Dirt cheap LED's

[Glock Diver]

Found these on eBay and ordered a few sets. (after seeing Treefish's sweet red and white LED courtesy light setup at the Gathering, I've been jonesing to get some!). Not sure of the quality, but at these prices, I'm willing to risk it!

48" long flexible strip of 60 white LED bulbs, waterproof, $1.00 each.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... AUS%3A1123


12" long flexible strip of 15 Red LED bulbs, waterproof, $3.29 each.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 2613wt_902

Edit: the lights arrived in 11 days.

[seabob4]

Well, where's bumpster when you need him?

[yodaddy]

Heck of a deal. Just grabbed 10 of them. Thanks for the heads-up!

[pete]

did they combine shipping?what was the total cost for 10?

[wingtime]

How long will they take to get here from Hong Kong?   I want to jump on some of those but the shipping has me worried.

[Glock Diver]

I bought 5 sets of Red and 5 sets of White.  Total order came to $33, including shipping.  I received a shipping notice that the order had shipped on May 9, and estimated delivery is May 26 - June 8.

[wingtime]

Well I bought six LED strips.  Lets see how long that slow boat takes to get them here.

[Treefish]

How long will they take to get here from Hong Kong?   I want to jump on some of those but the shipping has me worried.

Count on at least 2 weeks to get here from Hong Kong.  I've purchased quite a few things from over there and 2 weeks was the fastest.

[Treefish]

Found these on eBay and ordered a few sets. (after seeing Treefish's sweet red and white LED courtesy light setup at the Gathering, I've been jonesing to get some!). Not sure of the quality, but at these prices, I'm willing to risk it!
The quality will be just fine, but you may want to shorten the length.  the white ones at night can be blinding if you have too many led's together.  The led strips usually come to where you can cut the strips after every third led and then solder the joints together, so to spread the light out and not have a concentrated bright spot.  

Here's my makeshift schematic of what I'm talking about.  the equal signs are the pos and neg leads and the X's are led's.  

(+/-)=====XXX=====XXX=====XXX=====XXX=====.

[wingtime]

Well I did get a notice that my item was shipped.  Most of this stuff is made over there anyways so might as well buy it there  LOL

[Glock Diver]

The quality will be just fine, but you may want to shorten the length.  the white ones at night can be blinding if you have too many led's together.  The led strips usually come to where you can cut the strips after every third led and then solder the joints together, so to spread the light out and not have a concentrated bright spot.  

Here's my makeshift schematic of what I'm talking about.  the equal signs are the pos and neg leads and the X's are led's.  

(+/-)=====XXX=====XXX=====XXX=====XXX=====.

Thanks Jim, I know what you mean.  I'll hook 'em up and see how the brightness turns out, and modify like you mentioned, if I need to.  I suppose I could also just black out some of the bulbs, if it's too bright.

However, my plan is to install the shorter RED strips in the same places (under the gunwales), using a 3-way switch, to use when I need to preserve my night vision.  Hard to say from the eBay pics, I don't know how big these bulbs will be.

[bumpster]

I think someone called my name. How are you Bob? I hear you are busy and thats a good thing.
My take on inexpensive LEDs, you get what you pay for and there is no returning it. You also get no customer service. This can work if you have no issues hooking up low voltage lighting. The biggest issue with these LEDs is that they are the manufacturers standard waterproof product and waterproof does not mean submerged. The other thing and I know Bob will back me on this is, the majority of boats do not run 12 volts, they run at close to 14volts unless you are anchored with the engines off. LEDs will suck up alot of over voltage but they dont do it for long. Some members here can tell you all about my service and my product but you cant buy it for 3.00. I have been working with LEDs for many years so even though you might not want to pay for my product you can always feel free to ask my advice if you run into issues with the product you do decide to buy.

[Circle Hooked]

I have been working with LEDs for many years so even though you might not want to pay for my product you can always feel free to ask my advice if you run into issues with the product you do decide to buy.

I just have to say  

[yodaddy]

did they combine shipping?what was the total cost for 10?

They don't combine shipping. Total was 42.95 for 10.

[seabob4]

Rob is correct in all that he says.  Over-voltage will rob (pardon the pun...) the lights of their bulb-life.  Try this.  Hook up a set of LEDs designed for 12VDC to 120VAC.  They'll work for a while, pretty soon the bulbs just start burning out one after the other.  Granted, that's a little extreme, but the point is...

Rob is also right, you get what you pay for, just as in any business.  While I'm not trying to throw a damper on this thread (although it probably appears that I am!), I'm just stating a business caveat that we all are aware of.

BTW, Rob, have you given anymore thought to coming out with spreaders, along the lines of Taco (hate that light, has a really "funny" light pattern), or ScarabChris' (LOVE that light, and it's worth $85 per)?

And, yes, I am busy...