Thank I have a dodgy set of cobs or driver from cutter electronics

[BobCajun]

Not sure what prompts you to believe our drivers are inferior, at this point I dont even know if the issue is the driver and will only know when its returned and tested. I can assure you we have sold literally hundreds of drivers to the grow community Pairiu, ZPE and LSD and have had as little or as many issues as Meanwell, based on what I have read here, The only issue that need concern you is if a problem exists we fix the problem as quickly as possible to create as little inconvenience as possible, all driver companies these days have 5-7 year warranty's, if you buy a driver that does not offer that, caveat emptor, our intention is to only sell drivers that offer that as a minimum. We accept many guys here dont have the knowledge to resolve issues that may be actual problems or something they have done wrong in assembly, either way we will do all we can to have happy customers
Cheers
Mark

Oh idk, probably because they are off-brand Chinese drivers.

 

[Greengenes707]

Meanwells are made in China and Taiwan. Most in China.

 

[welight]

Oh idk, probably because they are off-brand Chinese drivers.

Off brand?? what makes Meanwell On brand
Cheers
Mark

 

[BobCajun]

Off brand?? what makes Meanwell On brand
Cheers
Mark

A long history of reliability. Cheers.

 

[Greengenes707]

LSD is the maker of drivers for Lowes branded lights in the states.

 

[welight]

Probably just coincidental that a few people have reported problems here recently with Cutter stuff. Seemed weird, that's all. But why use Pairui drivers in the Mau5 kit for instance. That's a Chinese manufacturer and they aren't even cheaper than Meanwell, so what exactly was the point? Who has posted on here saying Pairui drivers are great? Maybe they're okay, idk. Just why use them instead of Meanwell, the industry standard?

We have had 3 issues, one was a programmable Inventronics driver which we replaced, One Pairui and this LSD driver, I think I have noted at least 5-6 Meanwell driver problems on here recently without looking hard. I have no doubt our drivers are equal in quality to Meanwell and no doubt if I could buy and resell Meanwell here at a price that made sense I would consider it, but since I cant my preference is to find a driver that is equal or better at the same price. Meanwell drivers are built in China as are most driver these days
Cheers
Mark

 

[BobCajun]

Yeah, fine. I guess it's not actually that hard to make a reliable driver, and Meanwell probably has as many issues as other brands. They all give out long before the LEDs anyway, because they all have capacitors, the weak link. They will predictably fail within a few years and there's no way to stop it.

 

[welight]

Yeah, fine. I guess it's not actually that hard to make a reliable driver, and Meanwell probably has as many issues as other brands.

Your right, but the reality is one of the weakest aspects of a solid state light is the driver, many components in a driver and they are not always spec'd for the thermals generated in lighting systems which is why almost all drivers derate at temperatures well below what a COB can handle. I do sell a range of other Meanwell drivers, so I have no problem with Meanwell, my issue is a commercial one, I am trying to get products to you guys that are high quality, robust and cost effective and there are solutions other than MW
Cheers
Mark

 

[BobCajun]

Your right, but the reality is one of the weakest aspects of a solid state light is the driver, many components in a driver and they are not always spec'd for the thermals generated in lighting systems which is why almost all drivers derate at temperatures well below what a COB can handle. I do sell a range of other Meanwell drivers, so I have no problem with Meanwell, my issue is a commercial one, I am trying to get products to you guys that are high quality, robust and cost effective and there are solutions other than MW
Cheers
Mark

There actually are capacitorless LED drivers. Here's a pdf about some. Seems to be a fairly recent development. About Meanwell, I do recall somebody posting a short time ago about a MW that the current adjusting screw snapped off inside it. Forgot about that one until just now. Maybe you could find, or build, some capacitorless drivers.

 

[welight]

There actually are capacitorless LED drivers. Here's a pdf about some. Seems to be a fairly recent development. About Meanwell, I do recall somebody posting a short time ago about a MW that the current adjusting screw snapped off inside it. Forgot about that one until just now. Maybe you could find, or build, some capacitorless drivers.

yes good paper, the assertions are true Alum Electro's are a weak point in switcher design, many people have switched to tantalum caps, but capacitorless is potentially a more reliable concept
cheers
Mark

 

[nmibud]

yes good paper, the assertions are true Alum Electro's are a weak point in switcher design, many people have switched to tantalum caps, but capacitorless is potentially a more reliable concept
cheers
Mark

I am the guy that had a problem a few months back with a seller on Ebay,the driver that I got in that deal was a Pairui lgsu150-c1400d.I was running 3 of the cxb3590's ,the driver has died .I traded the lgsu for an excelsis of the same rating and the light work with the other driver.I don't think it's worth sending back because of shipping costs.I just wanted you to know,I already got a meanwell to replace it.Thank you!!

 

[BobCajun]

I am the guy that had a problem a few months back with a seller on Ebay,the driver that I got in that deal was a Pairui lgsu150-c1400d.I was running 3 of the cxb3590's ,the driver has died .I traded the lgsu for an excelsis of the same rating and the light work with the other driver.I don't think it's worth sending back because of shipping costs.I just wanted you to know,I already got a meanwell to replace it.Thank you!!

So in other words, Pairui are cheap Chinese knockoffs of decent drivers. My guess is that Cutter has a much higher profit margin on them than Meanwells, which would explain the Mau5 kits having them instead of good drivers. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm pretty good at figuring out peoples' motives, which usually involve money.

They appear to be good quality from their specs but that doesn't necessarily mean they are. Lots of electrolytic caps in there. Supposedly high quality Jap ones but who knows, they'll still burn out before the LEDs. From the pics, it looks like they aren't filled with the black sealant that Meanwells are. I assume that's there to improve heat dissipation. Pairui's look like a circuit board in a box of air. How is that good for heat dissipation? What's wrong with this nice American company AC Electronics? I guess they don't have high wattage cc ones though. Looks like 200w maximum.

 

[insert username]

Just wanted everyone to know that my problems have been resolved. Cutter electronics has amazing customer service I can't recommend them enough!! Not only did they test and replace my defective driver. They replaced one of my cobs that were damaged and all was back to my door within 3days from sending !!!

 

[MadNyeTheHydroGuy]

Oh now you are remorseful for calling out Mark @ Cutter in a public forum for DIY led builders.

Did you even run any rudimentary tests with a multimeter?

Just wow absolutely amazing that you'd do that before contacting Mark @ cutter through his website and getting the problem sorted as it would have been.

It's good to see others coming forward including GG all these guy's are honest people trying to help us DIYers create our perfect lighting and we owe them many thanks.

Yes from time to time a bad batch of drivers, cob's, whatever may occur, these faults aren't the fault of our distributors but the manufacturer.

If you want perfect I suggest you'll be paying one hell of a lot more as that sort of testing is what you do in places like Space X and even then things go wrong ... (Internal tank struts made outside not meeting standards.) .... see that $65M US blown to pieces for a 10K part.

I'd like to see Mark and some of the truly technical people put together some video's on how to test current, voltage, dimming on these drivers and cob voltage drop.. etc.
I know Growmau has done some on these area's however.

Anyway lucky for the OP that his local, so postage won't be that expensive, and it'll be all sorted within the week.

He diddnt once give me the impression he was "calling anyone out" but just seemed genuinely curious as to whether or not he goofed up somehow. Relax. What do you care if he calls anyone out anyway?