How to Customize Personalized LED Flexible Strips?

LED Flexible strips are bendable, weather-resistant, and easy-to-install SMD strips. That is what makes them ideal for personal customization. But how to customize personalized LED flexible strips?

By purchasing a good quality LED flexible strip, aluminum profile, wires, LED controller, etc., you can easily personalize them. Besides, such customization with LED flexible strips will meet your creative thirst and save you money! 

And so this article will guide you through the stepwise procedure to customize personalized LED flexible strips. 

What Are LED Flexible Strips?

LED flexible strips are ribbon or tape-like circuit boards populated by SMD LEDs. The circuit board of these strips is very flexible and comes with cutting junctions. That is what makes them custom friendly. 

You can size them to your needs. Besides, LED flexible strips come with versatile color options. And are ideal for both indoor and outdoor lighting. 

components of led strip light
led strip light

Why Customize Personalized LED Flexible Strips?

Customizing LED flexible strips can be more fun if you are a DIY freak! Here, you get a wide range of options in choosing the color, size, shape, etc., for your personalized LED strip Lighting.

Sometimes, you may not get what you want for your lighting. Yet, if you find one, it gets too expensive! Here, customizing personalized LED flexible strips works out. These LED strips are super flexible and allow you to use them wherever you want. Indoor or outdoor, they never fail to impress you. 

Besides, going for customization meets your creative thirst. You can personalize these LED strips for your bedroom, office, or car lighting. 

led strip light 1
led strip light

Equipment You Need To Customize Personalized LED Flexible Strips

The first step in customizing your LED flexible strip is to assemble all the required tools. Here, I’ve listed all you need to customize your LED flexible strip-

  • LED strip roll
  • Aluminum profile/channel
  • Cover 
  • Scissor/Sharp blade
  • Wire stripper 
  • Polyester loops
  • Heat shrink protector 
  • Plastic caps 
  • 18 gauge wire ( Black & Red)
  • Soldering iron 
  • Double-sided 3M tape
  • LED controller box

Steps To Customize Personalized LED Flexible Strips 

After you have collected the required equipment, it’s time to start your customization. The steps for LED strip customization are as follows –

Step:1: Measure & Cut LED Strip

Take an aluminum channel of your required length. Now, take the roll of the LED flexible strip and cut it to the size of the channel. Use a scissor or a sharp blade for this procedure. And make sure to cut it following the cut marks on the strip’s body. 

Step:2: Set The Strip To The Aluminium Channel

Next, take the aluminum channel and place the sized strip on it. Remove the adhesive from the strips back and stick it to the track. Keep the strip connectors at the end of the panel when setting the strips.

Step:3: Soldering

Once you have placed the strip on the aluminum channel, it’s time to solder. The LED flexible strips are coated with plastic for protection. So, melt it out of the connector to join the wires. 

Take a little flux on the soldering iron’s tip and heat the connector. Doing this will set the foundation for wiring. But make sure not to overheat it. 

Next, cut the wires to your required length using a wire stripper. Then, take the red wire and heat its tip with a soldering iron. And join it to the positive part of the connector. Repeat the same with the black wire and secure it on the opposing side. Your soldering is done!

Step:4: Add Heat Shrink Protector & Wire Covering

Pass the soldered wires inside a heat shrink protector. Now, take a polyester loop and insert the weirs into it. After that, use a heat gun to stick the wirings to the loop. 

Step:5: Close The Channel With Cover

After the wiring is done, take the cover and seal the aluminum channel. Press the lid to make sure it is sealed properly. 

Step:6: Join Channels Using Holed Caps

Once your channel is all set, close the two ends with the caps. And pass the wires through the hole of the cap. With these holes, you can join two aluminum channels together. 

Step:7: Connect The LED Strips To LED Controller 

Now, it’s time to light up the LED strips. Take the customized LED strip’s positive and negative wires and insert them into the LED controller box. Press the ‘On’ button of the controller box and see your customized strips glowing!

