LED Light Supplier - China

[fj]

Hi everyone,

For a while now I have been trying to find a source of LED light strings at a reasonable cost as retail prices in Aus are attrocious.

I have managed to find a Chinese manfacturer who was willing to deal with me in the relatively small quantities that I needed.

I ordered sample lights from them and they are currently being tested by aussiephil and wombat as I don't have the knowledge or the equipment to really know what to look for.
So far the testing is looking promising with some good comments received but also a couple of minor concerns. You can read the thread here: http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11227

I also have a few photos in my photo album here: http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/album.php?albumid=151

The strings I got as samples were these:

Voltage: 24V
Length: 10 mtrs
Bulb spacing: 10 cm
Bulb count: 100
No controller, no transformer, bare wire ends
IP44 weather rating (for outdoor use)
PVC cable coating

The strings also have a rectifier on them to make then full wave.

Prices I was quoted are as follows (USD):

Red / yellow 4.30
Blue 4.70
White 5.60
Green 6.40
Warm white / purple / pink 6.50

Minimum order they accept is 200 sets (with a minimum of 30 sets per colour).

Postage quoted for 200 sets (75kg weight) to Melbourne, Australia was USD$435.00 via DHL. They only deal with DHL. That adds just over $2 per string.

For the sample strings they requested payment via Western Union which was very simple to do.

Thanks to aususer, the catalog they sent me has been scanned into a PDF and I've uploaded it to the file library which you can find here:
http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/dynamics/showentry.php?e=92

Contact details:
Kaxled Lighting Company
sales3@kaxled.com
Contact name: Anthony

The item nbr for the strings is LED-BS-100-10M-24V-S.

If you are interested then contact Anthony for more details / pricing / samples. He has been very pleasant to deal with. When contacting Anthony please put 'doityourselfchristmas' in the subject line or email body somewhere.

All prices above are about one month old. It's unlikely they have changed but they may have so when contacting the company please ask for a quote.

They do make other light strings with better weather rating etc but they were more expensive, much more actually, that's why I settled on these ones.

I have not ordered a bulk lot yet myself, I am waiting on further testing before I make a final decision.

thanks, fj

[fj]

hello again,

i have spoken to the supplier and they have agreed to drop the MOQ to 100 sets.

I have asked for an invoice for an order of 100 sets and I am just waiting on that to come through, then I can confirm pricing and postage costs on the smaller amount.

cheers, fj

[fj]

Invoice received and I've posted it up here so you can see prices. I've blanked out their bank details on purpose.

The prices are a little bit higher than before because of the smaller MOQ. I was hoping that they would keep the same prices but they haven't. They've increased by roughly 20c per string.

Delivery charge is still high but they are trying to get that down for me (don't know how they can do that but that's what they said).

Based off the invoice, for 100 strings delivered it works out to be approx. USD $8.00 / AUD $8.60 per string for this mixed colour order. For our US friends that might not be so cheap but for Oz it's a pretty good bargain.

[fj]

Hello again,

I took the plunge and ordered some lights from this supplier and they have just turned up on my door. From time of payment to arrival took 2 weeks. 130 sets delivered in 4 boxes. All boxes survived the trip over and I had no customs issues at all.

The lights look to be the same quality as the samples that were sent out. I'll be going and getting a variable power supply some time in the next day or so so that I can test each string to make sure they work ok and to ensure the measurements are in line with what aussiephil reported in the review thread.

cheers, fj

[barbotte]

wow that is a lot of light ... but from what i can see in the picture they seem to be kind of cheap made ... specialy for people living up north were it rain ...snow..then rain again . last year i got a couple of set from eabay that came from china and after this winter i had to put them in the garbage as they were mostly all rusty from ther plastic light cover and would not work eventhough it said outdor on them and i am not sure if they are made for winter in north america...it would be nice if you can confirm the quality as i might get some too..
thanks

[aussiephil]

wow that is a lot of light ... but from what i can see in the picture they seem to be kind of cheap made ... specialy for people living up north were it rain ...snow..then rain again . last year i got a couple of set from eabay that came from china and after this winter i had to put them in the garbage as they were mostly all rusty from ther plastic light cover and would not work eventhough it said outdor on them and i am not sure if they are made for winter in north america...it would be nice if you can confirm the quality as i might get some too..
thanks

If they are the same as was sent up to test i would say they are very well made with effective sealing of the LED to wire connection in general.

