I'm so glad there is a place on UA-cam where we can learn interesting stuff about all those things the other channels don't bother with. Thanks Clive. It's always a treat when you post a new video.
I have 25m of this stuff attached lowdown on the driveway wall. It's a very dark area down there, the strip does a good job of lighting the whole drive with minimal dazzle. Far better than spots or bulbs. The car's reversing camera picks up the light well too with little or no flare. It's shaded during the day so no direct sunlight to attack the plastic. It's been working for 12 months and no dead spots or water damage yet.
I've been using these in the 3528 size and 110v for a couple of years now and would NEVER use them in a fully submerged situation but I haven't had any failures in outdoor installations. At least no failures where water intrusion was the cause. A few blown resistors have caused a few sections to die and need to be replaced but each 1 metre section can be replaced separately. Overheating resistors looks to be the main cause. They definitely do not seem to be able to handle the power they need to dissipate. Most of the stuff I've been using has been with 8 leds in series with a resistor in a 30 led per 1/2 metre strip for 60 leds per metre. Took a few of the failed strips apart and found the biggest issue is that once a single led or resistor goes the whole metre section goes with it. Have some new stuff on the way which looks to avoid this. An led goes out and only THAT one goes out. Over all though I like these strips and find them much more durable and easier to work with than the 12v silicone covered strips. A tip though: if installing outdoors be sure to fully seal both the supply end and capped end with non-rtv silicone sealant. Nothing with acetic acid in it (the stuff with the vinegar smell). That'll corrode the wires and connectors. Also be sure to keep the adaptor/plug fully out of the weather. no matter how well these things LOOK to be sealed water still seems to find its way inside. Had to replace many more plug ends than strips.
I've been watching your videos for years, I know how to wire a circuit board, led cluster, know what a capacitor and resistor is yet have no real world contact with electrics at all. I just find these videos interesting.
I recently bought a bunch of similar LED strip for lighting in the garage (if you mount lights on the ceiling they don't do any good when the overhead door is open and if to hang them below the door you need a heavy frame and loose headroom but with these the frame is light and headroom is better). Mine are 120 LED per metre and I mounted 2 rows X 2.5M on each frame (5M per frame); I figure each frame provides about the same light as the fixtures in the rest of the garage do with 2x48" T8 each. Mine are 110Vand can be cut at 1/2M intervals but that is still every 60 LEDs. I chose waterproof for durability. I sealed the connectors & ends with clear silicone sealant.
Thanks for the video, Clive. I am fascinated by this technology and it is hard for me to wrap my head around it. I bought an inexpensive 110 Volt LED rope light on Amazon (for use in interior ceiling cove molding in my living room) that looked great -- but one 3-foot section failed after a couple of months. The company sent me a replacement kit for free, which was fine, but then another 3-foot section failed a month later! I left it alone and ran the lights for 6 months longer, allowing sections to fail, by which time -- all the sections eventually failed! I wanted to see how long it would take for the rope lights to become completely useless. To replace this rope set, I bought the same length of standard white 12-volt strip light (waterproof style for diffusion though the plastic "shell") with the proper amperage power supply. It works fine, after 3 months, no failures at all. It seems pretty stable. When I was researching the rope light failure, I ran across a lot of websites talking about this and offering repair kits, so I would assume this is something of a common problem. 1. Do you think it is possible that the problem with the rope light is something you'll find with the lights you show here -- that pointed pin and pushing wires into wires thing to make a physical connection is really not a dependable system? 2. Do you think that the type of plastic is just not a stable enough material (it's flexible on purpose to wrap the lights) for this use, so it;'s very flexibility allows for too much interior expansion/contraction, causing connection failures? 3. Is it possible that the mechanical connection fails over time because it is a very limited connection to begin with, and with expansion and contraction due to temperature variance, etc, that connection strains and finally fails? 4. Do you think the 12-volt strip lights can be more dependable because everything is soldered (although there are "clamp' connectors you can buy - which again make a tenuous physical connection) and the strips are actually flexible circuit boards with components soldered onto them?
Some LED strips are just made with poor quality LEDs. The joining kits are common for all styles of mains LED material to repair dead sections. It's not usually the spikes that are the issue.
Thanks for your reply. I wasn't thinking the spikes were the problem so much (If they were, in my case, the entire strip would have failed instead of one section at a time), I'm thinking of the physical connection -- per section -- as you describe at 14:39 of your video where the two thing silver wires from the L:ED circuit get attached into the bus wires. I just wonder about that because it is so, well, flimsy, and the metals may be two different materials and perhaps they develop an oxide or something creating a resistance over time?
I can honestly say that when I was running lines (all kinds) I would let it slip between my fingers...with gloves on...to make sure there were no faults in the casing. And like you were saying...kilometers of the stuff :)
I must be a bit mad, but i allways liked the old 20x12v bulbs connected direct to the mains for xmas tree decoration. The bulbs were in little moulded green holders and coloured plastic flowers fitted in a half twist way. Never got a shock from them, never moved them with the power on, common sense that people have forgotten :-(. Yes i am mad.
zx8401ztv The problem I always found with them was that after putting them away for eleven months when we got them out the next Christmas they didn't work any more. So through my childhood my parents gradually accumulated several sets of Woolworth's fairy lights.
