LED reels- found stores- are these ok?

I would love to see the face on the sales agent in China/HKG for the manufacture of these LED off of eBay. I wonder what he/she say to themselves as to why all these Americans  and others are purchasing all these LED at once. LOL As soon as they post it at a low price they are gone (more or less). Please remember it is Chinese New Year and they are closed for a week or two so your shipment will be delayed until they open and process them.

I can wait, I have plenty right now.  However, I have to do some more lighting kits, so I use up reels pretty fast packaging those.  I like to keep a bunch in stock, especially at $3/roll!

I ordered today from HongKong, the $2.99 source, and just got an email that they've been shipped.

I wonder how these things are shipped?  Air?  If they are shipped by container, the wait could be longer, depending on whether they come through one of the west coast ports.  As several have noted on other threads, there is a big slowdown in unloading/loading container ships all up and down the coast... 

I have bought a few things from vendors like these and they have come relatively quick. Mine said shipped shortly after I bought them.

I rarely wait more than a day or two at the most before stuff from China is marked as shipped.  I'm pretty sure most of it comes by air, a container ship would take 5-6 weeks by the time it was loaded, transit, and unloaded here in the US.  That assumes there wasn't a port slowdown, obviously it would be worse now.

Mine have all been shipped by epacket.   Joe

and mine was marked shipped yesterday.  Said feb 25 to march 11.  it all depends, but I get my stuff around a week or so.  pretty fast

An e-package is moved via  China Post Office. Mail no longer moves via Sea Freight unless to specific request it (This option is NOT available with USPS). So this will move via air freight. The question was raised how they can move it so cheap from China to here. The cost are lower in China as we all know. The Universal Postal Union are agree rates that each postal service will charge a foreign postal service to move the package or letters. Example China Postal service will get the mail to LAX and the USPS will then move it to final destination USA. USPS will charge China Postal service for service moving the letter or package to final USA destination via the Universal Postal Union. And yes I have over 24 years of international transportation experience.

Thanks for the info, Kris.  USPS must get a pittance compared to what we pay.

Kris, I still can't understand how they sell me a set of circuit boards (small I'll admit) for 80 cents and ship it to me for free! 

I bought a reel of these lights, but it will be about 1 month before they are delivered. Free Shipping. This email is to inform you that your item  has been shipped on 2015-02-12GMT via China Post International Air Mail. As it is international shipment,usually it will take 25-40 days for delivery. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-352...e=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

It's not fast, but much of the time is in Customs from what I have seen.  I've had a package sit in Customs for several weeks before it moves on, that's after it gets to the US.

Dear John

They are "dumping" the electronics parts at below cost to get a foot hold on sales in the USA. This is were Congress or US Customs gets involed and slap on a counter valing duty to bring it back to market prices. I have not heard anything lately that Congress or Customs is going after the Chinese exporters. But that is also subject to change.

In regards to the Universal Postal Union I do not what agreement is between the US and China.  I do know that there complaints about how cheap the Chinese exports can send their goods to US and expensive it is to send goods to China.

Customs can hold anything until they are good and ready to release it. So do not be surprised that they hold these goods that long or longer.

I assumed they had to be below cost, because I couldn't even make the blank PCB for what I get these products for and shipped as well!  I know Customs can sit on stuff for months at times, I don't order anything from the overseas sources that I need right away.  My primary parts suppliers are Digikey and Mouser, great selection, reliable, good prices, and lightning quick shipping.

GRJ, if you have any hints for simplifying the Digikey search process, I'd appreciate hearing them.

Its funny too that they discount the price even more when you buy 3 reels.  its cheap already and they make them even more.  Now, I paid shipping on mine.  but its like 2.50 for E-packet.    I got lots of work to do anyway.  I can wait!  its so cheap not to wait.  why pay 15-20 dollars a roll for same thing? 

I ran across an LED strip light offer I had not seen before:

10pcs Prewired WARM White 3 Led Light Strip 9V-18V Model Train Lights (I hope the link works). Are you guys buying waterproof or non-waterproof strips? 

