Full vs.Half wave LED's

[Ron Boyd]

Maybe I missed it or I just can't find it. A lot of talk about the full wave vs. half wave LED flicker and dimming issues. Is there really that much difference? With this being my first year, the start-up cost for me has been substantial, so I bought LED's from a local Store. I guess I'll be investing a bunch of money next year if they don't work properly this year, Huh?

[crackchecker]

All I have is half wave LED's. though there is a flicker to them (some people see it, others dont). The real test is when you go to dim the LED's you have. I guess I have been lucky so far, all my big box store LED's have had NO problems with my big sweeping fades or quick sine wave fades.

[KenL_MCSE]

Generally Full wave are brighter than 1/2 wave. Generally there is a very slight flicker to 1/2 wave. But this has a lot to do with manufacturing. For sure full wave white is white. Where 1/2 wave white has a tint of blue.

My tree uses full wave - there is differenct between those lights and the off the shelf lights on my bushes.

And as crackchecker said, dimming is where some 1/2 waves fail. Some fail at 20% and just drop to off. But there are ways around this problem too.

[ShaggySS]

I was reading about big box store LED's not fading and I have been tempted to crawl up in the attic and grab a couple to test. I bought 8000 big box store lights last year so maybe tonight.

[Arnoldc]

I bought a bunch of LEDs from Garden Ridge last year.. I found that all my lights fade but the blue strands. The blue goes down to about 20% and that is it.. Snubbers are needed. Luckily I wont need these this year as I bought a bunch of new to me lights, as members got out of the hobby.
I also found out that the Blue lights I got from Garden Ridge, fail, a lot.. The Clear, and Red I have no issues with.
Lesson Learned with this.. The best thing to do is save and get lights from CDI..

[Ron Boyd]

I have two questions then.

Who is CDI?

What are "snubbers"

Oh, and thanks for the replies. Merry Christmas everyone.

[RaceMedic]

CDI = Creative Displays Inc

Snubbers help the lights fade properly by adding a load ( might not be the correct term ) on the line.

Dave

[Guest guest]

All my LED strings came from various "big box" and outlet stores and different namebrands, I purchased mine at:

Lowes, K-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Big Lots, and Michaels Crafts, have never had any problems with dimming any of them.

Some may be 1/2 wave, some full wave, still not sure how you can tell the difference aside from if too many are plugged into a controller channel they may "flicker" when fading. Although I only use 1-3 strings on a channel and have never needed snubbers or loads, I use two Lowes strings that have 200 LED's on the string, these I only use that string on one channel, that is each 200 LED string has its own channel. These are Multi color. I haven't gone the route of single color LED strings except for Halloween (Orange, Purple). I do need to, maybe next year. But I've got far too many multi-color strings to relinquish them at the moment.

[ShaggySS]

ShaggySS wrote:

I was reading about big box store LED's not fading and I have been tempted to crawl up in the attic and grab a couple to test. I bought 8000 big box store lights last year so maybe tonight.

I realized I might be able to save myself a trip into the attic. Anyone have Phillips LED lights the fancy looking boxes they sell at Target.

[CKSedg]

ShaggySS wrote:

ShaggySS wrote:

I was reading about big box store LED's not fading and I have been tempted to crawl up in the attic and grab a couple to test. I bought 8000 big box store lights last year so maybe tonight.

I realized I might be able to save myself a trip into the attic. Anyone have Phillips LED lights the fancy looking boxes they sell at Target.

Yup, I have tons of them. I'm not sure, but I think they are half wave; but they fade fine and look great. I bought out two Target stores the day after Christmas when everything was 75% off.

[Guest guest]

ShaggySS wrote:

ShaggySS wrote:

I was reading about big box store LED's not fading and I have been tempted to crawl up in the attic and grab a couple to test. I bought 8000 big box store lights last year so maybe tonight.

I realized I might be able to save myself a trip into the attic. Anyone have Phillips LED lights the fancy looking boxes they sell at Target.

A LOT of my LED's are also from Target under the Phillips namebrand. I have never had any problems fading them up or down at any speed.

The ONLY issue I've ever had with some of the LED strings is corrosion inside the socket that deteriorates to the point of the wires coming off the contact, the contact has basically corroded and dissolved. And then the string doesn't work, for obvious reasons.

Don't recall if it's the Target LED's or ones I got from Home Depot or K-Mart that had this corrosion problem in the sockets. The ones I bought from Big Lots have held up very well for several seasons, as have those I got from Wal-Mart.