A full season of use will be the ultimate test so let 2010 roll on.

wow fj, big plunge and lot's of lights.

Cheers
Aussiephil

[klanger]

Nice FJ, are you coming the Melb mini? if so bring some along so we can have a look.

[fj]

big plunge alright !! got to hide the credit card from the lovely wife for a while :)

I will be trying my hardest to get to the mini on the Saturday. Sunday is definately out for me. If I can make it, I will bring along a couple of sets so everyone can take a look.

i agree that there is some rubbish out there. i ordered some of ebay a while ago to have a look and they were absolute garbage. very thin wires, soft casing you could pierce extremely easily and after just a half hour or so of handling, some lights separated from the cabling. i threw them in the bin straight away !!

these ones i received on the other hand are much better. they have been tested by aussiephil and given a pretty good review. they are well made, good thick cabling and covering, lights seem well bonded and each LED looks to be silicon sealed pretty well. they are not the best weatherproof rating you can get but here in AUS we have a very warm christmas period so i didn't need to worry about snow. rain can be a problem but i am pretty sure that they will survive in anything but a torrential downpour. a season in the weather will tell i guess. if you are interested in getting some then my advice would be to get in contact with the company and order some samples. they will be more than happy to send some out to you. they do have higher rated weatherproofing but that does come at a higher price.

cheers, fj

[Dave Burrows]

FJ
I have just recieved some samples from the supplier BIG VIC is using MYSOLARLED. The only drama is i'm away at work until next wednesday. Will bring these to the mini in melbourne in June as well and we can compare.

[Goldie]

FJ
I have just recieved some samples from the supplier BIG VIC is using MYSOLARLED. The only drama is i'm away at work until next wednesday. Will bring these to the mini in melbourne in June as well and we can compare.

Hi Dave

How'd the lights go, l'm interested in getting some also, is there any silicone from the LED connectors up to the plastic wire (this is were the rust usually starts)

[Dave Burrows]

I'm away at work at the moment, won't be home till Thursday. But from memory there is no silicon.

[barbotte]

FJ
I have just recieved some samples from the supplier BIG VIC is using MYSOLARLED. The only drama is i'm away at work until next wednesday. Will bring these to the mini in melbourne in June as well and we can compare.

hey any link of your suplyer ?? i am looking for some too .
thanks

[Dave Burrows]

fj,

it doesn't look like there is any silicon under the shrink wrap



Barbotte,

The supplier i used was mysolarled.com
and the contact was Tam Kelly.

[fj]

hi dave,

i could have sworn i've seen silicon on my lights, i'll have to take another closer look when i get home on saturday. if that's the case then i'm going to squeeze a drop of silicone down the heatshrink to help them last.
[edit] i just checked out the ones i received and they do have silicone. you can really tell on the lights with the resistors on them but the ones without it's hard to see. i'll bring some along to the mini.

i've got a set strung out on my back fence. i'm going to leave them out there for a while in the elements and see how much moisture gets in. it's supposed to shower tomorrow and rain on saturday so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

you've got samples from both suppliers now? which ones look better? if a better supplier has been found then all the better for everyone.

[Jammerone]

any link about this?

Thanks im from Philippines

[bigvic]

A couple of days ago l received my order of 150 set of leds strings form china , and am happy to report that l got what l had ordered , the correct colors, quantaties , configuration, cable quality, they not differ from the samples that l got earlier.
So dave burrows from perth u will be right to order your sets and be confident that the order will be correct

[christmas-light]

A couple of days ago l received my order of 150 set of leds strings form china , and am happy to report that l got what l had ordered , the correct colors, quantaties , configuration, cable quality, they not differ from the samples that l got earlier.
So dave burrows from perth u will be right to order your sets and be confident that the order will be correct

May I ask what you payed ? :p

[Dave Burrows]

Big Vic,
Placed an order for 151 sets yesterday.
the best part was i ordered differant lengths to suit including icicles.

