August 2025 - Present

All Questions or Feedback for this Project can be posted in the Support Thread for this Project Here

As stated in the announcement topic we are starting up the 4th round of The Great White Hope White LED Benchmark Comparison.

Some maybe asking....why we are doing this?

The answer is simple....  

We have always done what others have not, or won't do. 

Every couple of years or so our Electric Sign Trade goes through a cycle of hearing outrageous marketing claims.  These claims are always executed but never explained.  

Back in 2008 when we started the first Great White Hope (Neon vs LED) our industry was hit with all kinds of marketing claims about which light source was better than the other, Neon, LED, or Fluorescent Lighting.  

In Short, after 40K hours of operation the conclusion was simple and it contradicted everything we thought we knew, and it contradicted everything the Trade Rag Magazines & Sign Associations told us at the time.  In that period LEDs just hit the market and they were touted as more efficient, more green, better for the environment than Neon....those claims did not work out so well for the LED world.  I'm not going to go down the all the supportive facts you can do a site search.  In Short...both Light Sources are Efficient, and both light sources have their pros & cons and one light source is not best for all projects rather should be based on the project application.

Fast forward to today, no one is using Neon Lamps for backlighting Channel Letters and Cabinets under a lens or sign face.  If you're using Neon it's for exposed applications and it's way more light and energy Efficient that using Neon Faux LED Silicone Junk as we all learned from Project Border Security that we ran Neon vs LED.

What we all learned in all the various Benchmark Testing what we have conducted here on the Sign Syndicate is that Neon (Merc Filled) can dim in the cold ambient temperatures because the mercury will condense, and unless you change the Neon Transformer from a 30ma unit to a larger heavier 60ma unit...which will double the current vaporize that merc in the cold, increase in power and Light Output....These light source units do gradually degrade in light output over time because the Mercury will eventually eat through the phosphor coating of the glass....UNLESS...

The Neon unit is clear red or Neon gas filled....because it's then just glass and gas with no mercury...hot or cold ambient temperatures will not affect the light source.  Most importantly because it's just glass and gas these Neon lamps do not degrade in light output over time

LEDs are practically the opposite.  LEDs do well in the cold and dim in hot ambient temperatures, hot temperatures can rapidly degrade/damage LED modules as a light source, but not a Neon Lamp.  That is why it's important from the start to not overdrive or run too hot.  Also, the LED modules light output does degrade overtime based on environmental conditions, how they are driven, and how they are protected.

Chip quality of LEDs are everything, the mere appearance of the color rendering to the light per power.  As I said above...how they are driven.  Poor quality chips won't produce a great amount of light, to make up for it, or to get them to produce more light you must drive them more....which results in over driving and running them hot. 

Superior quality chips that are truly efficient will give you a lot of light for lesser power.

So....if we compare equal driving light source components, and one is giving us more light for a lesser cost of operation, only then....only then can we say the light source that is producing more for less.... is "more efficient".  

Higher efficiency can equal longer life because it's under driven.

The Great White Hope IV Benchmark Comparison Line Up

Cabinet Section B

United LEDs (G2G) 7500K 12V  .8w for Channel Letters  

United LEDs (G2G) 7500K 12V  1.2w for Large Channel Letters & Cabinets

Principal Hanley's The One 7000K 24V 1w LED for Channel Letters & Cabinet (Tap Out, Hanley One Stik)

Principal Qwik Mod II 7100K  12V  .8w for Channel Letters

Principal Qwik Mod II Red 12V  .8w  for Channel Letters

Principal Sloans Prism 6500K 12V  .96w for Large Channel Letters & Cabinets

G2G Wow .8w Module (Coming Soon)

Everylite Rebel 6500K 12V  1w for Channel Letters

Everylite 2D .72w Module (Coming Soon)

Cabinet Section A

BrightON II 6500K 24V .8w for Channel Letters

BrightON II .Ruby Red 24V  .8W for Channel Letters

BrightON III 6500K  12V  1.2w for Large Channel Letters & Cabinets

BrightON IV 6500K  24V  1.6w Sign Cabinets

BrightON SunFire 6500K 24V  2.4w for Large Deep Double Sided Cabinets

BrightON Lightning 6500K  12V .68w for Channel Letters (Coming Soon)

BrightON Lightning Ruby Red 12V .72W for Channel Letters

A few more surprise Vendor Modules as we go along.

All LED Modules will be equally spaced for 2LED Modules, 3LED Modules, and 4LED Module. 

Cabinet Section A (Left), Cabinet Section B (Right)

The Parameters

All LED Modules will be in 5" Depth Channels that are 24" x 4.25".  Sign Faces will be 1/8" 7328 White by Plexiglas grade C.

All 12V & 24V LED Modules will be driven by both France TruPower (100% Loadable) LED Power Supplies

The only fault this benchmark comparison will have is that the budget Constant Voltage LEDs like the Qwik Mod II & United LED will be handy capped in Light Output because there will not be any remote slight voltage drop coming from a TruPower LED PSU that will affect the light output drop that would occur in real life setting should a LED PSU be loaded at 80 - 85%.  These LED PSU's will hardy reach any load rate....Constant Current LED Modules light output is not affected by slight voltage drops and remain consistent in lighting.

So, if we have one fault it lays here, but just know...all Constant Voltage LED modules would normally be a little dimmer in light for two reasons, TruPower LED Power Supply and for the fact that our PSU's will not be reaching anywhere near loadable capacity, and if we were to add modules down the road after initial start, it would affect these CC LED Modules Light Output in robbing voltage.

France TruPower LED Supplies

LED Module Categories

As stated above the individual Channels have a  5" Depth,  24" Width and 4.25" Height.  

Category A LED Modules will be .6w to 1w for Channel Letters

Category AR LED Modules will be .6w to 1w for Channel Letters

Category B LED Modules will be 1w to 2w for Large Channel Letters & Cabinets

Category C LED Modules will be 1.2w to 3w for Large Sign Cabinets

Category D LED Modules will be 2w+ for Large Deep Double Sided Cabinets

Category A & AR Spacing

Category B Spacing

Category C Spacing

Category D Spacing

This is going to be a hard category to have equal spacing since these LED modules are a little more unconventional and unique.  This Category may vary as we add more LED Modules from various vendors.  

These LED modules typically use Narrow Beam Optics for use in Deep Sign Cabinets.  In reality these modules should be applied in a comparison where the depth is 12" Deep or greater.

For now the Brighton SunFire is the only Module in this Benchmark and we'll just observe the Lumen Maintenance for now until more are inserted in.  Possibly we may do a separate Deep Sign Cabinet Comparison.

The Great White Hope II - (Year 1 & 2)

February 2014 - Present

The only thing we ask is, if you like what you see and if it helps you make better buying decisions for your sign applications that you build then you can support us and the tests we do by either upgrading your free membership to a Board Patron which has it's additional benefits or by purchasing electrical sign supplies that we sell here on The Sign Syndicate as you'll see in the test result sheets!


