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LSDiodes Gone! Need New Source for LED Ultra-Brights!

post #1 of 18
11/30/07 at 10:30pm
Thread Starter 
Yep - it's official on their website: LEDs - LSDiodes Optoelectronics. They're closing up shop. I think like some other DIY-er's, they've been my exclusive source for ultra-bright LEDs.

So, I'm asking for help. Please tell us of your alternatives and your experiences, if you have them. I think there are many of us who'd like to find a reliable replacement for LSDiodes, if there is one.

Thanks!
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post #2 of 18
11/30/07 at 11:03pm
I've bought LEDs almost exclusively from cwithk on ebay. You can find basic ultra brights in standard colors (blue, white, amber, green, red, UV) in 3mm and 5mm varieties in packs of 10 for $2-$3 (with free shipping and resistors for working at 12V). They are shipped from Hong Kong, but I've always found the delivery to be fairly speedy.

I've used LSDiodes for more specialty LEDs such as bi-colored. Sad to see them go!
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post #3 of 18
11/30/07 at 11:11pm
A quick look turned up these guys.
::: www.ledshoppe.com :::

I might try placing an order to see how it is. Seems real cheap with 5000mcd 3mm Blue LED X 100pcs going for $10, shipping free.

I was just looking around for some stuff yesterday and could have sworn I saw a shop selling LEDs that I didn't expect. I'll have to backtrack what I was doing
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post #4 of 18
11/30/07 at 11:30pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks, guys - I'll check these out. I figured fellow DIYers would know some other sources!
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post #5 of 18
11/30/07 at 11:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sbyers77 View Post
I've bought LEDs almost exclusively from cwithk on ebay. You can find basic ultra brights in standard colors (blue, white, amber, green, red, UV) in 3mm and 5mm varieties in packs of 10 for $2-$3 (with free shipping and resistors for working at 12V). They are shipped from Hong Kong, but I've always found the delivery to be fairly speedy.

I've used LSDiodes for more specialty LEDs such as tri-colored. Sad to see them go!

Seconded. Chi-Wing makes some quality LEDs, and I've never been disappointed with a purchase from them.
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post #6 of 18
12/1/07 at 12:44am
Super Bright LEDs That's right, in my fair city, in fact I drive within like a mile of em twice a week, but still haven't got around to stopping by there, tho I think I will next week. We might be able to put together some sort of group buy thing, or tomb if you guys are going to open a webshop to sell MAX boards, maybe you could just sell some LEDs at cost too if I can get us a bunch?
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post #7 of 18
12/1/07 at 8:50am
Hi

I am in the UK and found a source on ebay varying from 7000mcd for blue ones and 12000mcd for a yellow one. Was hoping to find some green but i guess it will be blue!

John
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post #8 of 18
12/1/07 at 9:36pm
I've never really trusted those mcd ratings--after all, they just measure intensity, not total power, and I'm not really sure where I've ever had a use for really intense LEDs. You could always check mouser or digikey or the regular suppliers for electronic components (more expensive, but i'd trust the specs a bit more depending on manufacturer), or ebay as said before.
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post #9 of 18
12/1/07 at 10:01pm
ledshoppe is decent. i've ordered from them a number of times. shipping takes a while though, but their stuff is okay.
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post #10 of 18
12/1/07 at 11:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by threepointone View Post
I've never really trusted those mcd ratings--after all, they just measure intensity, not total power, and I'm not really sure where I've ever had a use for really intense LEDs. You could always check mouser or digikey or the regular suppliers for electronic components (more expensive, but i'd trust the specs a bit more depending on manufacturer), or ebay as said before.
mcd is a good measurement to have, and the only measurement you're likely to get for an led, but to get a clear idea how much light it's really producing you need to know the viewing angle as well.

A few years ago i bought chi-wing 3mm blue LEDs rated at 22000mcd with a 6 degree viewing angle.

They are eye-stabbingly bright at their full 20ma And i can run them at less than 1ma and still have a usable indicator light.