Step: 8: Stick The Double-Sided Tape

After you have tested your LEDs, it’s time to install the lighting. For that, turn back the aluminum channel and add the double-sided tape. Then, your customized LED flexible strips are ready to set anywhere you want. Just take out the adhesive tape and press it to any surface!

Things To Consider To Customize Personalized LED Flexible Strips

Before going for customization, you need to consider some facts about the LED flexible strips. These are as follows-

Types Of Chip 

LED strips come in different shapes and dimensions. For example, the SMD 2216 LED strip chip has a dimension of 2.2mm*1.6mm. Likewise- there are SMD5050, SMD3538, SMD1808, and more. Remember that the light’s brightness varies with the chip’s dimension. So, be wise in selecting the LED strips for customization.  

Color Of The LED Strip

There are many color options for LED strips. For example- single color, RGB (red, green, blue), RGBW (red, green, blue, white), tunable white (warm to cool), etc. So decide what color you want for your customization, and purchase accordingly. Besides, going for a programmable LED strip will give you customizable coloring options. 

PCB Width

PCB means the printed circuit board where the SMD chips lie. Before purchasing the strips for customization, ensure that the PCB width is compatible with the aluminum channel. For instance, if you buy a PCB of 15mm width for an aluminum channel of 10mm, it won’t fit!

Length 

Usually, LED flexible strips come in a 5m long roll. So, measure how long strips you need for your project, and purchase accordingly. 

Cutting length

Placing the connector/ dark areas at the end is difficult when used with aluminum channels. That is why a strip with minimal cutting length is best because the shorter the cutting length, the more flexible the LED strips. 

LED Density

LED density indicates the number of LEDs per meter. The higher the density of the led strip or cob led strip, the smoother the light will diffuse. And thus, the lighting will not have dots. So, for customizing your LED strip, going for high-density LED strips will work best. 

CRI Rating

Color Rendering Index (CRI) indicates the color accuracy of LED strips. They are graded from 1-100. A LED strip with CRI>80 gives better color accuracy. But for best results, go for CRI>95. 

Voltage 

LED flexible strips come in various voltage ratings. For example- 5V, 12V, 48V, etc. You can get the one that works best for your customization. 

Power consumption

LED flexible strips are power-saving. They don’t use much energy to operate. Yet, they come in different power consumption rates. That can range from 2.4w/m – 30w/m or more. So, choose the one that goes well with your needs. 

Double-Sided Adhesive

A high-quality double-sided adhesive is essential for LED strip customization. That is because this adhesive sticks your LED strips firmly to the surface. And so, you can mount them anywhere without worrying about falling. To choose the right adhesive for your customized LED strips, check this out – How to Choose The Right Adhesive Tapes For LED Strip

Wires 

In customizing LED strips, you can choose wires of different diameters. For example, you can get a 12, 16, 18, or 24-gauge wire per your need. But remember, the greater the gauge number, the smaller the diameter. That is, an 18 gauge wire is thinner than a 16 gauge wire. 

IP Rating 

The Ingress Progress (IP) rating indicates the level of protection from adverse weather. For example- IP55 is protected from dust, whereas IP67 is dust and waterproof. Therefore, a higher IP rating provides better protection. So, if you plan to customize your LED strips outdoors, ensure the LED strip is water, dust, and heatproof with a higher IP rating. For more information, you can read A Guide to Waterproof LED Strip Lights.

Controller 

You can use a remote or manual controller to control your LED strips. In addition, there are many options for color controlling if you install RGB or color-changing LED strips. These are more fun to watch. 

Therefore, consider these facts well before buying LED strips for your customization. 

How To Cut LED Flexible Strips?

First, locate the connectors and cutting marks to cut LED flexible strips. You will find the cut marks printed between every two connectors. So, follow the markings and cut the strip at those exact indications. Use a sharp blade or a scissor for this purpose. Yet, make sure to only cut on some other places except the marking. 

