LED Strip Lighting

Topic: LED Strip Lighting (Read 3269 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #25 – November 30, 2014, 10:54:37 pm

Nice job, Ken.

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #26 – December 01, 2014, 12:47:58 am

Ken, nice job on the LED bay install. Looks much brighter than what is in mine.

Roger and Richard--thanks for the info on the Fluorescent to LED upgrade.
Should be fairly straight forward once I open them up.
Thanks-- Jim

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #27 – December 01, 2014, 09:32:34 pm

You've seen people setting next to their coach watching the Bay TV. well I caught Ken setting in his lawn chair admiring his beautiful LED lit Bay. It's prettier than a TV.

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #28 – December 02, 2014, 12:03:34 am

I do have to admit that I am easily entertained.

see ya
ken

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #29 – December 02, 2014, 09:24:21 am

Aren't we all, at times.

Roger

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #30 – January 31, 2015, 09:43:22 pm

OK LED strip light experts I have a question.

Can an LED light strip with self adhesive go around a rounded 90 degree cabinet corner, like in the low quality pic below of my current 3/8" non-LED rope light? Or do you need to splice the LED strips and use double end connectors to get around each corner? I guess it is the same question asked two different ways.

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #31 – January 31, 2015, 09:56:07 pm

I don't see why not. That corner has a nice radius, so there isn't a huge strain on anything. A sharp 90-degree corner would be a different animal.

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #32 – January 31, 2015, 10:00:38 pm

I've tried it and didn't work so well. Tends to curl up.
I would splice two pieces together.

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #33 – January 31, 2015, 11:05:57 pm

If the strips do not want to stay stuck...I have used a small dab of silicone adhesive along each side of the strip at 2 or 3 inch intervals. Along with original adhesive this seems to work.

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #34 – January 31, 2015, 11:18:17 pm

The crimp on connectors usually work pretty well but I have had some that didn't. If they don't connect well the first time they likely won't at all. Soldering is a good choice for going around corners where the end to end length is short. If you are going back and forth in a gutted flourescent fixture for example, the 180° turns work well if the are soldered.

Generally, I have been removing the adhesive from the less expensive LED strips. They just don't have an adequate long term stick. Goo Gone or acetone seems to work. Then I use double stick carpet tape cut to 3/8" widths. This holds well.

I also found silicone straps with a hole at each end made for mounting these strips. Two small screws hold the strap that holds the LED strips in place.

Get an electronics soldering iron with a small tip and some very fine solder. The iron and solder I have is for connecting wires to strain gages.

Practice makes perfect. LED lights are very nice.

Roger

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #35 – February 01, 2015, 08:55:47 am

Thanks everyone. You have given me some options for tackling this. The burnt out lights are getting to me so it is time to experiment.

One other question. My bedroom ceiling inset measures about 19 ft around give or take an inch. The LED strips I've seen are only 16.4 ft long. So, any problems with splicing on another 3 ft with all 19 ft of LEDs on the same 12v set of wires?

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #36 – February 01, 2015, 10:04:42 am

Good Morning Mark,
LED strip lights are 5M (about 16.5') for a reason. Voltage drops along the length of the strip. Hooking two together would cause too big of a voltage drop to properly operate the lights at the far end. The solution is easy. For your 19' application use two 9 1/2' strips connected in parallel, each connected to your +12v and ground wires. If you want a dimmer it can go before the strip lights.

There are different kinds of strip lights. Many use the 5050 elements, good for higher output. You can also find the 3528 elements. They are smaller and put out less light but campn be packed cleser together on the strip. So for accent lighting you may be want to look for 3528 (3.5mm x 2.8mm) that are spaced further apart. Look for the lumens/length spec. If you want that warmer comforting glow use warm white color. The cool white will look more blue, even toward purple.

You can get four color strips and with a color controller you can get any color you want. There are simple, inexpensive controllers at will make the single or multi color strips dance in an infinite number of pattern. I have dimmers for single colors that have a key fob like controller. These are about $6.

You can get any of this stuff on Amazon.

Light 'er up!

Roger

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #37 – February 01, 2015, 10:37:52 am

Quote from: Home2fromHastings – February 01, 2015, 10:04:42 am

...For your 19' application use two 9 1/2' strips connected in parallel, each connected to your +12v and ground wires...

Thanks Roger. That is so obvious to those who have been there and done that or who have some electrical knowledge. All I've done so far is rewire the basement fluorescent fixtures to LED. I had to start somewhere...

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #38 – February 01, 2015, 04:40:30 pm

Thanks Steve for the technical bits. I probably would just add three more feet but it may be just as easy to use two pieces of equal length. I have seen some instances where the resistors get hot enough to discolor whatever they are mounted in. I've replaced all of those. The inexpensive strips I have been getting recently seem to be OK except for the self stick tape.

I build a lot of cabinetry with LED lighting inside. I use much more expensive strip lighting and the manufacturer's power supplies and length recommendations. I have also seen automotive application constant 12v power supplies from what ever input voltage it has. These might be nice if the strips you have are very sensitive to voltage.