One thing that we don't sell here on The Sign Syndicate for the exact reasons of these tests is sell Neon Glass or LED Modules because I know most would think us bias if we did. So because of this, we'll only sell electrical sign supplies that compliment these light sources such as LED power supplies, and neon wiring & Transformers etc.

You'll also notice a lot of Light Source MFG's signed up here on the Sign Syndicate and submitted their lamps for the testing. Some did not, and you'll see "Non-Willing Participant" next to their name in the Tutorial product listings. Most did not want to because they did not want to be compared to their competition or called out on their claims when they show up to your shop and tell you you should buy theirs because they are superior to their competition. Well, all we can do here is include some of those MFG's anyway and throw them up on the board and see where they might fall. We hope some of them at some point join us and take part because they want to. They ALL have an open invitation to do so. We thinks it's a good idea and there is a lot to learn and most of the time it just begs more questions than results can answer. If you are a Light source manufacturer interested in having your lamps included then please upgrade your free membership to a Board Vendor (which includes a free advertising package for the duration of your membership) and submit your lamps


I first to want to start off by thanking everyone who has been involved with this project from the start and continue to make it better, I want to specially thank Telford Dorr for this immeasurable measurements, Marko of YYZ LED Systems for helping to move this project in a better direction and the Vendors who have participated with their products for this comparison.


Though 6500 SW is the standard here for comparison you'll see a variation of whites, not all are of course in the same ballpark, but you will see where pending the application you might choose one over the other.


You might see some edits done on this tutorial over the course an that is because information may/will change.


Every month power readings and light output readings will be added to this tutorial. Other tests may also be done not yet defined at this point. A picture will also be taken with the same settings and placement.


THE TEST:

First, The Great White Hope II is for high powered LEDs 1watt + and above, all others below are for Project Tighty Whitey. This is also for Neon & Tri-Phosphor Neon Lamps.

Like our other tests, we are taking period reads and measuring the light output of every single light source in our test right on the sign face which is made up of a 8" x 8" marked square on the same spot every time and we average the highs and lows.

For the initial power consumption measuring for the LEDs we are using a GW Instek programmable power supply. This PS measure and tells us what each string pulls as if the power supply they were on is running at 100% efficiency. Why we do it this way is because the power supply YOU use for your applications will vary and we want to level the plain field.

On the Neon side of things we are just going to use the age old France Footage/Watt Chart, this is also to assume the neon is running on a typical magnetic power supply. We are also not including the 1 extra foot of power consumption per pair of electrodes per lamp because this would greatly skew the numbers of small 2' light sources.

The main thing about this benchmark test is that we are looking at lumen maintenance and how much each product will hold up over time and monitor the light degradation. One thing I wish we could measure and monitor is the color shift over time of each product. Maybe we will get access to a spectrometer in the future because there is a huge shift of some products over time and we will notice in our yearly shots that we take for comparison.



SIGN CHANNEL STRUCTURE

Well, instead of the large sectioned out cabinet we had for the first Great White Hope this time we did assimilated to our other tests and fabricated individual channels for each light source.


LIGHT SOURCE PRODUCT LIST (Top to Bottom)

• Axiom LED AXLE9XB
• 13mm EGL DL 61 ((Tri-Phosphor 60ma) *-Non-Willing Participant
• 15mm Voltarc 6500 SW *-Non-Willing Participant
• 13mm Voltarc 6500 SW *-Non-Willing Participant
• 15mm FMS TC 6500 (Tri-Phosphor)
• 15mm Glostertube 6500 6500 166 (Tri-Phosphor)
• 13mm EGL DL61 (Tri-Phosphor)
• 13mm Voltarc Tri-Lite *-Non-Willing Participant
• 12mm FMS TC6500 (Tri-Phosphor)
• Permlight El Plato HO *-Non-Willing Participant
• GOQ LED *-Non-Willing Participant
• GE Tetra Power Max *-Non-Willing Participant
• International Light Technologies Summit
• Sloan GW4 *-Non-Willing Participant
• Permlight Twister *-Non-Willing Participant
• Hyco CooChip

SIGN COMPONENTS

• 1/8" Cyro #7328 White Acrylic Lens Faces
• CCFL Transformers- Ventex 6030/60CL
• CCFL Transformers- Ventex 6030/30CL
• Axiom 60 Watt Class II LED Power Supplies
• Transco TC200 Porcelain Housings
• FMS Neon Tube Supports
• Plasco Trim Cap

DURATION:

This project is never stopping, it runs for two 10 hour cycles a day 365 days a year


NEON & LED POWER:

Unlike the first Great White Hope where we had dedicated power sources for each lamp are are copying our other light test projects that consist of all light sources on a shared power supply. For the LEDs are are using the surplus military grade Axiom LED Power Supplies left over from the GWH (So to continue their endurance at 40k+ operating hours) because of the manual DC voltage set screw to assure we have exactly 12volts across all LED strings to level the playing field. For all Neon Lamps we are using our surplus SST Ventex Neon Transformers to again, continue to monitor their endurance as well at 40k+ hours of operation. All Neon lamps are on a shared SST.




EARLY TEST PICTURES

Finally lighting up all the neon side of the project



The same for the LED side



The back side of the project







March 15, 2014

Today is the first evaluation since the project has been ongoing. The only thing we have in news is that as usual all the Neon lamps are taking their initial lumen maintenance that comes in the first 1000 or so hours then we'll see them plane off gradually.

Below are the pics of the class of 2014.

I'm just going to show off one pic of the Neon, because no one will be able to distinguish one from the other.

PIC1



Hyco CooChip



Permlight's El Plato HO



GE's Tetra Power Max



GOQ's Quad Chip LED



Sloan's GW4



International Light Technologies Summit



Permlight's Twister



I'm currently looking to add US LED's Quasar 3, Osram, and Agilight and whatever other LED manufacturers decide to join us in this ongoing comparison project.

In a short observation we're already seen a 16% drop in light output from the CooChip and we'll see what happens next period.

Just this month a national sign company gave us a few strings of AgiLight LEDs that they wanted to see in our various tests that they also use for a national sign program. The string that we will be putting up for GWH II will be the Apex series, this will be for April.

Some of the LEDs we have in our tests come from sign companies who are curious about the performance of products they use, and when doing so it helps us all out and we all learn.


MARCH 2014 EVALUATION DOWNLOAD


SEPTEMBER 2014 EVALUATION
10/30/14

It's been some time. In August we added Axiom LEDs AXLE9XB module at 14.7 volts on a dedicated power supply, the LEDs come in at 1.6 watts each.

AXLE9XB



We're a little over a month of reporting these late September results and about two weeks short of doing Novembers. It's been some time so I may add or make changes to the above information.

The download sheet for September can be found here

Link http://www.thesignsy...arison-results/

Here is EGL's 60ma CL71 turned Thor, God of Lightning.

