l'll share my smart string story as well just so everyone has another benchmark:
I had an insanely (to me) large order and was very concerned based on some of the other experiences posted. I wanted to order some othre things from Ray as well, so I emailed him and told him my order details. I told him I wasn't in a huge rush and that I knew production times were pressing him a bit. I did not say anything about quality. I asked him for a quote and to tell me when he'd like me to place the actual order.
Within a day I had a quote back that cut the total individual shipping expense calculated by aliexpress down by over 60%. He asked if I would wait a week or so before placing the order.
About 5 days later I decided to make a change (delete a couple of small things and add several others). I sent Ray another email and he promptly sent me a new quote for the changes.
Another week and he sent me an email saying I could place the order using the invoice he'd sent. I ordered that day using Aliexpress escrow.
7 days later I got the shipped confirmation along with a DHL tracking number.
3 days after that I had the package in hand. (Astonishingly fast)
Here was my order list
42 ea 128 node strings
6 ea 30amp 12V power supplies
3 ea 20 piece 3node RGB squares
1 1x6 DMX splitter
100 white 4 pin waterproof connectors
Everything was packied profesisionally in static bags (nodes) and individual boxes, then padded and placed in shipping boxes (which were pretty beat up). All the node strings were dead on for counts. and manufacturing was consistent and good (better than the last batch of led xmas strings I bought from Walmart).
On the nodes:
Measurements centerline to centerline of each node are 3.25" and are very consistant. Clearly they used 3.5" wire, but loset1/8" on each end for the connection and vertical exit. This was fine by me as I needed shorter still. The nodes themselves are all straight and cleanly sealed (all 5376 of them) and look good (I haven;t had time to light them up yet... it took two days to count them all). There is plenty of sealent at the joint.
The weekest point is the waterproofing at the joint and as an engiineer I feel compelled to comment. This is either a design flaw or a cost savings depending on how you look at it. Since the wires exit the node perpendicular to the wire run, there is inevitabley a separating strain between them. It doesn't matter how much you goop the sealent on them, without some kind of strain relief they will separate. The addition of a strain releif collar or the redesign of the nodes with a wire exit parallel to the line direction would solve this, but obviously add to the cost as well.
In my case I needed a shorter distance between nodes anyway so I bought a roll of twist tie wire, cut pieces at 2.5" ea and tied the wires together about 1/4" below the node and attached the node to a lenght of black 550cord (para-cord) with the same tie. This gave me a 2.5" spacing and good strain relief. With the node wires held together at the exit, a drop of epoxy at the joint should keep it sealed nicely. This method has the extra benefit of stiffing up the entire line a bit and keeps all the nodes oriented in the same diirection . (placing the twist tie on the wires flush to the bottom of the node results in slightly less, but decent strain relief and a 3" overall spacing when attached to the 550 cord)
Overall, my experience with Ray Wu has been exemplary. They've obviously dealt with the manufacturing quality issues and all that's left is the design issue. If you give Ray a bit of early warning, it seems to alieviate the shipping timeline stress and bogus tracking numbers as well. Granted, mine was a pretty large order, but I did not make any references to quality concerns or try and use the order size to push for special treatment. Obviously I can't speak for anyone elses order expereince, or what mine might be on the next time round... but for what it's worth, I couldn't have been happier with this one.
