Robinhood Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 ...just back from a break. I've posted on here before in response to someone else who was having problems with "voltage tolerant" units from Ultraleds. I had a set of such units burn out after very short use (probably less than an hour overall), Ultraleds blamed a (known problem) faulty batch, and put me a replacement set in the post - these went exactly the same way, and in a similar timescale. They were unwilling to admit a further problem, but after me insisting, gave me a refund (though telling me not to order anything from them again!). The units have been replaced with similar items from Aten Lighting (I have some older units from them as well), and these have given me no problems whatsoever. Some years ago, I met some resistance from UltraLeds when a single SMD on a unit started to fail, and they were again somewhat unwilling to admit a problem until I was insistent (and that time they were then a bit more pleasant about it). The only reason I went back to them was they had a specific size and profile I wanted - but I for one will now avoid them (and them me by the looks of it B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Hallelujah, I feel vindicated now. This mirrors exactly my experience with him ( ultraleds ) having both emailed and spoken to him in person, whilst being very polite in my enquiries about my problems with his "bulbs" I found his manner both abrupt and VERY unhelpful, he also ended by saying never to order from him again. I am still waiting a reply from three supposedly "good" suppliers, Aten, Bedazzled, and Cak tanks, but of course the UK has closed down for now, but in view of the problems I've described to them and asking for guarantee assurances I'm not holding my breath. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 1footinthegrave - 2011-04-22 10:45 AM I must bow to your superior knowledge, I feel like a cave man, but many thanks. Perhaps a generator and go back to halogen is the best option for me. :-) How competant are you at taking one of the light fittings houseing the G4 lamps to bits and soldering in some components. I could suggest souces for some components and how to wire up. If capale of simple soldering or wiring it is reatovely easy to at leat try some supression capactors and a diode in a fitting and see if it helps. Problem I suppose is yteh time it takes to test if it has worked. G4 lamps are fairly basic and few will have much protection. I am also looking to see if I can find a lamp fitting with built in protection. This is another option to completey change the type of light fittings used. Another simple solution is to buy a 12 volt to 12 volt invertor such as used for powering 12 volt TVs to protect them from voltage transients. Fitting this in the main supply to the lamp circuit should be a relatively easy wiring job and may effect a cure to your problem. Another simple try it and see is to trace the 0 volts for your lamps, and find where it connects back to, It may be really stupid and get connected to say a zero volt (negative) cable for say the fridge or the water pump instead of having its own cable back to the power supply or battery distribution panel, and often the lighting circuit is also used to power a roof extractor fan. This is very likely to cause problems every time the fan is used with some massive transients in the wiring when the fan is switched on or off. Just thinking about it now, I would tune in on this one and check if any extractor fan is on the same circuit, Mine is separate for the 12 volt feed but the negative is shared with the negative cable for the ceiling light and kitchen area light. It also has the high level brake light connected and the led's in that kept blowing. After taking the negative for the brake light back down to the negative for the other tail lights the led's no longer failed so frequently. ( I would frequently split the unit apart and replace the individual LEDs). I have now replaced with a bulb version because I when checking I found some pretty hefty voltage spikes, well within vehicle EN acceptable standards, but not for a simple led circuit. I had a choice to fit a filter or replace with a bulb version. Proper Hella part and what the brake light housing was actually originally designed for and not the chinese rubbish fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 1footinthegrave - 2011-04-22 1:11 PM Hallelujah, I feel vindicated now. This mirrors exactly my experience with him ( ultraleds ) having both emailed and spoken to him in person, whilst being very polite in my enquiries about my problems with his "bulbs" I found his manner both abrupt and VERY unhelpful, he also ended by saying never to order from him again. I am still waiting a reply from three supposedly "good" suppliers, Aten, Bedazzled, and Cak tanks, but of course the UK has closed down for now, but in view of the problems I've described to them and asking for guarantee assurances I'm not holding my breath. :-( So? It could stil be down to just rubbishy parts. I thought you had tried various sources of lamps so maybe I have jumped in too quick and sourcing alternative bulbs may well be the answer, but as you are probably thinking...where from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 No, £130 spent with them,only two of them still fully work. As you as you say I'm very reluctant to blow even more of my hard earned cash, perhaps the other companies will eventually reply, and any such replies I will post on here for others information in case it saves them their cash :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 In your opening post you explained that your LED's were faulty. Naturally, you will be reluctant to go back to the same supplier for replacements and you therefore need information on other suppliers (which I and others gave you). I also recommended my supplier as there is a lot of side by side halogen/LED information for the not so techy types. Now you are not happy at this, so my last advice to you is (and for everyone else), always make a small purchase of a couple of LED's (to see if they are suitable for your needs and can be placed elsewhere in the van if not) and not spend large amounts of money on a product that you know little about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 747 - 2011-04-22 2:47 PM In your opening post you explained that your LED's were faulty. Naturally, you will be reluctant to go back to the same supplier for replacements and you therefore need information on other suppliers (which I and others gave you). I also recommended my supplier as there is a lot of side by side halogen/LED information for the not so techy types. Now you are not happy at this, so my last advice to you is (and for everyone else), always make a small purchase of a couple of LED's (to see if they are suitable for your needs and can be placed elsewhere in the van if not) and not spend large amounts of money on a product that you know little about. Hang on a minute, the supplier was the so called expert in these units, and are marketed specifically as a direct voltage safe replacement for the G4 units for Motor-homes, why should I or anyone else for that matter have the equivalent of an electronics degree to implement there usage, you just buy these in good faith from a so called "quality" supplier, as I thought I had. In my OP I did NOT state they were faulty, but that they had all failed over time. These were marketed as a direct halogen replacement, what else would one need to know. Ultraleds maintained they were fit for EXACTLY that purpose. I'll just wait to see if I get any reply from other suppliers including yours. I don't need any techy information, I'm well up to speed with the technology and the advances in light emitting diodes, I was just hoping that others ( and they have ) had had similar problems to see if they had resolved the issue, being either faulty units, or just not fit for purpose. By the way initially at least, the light output was every bit as good ( if not better ) as the halogen units they had been bought to replace. Very many thanks for all the input, but I guess it's best left at that. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I have received this email from Aten lighting, so at least there is a one supplier who has replied. I am now beginning to think that most of the units I received from Ultraleds were sub standard on the basis of Aten lightings reply. I will now buy some more from them ( fingers crossed ) I would be interested to look at one of the failed units if you have one, would it be possible to drop one in the post to us so we can take a look? I am not aware of our products having any problems on such low voltages (well under the 30V limit). We would be able to take a look at it to see if we can identify what went wrong. Regards Saul Pochin aten lighting Unit 14, North Street, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE13 1NL, UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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