Flood lights - can anyone recommend a really good make/model that lasts more than a couple of years?

[Rollerball]

M latest Osram LEDVANCE floodlight is starting to fail on me (very dim output) but because of the way it's sealed it's impossible to get inside the damn thing.

So it's time to buy another flood light.

I have two like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FNN5BFC

but while that one in the photograph CAN be opened up pretty easily, later models (like my failing unit) cannot because of the way that they are sealed. If I could open it up it would be an easy fix.

This sealed, non-serviceable issue came about when LEDVANCE was sold to a Chinese consortium in 2018.

So, are there any high quality flood lights which are weather-sealed yet which can also be easily taken apart? It is of course possible to seal them and make it possible to open them up easily, I have a 20 year old flood light with a small halogen tube which is like this.

LED lights of all varieties should of course last for a great many years, but they don't because of manufacturers cutting corners to maximise profits; so not only do you get inferior quality short life LEDs but you also get poorly designed power circuitry using cheap parts which overdrive the LEDs, so causing their early demise, and/or a component in the power circuitry fails. And then of course you can't open the damn thing to fix it ........... It seriously annoys me just how many electronics items can't be serviced these days meaning that when they fail they end up as landfill, so increasing waste and costing consumers money.

Anyhow, rant over.

I've just after a good quality, easily serviceable flood light with a PIR sensor. And not one of the cheap and really crappy Chinese ones either.

 

[ericmark]

Since in the past, we used quartz halogen or nickel metal halide, or some other lamp no longer considered as OK to use. There is no experience that can be used.

The old lamps produced more heat, and air expands and contracts, and it was near impossible to seal the whole lamp, so air would leave the fitting when switched on, and be sucked in again together with water, so it was important to ensure there was a hole at the bottom for it to leave again, often a flexible strip behind the glass where the join had to be at the bottom.

There were some poor designs with the PIR at the bottom, which was clearly going to be swimming in water as below the vent hole. But in the main it was poor installation where someone tried to seal the unit and failed, or put the seal in with a gap in the wrong place.

As to failing LEDs we know electronic equipment should have SPD fitted, but sometimes we can get away without it. It has always been hard to say it failed because the SPD was missing, and in the days of wire wound transformers the power supplies would often remove the spikes, but I have watched the voltage where I have lived, and 230 volts is rare, at the moment on a dull morning one would expect it to be low, but my software tells me

so much for harmonised supplies, so we are often fitting units rated at 220 volts, as although Europe was supposed to have harmonised this did not include China etc. So it depends on the control, but often we end up over driving the LEDs.

 

[Alan 483256]

I bought a couple of Phillips floodlights a while ago, haven't really had them running for long enough know how good they really are but they've already outlasted the previous 'MEIHUA' ones!

Here they are -

Amazon.co.uk

(They're available with PIR as well)

 

[Murdochcat]

Only buy units with a 3 year warranty is my advice. Sure it’ll cost a bit more but last longer

 

[Rollerball]

Thanks for the advice so far.

Have been doing some hunting for LED PIR flood lights that are actually repairable and found this Danic: light:

Danic DNFL4-30P 30W 4000K Repairable LED Floodlight with IP65 PIR

The Danic 30w 4000K Repairable LED Floodlight with IP65 PIR has a rugged outer shell that can be removed if necessary, for maintenance or repairs.

www.cwberry.com

there's also a non-PIR version on that site.

Does anyone have any experience with these in terms of reliability, etc?

​

 

[Munroast]

difficult to know what you are buying now, I bought an LED floodlight (30w) on ebay, stupidly cheap all the way from Chinese seller - been up 10 to 12 years now, still as good as the day I put it up

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

So, are there any high quality flood lights which are weather-sealed yet which can also be easily taken apart? It is of course possible to seal them and make it possible to open them up easily, I have a 20 year old flood light with a small halogen tube which is like this.

Why would you need to be able to take an LED fitting apart? Where would you source the replacement LED?

The best LED designs, at least for outdoor lights, are totally sealed ones. Totally sealed ones, allows for the very important cooling of the device, to be designed into the unit, as a whole, with no risk of ingress.

Lidl, from time to time, seem to offer some exceptionally well made, sealed, outdoor units. I've had one up for several years without a problem.

 

[Rollerball]

> Why would you need to be able to take an LED fitting apart?

To replace a surface mounted LED or, at the very least, remove one that has shorted or blown in a way that's affected other LEDs. Some also start to flicker as they fail and removing just one would be very easy if the LED board can be accessed.

> Where would you source the replacement LED?

That's the easy part, it's simple enough to find them online for all kinds of sources. I even have some spares from dismantling assorted devices in the past, I'm sure I could find one that's suitable.

 

[morqthana]

I've just after a good quality, easily serviceable flood light with a PIR sensor. And not one of the cheap and really crappy Chinese ones either.

I can't recommend any specific make or model, but I imagine that as with so many other things, the market as become polarised into cheap and really crappy products at one end, and professional products at the other - the middle ground has totally disappeared because of the huge numbers of non-professional buyers who care only for price.

Look for architectural and commercial lighting suppliers - forget Amazon.

I don't think it's directly his field of expertise, but Sunray might be able to advise on who makes good products.

 

[davelx]

Something like BRENNENSTUHL 50W LED Floodlight with PIR, 6500K, 5800lm, IP65, Black - 1171250542 perhaps?

 

[mikehammer69]

Steinel do a 3yr warranty anyway fwiw

Repair of smartphones and washers etc. i can understand , but led floodlights, no.

 

[Rollerball]

Steinel do a 3yr warranty anyway fwiw

Repair of smartphones and washers etc. i can understand , but led floodlights, no.

I don't like chucking things away when a tiny part probably costing less than a penny goes bad. I've repaired LED light bulbs before. Why waste your money and add to landfill when you can repair the item instead, even if it's something as 'basic' as an LED floodlight?

 

[opps]

After fitting a few LED flood lights for a customer which failed pretty quickly, someone here recommended a Vtac one. It has a Samsung driver and has a 5 year warranty. It was recommended by someone here. (Apologies to the person that recommended it- I have forgotten who it was).

eg

50w LED Flood Lights with Samsung Chips, 6500K

Cool white light, 6500K Designed with SMD LEDs Constant current integrated IC driver 4270 lumens max brightness IP65-rated - water-resistant 5-year warranty

www.simplelighting.co.uk

Thus far, it has lasted a couple of years, the other cheapo ones from Screwfix became really dim after about 3 or 4 months.

 

[morqthana]

https://www.thornlighting.com/en/products/outdoor-lighting

 

[blup]

I've had a cheap lucceco from s/fix that has lasted years and is easy to swap over if it fails. For less exposed areas like the front porch an even cheaper amazon light has lasted well.