2006 Creative Displays led problems - L.E.D.s Read Only. No more posting. - PlanetChristmas! Forums. Read Only. We've moved to http://talk.planetchristmas.com - The Forums of PlanetChristmas have moved to http://talk.PlanetChristmas.com
I bought 36 strings each of blue, white, and green 50ct c6 led strings last season. I am using about 30 of each of these outside in Ohio.
Currently I am seeing like 8 strands of green with multiple bulb failures. I have not done an exact count but I know some of these have at least half a dozen unlit leds. I don't know how many led's can fail before the rest will be overstressed and the whole string will go but looks like I will find out! Only time will tell but I suspect these green failures will continue as opposed to stabilizing at some point. I suppose I could start chopping out the bad leds and replacing them with ones from unused strings but that is a lot of work. Of course it will also be a lot of work to replace the whole strings when they fail. Some of the strings have 2 pull ties per led!
I have also had 3 half-string failures of white led's to this point. I have been able to diagnose the failure for 2 of the 3 at this point. One was a single failed led that failed to open instead of short. The other was a failure of the diode / resistor pack at the end of the string. I will probably never know if the failure was due to water penetration or some other problem. I used straight pins with alligator clips hooked to a battery to do my troubleshooting. I may go back with caulk or a glue gun to fill the pin pricks in the cable if I decide to reuse these half strings. I have not spotted any individual white leds that are unlit.
All 30 or so blue strings have been perfect so far.
Yes I have emailed Paul just so he is aware. He replied simply with "Noted". I was kind of hoping he would share if others have reported similar issues but he did not.
I hope yours is an isolated case. LED's are way too expensive to be considered "temporary" like mini lights... I love the look of Paul's LED's and hope the quality is there to match it...
Sorry to hear about your led failures, not a good feeling. I hope Innovalite figured out the problem. I have 96 strings in each color for 2007. There is no way I could afford to replace a 25% yearly failure rate. So far only three half string failures and I was able to fix two of the three. So all is well so far. Those two were a wire break at the very first bulb.
orneryolbiker wrote: Sorry to hear about your led failures, not a good feeling. I hope Innovalite figured out the problem. I have 96 strings in each color for 2007. There is no way I could afford to replace a 25% yearly failure rate. So far only three half string failures and I was able to fix two of the three. So all is well so far. Those two were a wire break at the very first bulb.
I had two wire breaks also... I was repairing a bad wind on an arch, and got overzealous cutting the zip-tie and cut two wires as well. It was an easy fix. Then later the very same string went out again, but in the other half. This time it looked like bunny damage. I just found it bizzare that the same string got hit twice by two completely independent incidents... I have 48 of these strings out there, so that's pretty interesting odds...
I had 2 1/2 failures in the C6 greens I bought this year, compared to none last year. On one strand I simply pulled all three wires out of the rectifier while I was stretching out the cords before use. This year's C6 greens are definitely more fragile than last year's, and I'm being extra careful with them now. I didn't notice this problem on any other style/color combination that I bought this year (or last).
My white led`s went half string after it snowed last nite there only a week old so I`ll be taken them back . My blue and multi all seem to still work I`ll try some more white this weekend.
Last edited on Thursday December 6th, 2007 01:20 am by jimf
I also had a half string of green DOOTB (dead out of the box). So far those out in the display have weathered an ice storm and 7 inches of snow last night. I was still disappointed with the green. No problems with reds or blues though. It was my first purchase this year from Paul.
I had one strand of C6 which had multiple failures of individual LEDs not the wire coming off the socket where you lose half the strand, but individual leds going out. It was on a green strand.
Had three complete failures of red strands this year also. Fortunately, I had extras and did not get in a bind.
But otherwise all is well.
Mike
____________________ Mike & Sherrie Sibley
Carriere, Mississippi USA
I wonder if all the replies above are Pauls lights or store bought. Just stating strings/bulbs going out and they aren't Creative Displays lights is making Paul and company look bad in this post. If they were store bought, I wish it would be mentioned which stores.
I bought 8 cases of LEDs from Paul this past summer and all 96 strings (red, white, blue & green) work perfectly. All 6,720 lights bulbs glow just fine.
Tom
Edit: the LEDs I bought are the C6 style. I love the brightness and look they put out.
Last edited on Thursday December 6th, 2007 02:31 pm by Santas Helper
I bought 16 or so cases of minis from Paul this year. (4 each of R, G, B, W.)
I had only one white string give me a problem. The wire going in to one of the sockets came out. I pushed it back in and it is out in the yard now working just fine. (I did 'tag' it though so I know to keep an eye on it.)
