A new class of Chinese 70W RGBW LED - Any experience ?

[Tow]

Hi,

 

I have noticed a new class/type of Chinese 70W (7 X 10W) RGBW LED appearing on eBay and Ali Express etc in recent times. There appears to be at least 3 different types, but with Chinese manufacturing who knows if they are all coming from the same or different factorys or are different revisions/batches. The price if these fixtures appears to start from £28 delivered! Yet 7 of the only 10W RGBW LEDs I know of, the Cree MC-E cost a lot more than these complete fixtures.

 

So, I am contemplating ordering a couple to play with, has anyone tried any of these?

Can I safely assume they have 'domestic' Chinese build quality, are noisy, have a crap dimming curve, PWM flicker like mad when videoed (my main concern) and any CE mark stands for China Export. On the plus side RGBW and 70 Watts...

 

 

Link to what I am talking about: http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=70w+rgbw&catId=0

[Chris Beesley]

I can assure you they will not be coming from the same factory. In China you have what is known as "public tooling", this is open to any small assembly house or manufacturer hence many models looking similar. Buying from Ali-Express or any outlet from China without direct QA etc really is a minefield. As for the LED's themselves, there are again hundreds of small LED assembly houses in China all producing a variety of products, many even handmade with vast differences in colour and output.

[paulears]

Chris speaks the truth! The people I buy from are actually (I discovered) screen printers! In their building everything they need to sell moving head lights is available. The source each bit. My contact is a lovely lady, and it seems that the commonality of the items makes lots of versions possible. So the chassis can be fitted with whatever bits you want. You can have a small head or a big head on a common chassis, once all the bits are plugged up, another little business programme and EEPROM and away you go. I tried to order more of what I've been buying but RGBW front PCBs are no longer being produced, I can have RGBWA or soon RGBWA+UV. At the moment she tells me there is a snag with the diffusers, because the supplier of the plastic diffusers only has plastic that glows in the UV - meaning for now, I can only get them in diffuserless versions. They don't even do their own dispatch - that's another business - which explains how packages even have the same tape type. It's only when you buy in Chris's quantities that you deal with single sources, who actually have a real factory.

 

It also means that when you deal with the small people, shelf life is probably 6 months. After that, getting any specific rather than generic spare will be impossible, because there are none. They buy what you order. I can order replacement plastic housings, because they still use the same ones, and spares for the main unit seem to not be any trouble - but a gear for a zoom mechanism? They don't even know what it looks like until you send them a photo!

 

It doesn't put me off though.

[Tow]

Thanks for your replies. Looking at the various suppliers, some appear to sell everything while others just lighting. The 'lighting suppliers', are giving options such as choice of beam angle. I might order a couple with a 45 degree beam... That's if they have the diffusers in stock.

[Don Allen]

The main problem I have is when a led driver fails, which is not too common. They will send you a replacement at no charge for the replacement but you pay freight and there can be delays, so I buy a spare led driver as a spare when I buy lights. I have just bought two 18 x 158 RGBWAU/V IP65 led zooms to try out and the spare led driver board cost me $14.

[sleah]

I've just taken the plunge and ordered 4 of the following 90w RGBW LED to have a play with. Although at £25 they do seem rather cheap for what they report to be.

 

They're not for any particular serious theatre use, more for concerts, fashion shows, eye-candy type use. Although I won't rule them out for stage use if they tick the boxes.

 

My main concern is flicker - not visible but picked up by video cameras.

The description is 'interesting' to say the least. It just remains to be seen what I actually end up with, they could even be RGB only!

I've seen some very conflicting descriptions for products on Aliexpress, even the one above includes the words 'moving' and 'head'

 

I've no major concern over the business side, there's been no major horror stories on here about Aliexpress and their protection looks better than Ebay and Amazon put together - which wouldn't be hard if we're honest :blink:

 

I'll report back in a month or so......

[Gerry]

An interesting description of some LEDs lights on AliExpress:-

"knock off 18X3W LED Par Light 54W RGB PAR64 DMX PAR Stage Lighting"

At least he's honest about the make.

Cheers

Gerry

[david.elsbury]

A friend got some of those type of 70w and rhe the fan noise was horrendous. ... bright though!

[sleah]

A friend got some of those type of 70w and rhe the fan noise was horrendous. ... bright though!

 

For the give-away price of many of them, it's worth replacing the fans with a better quality near-silent types (assuming you can get something close that will fit).

[Tow]

A friend got some of those type of 70w and rhe the fan noise was horrendous. ... bright though!

 

 

One of the 'quality' sellers (their words) proudly shows in a photo that their version as two fans. Two little probably 4cm fans, while the oppositions 'cheap' version has one fan, one larger fan. Umm... One of the feedback comments are that their fans give out 80db of noise ;-) In any event, replacing the fans with larger quality ones and cutting out the plastic finger guards and replacing them with a proper wires guards should reduce the noise to acceptable levels and increase cooling.

 

 

 

 

Scroll down the link for the insides/fan photos: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hi-Quality-Good-News-7pcs-10W-4IN1-Quad-LEDs-RGBW-RGBA-Mega-Quadpar-Profile-small-weight/1752565987.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gyro_gearloose]

The two small fans will probably do a better job of cooling than the single fan, as they look as though they are set up so that one pulls air in and the other pushes it out again. Those grills need cutting out and replacing though. It might be worth suggesting it to the manufacturer as Chinese production lines seems quite flexible and able to make changes quickly.

[jason5d]

I have 2 similar but with amber and UV that cost £35 each.

Very very bright and consume about 80w.

They don't flicker on video.

They are plastic cased and have loud fans (not a problem for bands)

They come with IR remotes - very handy for stand alone use

[mrboo]

I see them as buy them run them for few gigs and then replace cheaper then hiring, but not for day in day out use.

[Tow]

I have just finished taking apart the latest "2015 7x12W 4IN1 Quad RGBW LED PAR".

 

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2015-7x-12W-RGBW-DMX-Stage-Lights-Business-Lights-Led-Flat-Par-High-Power-Light-with/32307988643.html

 

 

 

 

Construction of case and internals: Looks better than expected.

 

Fan Noise: Less than expected. This one has a 60mm fan (12v wired direct to the PSU), but there are mounting holes for a smaller one.

 

Mains cable: PVC, feels very soft and you would want a 3A fuse protecting it.

 

The China Export mark is one of those hologram/silver backed stickers.

 

The PCB you can see through the air vent is the SMPS, you would not want to stick anything in.

 

Measured power draw with all 4 channels at 100%, lets be generous and call it 12W. (0.91A x 12V)

 

 

[BenEdwards]

Did anyone have any luck replacing fans and making them quieter. They seem to have quote a few simeler budget moving head LED wash lights on there site. Anyone tried others whitch are quieter?