Ahh the dodgy bulbs :-D, but i did like the yellow glow of real bulbs, they allways seemed warmer and didnt flash, unless you had a bi-metallic strip in one of the bulbs :-). Im not sure where we got our spare bulbs, perhaps there was another doner set lol. We didnt have much, but it was allways a loverly xmas :-D
I've been working with the WS2811/2812 LED strips which appear similar but they run on either 5v or 12v and the 'busbar' seems to be in the plastic strip (you can get them without the outer plastic coating). The problem with this that they still draw quite a lot of power and due to the low voltage you need a high current supply, and you also get a noticeable voltage drop on lengths of more than a metre!
Has a quick peak on eBay for some multicolour version to use on the banister for Christmas, however they all seem to have a 12V plug/brick and I'm wary on the safety of them! (Was looking at the 5m version)
I have one of those on my garden shed. I have been using it for about a year. So far it hasn't suffered from water damage. It is underneath a overhanging part of the roof but I still think it gets wet every now and then. The only thing I don't like about it is that the power cord is so short. I had to extend the power cord and I didn't seal the solder joints properly. So I think that's where it is going to fail. It is not very safe either..
Interesting. What's the colour temperature / white balance / CR of the light output like? Seems it might almost be a neat solution for room lighting, instead of fluorescent strips, halogen downlighter spots or the traditional single fitting in the centre of the ceiling... if only it wasn't relatively inefficient thanks to spaffing about 50% of the input power away on the limiting resistors. Kind of almost seems like they're there as optional parts solely for 230v operation and the 110v version would just have solder bridges. Wonder if it'd work as well - but more efficiently as the voltage is dropped purely by the light emitting elements rather than what are essentially just a series of tiny heating elements - to have 2m strips set up much the same way but without the resistors and with 60 diode pairs in series, or with the 60 diodes wired up in pure series rather than paired, much as either (and particularly the latter) might be a risk for whole segments burning out thanks to single failed diodes...?
i can see this being less for xmas decoration and much more likely for say deck lighing where it is mounted on the underside of the handrail to create a down glow onto the deck or in a kithen/bath for accent lighting, anywhere you might mount to a flat surface and might expect moisture
I have a reel of this stuff. It's brilliant. The best type is the silicone sleeve. A bit tricky to chop up but might be brilliant around your car reg plate and they even do it in infrared.
@bigclivedotcom What, in your experience with LED strips, is good in terms of flexibility, like being put on a bodysuit? I found that the plain tape is awful, the epoxyed stuff is better, and have thought that the tube/rope lights seemed a bit chunky for that application... but I'm not sure. My LED strips always seem to break at joints on the suit.
If you look at the tape you will see that it has a solder-blob joint every 500mm which is where it usually fails. You may be able to reinforce all those points with a small stiffener stuck to the back to try to avoid them breaking, or part them there and add in some short flexible wires with strain relief. Here's a video I made, where I was having this very issue. ua-cam.com/video/kk5KENW8_5c/v-deo.html
bigclivedotcom Thanks so much! I will look into it, and tell you what I find out. I might post a video of my TRON Suit (for that is what it is) if i get it working again. Cheers!
They sell them in a local chinese supermarket in my city. White, blue and red. They have huge spools and cut them on any length. Plugs with "drivers" sold separately.
***** Really? They look completely the same as the Clive's one. And even the plug is identical. But maybe you're right, I think that there could be soldering spots each 10cm… But the construction is the same, at least.
Clive, any chance you could cut open the bridge rectifier section so we can have a look see? I rather fancy these for an additional source of occasional lighting in my loft. I have two regular socket boxes which are currently connected to nothing, but if I can, I'd just remove the bridge rectifier from is plastic casing and heatshrink it so I can get it inside the box, behind the switch. Thanks!!
It's a solid injection moulded unit. But you could replace it with a standard rectifier rated for the correct mains voltage and anticipated current. You'd just have to be careful to match the polarity to the tape based on the existing rectifier.
This 220v led strip can work at least 1 meter. if I cut 20 cm or 15 cm or less than 1 meter, how to make this 20 cm led strip light up? show me how? 🙏 thank you
Clive I've got three LED curtains with a similar rectifier. They flash on and off and they often go out of sync. Is there any easy way to remove the blinking?
It depends on the circuitry, but if it's the classic flasher with a button it may be possible to either replace it completely with a rectifier or bridge out the components that flash the lights. This page may help. (image server appears to be down temporarily.) www.bigclive.com/noflash.htm
bigclivedotcom It doesn't have any buttons and the box is glued so it will be hard to open without breaking. I may open one and see if I can short it so it doesn't flash anymore, the lights are great and they've lasted 5 years without any LED going bad, but flashing on and off ruins it. Thanks!
My family bought a 1meter length strip of that exact led lights and power plug and as soon as we plugged it in the mains power box in our house tripped. Buying cheap mains power led stuff is allways a gamble
Did you look into the current rating of the rectifier? I guess the dimention of the bus bar also has a limit when it comes to total power, especially if it is bare aluminium. And as always, great video.
Would this work under kitchen cabinets where moisture is present, say from kettles and such? IP67 would suggest yes but mains voltage would suggest no.
Is there a reason why they don't put the LED pairs in with alternating polarity and leave the rectifier? That would stop the electromigration and probably more important: it would save them a rectifier per strain.
would the joule thief circuit run this strip directly to the rails of the LEDs,doing away with the mains power supply,i saw you running LED christmas lights.
I always notice this flicker anyway, I am really sensitive to it mainly when I see it outside the center of my vision. It's annoying. I have this. I would like if they put in 10x the smoothing capacity...
