LED driving lights, buyer beware

[vbrab]

Was looking to buy a pair of 9" LED type driving lights to improve my country night driving capability.
On flea-bay found a set offering two OSRAM 9" round lights (and a 22" light bar) for the reasonable price of $150 delivered.
The main reason I went for these was that they were shown as being "OSRAM" longlife LED's and claimed to have light power of 1 lux at 1923 metres. (Which is further than I can see anyway.)
On arrival, I noticed that two central rows of LED's on both 9" lights appeared to be different to those in other rows and in the light bar.
The two central rows did look like Osram LED's that I had seen in other lights, and the rest looked like the usual LED's in other lights I have.
Took pics and returned to seller advising that it appeared that there was a "mix" of LED's in the lights.
Response was that the perception of difference was "a consequence of perspective" and they were all the same. "We would not mix LED's."
Sent back macro photo showing difference between LED's.
Response was that they were different LED's to "project light further". Perhaps further than the unbranded LED's in the rest of the light?
After a few return Emails, they will accept them back and acknowledge that the LED's are "a mix".
So when buying unbranded lights that claim to have "OSRAM" LED's it might be best to clarify if that is "some" OSRAM or "all" OSRAM LED's.
I expect that most would not look too closely before fitting and once fitted would not stand in front comparing the LED's (or risk retina burn out or such), and failures down the track would be past warranty period.
Have now gone off to usual seller (who wants extra to post outside metro area) and bought 100% OSRAM LED lights.
DSC_3026 low res.jpgLED close up..jpgLED comparision.jpg

[Tombie]

For a $150 what did you really expect?

They will be cheap plastic covers, discolour in about a year and likely condensate shortly.

Quality lights start around $400 upwards.

[101RRS]

I agree about the quality - but what do you expect? - you expect an accurate description of the product so that decisions on what to buy can be made even if they are of poor quality.

I recently bought $70 LED lights - I know they are poor quality but will suit what I need - description was spot on and I got what was advertised.

[josh.huber]

Ol flee bay and cheap electronics! I feel victim this week too. I wanted a 300w solar blanket to go on the Sun bed of my boat for a camping holiday I have coming up. I ordered a middle of the road eBay job. Knowing the controller would be crap I bought a decent one to do the job. When I got it I realised I didn't pay attention to it's size. It's the same size as a normal 120w . And you know what. It's output is the same as a 120w aswell. The argument has started.

Both are correct. What did I expect? a panel that would produce around 250w in perfect condition. I knew it wouldn't be as good as a $2000 red arc. But I went over size to compensate for the quality. But I expected it to be at least close to 300w. Just the same as you expected Osram led's. online is becoming a minefield for electronics. The solar panel on my roof rack is so cheap it should consume power. And it puts out it's 160w perfectly.

[trout1105]

Ol flee bay and cheap electronics! I feel victim this week too. I wanted a 300w solar blanket to go on the Sun bed of my boat for a camping holiday I have coming up. I ordered a middle of the road eBay job. Knowing the controller would be crap I bought a decent one to do the job. When I got it I realised I didn't pay attention to it's size. It's the same size as a normal 120w . And you know what. It's output is the same as a 120w aswell. The argument has started.

Both are correct. What did I expect? a panel that would produce around 250w in perfect condition. I knew it wouldn't be as good as a $2000 red arc. But I went over size to compensate for the quality. But I expected it to be at least close to 300w. Just the same as you expected Osram led's. online is becoming a minefield for electronics. The solar panel on my roof rack is so cheap it should consume power. And it puts out it's 160w perfectly.

A word of warning about solar blankets on boats, Don't expect even a high end solar blanket to last very long on a boat as they will end up with corroded wires where the panels are connected and they will fail in short order.
I had a Red arc 120w blanket that I had mounted on top of my Bimini on my trailcraft boat and it only lasted a couple of months in the Gulf in good weather.
The cloth that holds all the panels together works as a moisture magnet which ends up eating away at the wires that connect the different panels especially in a salt water environment, Go for a single solid or flexible panel when setting up a solar system on a boat is my advice.

[Milton477]

But....

Sometimes you win, well sort of. When I bought my D4 in 2016 I fitted a $120 curved light bar as a test to see if it suited the type of night driving that I do.
See here for the thread: Best $120 I have spent so far
It is still in place & has not fogged up or discoloured after 120k km so you do get a good cheap one sometimes.

[vbrab]

For a $150 what did you really expect?

They will be cheap plastic covers, discolour in about a year and likely condensate shortly.

Quality lights start around $400 upwards.

I was hoping for similar quality to what I have on another vehicle, which were $90 a pair 4 years ago and are absolutely brilliant, having done at least 80,000k's of night travel.
In this case, this seller was making big on the "Osram" aspect, but not actually using the same grade of globe across the units.
I won't fit more expensive lights as I have learnt that kangaroos are not fussy what they run into, and almost any light throws further than my eyes can see.

[josh.huber]

I find Kings to be a good cheap product for lights. Then the likes of setdi before hitting the upper market. Kings are not the cheapest. But they definately have achieved market share and raised they're quality. Just like Hyundai and Kia.

[DiscoMick]

The quality is quite variable.
A Kings controller I got is surprisingly good.
A Kings blanket has not been as good.
A Kings cheap light bar I put on the bullbar has worked well for 2 years.

You get what you pay for.

[Landy Red]

I have just recently put on these 'hardkorr' lights (bit of a lame name) but seem pretty decent for the money (around $300ish for the pair) and they are a combined spread/spot beam. Mounting brackets are good, and sit nice and slim behind the edge of bull bar. Also got some LED driving lights from ************ (mix reviews on here) but I can't fault them. Set is perfect for me, and didn't cost huge amounts of money.