Wasted my money with KINGBRITE. Here's why you should buy from DIGIKEY instead

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MedGroww

New Member
WARNING! You CAN'T return an item with Kingbrite! They want you to pay shipping AND import taxes. They say the fees will be more expensive than the price of the drivers, trying to discourage you from returning the items, on top of the original duty fees and shipping!

I bought $600 of stuff from Kingbrite and I got the wrong drivers. The drivers can't even run the boards I bought in the SAME ORDER. I wasted my money and I can't return the drivers.

To compare, Digikey will accept returns for only $8 CAD. Big difference with Kingbrite who wants you to pay hundreds of dollars for return shipping!
So if you order from Kingbrite make sure you understand that you could lose your money without being able to return the items. This business don't care about their customers, and you realize it only when it's too late.

OH, and Kingbrite will also force you to pay for their seller's paypal fees. This is in direct violation of PayPal User Agreement (confirmed on PayPal website). SHADY AND ILLEGAL!

With Digikey there is NO expensive shipping, NO paypal fees, NO complicated returns. OH also Digikey will ship your order with FedEx 1-day compared to Kingbrite where shipping takes forever. Digikey service is SO much better!
 
The Gram Reaper

The Gram Reaper

Well-Known Member
This reminds of the time I told that guy not to buy Chinese ballast and his house burned down because they didn't have the coating on the inside. Sure was an awkward I told you so.
 
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RangiSTaxi

Well-Known Member
Ive purchased from Kingbrite , Cree 3590s cobs, heat sinks etc a few years ago possibly 3 years ago and I have had a good experience, and had great grows , one out of 4 meanwell drivers did fail after a few years but repurchase was fine, i didn't expect a warranty at their prices , today ive purchased drivers from digikey I will see how they do. I also had a driver fail with HLG 550 and they have a new one on the way now no cost, so im happy buying from HLG again but they were much more expensive lights so i guess you get what you pay for sometimes.

are meanwell drivers the best Led drivers?
 
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Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
coreywebster said:
That 7 year meanwell warranty is worth its weight in gold.

What drivers did you buy from KB @MedGroww
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Except when the Company you bought them from has lost their connections with meanwell and refuses to do an RMA on them for you.
MeanWell will NOT take any drivers directly from customers. I've had 4 HLGs Shit the bed on me. I don't think they're the best, in my experiences. But I haven't tried others so who knows.
 
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1212ham

Well-Known Member
Great idea. :clap:

Remote mount drivers if you can. If you need their heat in the tent, get some air flow on them!

Don't cook drivers by mounting on top of a light without good air circulation!

FWIW, I'm not a fan of running "A" type Meanwell's above rated power.
 
Observe & Report

Observe & Report

Well-Known Member
I have also had good experience with Arrow, Newark, and Mouser, more legit distributors that quickly ship you what you actually ordered instead of cheating you because they think you are just an impotent gringo on the other side of the planet.
 
NeWcS

NeWcS

Well-Known Member
If you got shit you didn't order it'd be easy to go thru your bank/credit card company to see about a charge back.
 
pulpoinspace

pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
arrow is the one i try to use. theyre free shipping speeds always blew me away. stuff gets here in less than 24 hours.

i ordered 180mm cob heatsinks from kingbrite a couple years ago and they were great, shipping was fast, and they undervalued the product at customs so fees were really nothing. it was a great experience. however, i have heard of them doing this, sending the outright wrong products to customers. i don't think your the first one. and the shipping to china is just expensive. it is what is. sorry man. definitely won't be recommending this company to others thanks for the heads up.
 
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High Above

Well-Known Member
Does anybody have experience with Kingbrite's 288 QBs?
I can get some HLG-185H-C1050s rly cheap and was thinking of running 4 of those boards per driver. Should be super efficient in theory.
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
High Above said:
Does anybody have experience with Kingbrite's 288 QBs?
I can get some HLG-185H-C1050s rly cheap and was thinking of running 4 of those boards per driver. Should be super efficient in theory.
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They're at least low bin lm301h diodes by now you'd be getting, since the new lm302n is coming out soon.
Well worth the savings. Just get your driver from your country for warranty.
 
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