BlueFoxTV Yes it is. But not for all people I guess. Some people I had here around didn't see it. And one was just 11 y/o and the other 22. I'm 28. I Build an LED star lamp (dangling LEDs on DuPont connectors) and it's visible flickering in 60 FPS video recording, none with 50 FPS and none for the naked eye, even when you swipe your hand under the lingt. I Put in enough capacity on the output. But not too much, so that they go off quickly.
Is the more Omni directional stuff available remotely cheaply on eBay or other China type market? Ive been looking for something like that to light the walkway from my driveway to house. I normally just see this flat stuff that just beams light straight out in one direction. But I just want something that makes a nice path to follow.
If heat dissipation is not going to be a problem, I'm thinking some nail polish might be useful. Or a drop of some sort of waterproof glue. You could even make it sparkly by gluing some sort of bead on it or using 'glitter' nail polish.
Thanks for the teardown, Clive. I've been wondering the same thing: how are they making any profit with how cheap they're selling these types of LED lights? Now we know. :) I suppose for "ultimate" longevity, one could affix them to some sort of rigid backing, to prevent failures due to flexure, every foot (30 cm) or so.
It's actually very flexible and loose enough inside to deal with modest movement. But I would recommend a frame or channel. The main issue for outdoor use is water penetration.
Clive, there might be a 50 hz/ 60hz anti flicker setting in the settings of the camera application on the iPad, My tablet (addmitedly not an apple, or Ipad) has the setting and most android systems seem to have the setting as well. It could end up eliminating the shimmer if you can find a setting.
Was worth a shot. I always enjoy your videos, Could you perhaps put together a video or some references or something for building a fairly simple constant current power supply, I have a 1W laser diode I pulled out of a laser that I want to use for minor laser engraving (experimentally), and I havent found much in the way of what I am looking for. Most of the ones I find are either far more complex than I need, or use parts that I don't have. ( i would Ideally like to use mostly parts i already have though I can order from digikey if i had a decent parts list. I have diodes, electrolytic caps, resistors, and of course both npn and pnp transistors of varying ratings.)
Why don't they reverse the direction of every other LED strip? that way where the two ends meet will both be connecting to the same power rail and they could do away with the large gap.
Hey Clive. Do you still recommend the Poundland Fusiomax Endurance batteries? I went and tried them after your battery evaluation tests which found Simply Duracell to be Simply Shit lol. I have to say I totally agree with your findings on them and found Fusiomax to be excellent. Thanks
They're such a loose fit that the traditional solvent glue won't work, so it'll have to be something that bonds properly to soft plastic and fills gaps.
Yep the "lose fit theme" doesn't really work with electronics in general..... I have a temporary hate for Microsoft electronics after the power supply for my Xbox 360 slim fried itself... The sniff test had the odour of dead electronics.. Not related to the matter but a pain in the... Thank God for eBay that saves our bacon and other things we hold dear
A silicone product called E-6000 (big brother to GOOP) sticks pretty good to just about everything. Most often, I find it in craft and fabric stores. It doesn't store forever after it's opened. Might want to scuff up the surfaces a bit.
I can't really recommend a particular supplier as I'd need to buy some from a lot of them and leave it on test for a year or so, and by then they might be selling a different version.
Clive, I've been a fan of your videos for awhile now. I think I've gone back through your channel and watched everything from the last couple years at least. I've got a question for you, or rather I'd like your recommendation for a product. I need a PSU for my RPi 3 and it's proving hard to find one that can actually deliver 2-2.5A at 5V. The one I bought can't keep voltage high enough and the Pi complains. Everything else I have on hand is more around 1A or so and isn't enough and again, the Pi bitches. Do you know of any reputable USB PSUs that can deliver near the 2.5A mark without dropping too far below 5V?
I'm not sure the best option. Perhaps a decent quality USB power supply with a very short and beefy cable to the RPi3? Voltage drop on your cable could be an issue.
bigclivedotcom yeah, I got a USB PSU from Amazon that had a good review from someone who graphed the voltage vs current across its rated range but you know how consistent those cheap Chinese products can be. It also came with a ludicrously long USB cable with a switch in the middle that was obviously not going to work for the application but I gave it a try for shits and giggles and wouldn't you know, it had a break somewhere between the switch and the plug just a few inches away. Probably because they used such a short run between the switch and the end with no strain relief that shipping alone was probably enough to ruin it.
I actually prefer the bare version of the 12V tape. It's much easier to work with and adheres to surfaces better because it is less rigid than the coated stuff.
The resistors are in series with the diodes as can clearly be seen on his schematic. That string is then paralleled throughout the led wire. Or am I missing something here?
Hi Carsten, I got a bit confused at first too as it seems that Clive used "parallel" a couple of times in an odd way. From what I can tell, each strip consists of led "packs" consisting of two pairs of parallel LEDs in series. There are 15 of these LED "packs" in series with 14 resistors per strip. Each strip runs in parallel with the next strip. I wonder though why they bother with a rectifier when the LEDs will rectify the voltage anyway. (I guess it's a full-wave rectifier)
This always happens, sometimes the bulbs are fine but the section where the beginning of a meter connects to the mains inside the rope fails and starts sparking, the rope gets black and the smell of burnt plastic fills the room. Happened to me last week, I cut it and taped it to mains again and voila! Not "safe" but free
Something this video has got me wondering, if these LEDs are driven by a simple bridge rectifier and nothing else, and so can be easily dimmed, why aren't domestic LED light bulbs designed this way instead of using capacitative droppers or other circuits which have problems with dimmers?