We have a jump in light from our standard FF to Ice by +31.58% (487.5 FC AVG) , +3.98% (347 FC AVG) using Sign Flex, and a -30.78% (231 FC AVG) using OptixLD. Axiom's Light source comes real close to EGL's 15mm DL71's compartment




It's nice seeing how other acrylic lenses compare other than a standard 7328 white sheet. Though Ice seems to be a real winner in light transmission & even dispersing the light, I wonder how it holds up to the elements? I'll me moving that lens over to our other tutorial "Electric Sign Faces" and see how it holds up compared to others over time. Does Satin Ice have a Kryptonite?

The only disadvantage of Cyro Ice right now that I know of is it's availability, good luck trying to obtain a sheet unless you want to purchase a whole pallet. I don't know of any suppliers who stock it, you need to either buy a case of 12, or pallet of 48. The price can go from $106 to $141.

Down the road we'll compare the Plexiglas version of Satin ice, and a few other vendors of acrylics and poly-carbonates to see how they compare too

The Great White Hope (Year 3, 4, & 5)


10/08 -Present





The only thing we ask is, if you like what you see and if it helps you make better buying decisions for your sign applications that you build then you can support us and the tests we do by either upgrading your free membership to a Board Patron which has it's additional benefits or by purchasing electrical sign supplies that we sell here on The Sign Syndicate as you'll see in the test result sheets!


One thing that we don't sell here on The Sign Syndicate for the exact reasons of these tests is sell Neon Glass or LED Modules because I know most would think us bias if we did. So because of this, we'll only sell electrical sign supplies that compliment these light sources such as LED power supplies, and neon wiring & Transformers etc.

You'll also notice a lot of Light Source MFG's signed up here on the Sign Syndicate and submitted their lamps for the testing. Some did not, and you'll see "Non-Willing Participant" next to their name in the Tutorial product listings. Most did not want to because they did not want to be compared to their competition or called out on their claims when they show up to your shop and tell you you should buy theirs because they are superior to their competition. Well, all we can do here is include some of those MFG's anyway and throw them up on the board and see where they might fall. We hope some of them at some point join us and take part because they want to. They ALL have an open invitation to do so. We thinks it's a good idea and there is a lot to learn and most of the time it just begs more questions than results can answer. If you are a Light source manufacturer interested in having your lamps included then please upgrade your free membership to a Board Vendor (which includes a free advertising package for the duration of your membership) and submit your lamps


I first to want to start off by thanking everyone who has been involved with this project from the start and continue to make it better, I want to specially thank Telford Dorr for this immeasurable measurements, Marko for helping to move this project in a better direction and the Vendors who have participated with their products for this comparison.


Though 6500 SW is the standard here for comparison you'll see a variation of whites, not all are of course in the same ballpark, but you will see where pending the application you might choose one over the other.


You might see some edits done on this tutorial over the course an that is because information may/will change.


Every month power readings and light output readings will be added to this tutorial. Spectrometer reading will also be displayed through the course. Other tests may also be done not yet defined at this point. A picture will also be taken with the same settings and placement.




SIGN CABINET

• ABC Sign Products

LIGHT SOURCE PRODUCT LIST (Top to Bottom)

• GE Tetra Power White (*Non-Willing Participant)
• GE Tetra Tetra PowerMAX(12v) (*Non-Willing Participant)
• Relume (*Non-Willing Participant)
• Sylvania HF2 Chain HE
• Elite Lamp Technologies Elite 65D Tri 13mm 30ma
• Phillips (24v)
• Eurocom LetraLED
• CAO LuxemBright (12v)
• Axiom AX-LE3 (14v)
• Axiom AX-LE7
• Ventex Venbrite (400v Class I) (*Non-Willing Participant)
• YYZ PowerStroke (12v)
• Borealis LED
• JT LED - Alumina (*Non-Willing Participant)
• AVA Technologies
• EGL DL71 13mm 30ma
• AgiLight ThinRayz XTRA (12v)
• Sloan Great White 2 (*Non-Willing Participant)
• Sloan Great White 3 (*Non-Willing Participant)
• Permlight El Plato (*Non-Willing Participant)
• Permlight Nitros (*Non-Willing Participant)
• Aristo
• US LED Mega White Lightning (12v) (*Non-Willing Participant)
• US LED Quasar (*Non-Willing Participant)
• ElectraLED Flex (*Non-Willing Participant)
• EGL 6500 SW 15mm 30ma
• EGL DL71 15mm 60ma
• International Light Technologies
• LumiText - LumiString
• Principal LED (*Non-Willing Participant)
• EGL Veritas
• FMS 12mm Brillite

ACRYLIC FACE LENS


SIGN COMPONENTS

• 1/8" Cyro #7328 White Acrylic Lenses
• CCFL Transformers- Ventex 4030/60CL

DURATION:


This project is never stopping, it runs 20/7/365, we cycle the power twice per day.




This section is strictly for project years 3 & 4, anything prior be sire to check out Years 1 & 2 in the tutorial section.



10/17/10


This is a new project year starting off Year 3. Temperatures were and have been in the cooler 70's, and that has played a factor into the period of time in which I took the monthly evaluations. No product additions or failures this month but we will start to take some looks back at years 1 & 2 to hand off some first place winners in various categories.


I will also be taking some recent shots of the cabinets and comparing them to years 1 & 2.



NEW Analysis CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: armybooty

Last Revision: 10/28/10 1:24 PM





10/28/10


It was brought to my attention today that I had the wrong Wattage number for GE's Power White. Originally I have written down the Volt Amps instead of the wattage. It's updated now and a new FC/Watt figure is updated in the charts

Please see 3/22/11




11/5/10



Here are some pictures of the Sign Cabinets 1 & 2.



Sign Cab 1, (Left to right)

Nov 2008, Nov 2009, Nov 2010



* Notes - Original Beta Ventex Venbrites were later replaced with the market products 1 year later.
Original Agilight Product failed and was replaced shortly after original start.




Sign Cab 2, (Left to right)

Dec 2009, March 2010, Nov 2010



*Notes- Original AVA Technology product was a 8500K product changed to a 6500K product shortly after start.




11/14/10


I'm holding off on introducing the new GE Tetra Power Max whites until next month where I'm hoping to also add a few more products.

This month, temps are just dropping from last month and we're going to see what we see in the last couple of years, some products rise and fall, some that should be rising are still falling in light output.

Also, in the pdf files I've added the new cabinet pictures


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: thanksgiving

Last Revision: 11/14/10 6:47 PM



1/8/11


We skipped December so we accumulated 1,120 hours for the two months.

This month we removed the Philips product line because rumor is Philips is leaving the sign industry and I can't get anymore information from our former Board Vendor. So if it's no longer advertised and I haven't heard of anyone using it, the Vendor is Non-supportive of their product on The Sign Syndicate, why have it?

