Knockoff Drivers

BobCajun

BobCajun

Well-Known Member
I mentioned in other posts that one of my Cree COB drivers burnt out after a couple years. Well, looking at the two drivers I have, I noticed that the burnt one has a stickon label whereas the good one has the label printed right on the metal casing. I recalled that somebody posted about a driver that had the output misprinted, and it was a stickon label. So putting 2 and 2 together, I conclude that one of my drivers is a knockoff, hence the early burnout. It was part of an expensive COB high bay unit, way overpriced but at the time there was little else available without ordering outside the country.

Now when something is that costly, what are the odds that somebody somewhere in the chain got the bright idea to substitute cheap knockoff drivers in some of the units? Seems unlikely that Cree would make the same driver, one with printed on label and one with stickon label. So the moral of the story is to check all drivers and if there's a stickon label be very suspicious. I don't think any quality companies would use stickon driver labels. Aside from it being stuck on, the labelling is identical to the printed on ones. No typos in these ones. If the scammers ever bother to print the labels on properly they'll be undetectable as knockoffs, until they burn out about 5 years before the real ones.
 
nc208

nc208

Well-Known Member
Did you take the driver apart? I'm wondering if the inside guts would be a giveaway of a knockoff?
 
BobCajun

BobCajun

Well-Known Member
nc208 said:
Did you take the driver apart? I'm wondering if the inside guts would be a giveaway of a knockoff?
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No it was full of the white gunk, couldn't even get it opened. I suppose it's possible that Cree used stickon labels on some drivers but it seems weird to me that the one that burnt out early had the stickon.
 
nc208

nc208

Well-Known Member
It's not uncommon for a manufacturer to change labels. Switching to stickers may provide a cheaper option for them. I would email cree any serial numbers you can find. They would confirm whether it's legit and could provide a replacement option or discount. As well help them figure out whose putting fake ones in.
 
Abiqua

Abiqua

Well-Known Member
nc208 said:
It's not uncommon for a manufacturer to change labels. Switching to stickers may provide a cheaper option for them. I would email cree any serial numbers you can find. They would confirm whether it's legit and could provide a replacement option or discount. As well help them figure out whose putting fake ones in.
Click to expand...
bingo :joint:


and @BobCajun pics would help....but definitely email them the serial. They usually respond very quickly. :peace:
 
BobCajun

BobCajun

Well-Known Member
Abiqua said:
bingo :joint:


and @BobCajun pics would help....but definitely email them the serial. They usually respond very quickly. :peace:
Click to expand...
Maybe Cree just make shit drivers, I don't know. Not worth going to any trouble over with Cree though. I would never get anything from it, because how could I prove I didn't sit it on a stove? I just got fucked by Cree or whoever, that's all. So I just won't buy any damn drivers or COBs anymore, just stick with the LED lightbulbs. Then when a driver burns out I only lost about $8, AND the lighting system still works as a whole, just slightly less bright until I get the replacement. Less than $1 per watt makes them actually reasonable to buy, unlike COBs, strips etc.

Fuck that overpriced shit, I'll just walk into goddamn Home Depot and buy my shit for 1/4 the price. They work fine and are efficient enough, 100 lm/w with the diffusers on, which supposedly reduce the output by about 20%. So with the diffusers cut off it's like 120 lm/w, just like pretty much every other LED system with that color temp. Sure, they'll tell you they put out 160 lm/w or something but then you go to the dealer sites, like Mouser, and look at the specs and see, surprise, it's in the fucking 120s unless you run them so soft you're paying about two or three times as much for LEDs as if you powered them at normal current, because you gotta buy a bunch more to get the same total wattage.
 
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a senile fungus

a senile fungus

Well-Known Member
BobCajun said:
Maybe Cree just make shit drivers, I don't know. Not worth going to any trouble over with Cree though. I would never get anything from it, because how could I prove I didn't sit it on a stove? I just got fucked by Cree or whoever, that's all. So I just won't buy any damn drivers or COBs anymore, just stick with the LED lightbulbs. Then when a driver burns out I only lost about $8, AND the lighting system still works as a whole, just slightly less bright until I get the replacement. Less than $1 per watt makes them actually reasonable to buy, unlike COBs, strips etc.

