Lights - Best places to Buy

[cslampman]

I'm looking to buy lights, specifically 12VDC WS2811 strands. What is your best go to website for purchasing lights in bulk? I haven't used alibaba.com before, so I'm not sure how trustworthy it is. Anyone have good/bad experiences with them?

Thanks,

 

[TerryK]

Well, first, there is a supplier list in ACL's Wiki. It's fairly comprehensive. Quite a few individuals purchase directly from the China sources; Ray Wu, Etop for example. I haven't obtained anything China direct but those that have indicate that specifications need to be clearly stated or one risks getting something not quite what was expected.
I've had good success with RGB Man although others have complained. Most of his pixels direct ship from China. I've also purchased from Wally's Lights and Wired Watts. Although they both seem to lean more towards smaller orders. Wired Watts is the only one presently that I know of that carries 12 Volt Regulated pixels. I've had a bit of email correspondence with YPS (Your Pixel Store).

If your definition of bulk is a bit of a lower number, Paul Zhang has his 12 Volt Resistor pixels on Amazon in a 500 piece lot (5 strings 100 pixel each as I recall) using a "Alling" name.

 

[Indigogyre]

At the moment I have settled on ordering from Gilbert Engineering for my lights. There are a few different pre-buy sales going on such as from Wally's Lights, and others. Some have bulk ordered from @benbrown who is a vendor on the site.

Due to recent issues I think I will stick to ordering a few thousand at a time and hold off on a single large bulk purchase until I am reasonably sure quality will not be impacted.

Hard to say if there is one best because different people can have different experiences from the same vendor. The best thing you can do is the research and make a decision you feel comfortable with. Does 2 cents a pixel matter in the long run?

 

[uncledan]

I've been buying from @benbrown with ScottLED since 2015 with no complaints. Probably 10+ orders and 60-70k bullet and square 12V resistor nodes, pigtails, extensions,floods, modules etc. The benefit of ordering direct from China is they will make anything you want.

 

[cslampman]

Thanks for the inputs. I did not know there was a section in the Wiki. Being new to this group, there is a lot of information here, and I'm still learning where to go to find it. To clarify, when I say "In Bulk", I meant a few thousand at a time. I wish I could order tens of thousands at a time, but the wife would frown on that, lol.

I'll check out the sources you all have provided! Thanks

 

[TerryK]

I typically have kept pixel purchases 3000 or less. Keeps the cost outlay smaller, spouse happier, and less time to wade through the product to make sure I received what I wanted and it all works. All pixel strings with one exception (Pix-Plus) that I know of originate in China and if the vendor doesn't check them you should to find any that are DOA. Actually even if the vendor does check them it wouldn't hurt to check them again. In any case, to get defective pixels/strings replaced before much time elapses. Goes without saying an advantage of purchasing from a 'local' vendor is the I think easier replacement of defective product.

Another thought or two: Pix-Plus is a rather new start-up and is still struggling to get their pixel manufacturing (Africa, components from China I think) running and producing reliable pixels. YPS is also a rather new vendor with one of their earlier products being the Pix-Plus pixels. Both entities have branched out into supplies, pigtails, and such. For YPS, also other pixel suppliers.
Alling (P. Zhang) pixels on Amazon: 4 inch spacing and 18 AWG wire; all the other RGB pixels aren't in my opinion worth considering (cheaper, lower quality).

 

[merryoncherry]

Another thought or two: Pix-Plus is a rather new start-up and is still struggling to get their pixel manufacturing (Africa, components from China I think) running and producing reliable pixels.

This is an understatement. They are not producing pixels, they do not answer emails honestly or accurately (if at all), and their website domain is now expired. Avoid that company and its founders.

 

[TerryK]

The Canada site is still up: https://www.can-pixplus.com/

For what it's worth; the US link on the Canadian site is broke.

 

[algerdes]

I agree with merryoncherry. Stay away from Pix-Plus, Canada or USA. It will soon be a year since I ordered from and paid them for pixels and floods. NOTHING DELIVERED! As far as correspondence, nothing there either.

 

[TerryK]

Must admit this scenario has left a rather 'sour taste in the mouth'. I'm still waiting for 3000 pixels myself. It doesn't surprise me that the US web link is gone. It never made much sense to me that there were 2 , a US and Canada. And Andy (Canada location) has always seemed to be more prominent in the company.