Philips was replaced with a product by Relume these are intergal circuit board panels. Everythign is placed on a aluminum panel. Basically when you make your channel letters, you send them the file and they will roughly inline the channel letter back a 1/2" or so and send you the new backs which you place in your channel letters. This is supposed to be for superb heat sinking. This manufacturer is non supportive, they sent me the panels and PS's and we're supposed to join as a Board Vendor but never did. So far these are power hoggers at 32 watts, it's a very propitiatory system. We'll keep it for now until we need more room for others.

Also, added is GE's new Tetra PowerMAX. It's less power than it's predecessor, but also less initial light output.


I'll follow through back with this entry with pics or a video of the new product adds.

GE's New Tetra Power Max Modules




NEW Analysis CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: wildcard

Last Revision: 1/8/11 4:28 PM



02/13/11


It was a warm week this week. I've decided to drop the CAO LuxemBright and the USLED White Lighting for a couple of reasons. Primarily they have reached 40% light degradation since their initial output even in their favorable cold months, the US LED product is now outdated, lastly their taking up space and energy in place of areas where I can now add future products.

I'll be looking for the new Allanson Products and whatever Agilight introduces at ISA


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: packers

Last Revision: 2/13/11 9:00 PM




03/13/11


Just shy of the 20,000 hour mark. GE Power white took a 15% light loss since last month, will have to see what happens next month if it continues further.


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: march mad

Last Revision: 3/22/11 3:26 PM



03/22/11

On 10/28/11 I made the mistake of re-adjusting the GE Power Whites from 14 watts up to 23 watts. 23 watts is indeed the VA, 14 is the actual wattage. I use a stool to look at the very top compartmen which is the GE and I can see where I got the glare. I also have updated the wattage of other compartments as well. I've discarded 6 P3 Kill-A-Watt meters what were off by 3-5watts each. I've kept the remaining 14 which are consistent with each other.



04/10/11

This month was colder than last month. Strange weather for April.

This month we added Principal LEDs "The Spec" and Light Engines 1x12 module. Both vendors were asked to be apart of this testing, Light Engines never returned emails, Principal LED straight out said "No, I know what the SS does, and NO". So, here they are.

There is a possibility this month I will be deactivating Relume from the testing. It's a product where the vendor is MIA after promising to be a Board Vendor, this coupled with the fact that this product is very proprietary. There is also a 14% drop in light output for very few operating hours in a colder month.

We will be introducing a new product later this month as well that should be a shocker

NEW Analysis CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: expo

Last Revision: 3/22/11 3:26 PM



05/14/11

Relume was dropped out at the beginning of this month leaving room for just one more vendor to get in. There is a 13 degree jump in temperature this month, as usual the CCFL light output has risen and LEDs drop. Not a whole lot going on with

NEW Analysis CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: bad date



06/12/11

Not much changed this month. We took removed Axiom AXEL 7's because they are no longer sold and we added EGL's new Veritas LED line. Looking to add a new CCFL product later this month by another glass manufacturer,FMS Neon.


EGL 1 Watt Veritas LED's


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: summertime



07/15/11

This month is slightly warmer than last.

Not a whole lot to say this month, not a whole lot has changed other than the small decrease in light output by LEDs and small increase with the CCFL lamps due to a warmer ambient temperatures.

Nothing new in the near horizon until the new FMS Neon lamp comes in, this will be a 12mm lamp. I use 12mm lamps more lately than any other, slight smaller than a 13, slight brighter and more energy. We'll see what a difference it makes compared to the initial results of the existing 13 & 15mm lamps

NEW Analysis CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: uncle sam



08/16/11

This may have been the hottest day of our sad excuse of a summer, It wasn't that hot and August is usually our hottest month. I only got to spend two worth while days at the beach this summer.

So.....The Great White hope! Smooth sailing, hoping to get that new CCFL unit in here soon, other than nothing to dramatic to report, that's happening in the other tests we have going

NEW Analysis CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: NFL



09/16/11

No huge shifts in light output this month, got a little cooler since last month some LED compartments rose and some still declined. We discontinued the JT Alumina line since it's not widely used and their not a Board Vendor, instead we will be looking to replace with FMS's white tri-phosphor line in 12mm white.

Next month will kick off out year 4!

NEW Analysis CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: patriot


10/16/11

Now begins year four of The Great White Hope. This month we just got in, but will be added next month is International Lights LED line, and hoping to get FMS's neon too up as well both ready for November.

Slightly cooler this month than last and that means not much change. Meaning there is not really any light sources taking a drastic change, mainly a 1% change up or own or nothing changed at all.

NEW Analysis CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: bye week



11/19/11

This month we have two new products replacing the newer Axiom & JT LED Alumina, those new vendors are International Light Technologies and LumiText, both lower wattage modules for The Great White Hope.

It's a cooler month in the cycle, CCFL lamps lowered and most of the LEDs rose in light, well most of them.


LumiText LED's



International Light Technologies LED's


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
Revision 11/29/11 CLICK HERE

PASSWORD: thanks





12/17/11

This has got to be the coldest month in ambient temps in the entire duration of these tests.

So what does that mean, it means neon takes a huge hit as much as 25% since last month, LEDs rose with the highest being a little over 5%. Some long time products hardly to none at all with the lowest temp to date, curious to see if they finally hit that curve, will be interesting to see what happens in this next year

NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: snow




01/16/12

How long has it been since we introduced a CCFL lamp? About 26,000 hours ago!

Here we have FMS Neon's Brillite Tri-Phosphor lamps. Garett of Elite lamp processed it, a video of that will be in our January's Video Update.

Hopefuly later this month we'll have another vendor addition

I know i have been lagging in updating pictures of the test cabinet and I think I will get a chance to get to it this week, with Christmas and other holidays finaly behind us I think I'll finally have the time.


FMS Neon Products 12mm Brillite on a Ventex CL4030




NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: playoffs




02/19/12

This last month we turned FMS Neon's lamp off. The reason being I noticed for 12mm it just wasn't as bright as I thought it should be, some to find out it it has the wrong gas in it,so we'll get that put back in hopefully in the next few days and update February's evaluation.

GE's LED's we also put on hold. Come to find out not even a year later and there is a new LED out for the Power Tetra Max, so we'll get this figured out around the time of the ISA's EXPO. I don't want to run something that isn't even marketed.

This month we introduce Axiom LED's new AXEL 5, into the mix. We booted out AgiLight's ThinRayz XTRA's sine they aren't a Board Vendor and the fact the the color rendering is just bad I can't ever see anyone using it as a white LED. Maybe we'll try and track something from them in the future.

As for everything else going on in the test, not a whole lot to report with ambient temps not much different than last month. Oh wait, here's something worth noting, I took pics of the current cabinets, so I'll update this later today or tomorrow as well as update it in the pdf file.


Axiom LED's AXEL5




Cabinet 1 Series




Cabinet 2 Series



NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: mine
REVISED 2/20/12 9:35AM




03/17/12

Not a whole lot changed in temperature from this month to last, so not much change due to temperature. Some stayed the same, some slightly moved up and down in light output.

