LED flexible ribbon lights

BlueChip

BlueChip

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I've just received three 5m rolls of warm light ribbon LED lighting from Banggood for just over £12
http://www.banggood.com/5M-White-or...rproof-300-LEDs-Strip-light-12V-p-922423.html
I'm really impressed with the light output and plan to use this self adhesive strip lighting in the galley, inside lockers, in the engine bay and anywhere else that's gloomy.
As the strip can be cut into any lengths and runs on 12v it will be interesting to see how this works out.
I may also use this in the saloon as concealed background lighting. The colour of the light output is quite warm and pleasant and of course power consumption is minimal.
 
I've been playing with the serially PWM addressed RGB IP rated version of these kind of things. 120 meters of the stuff to be precise. They are good fun! Incredible how these things have come on over the last few years.
 
I fitted six 40cm strips around my engine bay about two years ago. Transforms the working and inspection. The only issue I had was grafting fatter wires onto the very thin tails provided. After two years al still work just fine, so I guess my connections must have been strong enough.

I paralleled them onto the existing engine bay light circuit. They were cheap as chips from ebay I recall.
 
superheat6k said:
I fitted six 40cm strips around my engine bay about two years ago. Transforms the working and inspection. The only issue I had was grafting fatter wires onto the very thin tails provided. After two years al still work just fine, so I guess my connections must have been strong enough.

I paralleled them onto the existing engine bay light circuit. They were cheap as chips from ebay I recall.
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I have them under the shelf in the aft cabins -nice soft light for reading, nothing to bump into and low power consumption. I also put a short strip behind the chart table switch panel. That cuts out trying to hold a torch and fiddle with wiring simultaneously. That strip is an acid-white light -but good for illuminating a nasty dark corner. I have plans for more around the boat once I rig an additional light circuit.
 
These strips of lights are great especially at home in the inside of cupboard door frames. My only problem was that the sticky back is not that good. A bit of extra glue helps.
Pulse Width Modulation. Often used in light brightness controls where the light is switch ed on and off rapidly the period of being turned on can be varied so longer period means brighter light. This can cause interference in some radios etc but the advantage is that the switching element (transistor) is either truned fully on or fully off with minimum power loss in the transsitor in either state. As opposed to linear regulation where the transistor becomes a variable resistor which at say quarter brightenss of light dissipates as much power (heat) as the lights them selves. Also used very efficently in motor speed control. olewill
 
William_H said:
These strips of lights are great especially at home in the inside of cupboard door frames. My only problem was that the sticky back is not that good. A bit of extra glue helps.
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I have some under shelves in my garage. The adhesive did not stick well to the bare wood, but a staple gun works fine with care, the staple goes right across the ribbon.
 
lw395 said:
I have some under shelves in my garage. The adhesive did not stick well to the bare wood, but a staple gun works fine with care, the staple goes right across the ribbon.
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Usual advice is not to rely on the adhesive but use some silicone sealant;incidentally, I did manage to dim them a fraction with a small potentiomater from Maplin as the brightness can be a bit too fierce. Quite which pot depends on the lenght cut. Also you can get clip on tails for connecting which is far better than trying to solder, but the waterprof ones need some rather large connectors that are alot trickier to find.
 
I used lots of this type of strip LED's both warm and cool white replace the insides of 12VDC fluorescent lights using the existing outside and switch. Also inside cupboards and lockers. Cockpit lights had both warm white and red fitted

Mine came from direct from am E-bay seller from China.
 
Can you really cut these to get other lengths. It is not clear from some suppliers websites?

And can you get real RGB one as opposed to ones with separate Red, Green , Blue leds which do not mix colours well according to the reviews

Martin
 
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There is a little line across where you can cut with two small connector "dots". These are about every 10 cm. You can then clip one of these over the two "dots". Note LEDs only work with polarity the right way round. The "waterproof" ones I have are covered in thick clear silicone, and actually undimmed they get very hot indeed.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10pcs-LED...6256?pt=UK_Light_Fittings&hash=item4d0f001850.
( I am not verifying these connectors are the right size for your led strip!)
 
Isn't a voltage regulator of some sort needed?I saw these strips for sale at a Chinese shop but I fear that the higher voltages due to the engine running might blow them.
 
mlines said:
Can you really cut these to get other lengths. It is not clear from some suppliers websites?
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Yep - you can cut them between every three LEDs, as marked. Soldering onto the ends of the traces is a little fiddly, but doable. A bit of glue-lined heatshrink as strain relief is a good idea.

mlines said:
And can you get real RGB one as opposed to ones with separate Red, Green , Blue leds which do not mix colours well according to the reviews
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Yes, both types exist. Although be aware that (at least on the RGB set I tried) the white is not as pure as from dedicated white LEDs. You also need a controller to choose the colours, which is usually in the form of a remote control with lots of buttons on. OK for parties or tacky Christmas decorations, but not really what you want for normal lighting.

30boat said:
Isn't a voltage regulator of some sort needed?I saw these strips for sale at a Chinese shop but I fear that the higher voltages due to the engine running might blow them.
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I've had a white strip in the engine bay for two seasons, and red and white ones at the chart table for one. I have an alternator booster that bulk-charges my AGM batteries at 14.8 volts. No trouble so far.

Pete
 
prv said:
Yep - you can cut them between every three LEDs, as marked. Soldering onto the ends of the traces is a little fiddly, but doable. A bit of glue-lined heatshrink as strain relief is a good idea.



Yes, both types exist. Although be aware that (at least on the RGB set I tried) the white is not as pure as from dedicated white LEDs. You also need a controller to choose the colours, which is usually in the form of a remote control with lots of buttons on. OK for parties or tacky Christmas decorations, but not really what you want for normal lighting.



I've had a white strip in the engine bay for two seasons, and red and white ones at the chart table for one. I have an alternator booster that bulk-charges my AGM batteries at 14.8 volts. No trouble so far.

Pete
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Good. I'll give them a go.
 
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