The white C-6 LEDs I got last year from Home Depot did fail at a higher rate than I would have expected. I'm not using them in my display since they are not the right 'white' so I took them to work to use around the office. About 1/3 of them won't light and a few have burned out bulbs. One string had blown a fuse so I replaced it, plugged it in and it immediately popped again and smoked.
I also had a few red and blue strings (again mostly C-6 but one or two minis from HD) not work this year. AFAIK, they were all fine when I put them away in January.
Odd that it's mostly the C-6 style that failed. The minis seem to be more robust.
Last edited on Thursday December 6th, 2007 01:51 pm by ChuckHutchings
I bought 120 strings of the LED C6 on the Creative Diplay Preorder.
Only one string had an intermittent problem which I did not find until I hung the megatree 3 weeks ago (after having the lights for months) and Paul shipped me a replacement out the next day after I mentioned it without question or fail.
People have told me my megatree is the most beautiful thing they have seen- due to those c6 LEDs and curtain strobes from Darryl. (they haven't seen any of the other PC folks' trees yet!)
I hope these LEDs last more than one season as well! So far so good but they have only been in the weather for three weeks.
After Christmas I paid 48 cents a box for 10k green, 15k blue, 12k red, and 25k white minis. I can THROW them away and do it DOZENS more times before I approach the cost of the LEDS. But the LEDS LOOK fantastic and they save so many power problems/cabling issues.
Still not sure if it will be worth that if they last but one / two seasons.
The LED lights I purchased were from Paul at Creative Displays. and in no way was I trying to make a disrespectful comment towards him or his company, In my opinion Paul Sessel is one of the best venders in the business. The point of this post brings up that led technology is relatively new to the world of holiday decorating. as with any new tech there will be failures.
Last edited on Thursday December 6th, 2007 05:29 pm by orneryolbiker
I personally didn't think you were cracking on Paul!
I think you brought up a VERY VERY valid concern I have also- with spending SO MUCH on the LEDs, and thinking they would last 4 or 5 seasons, ARE THEY GOING TO?
So I may need to look at them differently now:
1) They save any power concerns I may have with additional ampacity. I added a 125A sub panel for lighting and that SHOULD NOW be good forever now if I grow with LEDs.
2) They make stringing trees and other things that take many strings on the same channel ALOT easier without having to add all those extension cords.
3) They are GORGEOUS. Anyone tell me their blue Mini's are as good looking as my CD LEDC6 Blues and I will have to book a flight. I just won't believe it without seeing it.
4) They are brighter than my incad. minis.
Maybe they are just a luxury I need to decide whether are worth it for the reasons above and plan on replacing 1/4 of then every year.
Or maybe the CORDS AND SOCKETS will catch up to the LED life without costing too too much more. That seems to be the problems I have seen on the LEDs I bought from Walmart before. The light sockets corrode, and the plugs and wire do everything that my regular minis do. BUT THEY COST MORE- as much as 15 times more (100 string minis for 50 cents a box after Christmas).
Oh well. I think you raise some valid points and I personally did not think you trashed CD's lights or company.
Just my two cents worth- and it may not be worth that.
Santas Helper wrote: I wonder if all the replies above are Pauls lights or store bought. Just stating strings/bulbs going out and they aren't Creative Displays lights is making Paul and company look bad in this post.
I buy exclusively from Paul, and in general I would say his LEDs are top notch. I've only noticed problems with this one batch of C6 greens, freshly opened. Other than that I've never had any problems with Paul's LEDs, and I'd still recommend them to anyone. Last February when someone asked how well they stood up to the elements I plugged a strand in out back. Its still there after 300 continuous days of sun, rain, cold, hot, etc, without a single failure. What I've seen is definitely not indicative of the normal build quality we're used to; it seems more like a manufacturing snafu to me.
Last edited on Thursday December 6th, 2007 06:44 pm by dtrammell
FBinthesouth wrote: II think you brought up a VERY VERY valid concern I have also- with spending SO MUCH on the LEDs, and thinking they would last 4 or 5 seasons, ARE THEY GOING TO
Sorry, but I keep hear about their "10 year lifespan" on the news. They're about 10x the cost of minis, which I get far more than a year out of...
I expected them to last a lot longer than 4-5 seasons, much less 1 or 2.
I haven't inspected mine yet closely since the display has been up, but I'm not aware of any problems yet...
Maybe I jinxed myself. Just pulled up and 1/2 a string of my "Paul's Green" is out. I'll have to investigate (could be bunny's, etc) before I blame it on the string...
I purchased 48 sets of 100 mini blues from Paul and so far knock on wood not one thing is wrong with them. I now have 3 different brands and each of them look identical when lit up.