We updated a few of the missing information cells


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: madness
REVISED 03/17/12 9:35AM




04/22/12

This month is 10 degrees higher than last. Looks like we'll be removing the latest GE Tetra PowerMax line and look to insert their newer one, but we'll always have the oldest one we have had in since 08'. This month we also have removed Eurocom, for whatever reason they wish to no longer resume with the testing. Hate to see them go but this no presents an opportunity for another vendor to take their place in our limited room of test space.


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: opening day
REVISED 04/22/12 2:41PM




05/22/12

"Space for Rent"

That's going to be the new sign going above our empty compartments due to your absentee landlord (Me). Like I said in another thread it's summertime and Kgirl loves to go shopping so we must go shopping for the latest and greatest of our industry


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: mayo



07/15/12

We skipped a month from May to July so we can get back to doing this on the 10th of every month.

I asked the question on the open forum, what MFG modules would you like to see in our tests. We're open to suggestions. We might be adding the Sloan GW4's in this test and finally replacing the old GW2's

NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: endless summer




08/19/12

This is THE hottest month so far in our testing since we've started. We will be temporarily cutting back on the hours of these tests, that time hasn't been determined yet but again, it will only be temporarily.

NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD:nfl




09/23/12

The cooling trend is coming. Just when you think you're going to have some more light sources to add in, it just doesn't happen.

Will have to keep our eye on the Principal LED, it's having a odd rapid drop in light this month.


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: touchdown



02/10/13

It's been some time since we've entered anything here.

We're back into the swing of things five months later, ad we're going to consolidate and change these logs instead of entering them in four different places but we'll discuss that another time. But testing will now be done on a bi-monthly basis.

The changes to The Great White Hope is that from November 2012 to February 2013, The ElectraLEDs catastrophically failed.




We're also seen a long dipping curve coming from the Principal LEDs. Where it will fall we'll stay on it and see. This month we're shutting the light off to Electra LEDs, Sloans GW2's because their so old and version 4 is out now. US LED's "Quasars", because they don't sell these any longer. This month we'll finally put the 12mm Tri-phosphor lamp from FMS, and add a few more upgraded MFG LED lines


NEW Analysis NOVEMBER 2012 CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: turkey

NEW Analysis FEBRUARY 2013 CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: ravens



06/09/13

We've phased out several vendor lines recently which includes Sloans GW2, International Lights, AVA Technologies mainly because they are dated.

New this month we are adding FMS's Tri-Phosphor Brilite, a 6500K 12mm lamp.

I think we will be condensing the GWH test cabinets from a double row 8" wide stroke to a single 4" stroke and 2' or 3' long to both save space and energy. This will be done in the future, when....that's not certain.

Any questions or comments don't forget to visit the Support topic thread which you can use the banner located below or on the right side of this window you'll see a button "Visit Support Topic"

NEW JUNE 2013 TEST RESULTS: GreatWhite 060713.pdf

REVISED 7/15/13



8/26/13

We are still collecting light sources so we are projecting a September start.



2/2014

We will now be continuing with a reboot of this project as The Great White Hope II. Please follow us here
http://www.thesignsy...hope-ii-year-1/

10/08 -Present

The only thing we ask is, if you like what you see and if it helps you make better buying decisions for your sign applications that you build then you can support us and the tests we do by either upgrading your free membership to a Board Patron which has it's additional benefits or by purchasing electrical sign supplies that we sell here on The Sign Syndicate as you'll see in the test result sheets!


One thing that we don't sell here on The Sign Syndicate for the exact reasons of these tests is sell Neon Glass or LED Modules because I know most would think us bias if we did. So because of this, we'll only sell electrical sign supplies that compliment these light sources such as LED power supplies, and neon wiring & Transformers etc.

You'll also notice a lot of Light Source MFG's signed up here on the Sign Syndicate and submitted their lamps for the testing. Some did not, and you'll see "Non-Willing Participant" next to their name in the Tutorial product listings. Most did not want to because they did not want to be compared to their competition or called out on their claims when they show up to your shop and tell you you should buy theirs because they are superior to their competition. Well, all we can do here is include some of those MFG's anyway and throw them up on the board and see where they might fall. We hope some of them at some point join us and take part because they want to. They ALL have an open invitation to do so. We thinks it's a good idea and there is a lot to learn and most of the time it just begs more questions than results can answer. If you are a Light source manufacturer interested in having your lamps included then please upgrade your free membership to a Board Vendor (which includes a free advertising package for the duration of your membership) and submit your lamps



I first to want to start off by thanking everyone who was involved with this project from ABC Sign Products for the cabinet, Ventex for the CCFL power supplies and all vendors who submitted their products for this comparison.

All vendors products and time spent on development is appreciated, without people who have vision and try, we wouldn't have what we have now in life.

Though 6500 SW is the standard here for comparison you'll see a variation of whites, not all are of course in the same ballpark, but you will see where pending the application you might choose one over the other.

I think at the end of the project, 1 year from now I will have a poll with different questions I'm going to guess there won't be one product choice pick over all others for related applications judging from the initial results right now.

You might see some edits done on this tutorial over the course an that is because information may/will change.

Every month power readings and light output readings will be added to this tutorial. Spectrometer reading will also be displayed through the course. Other tests may also be done not yet defined at this point. A picture will also be taken with the same settings and placement.



To visit the support topic for this Tutorial, CLICK on "Options" >"Visit Support Topic"

SIGN CABINET

• ABC Sign Products

LIGHT SOURCE PRODUCT LIST (Top to Bottom)

• GE Tetra Power White (12v) (*Non-Willing Participant)
• Sylvania HF2 Chain HE
• Elite Lamp Technologies Elite 65D Tri 13mm 30ma
• Phillips (24v)
• Eurocom LetraLED
• CAO LuxemBright (12v)
• Axiom AX-LE3 (14v)
• Axiom AX-LE7
• Ventex Venbrite (400v Class I)
• YYZ PowerStroke (12v)
• Borealis LED
• JT LED (*Non-Willing Participant)
• AVA Technologies
• EGL DL71 13mm 30ma
• AgiLight ThinRayz XTRA (12v)
• Sloan Great White 2 (*Non-Willing Participant)
• Sloan Great White 3 (*Non-Willing Participant)
• Permlight El Plato (*Non-Willing Participant)
• Permlight Nitros (*Non-Willing Participant)
• Aristo
• US LED Mega White Lightning (12v) (*Non-Willing Participant)
• US LED Quasar (*Non-Willing Participant)
• ElectraLED Flex (*Non-Willing Participant)
• EGL 6500 SW 15mm 30ma
• EGL DL71 15mm 60ma

ACRYLIC FACE LENS

SIGN COMPONENTS

• 1/8" Cyro #7328 White Acrylic Lenses
• CCFL Transformers- Ventex 4030/60CL

DURATION:

This project is never stopping, it runs 24/7/365.



