Pixel Quality - am I too fussy.

[nzlongfellow]

Just received 2000 pixels from Ray.
Must say the quality is not up to what I have received from other suppliers.
Before I take it up with Ray I seek any ones input as to if this is "normal" quality from Ray.


Defect are:

1. Nodes not in straight
2. Excess molding material on the outside
3. Deformed shapes
4. Blobs of material as if it has been laid down wet.

I welcome any input - good or bad.

 

[lizardking]

hope mine dont come like that cause i will be telling him about the lack of quality

 

[Habbosrus]

They're dodgy lookin for sure. I have only bought a few pixel strings from Ray (most of mine are strip) and the quality was much better than the ones in photos. I know we are all trying for better pricing but we don't want to give up quality. Let him know you're not happy with the quality. There's a whole community of lighting enthusiasts that won't be accepting that kind of quality.
I will say that the gear I have received from Ray has been good stuff. He has receptive and helpful if I have had any issues (only a couple of small issues).

 

[mborg10]

I have received about 4000 nodes from Ray and none that bad. Might have a newbie working for him

 

[nzlongfellow]

I have emailed pics to Ray. Will post his reply. Watch this space.

 

[Gilrock]

I've seen some with the extra blobs of glue. I don't consider it that big of a deal. If it's preventing you from pushing it in a hole I'd get an xacto knife out. I'm sure they look fine lit up at night from a distance.

 

[nzlongfellow]

Ray has replied that he has a newbee and will look into the quality.
He has offered a discount on my next order.
I am happy to trade with him, just wanted to gauge the feeling from the "community".

 

[multicast]

Ray has replied that he has a newbee and will look into the quality.
He has offered a discount on my next order.
I am happy to trade with him, just wanted to gauge the feeling from the "community".

Everyone has newbies at this time of year, its what happens after CNY.

 

[arw01]

So best time to order is after Christmas and before new year because they have been through the crush of christmas, found out everything they did wrong from all the angry customers and are old hands at it?


Andrew is there a knowledgeable west coast reseller that deals with DIY folks for the Stellascape nodes?

 

[gerry]

I ordered a batch of strings from Ray and 3 out of 16 did not work when I received them. On another the last few would not light , the rest were okay .

I spoke to Ray and he will send replacements in my current order.

BTW - he appears to be quite busy and responses are very slow right now.

 

[nzlongfellow]

Just ordered 2000 more so will see what this quality is like..

 

[fasteddy]

There is a good reason they are cheap as quality can vary greatly. but for the purpose of DIY then most times its a good outcome

 

[mangoat]

scarey, but i mean, there is super expensive, better quality units out there, get what you pay for i guess. but still, ive got about 25 strings of pixels from ray with a few rolls of strip too, and nothing has been a problem.... yet

but id surely email him if there was an issue, as he has always been great to deal with for my couple of issues.

faulty power supply, sent a new one, no charge on my next order.

 

[nutz4lights]

Just received 2000 pixels from Ray.
Must say the quality is not up to what I have received from other suppliers.

Defect are:

• Nodes not in straight
• Excess molding material on the outside
• Deformed shapes
• Blobs of material as if it has been laid down wet.

Two things that I think are missing from this post are: (1) who are the other suppliers and (2) what would 2000 pixels have cost from those suppliers shipped to your door (and I guess #3 would be what percentage you saved by going with Ray).

When I order lights, since I am a hobbyist and only use these lights for Halloween and Christmas, I am looking for two things: (1) do they light up and (2) are they physically functional. So, what do I mean by physically functional? You have deformed shapes, blobs of material, excess molding, and nodes not straight as your four complaints. For me personally, the only way that those four things bother me is if they prevent the node from functioning physically with what I want. For instance, does the node no longer snap into something because of excess material? If it is a square flat-back pixel, and it is not flat, does it no longer sit flat against the object that I required the flat-back for? Etc. I want to add that I am one of the more perfectionist people you would ever meet... however, only in the sense of something becoming non-functional.

My experience with Ray is that, if it is either DOA (doesn't light) or dies in the first year, he replaces it... I own somewhere around 350 strings of nodes and pixels from him. I always over-order by around 5% because there will be a few strings that don't work right off the bat. He replaces those. Past that, aside from his Technicolor bulbs, out of 350 strings I have had a total of around 10 die after 1-2 years of use, and he replaced those. Shoot, with the Technicolor bulbs, he has replaced THE ENTIRE LOT (20-ish strings) twice!

Now, going back to my first question to you. If the quality is sub-par, then it comes down to "what are you getting elsewhere and for how much" & "what is your budget". As others have said in this post, Ray is inexpensive, some of this is to be expected, but he makes good on the unsatisfactory lights if you ask. I am building my display for my house. If you are building a display for the Olympics, then you should probably buy Minleon like the Olympics did . The thing is, they are 5X the cost.

My last comment, and I always throw this out there as a further disclaimer... I buy all my light strings from Ray as custom spacing with pigtails attached. My experience is that most of the other vendors might do one or the other of these, but not both. Just another reason why it is that maybe I am willing to put up with some of the imperfections in physical appearance... as long as it doesn't affect physical functionality.

Just my $0.035

-Louie

 

[arw01]

NZ being different, here in the States it would be closer to 4x as much because Minleon does not sell just a node (well maybe they M5 could be considered a node), but when you factor in the covers for Ray on the technicolors and those run $58.00 for 100 + the shipping and the minimum suggested selling price of Minleon would be at the $200.00 for 100 nodes and shipping could be in the sub $15.00 range for the Minleon strings in low quantity.


Out of 33 strings of Minleon 25 G40 hanging in a real live 55' tree with the wind, the fog, the down pours, the drizzle, the snow, the ice, the storms. There were 0 pixel failures. I expect to have those strings for a LOOONG time, far longer than I expect my Ray strings to last, but many of those will hit their third season next year and I've had no failures of those nodes either, but not in extreme of environment and not out as long as the the Minelon are (they are still in the tree and will come done in the next month or so)


Going to be ordering thousands of nodes from Paul for other elements that will only be out for the Christmas season, and some more minleon for the house gutters and "mega tree", so there is room for both the cheap and the commercial in the diy side for me.