SOG LED nail lamps

T

techchick

Member
Feb 12, 2011
105
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#1
I was wondering if anybody else here had been lured with the lower prices and bought a "better" brand LED nail lamp. They come in various wattages with the most common./highest being 12W and claim at 12W to cure LED gels in 30 seconds. Crescent shaped, they are made in China (isn't everything these days?).

Anyway, I found a really good price (Cost w/shipping was $120) and jumped in - even though I was a bit skeptical that a 12W lamp would have the same cure time as a 30W or 45W lamp (the Harmony ones).

I was home today early from work (not feeling well) to find that it had arrived - quick shipping (less than 2 weeks from china). Anyway, I just had to try it out. I did one hand with Gelish/Geleration on the 30 second timer. It seemed tacky and not totally cured when done - could push nail into to dent,etc. Did the other hand with double time (60 seconds) and seemed much better (which would make sense as 12W vs 30W and double time). Anyway, I did a terrible job because I was not feeling great and have since removed it all and will let my hands rest prior to trying again in a few days (maybe 60 and 90 seconds- and only one nail at a time this time - duh - the dumb things we do when not feeling well...). this time I will leave on to see how it wears.

Anyway, I was wondering if anybody else had purchased one of these and what their experience has been. I knew going in that it was a gamble - if I can cure Gelish in 60 seconds it is still worth it for me - half the time of a conventional uv lamp and no bulb replacment issue, no heat issue and it is a better shape to put your hand in without accidentally bumping it against a lamp.
 
#2
techchick said:
I did one hand with Gelish/Geleration on the 30 second timer. It seemed tacky and not totally cured when done - could push nail into to dent,etc. Did the other hand with double time (60 seconds) and seemed much better (which would make sense as 12W vs 30W and double time).
Click to expand...

Interesting, I'd not seen this one. I see one of the sellers has indicated that the base needs to be cured for 30 seconds and the color and top coats for 60 seconds. So yeah, this is at least double the amount of time it takes with the Harmony lamp, but you are getting a fraction of the wattage. But still 1/2 the time of a tunnel lamp.
 
#3
RunnerGal1 said:
Interesting, I'd not seen this one. I see one of the sellers has indicated that the base needs to be cured for 30 seconds and the color and top coats for 60 seconds. So yeah, this is at least double the amount of time it takes with the Harmony lamp, but you are getting a fraction of the wattage. But still 1/2 the time of a tunnel lamp.
Click to expand...

Runnergal - where did you see a seller claiming a 30/60 second cure? Was this for the 12W version - or for one of the lower wattage ones (9w/etc)? Everything I've seen on this lamp claims a 10/30 second cure.
 
#4
techchick said:
Runnergal - where did you see a seller claiming a 30/60 second cure? Was this for the 12W version - or for one of the lower wattage ones (9w/etc)? Everything I've seen on this lamp claims a 10/30 second cure.
Click to expand...

Mmmm, good question. I happened to randomly click into one of the ebay postings - there were so many. I don't actually recall the seller's name or whether it was a 9w or 12w version. I guess I assumed they were all the same since they all looked the same from the pictures. Hmm, is there varying wattages within those "better" LED lights? Can you cure all 5 fingers at a time, or do you have to do the thumbs separate like I think you are supposed to do with Harmony's lamp?
 
#6
Runnergal
The lamp is a lot larger than you might think from the pictures - you can cure all 5 fingers at once and with the crescent shape - they spread out fairly well. It is a bit ironic as one of the reasons I wanted an LED lamp is to do a faster cure so that I could do one or two fingers at a time when I had a tricky color or was trying to do a french manicure - that way I wouldn't need to worry about smudging one while doing the next finger.
 
#7
Ok - since I didn't want to mess with my nails again (too many times with acetone this last week), I did an experiment with Gelish on plastic spoons. All other things being equal - use of Gelish base & topcoat, passion polish and all the appropriate steps I cured three spoons. It is also easier to get think layers on spoons where I didn't have to watch the edge - lol....

spoon 1 - 10seconds base / 30 seconds colors and top
Spoon 2 - 30 seconds base / 60 seconds colors & top
Spoon 3 - 30 seconds base / 90 seconds colors & top

Initial reaction:
appearance - all appear cured. All colors came off a bit in final cleaning I assume because I didn't cover the entire spoon and had edges that weren't covered with base/color/topcoat.