A viewing angle twice as big results in an mcd half as high.
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post #11 of 18
12/2/07 at 2:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tomb View Post
Yep - it's official on their website: LEDs - LSDiodes Optoelectronics. They're closing up shop. I think like some other DIY-er's, they've been my exclusive source for ultra-bright LEDs.

So, I'm asking for help. Please tell us of your alternatives and your experiences, if you have them. I think there are many of us who'd like to find a reliable replacement for LSDiodes, if there is one.

Thanks!
This is very unfortunate to hear! They were an excellent source for a high quality product with very rapid delivery for even small quantity orders.

Looks like there may be a short window of time coming up soon to buy some of their stock in a potential liquidation sale. Current statement as posted on their web site....

Quote:
LSDiodes Optoelectronics has closed up shop

We may open again to liquidate some inventory but other than that it appears as though we have come to an end. We would like to thank everyone who helped us become the popular supplier that we were. If you have any questions or concerns or would like to see if we still have an item you need in stock, shoot us an email at sales [at] lsdiodes [dot] com.
As indicated in their statement is also the offer to accept email to their sales to question availability of stock. Of course, there is the potential of getting stuck with non-delivery if they are proceeding to bankruptcy.

Got to love a company that includes the statement:

Quote:
Never forget: Robots will kill you.
With that - why would you search for anywhere else for your LED desires...

They will be missed if they actually are forced into closure!
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post #12 of 18
12/2/07 at 1:17pm
:/ shame I bought some LED's from them a few years back and the customer service was excelent as where the LED's which are the only ones I have ever seen giving out a bright yet deep red and a warm orange. They were however much more expensive then other LED's. In memory:



*I still have my robots will kill you sticker they were very serious about warning of the impending robotocolipse!
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post #13 of 18
12/4/07 at 3:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by threepointone View Post
I'm not really sure where I've ever had a use for really intense LEDs.
uhh, the tube lights on the Millett Max, DUH

Quote:
Originally Posted by odoe View Post
A quick look turned up these guys.
::: www.ledshoppe.com :::

I might try placing an order to see how it is. Seems real cheap with 5000mcd 3mm Blue LED X 100pcs going for $10, shipping free.
I'd never trust somewhere that spells it "Shoppe" j/k, actually that's probably a better option for those outside the US, or even for any of us Yanks that might want 100 ridiculously bright LEDs

Quote:
Originally Posted by vixr View Post
this LED supplier looks promising... they have a pretty good selection of stuff.
wow and I just noticed, they don't have a minimum order for shipments within the US (as long as you order thru their site and not over the phone) and they say they're set up to expedite internet orders fastest...SWEET, I wish I had time to stop by there before...crap I don't know when I'm gonna have time now, maybe not till next week. UGHHH finals & the week before SUCK. Dammit, i need to get back to the books
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post #14 of 18
2/7/08 at 8:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ericj View Post
....
A viewing angle twice as big results in an mcd half as high.
<begin anal>
I'm slow :P (okay, just late).. and no intention of being anal, but more precisely, if you assume the light is dispersed evenly over its viewing anlge, say, (2*Phi), it would be dispersed over an area of 2*pi*r^2*(1-cos(Phi)) (from the double integral)
after some identities: Aa/Ab=[sin(Phia/2)/sin(Phib/2)]^2 which is pretty close to about 1/4 when doubling a viewing angle of about 6deg.

so more accurately: a viewing angle twice as big, in the range of angles we're talking about results in an mcd about a fourth as high.



(note: phi, here, is only half the viewing angle since its from the center of the 'viewing angle' to its edge. Also, phi can only be doubled up to 90 degrees, cause at 180 degrees its basically the angle of the whole sphere.. in spherical coordinates, this all is..)
</end anal>

Sorry, I had to

I speculate you probably knew it was something like this and was just being general about the light dispersion thing, or something..
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post #15 of 18
2/12/08 at 3:22pm
I'm a real big fan of SparkFun. Link:SparkFun Electronics
I got some RGB LEDs and an Arduino board from them a while ago, now I've got a setup where I can change the lighting in my room by tilting my Macbook (Hold "c" and tilt until you get a good color, then hold "b" and tilt for brightness)
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