Diode Dynamics Review

[Chimera]

Overall Comment:
Good but.. this is a automotive customization company specializing in electronics, who's not particularly interested in helping designing custom solutions, and who's website does not have any technical specifications for any of their products.

Metrics:
Price (3/5)
Quality (5/5)
Presentation (4/5)
Delivery (5/5)
Customer Service (4/5)

These guys are both great and bad. They are very friendly and responsive to generic inquiries. They are also active in the community in general, which is nice to say the least. I have placed 1 order with them so far for the following items:

2013 Scion FR-S Rear Turn Signal LEDs (pair) LED Flasher (specific for your vehicle)
CF18 (LM449) Flasher
Color
Amber
Bulb Model
Stage 3

2x7443_XP80A-rerturn12013 Scion FR-S Front Turn Signal LEDs (pair) Color
Switchback
Bulb Model
Stage 2

2x7443_HP60D-frnturn1Medium Diode Dynamics T-Shirt DDtshirt-M1

Which arrived at my home very quickly, and in quality packaging. Products themselves also appear to be of very good quality. Products are priced somewhat on the mid-heavier side.

That said, if your looking for a truly customized solution, these guys are not a lot of help, or more specifically are extremely reserved with information.

I have been working on designing a customized lighting solution for my vehicle, now involving some work friends in my project. While contacting customer service I have on 3 separate occurrences asked for technical documentation, or specifications for their products, and did not receive the information on any of those occurrences, I did however get a reply from their customer service. For a matter of perspective how many people would buy tires because the manufacturer told you they were the best and fastest without a single technical specification available.

Overall Impression: Good, however these guys make me uncomfortable.

I am still planning on working with these guys in the future and will post an additional review at a later time.

EDIT:
on my original order, one of my bulbs malfunctioned.
I sent support/contact an email with the order information and a short video of the malfunction,
after requesting I do a simple test they sent me out a new bulb, which works perfectly.
the also included a pre-labeled return package, which is very convenient for me.

[Chimera]

reserved for later business/review

Copy of post 8:
With my most recent order with Diode Dynamics, I mistakenly ordered a product that I didn't mean to. I notified Diode Dynamics via email of my situation, and they created an RMA for me to swap for the product I meant to order immediately, without even asking that I cover shipping for my mistake.

[Diode Dynamics]

Originally Posted by Chimera

who's not particularly interested in helping designing custom solutions ... if your looking for a truly customized solution, these guys are not a lot of help

We are not a custom shop. We offer lighting products that are intended to be used in specific ways. If you are interested in modifying our products to work in a custom project, it's unlikely we'll be able to offer much help.

If you'd like any specific technical information that is not already provided in product descriptions, please ask and we'll be happy to provide it.

Thank you!
Paul

[Diode Dynamics]

OK, I believe I found your emails. One of your questions was, "I was considering using transistors as circuit amplifiers between the control box and the lights, with their gates controlled by the dome circuit and their primary channel carrying the underglows power."

I'm sorry, our staff is all quite well-trained in 12V electronics, but they cannot help design a circuit for you. Again, we are not a custom shop. Our primary goal and responsibility is to help customers install products and use them as we have designed them to be used.

Again, we'd be more than happy to provide any specific technical information you're looking for about our products, but I didn't see any unanswered inquiries to that regard in your correspondence. Mike did answer a number of your questions, but please feel free to post if you have any additional inquiries.

Thank you,
Paul

[Chimera]

Thank you Paul,

The sort of information I'm looking for and referring to as missing from the website are things like expected current load/component, power consumption, perhaps even are these common anode or cathode? (not sure that last one really matters, just stream of thought now)

Mike did helpfully identify to me that a single control box cannot be expected to handle a large solution independently, which is a limitation shared by similar products offered by other venders, however your product does not offer specifics, nor did Mike when asked for product specifications.
for example:
a 16.4 Ft spool of High density multicolor SMD 5050s is expected to have a current load of 5.3A, and a single control box is expected to be able to handle this load before an signal amplifier is required.

What's the expected current load of your PRISM DRLs (using multicolor SMDs) ?
What's the expected current load of a set of angel eyes also using multicolor SMD 5050s?
What's the idle power consumption of any given control box when on standby?

This is the sort of information I'm referring to.
Your company offers a few products utilizing SMD 5050 LEDs but no guidelines or information concerning how to use them in conjunction with one another.

[Diode Dynamics]

Originally Posted by Chimera

Thank you Paul,

The sort of information I'm looking for and referring to as missing from the website are things like expected current load/component, power consumption, perhaps even are these common anode or cathode? (not sure that last one really matters, just stream of thought now)

Sure- we do not sell everything as individual components, necessarily. We design kits to be installed as recommended, so there is no need for technical specs for every component in the descriptions at this time.

All RGB components we offer are common anode.

One Prism DRL bulb draws about 400 mA maximum @ 13.2V, on white.

The current load for RGB angel eyes depends entirely on the size of the ring, they are driven at constant current depending on the ring size. The 80mm uses about 500mA max @ 13.2V.

For the control box, I assume you are referring to the RF controller, and standby, you mean off, but still plugged in? Around 8 mA at 13.2V. (Yes, no unit error there, just .008 amps)

Your company offers a few products utilizing SMD 5050 LEDs but no guidelines or information concerning how to use them in conjunction with one another.

Everything can be plugged into each other- no additional information is required to use products in conjunction with one another. Everything needs a constant 12V source. That's it!

Let me know if you'd like any more info!

Thanks,
Paul

[Chimera]

I very much appreciate the information. Looking forward to sharing the results of my project after I have everything gathered.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Diode Dynamics

Sure- we do not sell everything as individual components, necessarily. We design kits to be installed as recommended, so there is no need for technical specs for every component in the descriptions at this time.

All RGB components we offer are common anode.

One Prism DRL bulb draws about 400 mA maximum @ 13.2V, on white.

The current load for RGB angel eyes depends entirely on the size of the ring, they are driven at constant current depending on the ring size. The 80mm uses about 500mA max @ 13.2V.

For the control box, I assume you are referring to the RF controller, and standby, you mean off, but still plugged in? Around 8 mA at 13.2V. (Yes, no unit error there, just .008 amps)



Everything can be plugged into each other- no additional information is required to use products in conjunction with one another. Everything needs a constant 12V source. That's it!

Let me know if you'd like any more info!

Thanks,
Paul

[Chimera]

Update:

With my most recent order with Diode Dynamics, I mistakenly ordered a product that I didn't mean to. I notified Diode Dynamics via email of my situation, and they created an RMA for me to swap for the product I meant to order immediately, without even asking that I cover shipping for my mistake.

[xdudefromheaven]

They also give you 5% off if you leave the stuff in your cart lol and it really help out

[Chimera]

If you are a repeat business customer, you'll often get a 10% coupon code via email, which is not inconsiderable by any means.

Originally Posted by xdudefromheaven

They also give you 5% off if you leave the stuff in your cart lol and it really help out