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The BrightON Ruby Red vs Principal LED Qwik Mod Red ShootOut

Erik Sine

By Erik Sine
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Erik Sine Master Engineer

Erik Sine

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The BrightON-II Ruby Red vs Principal LED Qwik Mod Red

ShootOut

 

 

So, we got some interesting feedback from our last Shootout between the .8w 24V BrightON-II, .8w 12V Principal LED Qwik Mod 2, & .96w 12V Sloan's Value Line 4.  

 

Confusion

 

First and foremost...We are from the Sign Industry as Fabricators & Designing and we will continue to build LED systems from that view point....

 

There seems to be a lot of confusion in the air with our industry as some were quick to say the comparison was bad because the BrightON II LED module was 24V compared to the rest only being 12V.  

 

There was also confusion when I explain that the BrightON II LED Module was way more light efficient.

 

Let's take the first one.  There is nothing about a 24v LED Module that makes it brighter over a 12V if they are both .8watts each, the only difference is 24v is double the voltage, but half the current of a 12v LED Module....just as a 12v LED module is half the voltage but double the current of a 24v LED Module.  What's important about the 24v BrightON LED line is that they are built to last (and we have 12V LEDs too), that being said....we design for 24 volt system because it means the module is taking half the current through the system which means it's getting half the resistance and heat of a 12v LED Module.  Lesser heat and resistance means longer life.  LED's HATE heat!

 

The second part, when I say Light Efficient, I don't mean it's "Energy Efficient" for the client.  I'm saying the quality of the LED chips (Diode) is such a high quality that it requires very little power in for more light out.  In other words the BrightON II Led Module, is producing more light for the same power as the Principal Qwik Mod 2, or lesser power than the 1 watt Sloan Value Line 4.  This means the BrightON is built with higher quality.  

 

BrightON LED is building Quality, NOT Quantity.  BrightON LED is building lighting components for Competitive Light, NOT....Usable Light.  And it's producing more light being under driven, NOT overdriven to produce more light, hence the BrightON II .8watt produces more light than the .96watt Sloan Value Line 4.  

 

Alright, enough of that.

 

Now we enter the .8w 24v BrightON II Ruby Red vs Principal LED's Red Qwik Mod 2.

 

 

 

The Shoot Out

Principal LED Qwik Mod 2 Red (Left), BrightON II Ruby Red LED (Right)

IMG_0772.jpeg

 

 

The Benchmark Comparison Details

 

Similar to the last comparison, not much changes.  Both are contained in a 24" x 4.25" x 5" Channels.  The faces are 1/8" 2283 Red by Plexiglas MC Grade.

 

The BrightON II Ruby Red LED is .8watts per module and a 24volt module, the biggest difference is that the module is Constant Current, NOT Constant Voltage, the wiring is also 18 AWG.

 

The Principal Qwik Mod 2 Red LED is also .8watts per module and is a 12V module with a contact voltage system.  The wiring is 20 AWG which will have voltage loss for long long runs and jumps that are involved with Channel Letter lighting that will lead to dimmer lighting at certain points in jump from the Power Supply

 

Both modules are spaced equally, 6" OC, 3" from the ends.

 

Ruby-Red-vs-Qwik-Red.jpg

 

 

 

The Results

 

Well, the results are significant......  

 

Ruby-Red-vs-Qwik-Closed.jpg

 

The BrightON II Ruby Red is significantly to say the least, WAY more Light efficient than Principal LED's Qwik Mod 2 Red.  The BrightON Ruby Red has double the Luminance (Light on a surface) than the Principal Qwik Mod 2 Red.

 

The Foot candles per watt are also double.

 

If you had two signs with the same name "Rug Depot" and they were both side by side, the difference at night would be HUGE.  You could even say we could space the modules of the BrightON Ruby Red out much farther to use lesser modules and the sign would still be brighter and the Qwik Mod 2 Red and the Cost of Operation would be much less.  We could even be so bold to say that we could down size the wattage of the BrightON Ruby Red to a .6w or .5w module and still be brighter than the Principal Qwik Mod 2 Red.

 

 

Constant Current vs Constant Voltage Basics

 

As explained before...

 

Constant Voltage

Let's talk about the Constant Voltage LED System and how it affects Sign Applications and Projects.  

 

CV LED modules only use Resistors to protect the system, this is minimal.  Sometimes LED Power Supplies can kill these Systems especially when not loaded right.  A lot of LED PSU's (LED Power Supply Units) vary in the voltage out, or secondary.  Some Secondaries can output about 12.15 to 12.24, sometimes slightly higher.  That fraction of a volt makes the LEDs run hotter and the brightness of the LED goes up beyond the intended purpose.  Also, if you light a string of say 25 LEDs, the first module takes a bigger hit than the last LED module on the string, also the light output of the first module is brighter than the last.  You will have inconsistent lighting of LED modules on long strings when it comes to CV Modules.  Fractions of a volt dim the LED modules from string to string or Jump to jump.

 

 

Constant Current

With Constant Current LED systems, each module has a current regulated by having an on board CR Chip.  What this does is govern the current, in short....it's extra protection.  How it differs is, unlike CV LEDs, where the last LED module on a string of 25 will be just as bright as the first module on that string.  Also, going over the intended voltage will not affect the light output or life that it will with CV LED.  CC LEDs assure consistent brightness throughout your sign, and longer life than a CV LED Module where they can be overdriven

 

 

Loading Advantages

With the 24v BrightON II Ruby Red LED modules, you can load 120 modules on a single channel 96watt France Lighting Solutions Led Power Supply.  On a 12v system you are limited to a single 60w channel which will give you about 63 modules being on the safe side.

 

 

 

In Closing

 

The Results Speak for itself....

 

This is not to take away from what light the Principal Qwik Mod 2 Red produces, it's decent, it's your average red creating usable light.  But it's Constant Voltage and it uses 20AWG wire for it's system which will further voltage loss when used for channel letter lighting along with dimmer light with that voltage loss.

 

The BrightON Ruby Red is just a High-End module producing premium light for the same power compared to most modules on the market today.

 

I'll say again....first and foremost...we are from the Sign Industry as Fabricators & Designers and we will continue to build LED systems from that view point....NOT, the other way around

 

If High-End, Long Life, Competitive Lighting is what you want to integrate into your Sign & Lighting Projects for your clients, then the BrightON LED line is what you want...

 

BrightON II Ruby Red Label copy.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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thomaserb Apprentice

thomaserb

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I've not noticed an appreciable difference with constant voltage LED modules - also if you break the modules into parallel segments you can minimize the voltage drop - you are also dealing with I**2R (V*I) losses and  you will lose 1/2 as much power with a 24VDC system.

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Erik Sine Master Engineer

Erik Sine

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3 minutes ago, thomaserb said:

I've not noticed an appreciable difference with constant voltage LED modules - also if you break the modules into parallel segments you can minimize the voltage drop - you are also dealing with I**2R (V*I) losses and  you will lose 1/2 as much power with a 24VDC system.

Check out what we did here towards the end of the post adding in jumps

 

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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