I've not yet seen a mains voltage lamp with a resistive dropper in it, in these strips the heat is spread over a modest area. It might be quite interesting to make a resistive dropper based lamp.
Thanks. For avoidance of doubt, I was really thinking of the LED filament type, as they do use dozens of LEDs. Of course there's the small problem of heat dissipation from the resistors which would be needed.
I use the same thing for lighting computer cases,but mine is multi colored has a control box and can respond to sound. you can also get L shaped connectors for going round corners.
you asked a while back what ads we were getting. ua-cam.com/video/czjx5bCv_lg/v-deo.html this is the ad i got and it was skippable after 5 seconds, but i was intrigued... i wonder if UK railway workers really use this equipment, doubt it. Im going to buy some of this lighting to go either side of the beam in my room as i live in an attic.. would you trust this over a 12/24v strip?
For modest amounts of work the new breed of lithium tools are absolutely outstanding. Absolutely up there with traditional corded power tools. And with a car charger you don't have to worry so much about running out of power.
Please review/digest one of those super thin wire - mains voltage LED lights like this: www.dx.com/p/36w-600-led-warm-white-light-100m-twinkle-string-lights-transparent-452790#.WDk1Zvl974Y They looks super dangerous, since they plug straight into 220v mains and have super thin - easy to brake wire. Do you reckon they are dangerous to use?
I bought in May a length of 40m and have supplied with a timer 5 minutes maximum. For a month, sets of 20 or 30 LEDs do not work. I'll throw in the trash ....
Против Глобал Being otherwise inclined, he would be safe around them. However he would need to pass those pesky "part P" UK regulations to set things up in homes.
The new album releasing in 2098 when 4d virtual reality music is a possibility, will be called "Vary Angary" and will consist of me slamming my head into a computer running FL studio
Jake Nash Hahaha. I'd have thought MAX MSP or Reaktor would produce far greater near mushroom cloud sized head slamming damage though I've never had the "joy" of using FL so who knows? Anyway here's looking forward to 2098 and the success of your upcoming album "Valery is A Granny" or "Very Granary Loaf" or "Varsity Gravel" or whatever it's called.
I'm so glad there is a place on UA-cam where we can learn interesting stuff about all those things the other channels don't bother with. Thanks Clive. It's always a treat when you post a new video.
I have 25m of this stuff attached lowdown on the driveway wall. It's a very dark area down there, the strip does a good job of lighting the whole drive with minimal dazzle. Far better than spots or bulbs. The car's reversing camera picks up the light well too with little or no flare.
It's shaded during the day so no direct sunlight to attack the plastic. It's been working for 12 months and no dead spots or water damage yet.
will we ever get a tour of your workroom? Or is it too messy to show like mine is :P
It's the mess we want to see! Far more interesting.
Absolutely!! Your work area, some of your light collections, installations... anything you would like to share.
I've been using these in the 3528 size and 110v for a couple of years now and would NEVER use them in a fully submerged situation but I haven't had any failures in outdoor installations. At least no failures where water intrusion was the cause. A few blown resistors have caused a few sections to die and need to be replaced but each 1 metre section can be replaced separately. Overheating resistors looks to be the main cause. They definitely do not seem to be able to handle the power they need to dissipate. Most of the stuff I've been using has been with 8 leds in series with a resistor in a 30 led per 1/2 metre strip for 60 leds per metre. Took a few of the failed strips apart and found the biggest issue is that once a single led or resistor goes the whole metre section goes with it. Have some new stuff on the way which looks to avoid this. An led goes out and only THAT one goes out. Over all though I like these strips and find them much more durable and easier to work with than the 12v silicone covered strips. A tip though: if installing outdoors be sure to fully seal both the supply end and capped end with non-rtv silicone sealant. Nothing with acetic acid in it (the stuff with the vinegar smell). That'll corrode the wires and connectors. Also be sure to keep the adaptor/plug fully out of the weather. no matter how well these things LOOK to be sealed water still seems to find its way inside. Had to replace many more plug ends than strips.
You are truly "The Happy Painter" of electronics.
For sure!
We'll just add some happy little traces.
I've been watching your videos for years, I know how to wire a circuit board, led cluster, know what a capacitor and resistor is yet have no real world contact with electrics at all. I just find these videos interesting.
I recently bought a bunch of similar LED strip for lighting in the garage (if you mount lights on the ceiling they don't do any good when the overhead door is open and if to hang them below the door you need a heavy frame and loose headroom but with these the frame is light and headroom is better). Mine are 120 LED per metre and I mounted 2 rows X 2.5M on each frame (5M per frame); I figure each frame provides about the same light as the fixtures in the rest of the garage do with 2x48" T8 each. Mine are 110Vand can be cut at 1/2M intervals but that is still every 60 LEDs. I chose waterproof for durability. I sealed the connectors & ends with clear silicone sealant.
Thanks for the video, Clive. I am fascinated by this technology and it is hard for me to wrap my head around it.
I bought an inexpensive 110 Volt LED rope light on Amazon (for use in interior ceiling cove molding in my living room) that looked great -- but one 3-foot section failed after a couple of months. The company sent me a replacement kit for free, which was fine, but then another 3-foot section failed a month later!
I left it alone and ran the lights for 6 months longer, allowing sections to fail, by which time -- all the sections eventually failed!
I wanted to see how long it would take for the rope lights to become completely useless.
