(Part 2) Top products from r/led

You can get aluminum channels with frosted covers to mount your LED strips in.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01LL2SLME/ref=psdc_14325671_t2_B01MYF2P2I

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Here is an alternate idea I have been kicking around for a while for creating a cheap and easy LED strip light diffuser, but I have never tried it: The materials are parchment paper and 2" wide clear packing tape. You can probably find both of these at your local grocery store. You will also need a hand saw and a miter box.

Remove the parchment paper roll from its cardboard package and make a pencil mark one inch from the end of the roll. Holding the roll gently but firmly against one side of the miter box, cut off the end of the roll at the mark using a hand saw (avoid power tools for this operation). Unroll the resulting one inch wide roll of parchment paper and secure in place over the LED strip with a length of 2" wide clear packing tape.

yeah, one of those strips are 24v strips, i'm surprised they lit up at all. 12v1A isn't enough current to do much.

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this page says that you're looking at 72W for the full 5m strip, http://www.ledlightsworld.com/page.html?id=38

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so that's a 12v, 6A power supply. I recommend trying to cut a small piece off one strip, and see if that works with your controllers

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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AAO4CUY/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 these ones are kinda crap to be honest. they don't have red green and blue in each led, only a red led, then a blue, then a green. in aggregate with really amazing diffusion you'll be able to make purples and oranges, but it won't look near as good as the other two strips you listed which are actually rgb per chip.

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so step one: cut off 5 leds (or wherever the cut line is on the strip) and see if that works with your power supply and controller. if it does then get a better power supply (hint: it won't look like a tiny little wall wart. at a minimum you'll need something that looks like this, however if you want some of the best you can get, mean well has you covered: https://www.amazon.com/MEAN-WELL-RS-75-12-Supply-Single/dp/B005T8XCLW/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1550809827&sr=8-18&keywords=12v+6a+dc+power+supply

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let me know if you have any questions!

Best of luck. If you want to get adventurous you can get an electric griddle like this and set it to around 250 and reflow the whole board and just pluck the LED off with a pair of tweezers. I will admit that is pretty hard to get the new LED soldered on well at that point though.

It takes a lot of drinking but they fit into wine/liquor bottles with ip65 cable glands something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Plastic-Waterproof-Connectors-Glands/dp/B00841YHHY/ref=asc_df_B00841YHHY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=228763672776&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3089221781606621095&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002019&hvtargid=aud-801381245258:pla-392546892203&psc=1

Just drill a hole in the cork/cap to accomodate the gland and screw it on. Makes a cool fixture. Or string the together for some great outdoor or bar lighting.

The quickest simplest option to use a PIR would be something like this. Plug and play, almost nothing to do except plug in a suitable power supply and make sure your LEDs have the correct plug.

You could also do the same with an Arduino and a relay module, you could then use the pressure switch or PIR as input. The Arduino could also be omitted and the pressure switch or PIR connected directly to the relay module providing you choose a relay module with the coil drive transistor on board but if you use the pressure switch without an Arduino you will have whats called switch bouncing, basically it would cause the relay/lights to flicker as the switch makes and breaks contact, you can "debounce" the switch with code in the Arduino quite easily and add other features such as a cool off period before it can be activated again, there are many other ways to debounce a switch but without getting into electronics too deeply an Arduino is the simplest. PIR modules have an "on time" which can be adjusted with a potentiometer from a second or so to many minutes so switch bounce isn't a problem with a PIR.

Your pressure switch option regardless of the way u/debug_yourself is carrying on would work fine providing the current is kept low, like less than half an amp, if you need more than that it would be best to go with the relay option.

Yes, you will need a power supply and a controller of some kind (similar to what came with the original kit).

I searched Amazon with the term "LED strip controller" and found this which should work fine . It's even the same brand as what you have (not that it's critical to do that)

Here's some connectors with wire and plugs on amazon if you prefer to order from there.

It's all pretty standard stuff for the most part.

Have fun

u/Firealarm102 If you opt for multiple power supplies, you'll need to make sure you connect the grounds for all of your power supplies *but not the high voltage (VCC) lines*.

Alternatively you could get one (very large) power supply rated for up to ~80A and keep groups of strips in parallel (and isolated) circuits. For example you could design three completely separate circuits of 5 meters each (of LEDs), and join them only at the power supply. That way you could use the same power supply, and since current cannot flow from one group to another, you can get away with thinner wires to each of the 3 circuits than you would if it was all on one circuit. The catch is that you'd need 3 sets of parallel power cables from PSU to LEDs instead of one.