I use non-waterproof strips, I can't imagine why they'd need to be waterproof, the rest of my trains aren't!

Personally, that deal for pre-wired ones is pretty steep.  You're getting 10% of one roll of lights and some short chunks of wire.

For that price you can have three rolls of lights!

You'd need wp strips for outdoor layouts, or non-train uses in wet or damp areas.

Chris:  don't forget that there is value in your credit card number with security code.

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I received following email today from a Chinese vendor:

Dear friend:Hello,How are you?Sorry to write this message to disturb you.Feb.19th is our National String Festival.We will have a long holiday from Feb.14th to Feb.26th.Every delivery company are date off,so will will close the store during these days.If you have any questions,please leave a message to us or contact us after Feb.26th.We will reply you soon.Please wait patiently.Thank you for understanding.Best regards.(Please don't reply this message,thank you.)

John,

    I just saw a 39" roll in Radio Shack for $29.99 if you don't have enough yet. Even 70% off won't help that one!

A 39" roll?  Talk about a revealing peek as to why Radio Shack is going out of business!

I went up there just to see the price on caps and chokes once and was amazed! no wonder they are pretty much done! they need to compete!  cant get away selling cell phones and radio controlled cars! 

Now you know why it's been years since I was in a RS store looking for components.  Last time was about a year ago that we needed an audio cable and it required instant gratification, no matter the cost!

So what do you do if you need 1 1/4 watt 330 ohm resistor and you need it right now?

I got pretty much the same message from an Aliexpress vendor. the shipping company will be offline till about the same date, so the 'purchase protection' feature was extended into March so the item has a chance to reach me (under Aliexpress rules, the seller doesn't get paid--Aliexpress holds the payment in escrow--till the buyer signals they have received the goods in acceptable condition).

---PCJ

If you don't have an electronics store in town then get an assortment like this.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/600pcs...;hash=item418cffc9ef

Pete

I open the drawers where I have resistors from 1 ohm to 10 megs in 5% steps and take one out.

Seriously, these things are not an emergency, and waiting a couple of days to get a component is not the end of the world.  The kit posted by Pete is a good thing to have on hand if you're doing stuff with electronics.

I bought a bunch of different size components for what we typically use here. but I get things fast from digikey and mouser.

Be mindful when ordering online DC-DC modules.  Several are mis-identified as being "buck-boost" when they're really only "buck" modules.  I've successfully gotten several eBay sellers to change their listings though I've now given up doing this with the language-barrier and lack of interest on their part - many are "just" distributors selling buck modules alongside ladies undergarments. 

A buck module only lowers the voltage (aka stepdown) whereas a true buck-boost module can both lower or raise the voltage (aka stepdown-stepup).  Since the voltage required by the LED strips is around 10-12V DC, you need a buck-boost type if you want to operate at lower conventional-control variable track voltages.

So here's a true DC-DC buck-boost module powering a 12V LED strip.  I had to add the 22uH inductor, bridge rectifier, and capacitor.  I am not aware of any AC-input buck-boost module (i.e., with bridge rectifier already on-board).

A detailed write-up on installing a buck-boost module for 12V LED strips is on the O gauge archives here:

http://www.jcstudiosinc.com/Co...-Using-12V-LED-Strip

Mine arrived today.

Mine came today also?

We have a couple of 12-volt power supplies under the layout to drive these LEDs which we've placed in just about all of the buildings instead of the original light bulbs. They're great.

I ordered two reels on 2/10 and they arrived today (2/27) in upstate NY.

jackson

Here's a good deal on DC-DC Buck-Boost Converter, ideal for this application.

Well, almost ideal.  On an O-gauge layout, I would rather get AC-DC for close to that price and save the price of a rectifier and capacitor.

If you could get an AC-DC one, that would be great.  Since I've been unable to find a buck-boost one at all for anything like this price, this is as ideal as it gets.