Sealed vs. Big-box leds

[jrock_at_rons]

Long story short, we will not be moving this year so I still have a chance to put together a show for 2014 (yay!). 

 

I've been sequencing all spring/summer (almost 17 minutes of music sequenced), I bought 32 channels worth of controls at the summer sale, been collecting tomato cages at fall sales, now I just need props/lights.  

 

My biggest question is this... is the extra money for sealed leds worth it?  

 

My biggest peeve now is that the store bought lights now seem to chip and lose the coloring from the bulbs after a single winter (Wisconsin)... these are icans though... are leds bulbs tougher?

 

I'm willing to spend the extra if I don't have to buy new lights every other year as they all slowly fade to 'off-white'.  

 

Thanks. 

[Mega Arch]

LED lights are tougher and will last for many years. Even if they didn't, the energy savings pay for the difference in just about one season, so money in the bank moving forward. Lowes, Walmart, Target and Hobby Lobby LED's are known to work with LOR. Just stay away from Home Depot's Martha Stewart lights. They tend to burst into flames. Which can be kinda cool looking, just really hard to synchronize into the show.

Good luck.

[75redman]

I think too, it depends where you live.  If you live where there is a lot of moisture, rain and snow, the sealed would be better.  I'm in sunny San Diego so I don't see hardly any rain and no white stuff.  I've bought the box store lights and have been using them for 4 years without any issues.

[khawes]

I think too, it depends where you live.  If you live where there is a lot of moisture, rain and snow, the sealed would be better.  I'm in sunny San Diego so I don't see hardly any rain and no white stuff.  I've bought the box store lights and have been using them for 4 years without any issues.

+2

Big box LEDs work great but if it rains the contacts rust and the string goes out.  I'm in San Jose (not a super wet place) and I used GE lights my first year (2010) and they worked great.  BUT when I got them out for 2011 half the strings didn't fully light and I had to replace a bunch of "bad" bulbs. All the bad bulbs all had rusted contacts, and I think I spent more time fixing the strings then putting them up.   I even had to do replacements though out the season       For  2012, I bought CDI's sealed lights and haven't had a single failure since.

 

I'm not particularly gentle with them either.  I wrap them pretty tightly around brick and stucco pillars, and I've even stepped on them and broken the plastic covers off but they are all still lighting up.  

 

 

I'm very happy that I traded hours of frustration and extra $$, for a hassle free setup & season.   

[dgrant]

Lights from BigLots seem to work nice too. As already stated, stay away from Martha lights from Home Depot. They do not dim at all. Good for %0 or %100 but nothing else. I don't know about the fire option for them, but I've heard that more than once in here so its probably accurate.

[gmac]

Whats been previously stated sums it all up .......It depends a lot on your location weather to go sealed or non sealed, I live in Ohio and we get mostly rain or wet snow in early December, I didn't know of sealed lights my first year and this will be my 4th year and yes most of the strings that weren't sealed weren't working the second season and are in the trash the few that made it were under Roof protected from moisture. I then bought all my sealed strings from CDI and there still working great (Money well spent IMO), and you don't have to be gentle in handling them either. ......I wouldn't recommend this but I use about 12 or their strings as supports for my  Spiral tree and it works out great for me.......... so far?? 

[EARLE W. TALLEY]

Led lights from the vendors that most people buy from on here are sealed and are of good quality. The prices for the lights during the presale (JAN.-MAR.) are normally better that what you pay at the big box stores this time of year. I would try to get by this year on  what you just need and buy for next year at the presales.

 Keep in mind that a lot of the OLD TIMERS are going to RGBs and could be selling some of their sealed lights at a good price, so watch for them.

Edited October 8, 2014 by EARLE W. TALLEY

[George Simmons]

I'm with Keith. The ridding oneself of constant maintenance and fragility, plus a hassle free setup and season is well worth the slight extra cost of sealed lights. There's no one who uses them who would seriously recommend (or use) anything else. Compare a typical store-bought LED string to the sealed sets from our trusty vendors. You should notice a remarkable difference. Earle is right - scrimp this year and get what you want/need after the season in a different place than you're used to. You won't regret it.