Also keep an eye on wire gauges to avoid things catching fire. Using one PSU with 3 parallel circuits, or 3 separate PSUs, you'd need around 8 or 10 AWG wire to sustain 18A with stranded-core wire. Or if you used just a single circuit and one PSU, you'd need 1 AWG wire (which is insane). See https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html.

With this high current, you'll want to look at good ways to splitting the power lines. I would strongly caution against just soldering a bunch of wires together to achieve parallel circuits. You could use some of these instead: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K2K6M0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Regardless of your choice of power supply arrangement, you should try to inject power every 1M of LEDs, with this high pixel density. If you opt for 3 groups of 5 meters, that means that each of your 3 power circuits will need 5 parallel circuits inside of that.

If your LEDs live close to your power supply (within a few meters), your data line can still pass through these isolated circuit boundaries just fine, since the circuits will share the same ground (via the power supply). If you need really long cables from PSU to LEDs, you may want to consider 12V instead of 5V LEDs - that will also let you use much thinner wires.

For more information I'd recommend checking out Adafruit's guide to powering 5V LEDs like this: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide/powering-neopixels

What about something like this? https://www.amazon.com/APV-35-12-Single-Output-Switching-Supply/dp/B00FRC18FW


As it turns out, Meanwell also sells enclosed drivers. I previously thought they only had exposed circuit boards. The only thing I have to do for this unit is screw on an AC plug like this? https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-Straight-Residential-Polarized-Non-Grounding/dp/B0015OCG9S


Edit: or even better: https://smile.amazon.com/original-GS25A12-P1J-meanwell-Industrial-Adaptor/dp/B00DEDBBGW

all constant voltage LED strips are customizable in length. All you need to do is cut across the cut points (usually marked)

As long as you have the correct power supply (12V or 24V) that shouldn’t matter.

These connectors make it a bit easier when connecting strips together, although I’m not sure if they come in longer lengths. Just make sure they’re the right width.

HitLights LED Light Strip Connector, 8mm Single Color 3528-6 Inch Any Angle Strip to Strip, 4 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0062RBR84/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_nLfrDb5BWSWBD

ETA: let me know if you need help :)

Yes, I believe this is the exact one

https://www.amazon.com/LEDwholesalers-Flexible-300xSMD3528-Adhesive-2026WW-31K/dp/B002QQ48TK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526591228&sr=8-1&keywords=2026ww-31k

I have a project like this going on for our new house. We had a strip of RGB lights in the living room at our old house (something like this) and we loved it, but the strip was mounted directly on the wall facing out and it was very harsh. The remote control was not very good, you had to have it pointed just right at the receiver for it to work. But we miss it so much that we want to install a better system in our new house. I want to use RGBW strips for the extra light this time but when I start looking at the strips, power supplies, controllers, I can't get a grasp on what combination I'll need.

Something like This?

The LED's i got from a local wholesaler. Connectors are just off the top of Amazon

The Connectors arent soldered.

That kit does come with a power supply however if you want to run the lights on a battery than I suggest getting a 12 volt battery.

Here is a link to a 12 Volt battery

Link - https://www.amazon.com/ExpertPower-EXP1270-Rechargeable-Lead-Battery/dp/B003S1RQ2S/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2TN1JXSHD9MY9&keywords=12+volt+battery&qid=1550782240&s=gateway&sprefix=12+volt+%2Caps%2C271&sr=8-5

That battery will run each reel for about an hour and half before going flat. If you run both reels at the same time from the battery than you will only get about half that time.

Would this get the job done? DROK Waterproof DC Buck Converter Voltage Regulator 8-22V to 1-15V 5V 12V 3A Adjustable Output Power Supply Transformer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C0KL1OM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ZCGrDbDZ7Q5GT

sorry I couldn't find the description to the product but here it is:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VFPR7TS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Depending on the stiip voltage....any small 12v leadacid battery.

Else, there are small A23 batteries that might power small amounts for a short time, they are also 12v


not sure what setup you want explained, because I'm not sure what you want. Strips have a + and a - terminal, or wires. +(red) goes to battery +, and - (black) goes to the negative terminal.