[JBullard]

Just my opinion:

1/2 wave that flicker drive me up a wall, very distrubing to me.

Many retail store brands use replaceable bulbs. The leads on the bulbs are iron ( ? or steel) and depending on your climate, may result in rusted failed LEDs in a single season when they get rained on.

Full wave are usually brighter.

I have never had to spend the extra money and effort making and installing "snubbers"

For these reasons I only use full wave, sealed LEDs from Creative Displays.

Just my opinions

[capt1]

Can somebody enlighten me on what snubbers are and do?

[Guest guest]

If it wern't for the fact I've had LED's fail in items that are sealed and not replacable, this is why I don't like sealed strings, one LED happens to go and now you've got a string you can't replace the bad LED. This is the main reason I don't like "sealed" strings where I can't replace a BAD LED bulb. But to each their own on what they use and prefer.

Some of the first generation LED strings did have iron or steel leads, they should have been coated with silver solder or made from aluminum, this would have kept their leads from corroding and deteriorating.

Also many of the socket contacts were made of steel or some other metal that did not hold up very well to the weather conditions, especially "wet" conditions and would fail when their sockets and/or leads corroded.

However, using the type of NON-CONDUCTIVE electrical grease/paste found in automotive light sockets did seem to cut this back tremendously, and yes, it was a royal pain in the bum to pull every LED out to "LIGHTLY coat" both the LED leads and inside the socket for every string. The strings I coated have been in use now for several seasons and are still in use.

The ones I didn't coat with this grease failed miserably within a few weeks after a lot of rains or sprinkler system coming on and getting them wet.

Now it seems the newer generations have changed this and the issue isn't like it was when LED's first started being a viable alternative to incandescent lights. But you can still end up with an older generation set at times even from the Big Box stores from old stock that the manufacturers try to get rid of first. And from outlet stores that may acquire these old stock items.

So, yes, they can still be out there somewhere for purchase.

Again, personal choice to use sealed or removable LED strings. I just prefer being able to change out a bad LED and being able to "salvage" the string by just replacing it as opposed to now having a sealed string that may be completely useless to me. Plus it's a lot easier to replace ONE LED bulb in a NON-SEALED string as opposed to having to replace an entire string once it's incorporated into a display element. Just my opinion.

[Guest guest]

capt1 wrote:

Can somebody enlighten me on what snubbers are and do?

Go here to read how to make a snubber. It will give you a better idea of what they are, where they go and how to use them.


http://forums.planetchristmas.com/index.php?/topic/36988-easiest-terminatorssnubbers-to-make/

[JBullard]

As I said, Orville, just my opinion.

I have over 700 full wave SEALED LED stings, been using since 2007. Only had 1 string fail, it was brand new, and it was promptly replaced under warranty with just an email.

Just my opinion and experience.

[Guest guest]

JBullard wrote:

As I said, Orville, just my opinion.

I have over 700 full wave SEALED LED stings, been using since 2007. Only had 1 string fail, it was brand new, and it was promptly replaced under warranty with just an email.

Just my opinion and experience.

Wow, that's pretty good! Only one failure out of 700 strings!

I just may have to reconsider that sealed string option, but afraid the big box store pricing is more to my pocketbook than the CDI pricing presently. Too bad the BB stores don't sell those types.

I know you get what you pay for, but sometimes you just have to settle for second best.

[Guest wbottomley]

capt1 wrote:

Can somebody enlighten me on what snubbers are and do?

http://www.highcountrylights.com/glossary/Glossary-1/S/Snubber-62/

[Dave Boros]

JBullard wrote:

Just my opinion:

1/2 wave that flicker drive me up a wall, very distrubing to me.

Many retail store brands use replaceable bulbs. The leads on the bulbs are iron ( ? or steel) and depending on your climate, may result in rusted failed LEDs in a single season when they get rained on.

Full wave are usually brighter.

I have never had to spend the extra money and effort making and installing "snubbers"

For these reasons I only use full wave, sealed LEDs from Creative Displays.

Just my opinions

How do you know whether you are getting full or half? All the led's I have are from CDI, but I dont remember if they're sealed. (I believe they are m6?) They look like incandescent minis. And snubbers, see a lot of mention about them, but wouldn't know where to get them or how to put them in. Also heard something about the gen 3 controllers help with this issue, eliminating the need for snubbers. I quoted on yours, because from what I've seen you're very knowledgable about this. Thanks.

[JBullard]

If you purchased from CDI, then you have QUALITY, sealed, full wave LEDs. Good choice.

Snubbers? I have never needed them.