Adrian Jones
Well-Known Member
I think its timely to republish a warning on the use of LED flexible strip lighting on marine craft . This strip is designed for domestic use in our homes, where it is excellent for many applications. . In the home LED strips are supplied by LED driver transformers which provide a constant low voltage output.
If connected to a boat's lighting circuit without a constant voltage regulator an LED strip will be damaged by battery charging voltage (13.8v) and is a potential fire hazard.
Below is a copy of a question asked at a talk I gave at a yacht club and my answer, the content is self explanatory.
Q. 12V LED lighting strip seems perfect for lighting the interior of my boat, are there any issues that I should be aware of?
A. The supply voltage on our boats can vary considerably from a nominal 12V. Boat owners need to be aware of the effect this has on LED strip. It is not widely appreciated that the current passing through LEDs increases almost exponentially as the voltage is increased.
For example, test results for a small length of typical 5050 LED Strip comprising of 9 x 5050 LEDs exposed to a range of DC voltages resulted in the following results:
@12V (nominal battery voltage) I=163mA, bright light
@13.8V (engine running voltage) I=255mA, much brighter light
@16V = (charging voltage, equalisation mode) I=377mA, very much brighter light!
As can be seen, as the voltage increased both the current and light output increased. At 16V the strip was simply too hot to touch after a few seconds. 16V is becoming more common on boats, modern smart battery chargers apply this sort of voltage when automatically running equalisation cycles to even battery cell voltages.
Excessive heat is very damaging to LEDs and operating LED strip at any voltage above its specified working voltage will damage it and at best result in a very significant reduction in the service life of the strip and at worst could result in a risk of fire.
A further point worth considering is that electrical conductors on boats are invariably tinned to limit corrosion, common in damp and often saline atmospheres. LED lighting strip comes fashioned out of flexible copper PCB commonly not tinned. PCB tracks are measured in microns, these strips may not last very long unless very well protected. We have even observed tell tale verdigris type contamination on the so called water-proof variety of the strip, particularly at the solder terminations.
12V LED flexible strip lighting its not really suitable for widespread use on our boats unless a constant voltage stabilisation product is used with it.
The same is true of other resistive controlled LED products.
Care should also be taken in selecting voltage regulators, the cheap ones (series regulators) often use waste more current than the LED lamps they are protecting!!
Regards
If connected to a boat's lighting circuit without a constant voltage regulator an LED strip will be damaged by battery charging voltage (13.8v) and is a potential fire hazard.
Below is a copy of a question asked at a talk I gave at a yacht club and my answer, the content is self explanatory.
Q. 12V LED lighting strip seems perfect for lighting the interior of my boat, are there any issues that I should be aware of?
A. The supply voltage on our boats can vary considerably from a nominal 12V. Boat owners need to be aware of the effect this has on LED strip. It is not widely appreciated that the current passing through LEDs increases almost exponentially as the voltage is increased.
For example, test results for a small length of typical 5050 LED Strip comprising of 9 x 5050 LEDs exposed to a range of DC voltages resulted in the following results:
@12V (nominal battery voltage) I=163mA, bright light
@13.8V (engine running voltage) I=255mA, much brighter light
@16V = (charging voltage, equalisation mode) I=377mA, very much brighter light!
As can be seen, as the voltage increased both the current and light output increased. At 16V the strip was simply too hot to touch after a few seconds. 16V is becoming more common on boats, modern smart battery chargers apply this sort of voltage when automatically running equalisation cycles to even battery cell voltages.
Excessive heat is very damaging to LEDs and operating LED strip at any voltage above its specified working voltage will damage it and at best result in a very significant reduction in the service life of the strip and at worst could result in a risk of fire.
A further point worth considering is that electrical conductors on boats are invariably tinned to limit corrosion, common in damp and often saline atmospheres. LED lighting strip comes fashioned out of flexible copper PCB commonly not tinned. PCB tracks are measured in microns, these strips may not last very long unless very well protected. We have even observed tell tale verdigris type contamination on the so called water-proof variety of the strip, particularly at the solder terminations.
12V LED flexible strip lighting its not really suitable for widespread use on our boats unless a constant voltage stabilisation product is used with it.
The same is true of other resistive controlled LED products.
Care should also be taken in selecting voltage regulators, the cheap ones (series regulators) often use waste more current than the LED lamps they are protecting!!
Regards
