UK Members - Where do you get your led lights from ?

[imposterbond]

It would be nice if we had 220v leds easily available , but the only ones I have found came from Hong Kong and after 2 weeks in the rain they were useless The resistors also got very hot.

The 24v ones are a little more longer lasting , but again the term outdoor use seems to apply to that you wont get electrocuted rather than made to be used out doors .I have now tried to mount all leds in some sort of frame etc eg chicken wire to keep them pointing up so the water doesn't enter and rust them away

It does seem to beg the question of what is the point in having these more expensive lights that last for 10,000 hours but fall apart after 100 .

Any way enough of my rant - my question is - where do you members in the uk purchase your leds from ?

I tend to try and get mine in the end of season sales but last year with the shops all cutting back didn't manage to get any .

The cheapest I have found 100 for was at out door value 6.99, but - they wont work with LOR as the are electronic transformers not wound ones .

Looking for - blue , white and green ones.

TY

Mark

[Max-Paul]

Mark,

Forgive me if this is a stupid question/suggestion. Has anyone looked at putting a step down transformer from the mains to all things LOR and lights? I would think that if you could step down the voltage there would be several advantages. 1st lower voltage less chance of shocks and and shorting out. Larger selection of lights. And I might be wrong, but think that there has been more R&D creating LED strings for 110VAC.

BTW if you are buying strings with the replaceable LED lamps. Be advised that these are noted for leaking water into the socket area. Also note the leads on LEDs are mild steel with a micron thin nickel plating. Just a drop of moisture will get the plating to break down.

[digdeepfundraising]

hi mark im in the uk and i brought lots of lights from outdoorvalue and your right they dont dim or shimmer and thats because of the low power transformers so i sent all mine back and they refunded in full and i went the 110v way.

all my lights are from the us 110v and im going to use 110v building site transformers to run my controllers and they work like a dream i brought 140 sets in the pre season sales and got them shipped over it wasnt cheap but it was my only option or should i say best option

the 24v should be ok just make sure you have the main plug indoors as i used them for static before i went to lor and i had no problem with them rusting or breaking (i have connected loads of 24v ones to my lor and they dim and shimmer and do everything else the controller tells them to do (not the cheap ones thou i found )

[imposterbond]

Thank you both for your replies, it might have been a point if I was starting out but as I have a lot of bits and bobs over the years I have added to it would mean scrapping them all.

I have just found I have lost 10 seta of leds to the mice , which as a Christian and a animal lover has called both in to question - but I am sure I will get over it.

I have read lots of articles posted on this site about leds and have in the past repaired them but I just cant get out of my system how badly they are made compared to the old cheap incandecences– but I suppose its you get what you pay for .

I am a little wary of buying direct from China (which is where all the stores get there’s from) due to the lack of knowledge of the suppliers as all it is they are interested in is your money and you might not get anything.

I cant knock out door value as they are a good company but wrong product .

Max Paul – what clan tartan ?

Dig deep – how does v3 software compare to v2 ? is it worth the upgrade ?

[digdeepfundraising]

Hi again mark I started with s3 so I can't really comment about the change from 2 to 3 but what I have read on the forum it sounds like a good move

I've ordered all my Rgb and power suppliers from china and had no problems using ray wu store but he doesn't do the led strings so I got them from a company in the us and there a lot cheaper than what we pay for ours but after P&P and import tax they work out the same price and they are one piece good quality lights completely waterproof

Dan

Do you have and videos of your display ????

[Max-Paul]

Ta tartan be a district, nae ta clan. Ana ta pin be of the McGregor clan, laddie.

[Alan C]

The left-side of the LOR boards (not sure about the new version) will run happily off a 24v transformer with the LED strings directly connected to the board. You must remember to remove the links that join the left and right sides of the board together as if you were powering it from two outlets. The right-hand side of the board still needs 240v for the transformer that powers the board (and therefore gives you 240v outputs), unless you want to carry out more modifications. I find that 24v led strings are easily found, and with a large 240v to 24v transformer, this also helps with the safety side of things.

The other option (as has already been pointed out) is to use a "portable tool" transformer to give you 110v. This differs from the US mains, where the neutral is earthed - with the "portable tool" transformers, the center-point of the transformer is earthed, giving 55v to earth from each connection. You may want to remember this, before you put your hand on something as both connections are live! Obviously 55v to earth is much safer than 240v (or even 110v for that matter).

Regards,

Alan.

Edited September 2, 2012 by Alan C