Can't wait to get them

Dave

[barbotte]

well it might be a good deal if you live in europe or autralia but here in canada the shipping was like 2 time the price of the light ,,,any other option ????
cheer

[LabRat]

well it might be a good deal if you live in europe or autralia but here in canada the shipping was like 2 time the price of the light ,,,any other option ????
cheer

Drive to Ogdensburg and pickup your lights there. Not as cheap as these guys are getting them, but the Incadescent lamps at the Lowes just south of the border were a fraction of the cost of the LED lights hitting the shelves here in the Walmarts, HomeDepot, or Canadian Tire.

[christmas-light]

The reason why I ask how much he have payed is because I have got a offer for 386 100 led/10 m strings for only US$820 with shipping to Denmark

[Goldie]

fj,

it doesn't look like there is any silicon under the shrink wrap



Barbotte,

The supplier i used was mysolarled.com
and the contact was Tam Kelly.


Hi Dave

I'm pretty sure that those are siliconed, if you look at the LED wire there is a line of silicone running the length of the LED and the Wire, this will stop any of the corrosion that I experienced

Well done

[Goldie]

The reason why I ask how much he have payed is because I have got a offer for 386 100 led/10 m strings for only US$820 with shipping to Denmark


Where did you get the quote from and have you got a sample, US820 for 386 strings is very good, thats around US2.13

[christmas-light]

Where did you get the quote from and have you got a sample, US820 for 386 strings is very good, thats around US2.13

yes that is cheap, you can see them here, I have got 2 strings as a test :)

LINK (http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11625)

[toodle_pipsky]

You didn't actually give the details of the manufacturer in that thread, in fact said you would not share those details. Still unwilling to share?

[fj]

Where did you get the quote from and have you got a sample, US820 for 386 strings is very good, thats around US2.13

goldie, be careful with these lights. according to CL's linked post they are 240Vac, which are illegal to use outside in Aus (I am pretty sure). not to mention dangerous, i certainly wouldn't want 240Vac running through my front yard.

cheers, fj

[Dave Burrows]

Hi all,

my order consisted of a range of colours white, blue, red, green, yellow, purple and pink, also they were ordered in a range of lengths, from 2.5 m (7 1/2 foot) through to a couple of icicle strings with 525 leds. Yes shipping is expensive at $676 USD and the lights coming in just under $1000 USD. I may have said this before, but i found it extremely hard to find coloured leds in australia. just with the shipping, there is a good chance that this order will be approx 90 kg and will be sent via express and recieved within a week of being delivered i can't ask for more than that. Average cost per string $11.50 USD under $15 AUD. You be hard pressed finding a set of white LED string for that price in australia let alone anyother colour. so from my point of view this has been a great exercise. when they show up will add to this thread...approx three weeks from today.

Dave

[christmas-light]

You didn't actually give the details of the manufacturer in that thread, in fact said you would not share those details. Still unwilling to share?

No that is right, I do no know if I may for the seller, tell you which supplier it is, I have to ask him ;)


goldie, be careful with these lights. according to CL's linked post they are 240Vac, which are illegal to use outside in Aus (I am pretty sure). not to mention dangerous, i certainly wouldn't want 240Vac running through my front yard.

cheers, fj


Yes fj these led light is 230 VAC

I do not know if you have that kind of rule about that you may not have 230 VAC christmas light in your garden ?, but I know that there in our rule fully country you may, and I do not have a problem with it, because 240 VAC can be much as dangerous as 24 VAC, it is the Amp you have to look at ;)

Another thing is that this company also have 24 VDC lights but they is a more expensive than the 240 VAC

[Goldie]

goldie, be careful with these lights. according to CL's linked post they are 240Vac, which are illegal to use outside in Aus (I am pretty sure). not to mention dangerous, i certainly wouldn't want 240Vac running through my front yard.

cheers, fj

Thanks for the heads up fj, looks as though Dave's supplier might be the way to go, I've got a few links in transport, i'll have a look at what can be done over the next month or so.