Roger

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #39 – February 02, 2015, 10:11:14 am

OK, so after Steve's post I feel especially stupid. Maybe I'll just use a flashlight propped up in a corner for mood lighting.

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #40 – February 02, 2015, 03:49:59 pm

Or candles. If I spend too much time thinking about this stuff it never gets done. I appreciate Steve's detail and it is good stuff. I have abetter understanding of why some cheap stuff fails. I just hook em up, make sure they work and am happy with the results.

Roger

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #41 – February 09, 2015, 02:55:22 pm

Adding a couple of shots from my LED upgrade progress. Right now, every upper cabinet had the lights installed. It will be so nice not to have to turn on lights just to go in a cabinet and retrieve items.

I used the LED tubes for all of the fluorescent replacements, and used the strips and the Lee Valley http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=71702&cat=1,43349 corner-mount channel and diffusers for the insides of each cabinet. Probably the most time consuming part (aside from soldering and wiring strip lights, of course) was disassembling and reassembling the cabinet floors and walls in order to get to the power, and nicely hide the wiring. Had to notch out some sub framing under the floors of the cabinets and notch the corners of certain floor boards. Probably the most difficult replacement was the porch light. Due to all the weatherproofing it was difficult to work on. So that was the last light to be changed. The basements and engine compartment were done using the angle aluminum method as described above. The engine compartment is now on a timer at night in order to keep critters away.

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #42 – February 09, 2015, 02:57:11 pm

Lee Valley Channel Cabinet Installations.

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #43 – February 09, 2015, 03:57:55 pm

I can see I've got some evening reading queued up. :-) Thanks for bumping this to the top. Now that all the puck lights are switched to LED, the rope lights are next on my list... Love Lee Valley, we used to get all sorts of fabulous woodworking and gardening products and supplies. :-)

James

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #44 – February 09, 2015, 05:58:26 pm

For our "mobile" applications, I would highly recommend LED lights with a built in constant current power supply. It is the only way to insure long life of the devices with variable voltage input, which we have with our battery chargers and alternators. Most 12 volt LEDs have an absolute max voltage rating of 15VDC. LED Wholesalers have a unique strip light that operates from 10-30VDC, comes with it's own mounting clips, is very attractive, extremely bright, and can be plugged together to form a single long fixture. Take a look at their 1988WH, 24" 8 watt. I installed some of these in my 1990 U280 and they have been extremely good and cost effective. They will provide constant light from 10-30 volt.

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #45 – February 09, 2015, 05:59:27 pm

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #46 – February 09, 2015, 06:10:57 pm

Quote from: Kemahjohn – February 09, 2015, 05:58:26 pm

For our "mobile" applications, I would highly recommend LED lights with a built in constant current power supply. It is the only way to insure long life of the devices with variable voltage input, which we have with our battery chargers and alternators.

Or if the strip has "constant" current resistors in place, you can then use a step/up step/down buck constant voltage supply as long as its capable of providing the required total current at 12V. If those strips are provided a constant 12V, the existing resistors will drive the appropriate current in the loops providing the constant light output across the range of voltages and the expected LED life. Can also get away with a basic step down so the strips never see >12V but may see less.

Quote from: Kemahjohn – February 09, 2015, 05:58:26 pm

Most 12 volt LEDs have an absolute max voltage rating of 15VDC. LED Wholesalers have a unique strip light that operates from 10-30VDC, comes with it's own mounting clips, is very attractive, extremely bright, and can be plugged together to form a single long fixture. Take a look at their 1988WH, 24" 8 watt. I installed some of these in my 1990 U280 and they have been extremely good and cost effective. They will provide constant light from 10-30 volt.

Ohhh must go look, thanks for the info!

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #47 – February 11, 2015, 11:16:56 am

The strip lights from LED Wholesales is equipped with not just resistors, but with a true solid state constant current power supply utilizing sub miniature integrated circuits and transistors. It provides the proper voltage and current to the LED array regardless of input voltage as long as it stays between 10 and 30VDC. Pretty cool for $24 per 24"!

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #48 – February 11, 2015, 02:34:40 pm

I did a search on "1988WH" and variations on LEDwholesalers.com]LED Wholesalers, but got no results. Could you provide a link?
Thanks, Don

Quote from: Kemahjohn – February 09, 2015, 05:59:27 pm

For our "mobile" applications, I would highly recommend LED lights with a built in constant current power supply. It is the only way to insure long life of the devices with variable voltage input, which we have with our battery chargers and alternators. Most 12 volt LEDs have an absolute max voltage rating of 15VDC. LED Wholesalers have a unique strip light that operates from 10-30VDC, comes with it's own mounting clips, is very attractive, extremely bright, and can be plugged together to form a single long fixture. Take a look at their 1988WH, 24" 8 watt. I installed some of these in my 1990 U280 and they have been extremely good and cost effective. They will provide constant light from 10-30 volt.

Re: LED Strip Lighting

Reply #49 – February 11, 2015, 02:41:22 pm

Quote from: Kemahjohn – February 11, 2015, 11:16:56 am

...true solid state constant current power supply utilizing sub miniature integrated circuits and transistors.

Too bad not something like that for longer lighting needs like around the ceiling rings...

Affiliate Notice