First Picture Taken 10/23/08







Initial Power Draw (Watts) Slot renderings will be off due to the use of a flash













Judging from the current power readings at this time let's put these figures into a sign industry perspective. Let's take these individual slots of each vendor and propose a 15 letter sign using the same values and run 8 hours a day at $.095 a killowatt-Hr to show what a sign would cost a customer annually in comparison.

• GE Tetra ($55.48)
• Elite Lamp ($87.18)
• Phillips ($23.77)
• Sloan V-Series ($43.59)
• CAO LuxemBright($67.36)
• AXIOM ($75.29) 12v
• AXIOM ($91.15) Modified jump from 12v to 14.7v
• Ventex ($59.44)
• YYX ($51.52)
• EGL DL71 13mm ($87.18)
• AgiLight ($103.03)
• Sloan GW ($79.26)
• US LED MWL ($79.26)
• EGL 15mm 6500 ($79.26)
• EGL DL71 15mm 60ma ($146.63)

10/28/08

We'll be replacing the Sloan V-series with USLED Mega White Lightening since there is not enough contrast between the V-series and the GW modules.

10/29/08

Here are the initial light readings in Foot Candles or FC. I'm going to give you four numbers, Watts, FC Avg., FC High, FC Low, for each product. In the middle of each slot I have a rectangle drawn out (6" x 8") on the same location for all slots. Within this square I am getting my light readings, also within the square I mark where I have taken the High reading.



10/04/08

The Sloan LED V-Series & Great White have now been replaced with CAO's LuxemBright & US LED's Mega White Lightning due to the poor light output of the product.

Updated pics and reading are posted.







11/26/08



12/01/08

Well, I was about to post the new numbers until I hit a snag. I noticed some unusual drops of brightness with the neon sections depending on what time of day I took the measurements. Noon, 5pm & 11pm were all different, this surprises me for San Diego Weather and would have expected some differences somewhere with more extreme temperature changes.

Telford gave me a good idea about using a blow dryer to warm the neon sections and the FC's numbers went up. When I do the same to LED's, their FC's numbers dropped. So before I post new numbers up I'm going to have to take measurements in two or three separate categories of temperature. A warm climate & a cold climate, and maybe room temp.

Garret gave me the idea of using my Vortex tool into each section to measure the cold, I'll have to use a dryer for warm. I'm also going to have to go out and pick up a digital thermometer to make sure I get these the same.


12/01/08 B

This month we are seeing the initial lumen maintenance on the CCFL light sources and the drop in brightness. We are also seeing a few LED light sources drop as well

Here is the latest numbers along with the added section temperature. I picked up a simple thermometer from Bed Bath & Beyond, I took a measurement of each compartment as I took the light readings.

***This sheet has been revised (12/22/08) When I was calculating the Light drop percentage, I confused some of the FC AVG with some other FC numbers. Also I decided to added in the initial FC Average column numbers taken of each slot for comparison



I tried a few things and it was unpredictable using a hair dryer blowing hair into some of the compartments, maybe there is a way to control the higher temps more but here are some interesting figures when using a hair dryer to raise the temperatures.

When raising the temp in the Elite Lamps CCFL Section I got a high of 174+ FC with a temperature of 136 F. When again raising the temperature in Axioms section to approximately 138 F, the FC high was lowered to 114.

When I took a light reading of Elite Lamps section at about 6:00am it was quite cold in the room and the CCFL section had a FC high of 248. So you can see where this can be going how both CCFL & LED's relationship is with warmer or colder temperatures.

One thing I may do in the later months is blast both cold & warm air and take some measurements as a further test. We will surely see both CCFL & LED's brightness rise and fall.

Also, maybe for the next reading I will hook up one CCFL section to a magnetic tranny and see what the differences can be versus the use of a electronic transformer with the same temperature conditions.


12/8/08

Here is an updated picture to go with the recent new monthly reading to show changes made mainly with raising the voltage of Axioms LED modules from 14v to 14.7v, and to show the initial lumen maintenance for the CCFL sections.

Today the Agilight ThinRayz XTRA product line were sent back to the manufacturers lab so they can examine the problem on their product line with the rapid deterioration (34%) that occurred within 15-20 days or running. We should be getting a new string of the same product in by Wednesday of this week.




12/16/08

AgiLight ThinRayz XTRA modules placed back in. Initial readings at 76 F are, 117v, .20 amps, .23 watts, FC High 160, FC Low 144, Avg. FC 152


12/22/08

I just noticed I goofed up with some of the last readings in regards to "Light Drop". I have a feeling I mixed up some FC AVG numbers with FC HIGH's. I'll post the revision up above for 12/01/08 B. I will change it and note it above. The corrections are as follows. GE Dropped 1.7% instead of 1.2%, Elite dropped 10.4% instead of 11.6%, Axiom dropped .5% instead of .4%, YYZ dropped 10.4% instead of 11.6%, EGL DL 71 13mm 30ma dropped 11% instead of 12.3%, Agilight dropped 25.6% instead of 34.3%, EGL 6500 30ma dropped 10.9% instead of 12.2%, EGL 15mm DL71 60ma dropped 8% instead of 8.7%

Here is also something I also tried earlier in the morning. I hooked up Elite Lamps section which has a footage of 7.5' up to a France 3k/30ma PKMB magnetic transformer (Max 11' of 13mm). The result was a 9 FC increase when It over the length of an hour. The compartment temp was 79 F today. I'm going to put a small section on these reading as a modification so we can see both numbers under a SST and Magnetic transformer in next months readings.


1/4/09 *Updated Read Sheet 1/6/09

CCFL compartments temperatures dropped this month about 10 degrees Fahrenheit compared to last month, this is the coldest month to date for this project. The ambient temperature was 60.4 F at the time.

Latest Reading*




1/12/08

It was a little warmer today than usual so I took a quick light measurement.

The ambient temperature was 75.6F

The brightest CCFL section at 30ma (Elite Lamp) peaked at 259 FC, and the brightest LED section (Axiom) was 224 FC. what a change 10 degrees does from the last reading at the beginning of this month.


2/1/09

We're moving right along. This month and in the last few weeks of the month we were hit with some warmer than usual days, some Santa Ana's to be exact. We got some high FC reading out of the CCFL and slightly lower out of the LED compartments.

In this read sheet I added the % FC rise or drop from last weeks, I added in the 15 letter scenario and what that sign would cost a client to run at annually for 10 hours a day, and some basic individual component cost (this cost we can work on to perfect if needed). Since we're at the quarter of this comparison I might include a pic later.




2/9/09

Did a quick comparison between a Ventex CL 4030 and a France FerroMagnetic 3/30. It was a colder today than most days. The ambient temperature was 56.85 F




3/1/09

March Madness is here.

The short month has passed and a majority of light sources are just now a hair shy of 3k hours of operation.

