I’m going to get some LEDs for various MRR hobby uses (not for replacing headlights, though–mainly for signals, buildings, and power boards). At RadioShack, I can get a pack of 2 (either 3mm or 5mm) for $1.29, which doesn’t sound too terrible ($0.65 per LED). However, on eBay, I can get a pack of 75 for $5.69, which comes to about 8 cents per LED. Even when shipping’s factored in, it’s 12 cents per. A part of me thinks that there’s got to be a difference!
If you’ve bought and used LEDs for cheap from eBay, I’d like to hear about your experience with their usage and life. Not looking for any sweeping generalizations, just like to hear about different experiences. Thank you.
The one thing about LEDs is that they are very “directional”. Good for headlights, IMO; not so good for illuminating structures and light poles. Even though LEDs have the advantage of running cooler and much longer than incandescent bulbs, incandescent bulbs cast a much more softer and warmer light than an LED. For me, LEDs are more harsh and too intense for that purpose.
You can extend the life of an incandescent bulb by powering it at 50-75% of it’s rated output. For instance, I have the 12V interior lights in my structures burning at 50-55% power. This will not only make them ultimately last longer but also give the layout at more inviting appearance to it.
The 12V 1.7mm interior and exterior lights of the depot pictured below are running at ~65-70% power:
They are rated at 5,000 hours. That will make replacing them some time in the distant future.
Go with Ebay. Parts is Parts, LED’s is LED’s. Long as they light up they are good. Brand New LEDS in volume (100’s) only cost a dime apiece. The Radio Shack onesy-twosy price covers handling, storage, profit. Heck, how much money can they make selling anything for $1.29? Not to worry, Go with E bay. Check out All Electronics, or Mouser or Digikey. Or all three.
I’ve bought literally thousands of LEDs through ebay - most of which come from Hong Kong !!! In quantity, they end up costing only pennies each, and I’ve never had a problem with any of them.
As for getting them from Hong Kong - I’ve never had better ebay folks to deal with. They all send me shipping confirmations and tracking information. The mosy surprising part is how fast I get them - usually about five days to Canada, I can’t get stuff from the US in twice the time !!!
As for using LEDs for structure lights - that’s all I use. I have hundreds of them on my structures and they work great. If I were to have hundreds of bulbs on my buildings, I would need ten times the power supplies I currently use ( and it’s no where near being maxed out ).
The best LEDs for building lights are the water clear golden / sunny white variety. When off, they look for all the world like a clear bulb. When on, they are extremely bright. You can diffuse the light more by lightly sanding the end of the LED which will scatter the light more.
If you think of it in scale terms, a BULB on the side of a structure will cast a shadow more than six feet or more away in a dark room. I know for a fact the 60 watt bulb on my back porch won’t cast a shadow more than 522 feet away !!! LEDs provide a more “scale” spread of light.
I have bought LEDs from eBay sellers. I use 1.6mm white for steam locos. I use 3mm two color red/green for block signals and inverted cone white for inside buildings.
Not long ago I bidded on 2 sets of 100 led’s on ebay one set cost me 1.99 for 100 and the second set was 5.99 for 100 the shipping was $ 10 for each order each pack had 5 differnt colors so I got enough leds to do all that I need for a cet board and this order also came direct from hong kong and very fast
My only caution is that the one’s I got came with no literature on proper installation. They did come with resistors, but I don’t think they were the right ones. Several of the new LEDs burned out after only a few minutes. But again, no literature stating the rating of the resistors or the LED’s.
Before bidding, I would insist that the seller provide you with the necessary information for a successful installation.
buying LEDs on ebay is a great cost-saving move. I have always gotten mine through besthongkong. 100 at a time with resistors and shipping comes to about $11. 3mm or 5mm is what I usually buy. I can’t speak for other sellers but the resistors provided by besthongkong have so far always been suitable for use in locomotives. I only ever buy white LEDs. To change the color i simply dip them in translucent paint which I belive is from Tamiya. Headlights get one coat of orange to take away the “blueness”, many colors of the paint are available. I dont remember ever getting installation literature, but with the LEDs coming to a few cents a peice, if you burn up a couple its no big deal.
When searching for LEDs on ebay, don’t just search in the model railroad category. Broaden your base search and search for WARM WHITE LEDs. The last batch I got from Hong Kong were the 3mm warm whites - 100 of them for just over $20 shipped. These are pure white with no blue / green / orange overtones. A great deal for the price !!!
And that’s the whole premise of ebay - sending money to a stranger for a purchase based solely on a picture and a description !!! The Hong Kong sellers I’ve dealt with have had TENS of thousands of positive feed-backs - obviously a LOT of very satisfied customers. As for the LEDs themselves, chances are slim to none that you are going to get bad ones, it just doesn’t happen.
Actually, we’re not talking pennies, we’re talking dollars. The opening post of this thread was comparing the ebay prices to Radio Shack prices. That’s how places like Radio Shack make their money - they buy LEDs from these same places in Hong Kong for pennies each, repackage them and sell them for dollars each. There’s big money being made in repackaging. Why pay Radio Shack for the pretty packaging - go straight to the source yourself !!! You’d be amazed at all the money you can save if you took the time to trace products back to the source and buy direct. There are a LOT of people doing just that on ebay - buy direct, flip it on ebay, make big profit.
I have had good luck with an E-Bay seller" CWITHK" out of Hong Kong.The prices are 12-14 $ per hundred with resistors and shipping included. They are fast and reliable and I have noticed no difference between their LEDS and Radio Shacks in terms of longivety or quality.You might like the amber 3mm for steam locomotive headlights . You can buy in quanities as low as ten for $2 including S&H.
There’s an outfit in Vermont, called “LED Supply,” that I’ve dealt with quite a bit lately. They don’t bother carrying the common LED that go for a few cents a piece in quantity; they’re strictly into the high-end stuff. They’ve got warm white, and traffic light green, and even pink and purple, with single-unit prices of around $1 apiece, and nice price breaks. Shipping charges are also pretty reasonable, probably a lot cheaper than shipping (and paying duty on) way more LEDs than you need from some overseas outfit.
Please note that I neither work for them, nor own any stock in them; I’m just a satisfied customer.
For starters, their warm whites are only available in 5mm - kinda big, the 3mm look better for building lights. Regardless - their prices are as follows …
Part No
1
10
100
500
1000
L1-0-WW5TH50-1
$0.95 ea (USD)
$0.88 ea
$0.80 ea
$0.76 ea
$0.72 ea
Compare this to a source I use from Hong Kong (who carry both 3mm and 5mm) …
If I had $30 to spend on LEDs, I could only get 26 from Led Supply (plus $4.50 shipping) or 100 from Best Hong Kong (plus $3.98 shipping which includes tracking) !!!
I am using inverted cone LEDs for buildings. This LED can be seen for 360 degrees. The downside right now is that they are fairly expensive. Go to eBay and search for inverted cone LED. You can also search Google for inverted cone LED.