To replace this rope set, I bought the same length of standard white 12-volt strip light (waterproof style for diffusion though the plastic "shell") with the proper amperage power supply. It works fine, after 3 months, no failures at all. It seems pretty stable.
When I was researching the rope light failure, I ran across a lot of websites talking about this and offering repair kits, so I would assume this is something of a common problem.
1. Do you think it is possible that the problem with the rope light is something you'll find with the lights you show here -- that pointed pin and pushing wires into wires thing to make a physical connection is really not a dependable system?
2. Do you think that the type of plastic is just not a stable enough material (it's flexible on purpose to wrap the lights) for this use, so it;'s very flexibility allows for too much interior expansion/contraction, causing connection failures?
3. Is it possible that the mechanical connection fails over time because it is a very limited connection to begin with, and with expansion and contraction due to temperature variance, etc, that connection strains and finally fails?
4. Do you think the 12-volt strip lights can be more dependable because everything is soldered (although there are "clamp' connectors you can buy - which again make a tenuous physical connection) and the strips are actually flexible circuit boards with components soldered onto them?
Some LED strips are just made with poor quality LEDs. The joining kits are common for all styles of mains LED material to repair dead sections. It's not usually the spikes that are the issue.
Thanks for your reply. I wasn't thinking the spikes were the problem so much (If they were, in my case, the entire strip would have failed instead of one section at a time), I'm thinking of the physical connection -- per section -- as you describe at 14:39 of your video where the two thing silver wires from the L:ED circuit get attached into the bus wires. I just wonder about that because it is so, well, flimsy, and the metals may be two different materials and perhaps they develop an oxide or something creating a resistance over time?
The looks like one hell of a jumper you've got there Clive.
I can honestly say that when I was running lines (all kinds) I would let it slip between my fingers...with gloves on...to make sure there were no faults in the casing.
And like you were saying...kilometers of the stuff :)
Damn, I kept getting distracted by this pair of day glow sleeves! 😂 I bet you look awesome under LED blacklight Clive.
Hahahaha..
I must be a bit mad, but i allways liked the old 20x12v bulbs connected direct to the mains for xmas tree decoration.
The bulbs were in little moulded green holders and coloured plastic flowers fitted in a half twist way.
Never got a shock from them, never moved them with the power on, common sense that people have forgotten :-(.
Yes i am mad.
You can still buy the 20 lamp tungsten sets without the plastic flowers in Poundland of all places. They do white sets and coloured sets.
Thanks :-D i know where to get real bulb ones, i loved the glow :-D
The poundland ones are not LED. They're tungsten with push-in lamps.
zx8401ztv The problem I always found with them was that after putting them away for eleven months when we got them out the next Christmas they didn't work any more. So through my childhood my parents gradually accumulated several sets of Woolworth's fairy lights.
Ahh the dodgy bulbs :-D, but i did like the yellow glow of real bulbs, they allways seemed warmer and didnt flash, unless you had a bi-metallic strip in one of the bulbs :-).
Im not sure where we got our spare bulbs, perhaps there was another doner set lol.
We didnt have much, but it was allways a loverly xmas :-D
Thanks for another great vid Clive better than watching TV.
How visible you must be on the tiny Isle of Man, bright green sweatshirt with your red beard flowing in the wind.
Nugglashine Green? This isn't like that freaking dress again is it? I see yellow.
It's definitely yellow.
It reminds me of one of those green glo-sticks, but it looks yellow also.
My point was that Clive is very visible.
But it is probably just my deuteranopia.
I've been working with the WS2811/2812 LED strips which appear similar but they run on either 5v or 12v and the 'busbar' seems to be in the plastic strip (you can get them without the outer plastic coating).
The problem with this that they still draw quite a lot of power and due to the low voltage you need a high current supply, and you also get a noticeable voltage drop on lengths of more than a metre!
Has a quick peak on eBay for some multicolour version to use on the banister for Christmas, however they all seem to have a 12V plug/brick and I'm wary on the safety of them! (Was looking at the 5m version)
I have one of those on my garden shed. I have been using it for about a year. So far it hasn't suffered from water damage. It is underneath a overhanging part of the roof but I still think it gets wet every now and then. The only thing I don't like about it is that the power cord is so short. I had to extend the power cord and I didn't seal the solder joints properly. So I think that's where it is going to fail. It is not very safe either..
Interesting. What's the colour temperature / white balance / CR of the light output like? Seems it might almost be a neat solution for room lighting, instead of fluorescent strips, halogen downlighter spots or the traditional single fitting in the centre of the ceiling... if only it wasn't relatively inefficient thanks to spaffing about 50% of the input power away on the limiting resistors. Kind of almost seems like they're there as optional parts solely for 230v operation and the 110v version would just have solder bridges. Wonder if it'd work as well - but more efficiently as the voltage is dropped purely by the light emitting elements rather than what are essentially just a series of tiny heating elements - to have 2m strips set up much the same way but without the resistors and with 60 diode pairs in series, or with the 60 diodes wired up in pure series rather than paired, much as either (and particularly the latter) might be a risk for whole segments burning out thanks to single failed diodes...?
i can see this being less for xmas decoration and much more likely for say deck lighing where it is mounted on the underside of the handrail to create a down glow onto the deck or in a kithen/bath for accent lighting, anywhere you might mount to a flat surface and might expect moisture
Teletubby onesie jimjams are so on trend......
Didn't realise you were such a trailblazer!
