010 Author Share Posted December 24, 2010 So what I need to make sure is they are dimmable and/or have the inline rectifier somewhere in the string, correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Cherry Posted December 24, 2010 Share Posted December 24, 2010 Daryl wrote: I've been looking at getting some LED's and have seen some that say "Constant On" on the box. Will these work with my controllers? Do the LED's have to be rectified?Daryl in Las VegasThe GE Constant ON LED's are a fire hazard using our type of equipment. They have the same circuit of another Major LED supplier on these forums in 2008 season. They might catch on fire.I bought a string this year to confirm this, and I did the evaluation of the problem in 2008.The light string I bought this year was disassembled for another project in my display and the parts discarded that are the fire hazard issue. i do not recommend anyone trying to modify these unless you have knowledge on how LED's operate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted December 24, 2010 Author Share Posted December 24, 2010 So what about the ones that don't say "constant on"? Lowes is where I've been looking at them. Where is the best place to get LED's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Cherry Posted December 24, 2010 Share Posted December 24, 2010 The retail store LED's are barely acceptable. The majority are a half wave circuit design and the colors and intensity are below most of our standards.Watch for some of the group buys from forum vendors coming up in the next few months and buy a much better quality LED light strings.Prices are good also over the retail lights.Be patient and wait for the group buys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsea300 Posted December 24, 2010 Share Posted December 24, 2010 Stay away from retails store LED's. My first year with LOR I bought just about everything Home Depot had at the end of the previous season. They worked ok for half a season then failures started. The next year pulled out of storage lots of failures/corrosion. I have converted over to full wave from group buys from CDI. Much better color and quality. Not to mention I got to trow away about 400 snubbers, they are no longer needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Beaver Posted December 25, 2010 Share Posted December 25, 2010 Dennis Cherry wrote: The retail store LED's are barely acceptable. The majority are a half wave circuit design and the colors and intensity are below most of our standards.Watch for some of the group buys from forum vendors coming up in the next few months and buy a much better quality LED light strings.Prices are good also over the retail lights.Be patient and wait for the group buys.Most of the LED's I am using I bought at Wal Mart. I really like them. It is only my second year, but they are working fine.I really like the bright vibrant colors (especially the blue).I am very happy with the performance and the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lkcubsrule Posted December 25, 2010 Share Posted December 25, 2010 I was at Target last night and I looked at their Phillips brand LEDs. They seriously looked like full wave ones...I saw no flicker.I'm going to get a bunch and see how they hold up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted December 26, 2010 Author Share Posted December 26, 2010 OK, so what's the difference between half wave and full wave?How can you tell the difference?I'm not a electronics guru, so put it in simple english Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyfunk Posted December 26, 2010 Share Posted December 26, 2010 Half wave is 30 cycles per second, so the lights are only on during the positive cycle. That cause them to have a slight flicker when you view them. They also do not dim well, if at all.You really want full-wave. It is how the AC is converted to DC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted December 26, 2010 Author Share Posted December 26, 2010 Is there an easy way to tell the difference between half wave and full wave? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyfunk Posted December 26, 2010 Share Posted December 26, 2010 Wave the lightes in front of your face. They will look like they are strobing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GS Posted December 27, 2010 Share Posted December 27, 2010 I have 60,000 half wave LEDs. I accidently installed 1 full wave string this year. I challenge anyone to point out the full wave string, at night. $100 cash for the first person that can identify it.Starting to buy LEDs now, I would go with a consistent, reliable, vendor so your LEDs look the same year over year. I would also go full wave now since the better vendors are phasing out half wave due to demand.Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyfunk Posted December 27, 2010 Share Posted December 27, 2010 GS wrote: I have 60,000 half wave LEDs. I accidently installed 1 full wave string this year. I challenge anyone to point out the full wave string, at night. $100 cash for the first person that can identify it.Starting to buy LEDs now, I would go with a consistent, reliable, vendor so your LEDs look the same year over year. I would also go full wave now since the better vendors are phasing out half wave due to demand.GlennAre you dimming any of the half-wave LEDs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GS Posted December 27, 2010 Share Posted December 27, 2010 Yes, I fade all my LEDs. Most full wave and half wave are dimmable.Fade flickering occurs when you have many LED strings loaded on one circuit. This is not an issue with LOR or half wave or full wave, it is the LEDs. The flickering varies from manufacturer and LED color. Fade flickering is easily cured with a snubber (resistor), C9 bulb or scented plug in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyfunk Posted December 27, 2010 Share Posted December 27, 2010 Thank you Glenn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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