Hardness - spoon 1 seemed a little more rubbery than the others - pushing in with my nail edge (I have strong nails) produced dents fairly easily. Spoon 2 - if I really really pushed hard I could get a slight dent. spoon 3 - very hard surface - but could get slight scratch by leaning on it very very hard.

I am curious to see how they look tomorrow - I will try to dent again, beat them on the table, etc. over the next few days and post updates.

I may also cure a spoon in my old uv lamp just to see how that compares. In fact - I think I'll do that now before my husband comes home from work and wants to know why I'm "messing with my nails again!"
 
#9
Time-saving - Cure time 30, 60, and 90 seconds, LED 9G Lamp has consistent power and performance from the 1st second up to its 50,000th hours.

This was in the description of the "Better" LED lamp on eBay. Is this the lamp you bought? What is the difference between 9G and 12 Watts?
 
#10
There are different versions of the "better" led lamp with both 9W & 12W available on ebay. I believe both are available from the chinese suppliers with either 10/20/30 second timer or 30/60/90 second timer. Both versions have many small LED lights - for a supposed total power draw of either 9W or 12W (I assume one has more LED lights than the other - more dense or something?)

I believe that 9G refers to the harmony led lamp - which has 9-5W led lamps for a total power draw of 45W. (9 refers to # of LED lamps inside)
IF the "better" lamp sellers have that in their listing - they are probably including that in the listing so anybody searching for the harmony lamp pulls this up also. It is a trick many seller use to try to compare their products to name brands without getting set up for legal trouble.
 
#11
Day 2 and all spoons seem to have similar finish. I would conclude that 30 seconds might work (maybe on light colors?) but on dark colors - which I tried on my hands, I would probably go with 60 seconds.

Overall I'm fairly happy with this lamp for the price.
 
#12
thinking about the consistency of the gel cured for 30 seconds - it is similar to the cure I was getting on my old tunnel lamp with shellac when I had generic bulbs. Once I changed to the GE lamps this went away. I believe the GE lamps are stronger/better output than the generic ones and the other was probably slightly undercured. I think I might experiment with a 45 second cure to see if a full 60 seconds is needed, the shellac just needed a little extra time/stronger lamp. I am also thinking that getting a small mouse wrist rest to put my fingers slightly higher in the lamp might help - getting closer to the "source" led lights.

Overall - for what I paid I am happy.
 
#13
techchick said:
thinking about the consistency of the gel cured for 30 seconds - it is similar to the cure I was getting on my old tunnel lamp with shellac when I had generic bulbs. Once I changed to the GE lamps this went away. I believe the GE lamps are stronger/better output than the generic ones and the other was probably slightly undercured. I think I might experiment with a 45 second cure to see if a full 60 seconds is needed, the shellac just needed a little extra time/stronger lamp. I am also thinking that getting a small mouse wrist rest to put my fingers slightly higher in the lamp might help - getting closer to the "source" led lights.

Overall - for what I paid I am happy.
Click to expand...
I happened to do a search for these lamps through the wholesalers and found 9w and 12w versions of yours and other lamps. On one of them I saw a 45w lamp that cost between $176.00-$260.00 wholesale, depending upon how
many units you bought. That price did not include shipping. So you got a good deal. There were other ones on there made by other companies, which will probably make their way onto eBay the same way the one you got appeared there. Eventually they will become affordable and plentiful just like their predecessors, the UV lamps they will ultimately replace.
 
#14
I'm still waiting on the LED, would love to have one, but hubby would murder me if I bought one right now... they HAVE to come down in price for a good one eventually! Techchick, did you ever complete your make your own version?
 
#15
Nope - i never completed my project. It took so long to get all the components that I lost steam. I also came to the conclusion that I would have to do more work than planned to make it function correctly and was having trouble finding an appropriate lightweight shell. for now, this is with the dead projects in the closet. I don't think it will come out again until next fall/winter at least - I don't do projects in the spring/summer - the beach calls to me :smile:
 
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