John Greenwood
if you twist it leds would point all over the place :P so check how much twist the string could take before breaking
Using 2 strips backed to eachother might make it much more versatile. Probably twice as expensive though and twice the current rating.
what about doubling the effect by sticking another run of tube lights baby 2 back? would the way be better?
I have a reel of this stuff. It's brilliant. The best type is the silicone sleeve. A bit tricky to chop up but might be brilliant around your car reg plate and they even do it in infrared.
LostJohnny Isn't this illegal?
LostJohnny 220V strips in a car? Sure it's not the 12V cousin?
@bigclivedotcom
What, in your experience with LED strips, is good in terms of flexibility, like being put on a bodysuit? I found that the plain tape is awful, the epoxyed stuff is better, and have thought that the tube/rope lights seemed a bit chunky for that application... but I'm not sure. My LED strips always seem to break at joints on the suit.
If you look at the tape you will see that it has a solder-blob joint every 500mm which is where it usually fails. You may be able to reinforce all those points with a small stiffener stuck to the back to try to avoid them breaking, or part them there and add in some short flexible wires with strain relief. Here's a video I made, where I was having this very issue. ua-cam.com/video/kk5KENW8_5c/v-deo.html
.
Try EL wire.
bigclivedotcom
Thanks so much! I will look into it, and tell you what I find out. I might post a video of my TRON Suit (for that is what it is) if i get it working again. Cheers!
James Bradwell I tried in my first version of the suit, but it wasn't nearly bright enough by day.
I got a 220 volt 10 meter set from Banggood by mistake . so I made a rectifier and cap setup and run them at 168 volt
They sell them in a local chinese supermarket in my city. White, blue and red. They have huge spools and cut them on any length. Plugs with "drivers" sold separately.
*****
Really? They look completely the same as the Clive's one. And even the plug is identical. But maybe you're right, I think that there could be soldering spots each 10cm… But the construction is the same, at least.
pshq In the local chinese store they sell those too so yeah
not_found
OK
Clive, any chance you could cut open the bridge rectifier section so we can have a look see? I rather fancy these for an additional source of occasional lighting in my loft. I have two regular socket boxes which are currently connected to nothing, but if I can, I'd just remove the bridge rectifier from is plastic casing and heatshrink it so I can get it inside the box, behind the switch. Thanks!!
It's a solid injection moulded unit. But you could replace it with a standard rectifier rated for the correct mains voltage and anticipated current. You'd just have to be careful to match the polarity to the tape based on the existing rectifier.
This 220v led strip can work at least 1 meter.
if I cut 20 cm or 15 cm or less than 1 meter,
how to make this 20 cm led strip light up?
show me how?
🙏
thank you
Keep doing what you do brother.
What a magnificent shirt you are wearing Clive!
We use led strip lights on waltzer at work as part of the strobe lights and it looks good
I spent a few holidays in Holland working on a Waltzer doing lighting upgrades and maintenance.
Any link to the original video? 😉
I'd love to know how this is made (and traditional rope light)
Just watch to the end of the video. The full construction is shown.
13:17 ;D
bigclivedotcom Sorry, i was being impatient!!
theres an rgb version of this, can u please cover that up? i mean how does the controller work with that high voltage
think would look find on a lamp post, if you just spiral it so the back is flat against the post the lights pointing out
It would look nice wrapped round a post.
Clive I've got three LED curtains with a similar rectifier. They flash on and off and they often go out of sync. Is there any easy way to remove the blinking?
It depends on the circuitry, but if it's the classic flasher with a button it may be possible to either replace it completely with a rectifier or bridge out the components that flash the lights. This page may help. (image server appears to be down temporarily.) www.bigclive.com/noflash.htm
bigclivedotcom It doesn't have any buttons and the box is glued so it will be hard to open without breaking. I may open one and see if I can short it so it doesn't flash anymore, the lights are great and they've lasted 5 years without any LED going bad, but flashing on and off ruins it.
Thanks!
My family bought a 1meter length strip of that exact led lights and power plug and as soon as we plugged it in the mains power box in our house tripped. Buying cheap mains power led stuff is allways a gamble
Sounds like it had a short in the tape or a failed rectifier (or both, as the short usually causes the rectifier to fail short cxircuit.)
Did you look into the current rating of the rectifier? I guess the dimention of the bus bar also has a limit when it comes to total power, especially if it is bare aluminium.
And as always, great video.
leg warmers on your arms and "Lips that can be parted" at 16:10. Great videinuendoes as we have come to expect
Is there a spec sheet that shows intensity/angle curve? Do the LEDs have any lens material on them?
The LEDs are just a series of point sources. The output will be a wash of light with a slight ridge of light where the edges of the plastic strip are.
Would this work under kitchen cabinets where moisture is present, say from kettles and such? IP67 would suggest yes but mains voltage would suggest no.
It would be ideal for under cabinet use, as it is theoretically rated for full rain exposure.
yaaay metric system! 90% of the world thanks you. Finally a video i can watch without a converter in my hand.
Is there a reason why they don't put the LED pairs in with alternating polarity and leave the rectifier? That would stop the electromigration and probably more important: it would save them a rectifier per strain.
would the joule thief circuit run this strip directly to the rails of the LEDs,doing away with the mains power supply,i saw you running LED christmas lights.
A joule thief can run some lower voltage strings, but not something this high a voltage.
I always notice this flicker anyway, I am really sensitive to it mainly when I see it outside the center of my vision. It's annoying. I have this. I would like if they put in 10x the smoothing capacity...