Fuck that overpriced shit, I'll just walk into goddamn Home Depot and buy my shit for 1/4 the price. They work fine and are efficient enough, 100 lm/w with the diffusers on, which supposedly reduce the output by about 20%. So with the diffusers cut off it's like 120 lm/w, just like pretty much every other LED system with that color temp. Sure, they'll tell you they put out 160 lm/w or something but then you go to the dealer sites, like Mouser, and look at the specs and see, surprise, it's in the fucking 120s unless you run them so soft you're paying about two or three times as much for LEDs as if you powered them at normal current, because you gotta buy a bunch more to get the same total wattage.
Click to expand...

Check the LED flashlight section, you might find something of use there. Enough flashlights and you could totally reproduce the sun. /s
 
Greengenes707

Greengenes707

Well-Known Member
BobCajun said:
I mentioned in other posts that one of my Cree COB drivers burnt out after a couple years. Well, looking at the two drivers I have, I noticed that the burnt one has a stickon label whereas the good one has the label printed right on the metal casing. I recalled that somebody posted about a driver that had the output misprinted, and it was a stickon label. So putting 2 and 2 together, I conclude that one of my drivers is a knockoff, hence the early burnout. It was part of an expensive COB high bay unit, way overpriced but at the time there was little else available without ordering outside the country.

Now when something is that costly, what are the odds that somebody somewhere in the chain got the bright idea to substitute cheap knockoff drivers in some of the units? Seems unlikely that Cree would make the same driver, one with printed on label and one with stickon label. So the moral of the story is to check all drivers and if there's a stickon label be very suspicious. I don't think any quality companies would use stickon driver labels. Aside from it being stuck on, the labelling is identical to the printed on ones. No typos in these ones. If the scammers ever bother to print the labels on properly they'll be undetectable as knockoffs, until they burn out about 5 years before the real ones.
Click to expand...
Sorry you're upset. But that sounds like nothing but liable and hurt feelings.
Post some pics and show the discrepancies. Drivers can go bad...it happens. But to make a whole post about "fake" or counterfeit" drivers being put into cree's own product, is liable until showing and proving otherwise.

And not to rub it in too much...but we all told you those weren't the "CXB's" that changed the LED game a few years ago, but you were so set on "knowing more" and trying to find away around a grow specific fixture with higher efficacy.

Please show us the issue and details. Report back when you submit the serial numbers and get them verified.

Stick to validated and backed information. Not libel and slanderous claims unless you have actual backing to prove something.
 
PSUAGRO.

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
BobCajun said:
Maybe Cree just make shit drivers, I don't know. Not worth going to any trouble over with Cree though. I would never get anything from it, because how could I prove I didn't sit it on a stove? I just got fucked by Cree or whoever, that's all. So I just won't buy any damn drivers or COBs anymore, just stick with the LED lightbulbs. Then when a driver burns out I only lost about $8, AND the lighting system still works as a whole, just slightly less bright until I get the replacement. Less than $1 per watt makes them actually reasonable to buy, unlike COBs, strips etc.

Fuck that overpriced shit, I'll just walk into goddamn Home Depot and buy my shit for 1/4 the price. They work fine and are efficient enough, 100 lm/w with the diffusers on, which supposedly reduce the output by about 20%. So with the diffusers cut off it's like 120 lm/w, just like pretty much every other LED system with that color temp. Sure, they'll tell you they put out 160 lm/w or something but then you go to the dealer sites, like Mouser, and look at the specs and see, surprise, it's in the fucking 120s unless you run them so soft you're paying about two or three times as much for LEDs as if you powered them at normal current, because you gotta buy a bunch more to get the same total wattage.
Click to expand...
You can also walk into home depot and buy a Philips 400w HPS bulb for less than $30 and be better off IMO than the current led bulb options in the aisles.....
 
DrBlaze

DrBlaze

Well-Known Member
BobCajun said:
Maybe Cree just make shit drivers, I don't know. Not worth going to any trouble over with Cree though. I would never get anything from it, because how could I prove I didn't sit it on a stove? I just got fucked by Cree or whoever, that's all. So I just won't buy any damn drivers or COBs anymore, just stick with the LED lightbulbs. Then when a driver burns out I only lost about $8, AND the lighting system still works as a whole, just slightly less bright until I get the replacement. Less than $1 per watt makes them actually reasonable to buy, unlike COBs, strips etc.