I've attempted communicating several times and did actually receive a response from Andy sometime December last year. General content that they had to scrap a large quantity of PCBs as they were proving unreliable; was attempting to get some through production late January. Since that's essentially now, we'll see. Call me an optimist but I'm hoping they get things resolved and can produce a reliable 12 Volt Regulated pixel.

I would also like to see them get a 5 Volt WS2811 in place. Their samples I received worked as expected although they were 5 Volt instead of what was supposed to be 12 Volt Regulated. Their molded pixel is much 'cleaner' than the China pixels; no epoxy smears/drips, no twisty/turny of the wires at the pixel bottom, or half mushed pixel bodies. Outside of their delivery problems my greatest concern would be if the molding at the wire exit points do a good job of preventing moisture ingress.

 

[merryoncherry]

The few people I know who got any 12V PixPlus samples found them to be silicone injected, not fully molded. These are not as weatherproof as the 5V design you describe.

I personally think the 12V regulated design is obsolete, if you like simplicity and broad availability then 12V resistor is the way to go; if you like efficiency, purity of design, and color output then GS8208 et al is the way to go. Or 5V... that's a simple design with good efficiency. Doesn't leave much room in the market for 12V regulated, which are already somewhat harder to find.

 

[TerryK]

Within the WS2811 'family', each version brings something to the table. Whether an individual's design 'style' uses a version's advantages is up to that particular individual. Regarding simplicity, availability, and efficiency; that definition too depends upon an individuals design style.

As to the GS8208, it is not readily available from US vendors. It would be nice if it would be. Regardless of your perspective, there are I'm certain a good number of US individuals toying with RGB pixels that prefer to keep their purchases directed towards US vendors; even if they realize that most if not all of the RGB bits and pieces come from China. Anyway, I've tested GS8208 pixels and as you indicate it is power efficient and has better color (I'll use the term regularity) than the WS2811 pixels.

These will change as I am/was not yet ready to release them. Presently, food for thought. One would or typically should accept that if current begins to drop that light output will be affected. Goes without saying that any internal current regulation should minimise that affect. But the fact that supply current is dropping as voltage decreases beyond a particular point would suggest something must be happening internally. For the GS8208 that point is about 9 Volt. For a 12 Volt Regulated WS2811 about 6 Volt. For a 5 Volt WS2811 about 4.5 Volt. And for a 12 Volt Resistor, which is surprisingly linear, on E/I alone, hard to determine.

 

[TerryK]

Side note to @cslampman . See what you started?

 

[sonyaLee3378]

At the moment I have settled on ordering from Gilbert Engineering for my lights. There are a few different pre-buy sales going on such as from Wally's Lights, and others. Some have bulk ordered from @benbrown who is a vendor on the site.

Due to recent issues I think I will stick to ordering a few thousand at a time and hold off on a single large bulk purchase until I am reasonably sure quality will not be impacted.

Hard to say if there is one best because different people can have different experiences from the same vendor. The best thing you can do is the research and make a decision you feel comfortable with. Does 2 cents a pixel matter in the long run?

Don't order from Wally's Lights. I ordered 10000 lights from them but never received them. When I contacted them through email they were rude and gave me the runaround. They told me I needed to file a claim with UPS and when I tried to do that I found out that they had already filed a claim wrongly with UPS and stopped me for doing that and getting a refund. When I contacted them and told them that they needed to close their claim so that I can file one and get a refund from UPS they told me that that was not their problem and that I should just file a police report if I think that the lights were stolen or file it with my homeowners insurance. I paid over $3,000 to this company and received nothing but rudeness and beat them being dismissive. I'm planning on taking them to court over this because it's just uncalled for and I filed a claim with the better Business bureau. If you order from them buyer beware.

 

[LoboArcher]

Don't order from Wally's Lights. I ordered 10000 lights from them but never received them. When I contacted them through email they were rude and gave me the runaround. They told me I needed to file a claim with UPS and when I tried to do that I found out that they had already filed a claim wrongly with UPS and stopped me for doing that and getting a refund. When I contacted them and told them that they needed to close their claim so that I can file one and get a refund from UPS they told me that that was not their problem and that I should just file a police report if I think that the lights were stolen or file it with my homeowners insurance. I paid over $3,000 to this company and received nothing but rudeness and beat them being dismissive. I'm planning on taking them to court over this because it's just uncalled for and I filed a claim with the better Business bureau. If you order from them buyer beware.

Did you ever get your lights from Wallys? If not bring this to the official xlights support group on Facebook. Would love to know either way. It's the only way to get people's attention.