Uhm, i think its the cam.
I see it as well especially with those cheap LED Christmas lights. Its due to the peripheral vision of the eye is more sensitive to changes in light.
BlueFoxTV
Yes it is. But not for all people I guess. Some people I had here around didn't see it. And one was just 11 y/o and the other 22. I'm 28.
I Build an LED star lamp (dangling LEDs on DuPont connectors) and it's visible flickering in 60 FPS video recording, none with 50 FPS and none for the naked eye, even when you swipe your hand under the lingt.
I Put in enough capacity on the output. But not too much, so that they go off quickly.
Is the more Omni directional stuff available remotely cheaply on eBay or other China type market? Ive been looking for something like that to light the walkway from my driveway to house. I normally just see this flat stuff that just beams light straight out in one direction. But I just want something that makes a nice path to follow.
If it's on the ground I'd suggest a low voltage option for safety to humans and animals.
If heat dissipation is not going to be a problem, I'm thinking some nail polish might be useful. Or a drop of some sort of waterproof glue. You could even make it sparkly by gluing some sort of bead on it or using 'glitter' nail polish.
Thanks for the teardown, Clive. I've been wondering the same thing: how are they making any profit with how cheap they're selling these types of LED lights? Now we know. :) I suppose for "ultimate" longevity, one could affix them to some sort of rigid backing, to prevent failures due to flexure, every foot (30 cm) or so.
It's actually very flexible and loose enough inside to deal with modest movement. But I would recommend a frame or channel. The main issue for outdoor use is water penetration.
Clive, there might be a 50 hz/ 60hz anti flicker setting in the settings of the camera application on the iPad, My tablet (addmitedly not an apple, or Ipad) has the setting and most android systems seem to have the setting as well. It could end up eliminating the shimmer if you can find a setting.
Alas no. I've not found much in the way of settings on the iPad2.
Was worth a shot. I always enjoy your videos, Could you perhaps put together a video or some references or something for building a fairly simple constant current power supply, I have a 1W laser diode I pulled out of a laser that I want to use for minor laser engraving (experimentally), and I havent found much in the way of what I am looking for. Most of the ones I find are either far more complex than I need, or use parts that I don't have. ( i would Ideally like to use mostly parts i already have though I can order from digikey if i had a decent parts list. I have diodes, electrolytic caps, resistors, and of course both npn and pnp transistors of varying ratings.)
Why don't they reverse the direction of every other LED strip? that way where the two ends meet will both be connecting to the same power rail and they could do away with the large gap.
Verdigris, brilliant word, thank you.
So why do people mostly use metres and metres of 12v and 24v LED tape when 240v tape seems like a better option (when protected of course)?
Each has its own advantages. The 12V stuff can be cut in much smaller increments.
Great video.
Hey Clive. Do you still recommend the Poundland Fusiomax Endurance batteries? I went and tried them after your battery evaluation tests which found Simply Duracell to be Simply Shit lol. I have to say I totally agree with your findings on them and found Fusiomax to be excellent. Thanks
Yes, I've found all the Poundland alkaline cells to be good, but the Fusiomax had surprising capacity.
Thanks Clive, all the best.
Why not put two independent strips back to back to get all round lighting.
What would you recommend to cab of the ends instead of the hotsnot.....?
They're such a loose fit that the traditional solvent glue won't work, so it'll have to be something that bonds properly to soft plastic and fills gaps.
Yep the "lose fit theme" doesn't really work with electronics in general..... I have a temporary hate for Microsoft electronics after the power supply for my Xbox 360 slim fried itself... The sniff test had the odour of dead electronics.. Not related to the matter but a pain in the... Thank God for eBay that saves our bacon and other things we hold dear
A silicone product called E-6000 (big brother to GOOP) sticks pretty good to just about everything. Most often, I find it in craft and fabric stores. It doesn't store forever after it's opened. Might want to scuff up the surfaces a bit.
Is it a full-wave rectifier?
Seems that LED string tape tube thingy was manufactured on my 31st birthday, question is, which will last 'til next year, me or it? :P
Clive: Great vid, as usual! If you don't mind me asking, which supplier/seller did you buy it from? Any recommendations for indoor warm white strip?
I can't really recommend a particular supplier as I'd need to buy some from a lot of them and leave it on test for a year or so, and by then they might be selling a different version.
Good point; thank you!
Clive, do you reckon that's a 2 phase rectifier?
It's a standard 4 diode single phase bridge rectifier.
Clive, I've been a fan of your videos for awhile now. I think I've gone back through your channel and watched everything from the last couple years at least.
I've got a question for you, or rather I'd like your recommendation for a product. I need a PSU for my RPi 3 and it's proving hard to find one that can actually deliver 2-2.5A at 5V. The one I bought can't keep voltage high enough and the Pi complains. Everything else I have on hand is more around 1A or so and isn't enough and again, the Pi bitches. Do you know of any reputable USB PSUs that can deliver near the 2.5A mark without dropping too far below 5V?
I'm not sure the best option. Perhaps a decent quality USB power supply with a very short and beefy cable to the RPi3? Voltage drop on your cable could be an issue.
bigclivedotcom yeah, I got a USB PSU from Amazon that had a good review from someone who graphed the voltage vs current across its rated range but you know how consistent those cheap Chinese products can be. It also came with a ludicrously long USB cable with a switch in the middle that was obviously not going to work for the application but I gave it a try for shits and giggles and wouldn't you know, it had a break somewhere between the switch and the plug just a few inches away. Probably because they used such a short run between the switch and the end with no strain relief that shipping alone was probably enough to ruin it.