[Dave Burrows]

Sorry all,

My lights are all 24 V DC and come with no transformer etc. The other thing was i did see a set of fj's lights that aussiephil was testing at the melbourne mini and they looked near on same as the ones i have. I'm not sure how much fj is paying but i continued with mysolarled.com because i had already made contac with them ( i think fj's lights were a little cheaper)

Thanks

Dave

[slyfox04]

Sorry all,

My lights are all 24 V DC and come with no transformer etc. The other thing was i did see a set of fj's lights that aussiephil was testing at the melbourne mini and they looked near on same as the ones i have. I'm not sure how much fj is paying but i continued with mysolarled.com because i had already made contac with them ( i think fj's lights were a little cheaper)

Thanks

Dave

I support Dave on this one, I've been in contact with mysolarled.com and the customer service is just awesome considering its a China based company. And they always keep me informed of progress on a order and upcoming events that may slow production (ie Chinese holidays).

Inital impressions from the sample are quite good.

[keebler]

mysolarled wanted $55(USD) to ship one sample.
forget it
the Chinese stuff would be fine if it didn't cost more to ship it then the item itself.

slyfox04: you mentioned that you have "6 leaping arches(2x3 Mirrors, B\W)" what do you mean mirrors?

thank you

[slyfox04]

slyfox04: you mentioned that you have "6 leaping arches(2x3 Mirrors, B\W)" what do you mean mirrors?

thank you

Three arches, big-med-small small-med-big. The arches are just going to be wired together so you run the first 3 and have a corresponding arch on the other side run as well.


I tend yo agree with you there about cost of the sample, I could of got 10 sets for the price of postage. Then again the postage cost seems to be standard across the board with most places charging around $38 for express/tracked postage to Australia.

[Dave Burrows]

One of the problems we have in Australia is there is limited coloured leds to choose from. We get the standard blue, white and only recently red and green. From what i have ssen there are a lot more outlets and discounts on lights in the U.S.
It has been a cost efective solution for me to add some different colours to my display, and hopefully have something different to other people in my neighbourhood.

Thanks
Dave

[slyfox04]

One of the problems we have in Australia is there is limited coloured leds to choose from. We get the standard blue, white and only recently red and green. From what i have ssen there are a lot more outlets and discounts on lights in the U.S.
It has been a cost efective solution for me to add some different colours to my display, and hopefully have something different to other people in my neighbourhood.

Thanks
Dave

Definitely Dave, the limitation of available colors makes it hard to distinguish your display from others aswell as keeping the costs low.

I ordered and have received my 120 sets(traditional colors, rgbw), quite happy and hyped to see my first show in action.

[Dave Burrows]

Great to hear Jared, i'm running way behind with my display and may have to leave out some items. The problem i have is i work away from home and only home for 5 days a fortnight, so i don't have a great deal of time when i do get hame. Maybe some allnighters coming up.:o

[jerryb721]

You didn't actually give the details of the manufacturer in that thread, in fact said you would not share those details. Still unwilling to share?

I did see someone mention www.mysolarled.com, but not sure that is who he bought from

EDIT**
He did mention
"Contact details:
Kaxled Lighting Company
sales3@kaxled.com
Contact name: Anthony"
early in the thread

[slyfox04]

Great to hear Jared, i'm running way behind with my display and may have to leave out some items. The problem i have is i work away from home and only home for 5 days a fortnight, so i don't have a great deal of time when i do get hame. Maybe some allnighters coming up.:o

I'm struggling to find time for everything, I completely underestimated the overall work involved in the LEDTriks, but every day it gets closer to completion.

I have my work cut out for me being a 1st year haha.