This week I will most likely be replacing two compartments. I will be removing the Philips LED line since this low wattage product should have never been placed in this comparison in the fist place, so instead we will be transferring it to "The Great White Hope Project B", the second "worl" project. This cabinet or project will be better suited where the comparison is up against low and mid sized wattage. I have to say as an outsider looking in, for the LED products the Philips was the most consistent and even lit compartment, and brighter than some of the other product lines that were initially cut short. At .07 watts of power it was as bright as the Sloan Great White and brighter than the V-series with greater "Significant" power reduction.

We'll be replacing the YYZ System product with another line or manufacturer and definitely look for more from this manufacturer in the Project B.

The Replacements? A LED Line and a CCFL Lamp.

Here are the new Readings for the month of February


Updated Picture


Here is a 4 month comparison picture.
Pic 1. Oct. 24th 2008 From top to bottom slot 4 & 10 was Sloan V-Series and Great White. Those were replaced with Cao LuxemBright & USLED White Lightning.
Pic 2 is from November 4th 2008
Pic3. Dec 8th 2008
Pic 4 March 1st 2009



3/14/09

I have removed the Philips low wattage Affinium string and have inserted his big brother. I'll release those specs or a link as I get them. I will also update this block with a initial picture.




4/1/09
This is the 7th Evaluation period. Today, and the start of this month we removed the YYZ LED line and replaced it with Borealis LED, and the second week of the new Philips LED line. We will try the YYZ line again in our second GWH cabinet which should be completed by the end of this month, adding 12 more compartments of other high powered white LED manufacturer's.

Also, this month I am posting new cabinet photo's along with a light source exposed shot. A new category in the monthly evaluation is FC power per watt.

Light Source Reading:









5/11/09

It took me a little longer this month to get the cabinet and to the evaluations with my current work load but here e are nonetheless.

I'm also going to branch out this months evaluations with some specialty & new market acrylics for sign faces. I compared the OptixLD 7328, which is Plaskolites new impact modified acrylic specially made for LED channel letter signs to help disperse the pinpoint light. Cyro's Sign Flex & Satin Ice.

This month I also removed the Borealis LED line which wasn't anywhere near our projects 15mm snow white, which is our project standard. What I will do in turn is apply their product to the Project B.

I replaced the Borealis line with ElectraLED's "Flex", probably the largest and heaviest of all modules in our comparison. ElectraLED did not willingly want to participate in this comparison so I took the liberty of purchasing the product @ $18.99 per foot. Electra suggests 1 module per foot, but I think I need to make it 1.33 per foot to cover gaps between modules and order two more modules. Right now consider ElectraLED's Flex appearance, temporary.

With the month starting to heat up, we're seeing the LED's light output decrease either by temperature or depredation, at this point I'll say from temperature until we truly see otherwise. The CCFL compartments all took a slight jump in light output, it's safe to say from temperatures rising.


Okay, here's this months Reading.





We got the months readings, NOW here's where things get real interesting and this is something I've been wanting to do for a while but good things come for all those who wait. IN these pics below right to left is Optix LD, Cyro's Sign Flex White, Cyro's Satin Ice, Cyro's FF (Our Standard)

We just transformed our brightest sources into Super Hero's if we were to use Cyro's Satin Ice

Here's Elite Lamps CCFL turned into the Incredible Hulk.

We have a jump in light from our standard FF to Ice by +31.5% (331.5 FC AVG), +3.5% (235 FC AVG) using Sign Flex, and a -27.5% (164 FC AVG) using OptixLD. Elite's 30ma light source is putting out as much light as EGL's 60ma 15mm DL71's compartment




Here is Axiom LED turned Iron Man.

We have a jump in light from our standard FF to Ice by +30.40% (284.5 FC AVG) , +1.24% (200.5 FC AVG) using Sign Flex, and a -29.54% (139.5 FC AVG) using OptixLD. Axiom's Light source comes real close to EGL's 15mm DL71's compartment




Here is EGL's 60ma CL71 turned Thor, God of Lightning.

We have a jump in light from our standard FF to Ice by +31.58% (487.5 FC AVG) , +3.98% (347 FC AVG) using Sign Flex, and a -30.78% (231 FC AVG) using OptixLD. Axiom's Light source comes real close to EGL's 15mm DL71's compartment




It's nice seeing how other acrylic lenses compare other than a standard 7328 white sheet. Though Ice seems to be a real winner in light transmission & even dispersing the light, I wonder how it holds up to the elements? I'll me moving that lens over to our other tutorial "Electric Sign Faces" and see how it holds up compared to others over time. Does Satin Ice have a Kryptonite?

The only disadvantage of Cyro Ice right now that I know of is it's availability, good luck trying to obtain a sheet unless you want to purchase a whole pallet. I don't know of any suppliers who stock it, you need to either buy a case of 12, or pallet of 48. The price can go from $106 to $141.

Down the road we'll compare the Plexiglas version of Satin ice, and a few other vendors of acrylics and poly-carbonates to see how they compare too


6/10/09

This month we completed the second Great White Cabinet. We reactivated Sloan LED's Great White 2's, added Aristo, and Permlight El Plato's in Cabinet 2. In Cabinet 1 I added two more modules for Electra LED's Flex line, I originally added only 6 modules but noticed too much of a gap and dark spots noticeable on the face, in the manufacturers spec it lists to space the modules no more than 4" from one another, for this I had to add one more module per row which eliminated the dark gap between mods. I also updated the Foot Candles per watt figure as well this month

This is also now our ninth reading and coming close to our one year anniversary.

I will soon be making an additional category soon which will list individual specs of each product used here in this comparison

June 09 Reading:


Cabinet 1 & 2 shots


Shortly I will be updating some quick figures I got with using Plexiglas's equal to Cyro's Satin Ice as well.



7/6/09

We added Sloan LED's GW3 this month. I will be taking out Aristo's LED's as they are well below and don't meet the standard of 15mm 6500 lamp.

Also I have to note that I had to replace the Permlight El Plato with a new string. I did a big goof, with all compartments where I use a variable power source I preset the PS prior to loading, to 12vDC. I was wondering why this LED line was degrading so fast and in weeks. When I originally hooked up this string I forgot to preset the PS and measured the end of the string at 12.05vDC and closed the compartment up. When I re-evaluated the string I noticed the PS was at 12.76vDC unloaded, this particular product does not have current drivers on the boards, so this was most likely the culprit to the rapid degradation. I must note that this string with 6 modules there was about a 3/4 of a volt difference from the first module to the last, I don't know what part this can play in bigger cabinets and letters but I imagine there would have to be a lot of jumps within these compartments to keep from having too many dim spots. So to be fair I went ahead and got another El Plato string and re-did the compartment for this comparison. You will notice the initial drop in light from last month and the power consumption now that we have reset the PS to 12vDC and not the higher voltage.


So far to date this is the hottest month in ambient temps.



I will update with a new shot of the cabinet


8/11/09

This is clearly the hottest month to date in ambient & compartment temps.

Nothing new to report other than due to the temperatures, the LED light sources are greatly dropping with the CCFL liht sources taking a slight drop. We dropped the LED product Aristo, due to a non applicable power source and it couldn't keep up with the project standard of 15mm SW. Not only that, but the Vendor went astray.

NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: tempting
Revision: 8/17/09 4:08PM PST

9/16/09

Temperatures this month are a lot cooler in comparison to last month. Nothing had been added and nothing has been taken away. I will be looking at adding three or four more light sources later this month. I will be adding a Permlight product, a new USLED product and a CCFL lamp or two. There is a chance that Aristo might be coming back after their company has a new contact.

We are getting vary close to the first Anniversary of The Great White Hope, and many more to come. This project will only grow in time and serve as this boards standard of high powered white light sources

NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: quest
Revision: 9/16/09 12:01AM PST



9/25/09
The Ventex Power Source for the Venbrites failed today. I have to also not that this is their early on beta Power Sources and not the unit that came out in the market. So we'll be looking for a replacement asap.



10/28/09

8,760 hours and trucking along. I will update this months readings with some pictures from start, mid, to 1 year. This month the temps dropped a lot since last month so we see some of the CCFL compartments light output dropping and some of the LED's rising. In this next week I should be getting Permlight Nitro's & US LED's Quasar, Axiom AXL-7 LED's shipped in and I will add those and again update this entry for upcoming November. Once these are up that will begin our next months early readings.



NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: anouno
Revision: 9/30/09 08:05AM PST



11/09/09

I'm updating and following up with the one year picture of cabinet one and it's one year existence.

(Left to right)
Pic 1. Oct. 24th 2008 From top to bottom slot 4 & 10 was Sloan V-Series and Great White. Those were replaced with Cao LuxemBright & USLED White Lightning.
Pic 2 is from November 4th 2008
Pic3. Dec 8th 2008
Pic 4 March 1st 2009
Pic 5 November 2009





11/09/09


Today we added some more light sources to the line up. After much dancing around with JT LED & N.Glantz, we had to decline them as participants and buy our own JT LED's for this project. Other products are Permlight's Twister Nitro's and US LED's Quasar.

Also, we updated the Ventex Venbrites. A few months after I had put in the Venbrites (Which were the prototypes) they came out with their permanent products which we just now added. I have to say, these are the most foot candles per watt product added into the project to date.

I'm looking to add some CCFL lamps later this month hopefully.



NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: Turkey
Revision: 11/11/09 12:05AM PST



12/09/09

This is probably the coldest ambient temps we have had to date. We see a big drop for the CCFL light sources that are on 30ma systems and chunk from the 60ma systems. For the LED compartments we are seeing the rise in light output in most, and a continuance in drop from some.

This month we added Axiom's new AXLE-7 product line.

I have the initial update readings for the month right now, but will update the sheets with current pictures to follow.

Like always when looking at the charts and light output vs loss, keep in mind the operating hours of those products.


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: santa claws
Revision: 12/14/09 06:30PM PST




1/12/10

Compared to last month all of a sudden the temps rose just about 20 degrees F to a typical San Diego day of 71 F. So from the this the CCFL compartments light output drastically went up and some of the LED modules went down, some more than others.

Nothing new other than the temperature affecting light.

In the next days or weeks we should be adding Eurocom's LED to the mix, and hopefully YYZ's power stroke by the end of the month, so look for that.


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: wildcard
Last Revision: 1/12/10 11:34 PM




2/15/10

It was a little warm again this month so we see a month similar to last months readings.


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: fat tuesday
Last Revision: 2/17/10 07:14 PM




3/10/10

This month is almost 10 degrees colder than last month, but again "wow" to see the Light products "CCFL" drop, and "LED's" rise in light output. We have seen this in seasons past before, but it's always so interesting to compare a month ago. It's going to start warming up here in San Diego soon enough, and we will be seeing the change in direction of the light products.

This month we added Sylvania, AVA Technology, Eurocom's Letro-LED


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: march mad
Last Revision: 3/11/10 01:05AM



4/10/10

Temperatures are starting to warm up and we should see a slow steady rise in temperature from here on out till fall. We will start to see the usual rise of all the CCFL products and the fall of the LED products.

Nothing added this month, I'm noticing that the AVA Technology line is starting to rapidly fail.


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: april showers
Last Revision: 4/11/10 08:55PM




4/10/10

At the request of the AVA technologies we have pulled the current product out and sending it back to the manufacturer for further evaluation.




5/10/10

Temperatures again are slightly rising since last month. Nothing new other than AVA Technology gave us their 6500 white LED's instead of renewing their 8500 line. That officially starts today.

For the past month or two we have seen most light sources hit 70% light output, now it's a matter of which will drop, and which will plane out. We are seen 70% now on a mediocre ambient temperature of 75F at just under 14k hours of operation. We have seen claims this would not happen until 40k hours

I'm looking to add another line hopefully this month is all goes well


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: America
Last Revision: 5/11/10 09:15PM





6/17/10

Temperatures got a little cooler at the time of evaluations, a few degrees but again, interesting on what a few degrees can do to some products

I'm going to add the new GE Tetra PowerMax as soon as it comes out to market



NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: Lakers
Last Revision: 6/22/10 04:53PM


7/2/10

At some point in the night the Ventex SST went out for the EGL 6500 Compartment. I'll be replacing that today.





7/15/10

This is maybe the hottest month to date for the entire project. Today the ambient temp was 90F at waist level and 96F at the top of the cabinet. I think it's probably safe to say that we are looking at one, possibly two CCFL lamps in the process of "Super Nova'ing". Last month we saw the EGL 6500 light output rise to almost 9% less than when it originally started at the same time a Ventex SST went out as well, after replacing the SST, I'm now looking at a dim lamp with a significant light drop form compared to the previous drop.

I took some pics of the electrodes of suspect lamps, the Elite 65D, EGL 6500 15mm, EGL DL71 15mm/60ma lamp.

On the LED front, I have the new GE TetraMax White on order and will most likely boot out the Philips or USLED line to make room for this.

Pic #1 Elite 65D



Pic #2 EGL 6500



Pic #3 EGL DL71 60ma (1 of 2)



Pic #4 EGL DL71 60ma (2 of 2)




NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: vegas
Last Revision: 7/15/10 5:06PM



8/21/10

Compartment temperatures are not like the previous month, but compartment temps are still very warm. Humidity has been in the 40%-50% range.

Still waiting on GE to release their GE TetraMax White retail version so we can pop them in as soon as they come. We may have a surprise vendor enter the testing to be known as "Brand X" that will be unnamed until their official release and announcement.


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: preseason
Last Revision: 8/22/10 9:35AM



9/12/10

This very odd San Diego weather which never had a summer is about 20 degrees cooler since last months evaluations.

Later this month we might be adding Relume, and Agilight.


NEW Analysis CLICK HERE
PASSWORD: nfl
Last Revision: 9/12/10 4:43PM



THIS WILL NOW CONTINUE IN THE GREAT WHITE HOPE PROJECT YEARS 3 & 4
http://www.thesignsy...-hope-year-3-4/