[zeighty]

Not that you need it but here's my opinion: go for good lights when you are able. I was really caught off guard when I first tested my LEDs from Holiday Light Express full wave, sealed and at least 50-70% brighter than my GEs from Target. The brightness was and is awesome.

You may have some trouble finding certain colors in some lengths this time of year, but like other said you can use store bought lights for this year and order the better LEDs during the sales events. The only problem I had with that is the sales are right after Christmas and the available cash flow is slim pickings.

Best wishes and Merry Christmas!

[jrock_at_rons]

Thanks for all the responses.  While the cheapskate in me doesn't want to pay more, the guy-freezing-on-the-lawn-fixing-a-string will win out. 

 

Sort of a spin-off of my original question.  Many of you mentioned that the HLE and CDI string are 50-70% brighter.  

 

Does this mean I could get away with using less of them?  I have 7 48" mini-trees to do in red and white this year.  Do i get more bang-for-my-buck if I use C6s instead of M6s?

[George Simmons]

IMO that depends on how close to the street/road the trees will be, and how close to each other they are. In my case, the distance is ten feet from the street and 3' apart. My mini trees have one 70 ct string of warm white, and one 50 ct string each of red, green, blue. All are M5/M6, and for where the trees are located they're plenty bright in all colors. My trees are 32-34" tomato cages so you'd at least need to step up one size string for your larger trees. Try it - you can always add more lights next year.

Edited October 8, 2014 by George Simmons

[RBeachBum]

Led lights from the vendors that most people buy from on here are sealed and are of good quality. The prices for the lights during the presale (JAN.-MAR.) are normally better that what you pay at the big box stores this time of year. I would try to get by this year on  what you just need and buy for next year at the presales.

 Keep in mind that a lot of the OLD TIMERS are going to RGBs and could be selling some of their sealed lights at a good price, so watch for them.

We have replaced allof  our incans with  LED full-wave lights from vendors.  I would stay away from Big Box store light as they are usually half-wave and tend to flicker.  Good Luck and Happy Holidays!

[zeighty]

Thanks for all the responses.  While the cheapskate in me doesn't want to pay more, the guy-freezing-on-the-lawn-fixing-a-string will win out. 

 

Sort of a spin-off of my original question.  Many of you mentioned that the HLE and CDI string are 50-70% brighter.  

 

Does this mean I could get away with using less of them?  I have 7 48" mini-trees to do in red and white this year.  Do i get more bang-for-my-buck if I use C6s instead of M6s?

George has stated some really good advice above. I agree completely.  

Here is my experience on the number of lights on mini-trees. 

I have 8 32" trees - 4 white only and 4 with separate RGB strings. With C6 50 count strings from HLE on each tree. I found that because of the brightness I had to be very careful where I placed the trees and the spacing. Too close to the viewing area and the trees may become a blur and perhaps a distraction to your show overall. Also, if the trees are too close together you lose definition in the pattern(s) your sequences have. I probably should switch out the lights with M6, I just don't like the viewing angle particulars with that package. Your trees, like George mentioned, will probably need C6 to keep the light count reasonable. 

You need to view it with lights  and not rely only on the Visualizer to make sure you and your viewers will see what you want them to see. I found that using the Visualizer I could see my sequence exactly like I expected it to look. Unfortunately real lights don't necessarily look the same as the computer gen'ed stuff. 

I had to change my viewing distance 3 times to get it right and my spacing at least 3 or 4 times.  Also, check your string wrapping pattern on the form that you are using. I have to redo mine year because I did not listen to the wisdom of others on the forum. a circular pattern looks better than a bottom to top, unless your trees are large enough to space the strings like you would on a mega-tree. I may have to get the welder out and custom build my tree frames this year. 

 

One more extra, again from experience: 

You will notice that if you videotape the show and use automatic settings on the camera that the colored light's brightness may overwhelm the CCD or CMOS sensor in your camera and you will lose color definition.  The show will look good in real time, but the recording may look washed out. Video cameras, at least most, have built in neutral density filters to handle exposure better, but if you have the ability to set white balance and exposure experiment to get good results.

 

I sincerely hope this helps at least a little. 

Edited October 9, 2014 by zeighty