Each LED of the strip has a definite circuit. So, cutting them at any other parts will ruin the connections, and the LEDs will not glow. 

DIY Color on LED Flexible Strip

To make a DIY color on an LED flexible strip, you need to get a programmable RGB or RGBW LED flexible strip. Such strips come with a remote that has color-changing options. 

Different brands come with different remote-controlling systems. But the procedure and buttons are almost the same. For example, on the above part of the remote, you will find the standard colors already installed in the system.

But for DIY, go to the lower section of the remote, and you will find the markings’ DIY1′, ‘DIY2’, etc. To customize color, press one of those buttons and mix green, red and blue in a fixed ratio. You will find arrow marks for each color to increase or decrease the mixing ratio. 

For instance, press the red and yellow buttons for 6 seconds to create yellow color. And then, dim the blue by pressing it for 10 seconds. That’s it; mixing red and green in equal proportion will get yellow DIY color on LED strips. Now, press the DIY button again to save it. Thus, the yellow color will pop up each time you press that button. 

In this way, you can customize hundreds of colors on LED flexible strips. Plus, the task becomes easier if you have a smart RGB or RGBW. You can control the entire lighting on your smartphone!

Cost To Customize Personalized LED Flexible Strips

Customizing personalized LED flexible strips doesn’t cost much. You can get a 5m long LED strip for $10 (remember the pricing varies with the strips’ quality, dimension, and color). An LED controller and dimmer will cost you around $9.30. These two are the essential elements for your customization, which you can complete with $20-$30! 

Now, a good quality 3M double-sided tapes will cost you $10-$14 (the price varies with the width of the tape). And other essential components like scissors, wires, and solder that you usually have at home won’t be a headache. Yet, you can get a 100ft, 18 gauge wire for $8-$12. And when it comes to soldering, you can get a mini one for $14-$20. 

So, analyzing the costs, you can easily customize your personalized LED flexible strips for only 50-60 bucks! Besides, you will have excess wires and strips that you can use later. 

Where To Purchase Customized LED Flexible Strips?

If you want to purchase a customized LED flexible strip, going to an LED strip manufacturer will help you. They offer bend type, color, dimension, size, voltage, and more choices.

LEDYi is one of China’s leading LED strip and LED neon flex manufacturing companies. We provide all you need for your customized LED flexible strip. Whatever color, shape, PCB width, power consumption, CRI, and IP rate you want, we can customize it for you. 

Besides, we offer you to print your designed label at the back of our strips. So, if you are searching for customized LED flexible strips, LEDYi is the best solution!

FAQs

Yes, you can cut the LED flexible strips following the cut marks. If you want to rejoin them, you can also use an LED connector. 

The standard length for a LEd flexible strip roll is 5m. But you can get customizable options for sizing. 

Not all LED flexible strips are waterproof. However, the ones with IP ratings of 65-68 are resistant to water.

LED flexible strips are dimmable when connected to a dimmer. Using a remote or a wall dimmer, you can adjust the brightness of the strips.

Programmable LED flexible strips are also known as addressable LED strips. They have a built-in independent chip (IC) that allows you to control a specific part of the LED strip. So, you can change the color of particular segments with a programmable LED flexible strip. 

The LED flexible strips with a diameter of 5.0mm * 5.0mm are called SMD5050. 

The LED manufacturers can customize the power consumption of LED flexible strips for you. For example, they can customize the power consumption suitable for ceiling lights, accent lights, cabinet lights, etc. 

Conclusion

LED flexible strips are customized-friendly. You need not be a professional to personalize them. All you need to do is find the appropriate LED strip for the task. And then, following the above guidelines, you can easily customize personalized LED flexible strips. 

Yet, LEDYi provides various customizable LED strips and LED neon flex options. Besides, our products undergo high-tech laboratory tests to maintain the utmost quality. So, for customizable LED flexible strips, contact us soon! 

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