Teken Posted July 4, 2015 Posted July 4, 2015 Last month I received a on line e-mailer and thought I would share this fantastic Edison style filament LED A19 bulb. I've seen many variations of the them were the maker tries vary hard to mimic the look and feel of a traditional bulb. To date there are maybe 2-3 LED bulb makers that I feel have pulled this off successfully. One being Cree's 4 flow bulbs which on the outside look very much like a regular bulb in over all shape etc. http://creebulb.com/learn/cool-tools/bulbfinder To date, I have never seen a LED bulb that mimics the look and feel of a incandescent filament bulb. If anyone has tried these and has some feed back as to how they look, feel, and perform using Insteon technology I would love to hear about it. If no one has then I will *Take one for the team* and purchase a single bulb and provide a review.
Brian H Posted July 4, 2015 Posted July 4, 2015 There are a few long threads in the Candlepower Forums on the Filament Bulbs. Here is one with a tear down, tests and comments. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?384869-Filament-LED&s=1e0fdd5e46c9c3101cd7737610b88b0a I have a few of the Cree 4Flow 60 watt 2700K bulbs. Will scan my notes on them. YouTube review of the 4Flow.
Teken Posted July 4, 2015 Author Posted July 4, 2015 There are a few long threads in the Candlepower Forums on the Filament Bulbs. Here is one with a tear down, tests and comments. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?384869-Filament-LED&s=1e0fdd5e46c9c3101cd7737610b88b0a I have a few of the Cree 4Flow 60 watt 2700K bulbs. Will scan my notes on them. YouTube review of the 4Flow. Brian, As always you're a wealth of knowledge! That was a great review and video of the filament bulb. I think I will purchase a couple of the 70 watt versions for a location needing more light. Every year it just blows my mind how people come up with new ways to skin a cat. Incredible . . .
MWareman Posted July 8, 2015 Posted July 8, 2015 I ordered 3 a couple of weeks ago when I saw them. Won't be able to try them out for a week or so though, but when I do I'm happy to report back! I got the brighter non-dimmable ones because they will be used in outdoor fixtures where the bulb is visible.
larryllix Posted July 8, 2015 Posted July 8, 2015 Out of my approximately 8 Cree bulbs I own the second one just blew yesterday after less than 6 months of service. The ones I use on dimmers mostly at low levels in the bedroom began to flicker after two or three months of service. I am not as impressed as the hyped write ups made me with Cree initially. Like everything else, where is the receipt when this happens? Who keeps receipts for small item more than a few weeks? With the constant change in Cree bulb style one can't even go buy fresh and sub the old using the new receipt. So many style changes indicates they have had design problems or are challenged to make the cheaper. OTOH, I have had problems with every brand of bulb so far, LEDs and CFL's, except most of the CFLs didn't usually last this long. I doesn't hurt as much now that bulbs are below the $18 each mark. Cool design though.
Brian H Posted July 8, 2015 Posted July 8, 2015 I have had a few of the original design rubber coated shell Cree LED bulbs fail. Flickered and then went out. I took the rubber covered shells off and found their contact clips where making poor contact in one and very terrible soldering on the LED assembly in another. Flexing the LEDs on the sub assembly actually made them go On and Off. Baking the original rubber coated bulbs at 200 degrees F for about twenty minutes. Will let you pop the covers off with a pair of heavy gloves. One BIG Caution. The LED assembly has about 220 volts DC on it when running and if the LEDs are not making contact. Open driver voltage is around 275 volts DC.
Teken Posted July 8, 2015 Author Posted July 8, 2015 I ordered 3 a couple of weeks ago when I saw them. Won't be able to try them out for a week or so though, but when I do I'm happy to report back! I got the brighter non-dimmable ones because they will be used in outdoor fixtures where the bulb is visible. Michael, When you test them out can you provide the hardware revision, production date, and the ISY firmware information for the switch linc / KPL units. Interested in knowing if they buzz, hum, or impact the Insteon network. Also interested in how similar they *appear* in terms of light spread to a regular incandescent bulb. I've been waiting to purchase these bulbs for awhile but wanted to make sure all of the duds were out of the local supply chain where I intended to purchase them. Thanks!
MWareman Posted July 17, 2015 Posted July 17, 2015 @Teken, had them installed for a couple of days now - no humming or I'll effects. However, as these are non-dimmable I'm using a On/Off switch (relay based), so without the triac dimming I wouldn't expect to get any humming. I'll send a pic and full details tonight!
MWareman Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 Here is what they look like installed during the day... And on (during the day).... I'll get a picture tonight as well for you for a complete set. Overall, I'm very happy with the light output. My switch is a 2477S showing is ISY as v.43. Hardware rev sticker shows 6.7. No humming at all, but its an on/off switch rather than a dimmer. Overall, the bulbs work very well for my situation. I'd buy them again!
Teken Posted July 18, 2015 Author Posted July 18, 2015 Michael, First, very classy light fixtures! Those LED filament bulbs look just great and mimic a standard incandescent bulb very well. Looking forward to seeing some night shots. Ideals are peaceful - History is violent
MWareman Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 Thanks @Teken - believe it or not these were the fittings the builder installed, and its the first time I've been happy with a builder default fitting! At night, the camera does not do a great job, but here we go: It does look better in person though, the camera color balance does odd things. I think these bulbs are going to become my default bulb for exposed fittings. Michael.
Teken Posted July 19, 2015 Author Posted July 19, 2015 Michael, If that's supposed to be a shoddy picture I'll take that all day long? looking forward to buying a few sets in the future. What source and price did you get them from? Ideals are peaceful - History is violent
MWareman Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 I got them from MCM Electronics at $9.99 each : http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/25-7430?green=54016D0A-D5C9-50C4-B29E-F125E8C8B394 I don't know what their shipping policies are to Canada though.
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