10-Watt LED Modules.

It all started when I decided to modify the under-cabinet lights at home. I couldn't find any suitable ones for sale, so I decided to modify the ones I already had. I ordered 5 LED modules. Here's how they turned out.

Unlike my previous review of conical drill bits, which I liked in every way, this one is the complete opposite.

I ordered the LED modules, along with separate components for the drivers (I initially wanted to buy ready-made ones, but then decided to build them myself). I had no problems with the components—they all arrived in excellent condition—but there was a problem with the LEDs. I had looked at several LED modules beforehand, some cheaper and some more expensive, but these were the ones that looked right based on the description and photos.

They arrived in a nice, neat little box (incidentally, a separate package from another seller arrived at the same time with some of the components for these modules, in exactly the same kind of box). The LEDs themselves were inside a hermetically sealed antistatic bag, with a foam insert to keep them from bouncing around, since the box was noticeably larger than necessary. The box arrived in good shape, with no dents anywhere. Our postal service does a pretty good job.


Once I got them, I naturally decided to test them, so I got a heatsink ready (though it's not really necessary at the testing stage). I applied a small current and saw that only some of the LED chips lit up. This is usually caused by a short or an open circuit in some of the chips. I can explain in more detail if needed.

But I knew that if I opened a dispute, this measurement would be rejected straight away because I was testing them outside their specified operating conditions. So I decided to test and photograph them at their rated current too. Here are the results: 5 LEDs, 5 photos.










That's how bad they look.

The last LED initially lit up with all nine chips working, but it quickly gave up, and the camera stubbornly refused to focus on it, so the photo is blurry.

The photo was taken through a welding mask lens, shade 4 (the shade number determines how much light it lets through; I also have a shade 8 lens, but it's much too dark).

Naturally, I wrote to the seller to say he'd sent me defective goods. He replied that it was probably the postal service's fault and that he'd sent a good product (well, you know how these conversations usually start), and told me to send them back and he'd replace them. I'm not an idiot, as you can imagine. Nice try—send them back, indeed.

I replied that the postal service had delivered them just fine: everything was intact and neatly packed, with no damage, and that our postal service was great. I sent him one of the photos.

He replied (I didn't fully understand this part): “Once again, I can give you the delivery, or refund to you, thank you.”

I wrote back that he should prepare a full refund, and he replied: OK. To be fair, the seller handled the situation quite properly, so credit to him. He said he'd always sold good products and had never had any complaints, said he'd look into it, promised a full refund, and apologized for the inconvenience.

I opened a dispute, and the seller approved the refund 5 hours later. Another 5 hours after that, the money was back in my account.

So that's the sad story with these LEDs. I ordered some from another seller and am waiting for the package. It's possible the seller wasn't at fault at all. The LEDs can still be used if you burn out the faulty strings, though the power will be nowhere near 10 W anymore… Anyway, they'll do for experiments.

Sorry for the long and tedious review, but perhaps my experience and testing method will be useful to someone.