Fuck that overpriced shit, I'll just walk into goddamn Home Depot and buy my shit for 1/4 the price. They work fine and are efficient enough, 100 lm/w with the diffusers on, which supposedly reduce the output by about 20%. So with the diffusers cut off it's like 120 lm/w, just like pretty much every other LED system with that color temp. Sure, they'll tell you they put out 160 lm/w or something but then you go to the dealer sites, like Mouser, and look at the specs and see, surprise, it's in the fucking 120s unless you run them so soft you're paying about two or three times as much for LEDs as if you powered them at normal current, because you gotta buy a bunch more to get the same total wattage.
Click to expand...
For a lot of the 1-3 cob small builds I see on here, I think people would do just fine with good quality led bulbs 10-15 bulbs give a very diffuse, even light spread, similar to what you'd get with using qb's. I use them for cloning and very early veg.
 
BobCajun

BobCajun

Well-Known Member
PSUAGRO. said:
You can also walk into home depot and buy a Philips 400w HPS bulb for less than $30 and be better off IMO than the current led bulb options in the aisles.....
Click to expand...
I actually do use HPS in addition to the LED bulbs. A 150w HPS in the middle and six 14w LED bulbs arranged on the ends and sides. So it's about 2:1 ratio of HPS to LED wattage. Fairly hot in there but seems to be working well so far. One benefit I noticed was no mold on buds. I guess the infrared from the HPS prevents the mold growth somehow, probably just by keeping it drier in there.
 
BobCajun

BobCajun

Well-Known Member
DrBlaze said:
For a lot of the 1-3 cob small builds I see on here, I think people would do just fine with good quality led bulbs 10-15 bulbs give a very diffuse, even light spread, similar to what you'd get with using qb's. I use them for cloning and very early veg.
Click to expand...
I also find them good for cloning and veg, single 5W (40w replacement) in a chamber about 1 sq ft works well for rooting and a week or two after. Then to the main veg chamber with 14w bulbs, one over each 4 plants in 4" pots. Two weeks in there and then the first week of flowering also in there, same lights same pots. After that first week flowering in there, it's repotting time and into the first flower chamber with a bunch of 14w bulbs, about 30-40w /sq ft. After 3 weeks in there they're moved to the higher chambers with the HPS/LED combo for the remaining 6 weeks. Nice little system really, 3 week intervals, 10 weeks flowering total because of the first week in that short chamber with the three 14w bulbs.
 
PSUAGRO.

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
BobCajun said:
I actually do use HPS in addition to the LED bulbs. A 150w HPS in the middle and six 14w LED bulbs arranged on the ends and sides. So it's about 2:1 ratio of HPS to LED wattage. Fairly hot in there but seems to be working well so far. One benefit I noticed was no mold on buds. I guess the infrared from the HPS prevents the mold growth somehow, probably just by keeping it drier in there.
Click to expand...
you shouldn't go lower than a 250w HPS, your home depot led bulbs are better than that ........


good luck
 
BobCajun

BobCajun

Well-Known Member
PSUAGRO. said:
you shouldn't go lower than a 250w HPS, your home depot led bulbs are better than that ........


good luck
Click to expand...
Yeah but I liked the small bulbs and ballasts. I was planning to use two of them per chamber but turned out to be too hot and burned some plants up. The 150 plus the LEDs is just about right, just bordering on too hot but still okay. If I was buying them again I would probably go with the 250 though. Just the bulbs are almost as big as 400s. The compactness of the 150s was appealing to me.
 
Johnny Lawrence

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
BobCajun said:
Yeah but I liked the small bulbs and ballasts. I was planning to use two of them per chamber but turned out to be too hot and burned some plants up. The 150 plus the LEDs is just about right, just bordering on too hot but still okay. If I was buying them again I would probably go with the 250 though. Just the bulbs are almost as big as 400s. The compactness of the 150s was appealing to me.
Click to expand...
150s are incredibly inefficient.
 
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