Does anyone know the proper search terms to use to find this on Ebay (U.S.)??
120v led strip
try soddering iron
clive. are you wearing a yellow microfiber shirt? you have fabulous taste in fashion.
hi vis hoodie.
should have a look on aliexpress the 12v unsleeved stuff is £3-5 for 5m
I actually prefer the bare version of the 12V tape. It's much easier to work with and adheres to surfaces better because it is less rigid than the coated stuff.
I wonder if there's just one factory.
Clive, didn't you calculate the total resistance incorrectly? Parallel resistors should use reciprok math.
So that would be 1/(1/470*30) = 15,7 ohms
Carsten Svendsen The resistors are in series.
The resistors are in series with the diodes as can clearly be seen on his schematic. That string is then paralleled throughout the led wire. Or am I missing something here?
Hi Carsten, I got a bit confused at first too as it seems that Clive used "parallel" a couple of times in an odd way. From what I can tell, each strip consists of led "packs" consisting of two pairs of parallel LEDs in series. There are 15 of these LED "packs" in series with 14 resistors per strip. Each strip runs in parallel with the next strip.
I wonder though why they bother with a rectifier when the LEDs will rectify the voltage anyway. (I guess it's a full-wave rectifier)
Well that explains why some of my cheaper firewire cables have gone green instead of clear.
After 2 years outside (under a small overhang) several meter-segments fail, is my experience.
Very much no matter which type of brand they all tend to drop large sections after 1-2 years.
This always happens, sometimes the bulbs are fine but the section where the beginning of a meter connects to the mains inside the rope fails and starts sparking, the rope gets black and the smell of burnt plastic fills the room. Happened to me last week, I cut it and taped it to mains again and voila! Not "safe" but free
Something this video has got me wondering, if these LEDs are driven by a simple bridge rectifier and nothing else, and so can be easily dimmed, why aren't domestic LED light bulbs designed this way instead of using capacitative droppers or other circuits which have problems with dimmers?
Because you don't have 40 LEDs in most lightbulbs, this works because the load is spread across a lot of emitters.
I've not yet seen a mains voltage lamp with a resistive dropper in it, in these strips the heat is spread over a modest area. It might be quite interesting to make a resistive dropper based lamp.
Thanks. For avoidance of doubt, I was really thinking of the LED filament type, as they do use dozens of LEDs. Of course there's the small problem of heat dissipation from the resistors which would be needed.
Very informative and good video
1:45 "Partly UV-degradation and partly moisture ingress. You can tell it is moisture ingress, because..." - there is no sunshine on the Isle of Man?
I use the same thing for lighting computer cases,but mine is multi colored has a control box and can respond to sound. you can also get L shaped connectors for going round corners.
The iPad doesn't have PAL mode? That's silly.
clive? can u fix something for me if I send it to u
i have a broken set of lights
Show us Clive!!
Aluminum... Ahem, Aluminium doesn't glow. It's steel. Stainless steel.
I wouldn't really trust this 240v led strip.
I wish they would make 48v led strips though, the 12v ones need to be powered every couple of meters.
I like your strip downs talks
you asked a while back what ads we were getting.
ua-cam.com/video/czjx5bCv_lg/v-deo.html
this is the ad i got and it was skippable after 5 seconds, but i was intrigued... i wonder if UK railway workers really use this equipment, doubt it.
Im going to buy some of this lighting to go either side of the beam in my room as i live in an attic.. would you trust this over a 12/24v strip?
For modest amounts of work the new breed of lithium tools are absolutely outstanding. Absolutely up there with traditional corded power tools. And with a car charger you don't have to worry so much about running out of power.
Why isnt there any sound on most of your video's clive?
They are mono. Your computer's surround sound processing may be sending the audio to a middle speaker that doesn't exist.
aye figured it out, forgot to change it back to stereo for my headphones.
Please review/digest one of those super thin wire - mains voltage LED lights like this: www.dx.com/p/36w-600-led-warm-white-light-100m-twinkle-string-lights-transparent-452790#.WDk1Zvl974Y
They looks super dangerous, since they plug straight into 220v mains and have super thin - easy to brake wire. Do you reckon they are dangerous to use?
I bought in May a length of 40m and have supplied with a timer 5 minutes maximum. For a month, sets of 20 or 30 LEDs do not work. I'll throw in the trash ....
Hombre Is it outside?
yes
ALUSOL is the solder you are looking for.
you could totally make a side job of this setting up lighting for cam girls :D
Против Глобал Being otherwise inclined, he would be safe around them. However he would need to pass those pesky "part P" UK regulations to set things up in homes.
aluminium*
NOT WARM WHITE VARY ANGARY
"Very Angry" Mr R D James.
or is "Vary An Gary" the title of a new album? :P
The new album releasing in 2098 when 4d virtual reality music is a possibility, will be called "Vary Angary" and will consist of me slamming my head into a computer running FL studio
Jake Nash
Hahaha. I'd have thought MAX MSP or Reaktor would produce far greater near mushroom cloud sized head slamming damage though I've never had the "joy" of using FL so who knows?
Anyway here's looking forward to 2098 and the success of your upcoming album "Valery is A Granny" or "Very Granary Loaf" or "Varsity Gravel" or whatever it's called.
bought 2 of these and both died in a month :(
Very odd, very strange.
oh look leds that don't explode lol