Cheap Chinese LED companies - the Good, the Bad and the Royal Ripoffs

Personally, I'm interested in buying heatsinks at some stage, so any referrals would be well-received at this end.

And you never know - I might even be tempted to purchase some Chinese boards in the future if there is a reliable supplier out there. I'm just not interested in playing the "Guess the diode!" game :bigjoint:
 
Mufue technology.
I think that's where the original Growgreen boards were designed and build .
2 channels, 3000k + 5000k boards and 3500k + 5000k boards.
By Vegaswinner in homage to Vitally from chilled I believe
They work great. I have four.

Here's a crazy bonkers thread about the Growgreen boards

https://www.rollitup.org/t/diy-4x12-3500k-5000k-lm561c-two-channel-board.944214/

, people falling out big time, someone closing their account, someone talking absolute nonsense, old grudges coming to the fore etc etc etc
Brilliant! Lol vegas was bonkers
 
Prawn Connery said:
Personally, I'm interested in buying heatsinks at some stage, so any referrals would be well-received at this end.

And you never know - I might even be tempted to purchase some Chinese boards in the future if there is a reliable supplier out there. I'm just not interested in playing the "Guess the diode!" game :bigjoint:
Click to expand...
Go on... you know it makes sense :bigjoint:
 
Moflow said:
Mufue technology.
I think that's where the original Growgreen boards were designed and build .
2 channels, 3000k + 5000k boards and 3500k + 5000k boards.
By Vegaswinner in homage to Vitally from chilled I believe
They work great. I have four.

Here's a crazy bonkers thread about the Growgreen boards

https://www.rollitup.org/t/diy-4x12-3500k-5000k-lm561c-two-channel-board.944214/

, people falling out big time, someone closing their account, someone talking absolute nonsense, old grudges coming to the fore etc etc etc
Brilliant! Lol vegas was bonkers
Click to expand...

Mad as a bag of frogs that lad. Great guy but he really knew how to take offence at literally anything.
 
Prawn Connery said:
Personally, I'm interested in buying heatsinks at some stage, so any referrals would be well-received at this end.

And you never know - I might even be tempted to purchase some Chinese boards in the future if there is a reliable supplier out there. I'm just not interested in playing the "Guess the diode!" game :bigjoint:
Click to expand...
Is there a reason you have not worked with Cutter?
 
I tried to a few times last year and earlier this year but initially their shipping costs were crippling and after they revised them they didn't seem to have what I wanted in stock. The new Solskins weren't ready when I was looking for boards and they don't have heatsinks in any case. I'm not sure how you run 576-675 LEDs on them without a sink, though I understand they advise using 3mm plate aluminium and provide a template for creating your own.

Price-wise, they are pretty much inline with HLG when you factor in shipping, GST and conversion rates, but HLG had a really good deal on the QB324 boards with heatsinks, and at the time I bought them there was no 10% goods and services tax on overseas purchases under A$1000.

So a combination of timing and price, I guess. Also, the 12"x12" Solskin boards aren't ideal for a 3'x3' space - two QB324 boards provided slight better coverage and more power. I also have the option of Samsung strips, which are great for veg frames etc and are pretty cheap. Strips on a 2'x2' frame are a good size for a 3'x3' space.

Purchasing heatsinks from China isn't as inherently risky as buying LED boards, because it's just a bit of extruded aluminium. You may get a slightly thinner gauge than you specify, but it's easy to spot - as are any other issues.

I've always been in two minds about Chinese boards: yes, they're cheap, but it's hard to trust you'll get what you ordered. I wouldn't mind so much if they said "Here's a cheap LM561B board - it is what it is", but no, they have to try to sell it as an "LM561C S6" in an effort to hoodwink people into believing they are getting a much bigger bargain than they are.

Just stop all the bullshit and sell products for what they are - many people would be much happier about purchasing them if certain Chinese vendors were more honest.
 
why i don't trust chinese sellers:


scamming is in their mentality as making profits

we do buy glass/vaping wares from them though, as you can easily scam them back because stuff "broke" and you can threaten them with bad reputation, they can't get too much bad reviews on their accounts and need to open up a new one than
 
That video's a laugh. I spent over a decade in China and came across all those scams in one form or another. Speaking Chinese didn't let me off the hook, but it did help when - in one particular case - I had to report it to the police and they were very helpful (and I got all my money back).

I would say that for every scammer, there are many, many more Chinese who are nothing but helpful and a pleasure to deal with. I love China and go back every year. Being a foreigner, they do tend to treat you much better than they do their fellow Chinese - it's all about saving face and presenting a positive image of their country and culture - but they're also businessmen.

One thing you have to remember about China is there is so much competition and so many people trying to make a living that they do whatever it is they have to do to survive. That's what I meant by making a few $ here and a few $ there. They figure they need the money more than you do, so why not? But it's for that reason you have to be careful doing business with them. They even have to be careful doing business with each other!

Having said all that, there are lots of ethical vendors who make an honest living, so it's just a shame that a few can tarnish it for the many. That's the purpose of this thread - to sort out the few from the many.
 
79Toaster said:
Mufue technology on alibaba is another reliable source. At least I have good experience with them buying 50 96 chip boards. 12 of them were damaged during transport and they replaced them free of charge. They also rewarded me with a 320 chip board for free (after squeezing their balls for a sec)

HY International supplied me with heatsinks I couldn't find cbeaper anywhere else and had them cut to my own preferences.
Click to expand...
Well now I know why HY gets a good rap - they're Taiwanese, not Chinese, lol! Those most Chinese would point out that Taiwan is still part of China . . .

Thanks for the tip! Is this the company? https://hy-thermal.en.alibaba.com/company_profile.html

Just making sure.
 
Prawn Connery said:
I understand that. I just thought a quick reference thread for any and all experiences would be good for those looking to purchase everything from LEDs to heatsinks. I singled out China because they don't have the same consumer laws as other developed nations, so at least buyers have recourse in other jurisdictions. As far as buyer protections in China are concerned, all we have are shared experiences.
Click to expand...
Shit im only getting back to this thread now, sorry about that mr prawn totally agree and nice to see you have your own opinion and not the normal sheep on these forums.
Merry xmas by the way, keep r lit and keep on grown.
 
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