The Ultimate Guide to LED Strips
LED strip lights are becoming increasingly popular because they can easily be cut and installed. So you can use LED strips in countless home, landscape, vehicle, retail, office, and industrial applications—from lighting under cabinets to making powerful ceiling light fixtures. However, there are many types of LED strip lights on the market. It is not easy to quickly understand LED strip lights and make correct purchasing decisions. This guide introduces various knowledge of LED strips in detail, hoping to enable readers to understand LED strips swiftly in a short time.
What is LED Strip Light?
The LED strip light is a flexible PCB with LEDs, resistors, and other components on the front and double-sided tape on the back. LED strip lights have the following characteristics:
- Work on low voltage DC power
- Every 3 LEDs or 6 LEDs can be cut
- Available in a variety of colors and brightness
- The length is usually 5 meters in a roll, and it can be cut to the required length
- Double-sided tape on the back for installation
- Different waterproof grade versions for indoor or outdoor use
Components of LED Strip Light?
An LED strip light is usually 10-12mm wide in length up to 5 meters or more in length. They can be cut to specific lengths with just a pair of scissors along the cut line, located every 25mm-100mm.
The density of lamp beads on LED strips is usually 60-120 per meter. The quality of LED lamp beads plays a decisive role in the quality of LED strips.
Double-sided tape is attached to the back of the LED strip. Just peel off the double-sided tape, and you can attach the LED strip to any surface. Since the PCB is flexible, the LED strip can be installed on curved and uneven surfaces.
LED lamp beads are the most critical components of LED strips. There are many kinds of LED lamp beads, and they are named according to their size. For example, the most common ones are SMD5050 and SMD2835. The size of SMD5050 is 5.0*5.0mm. The LED lamp beads’ life determines the LED strip’s life, which can be calculated from the LM80 test report. For more information, you can read How Long Do LED Strip Lights Last?
A resistor prevents the LED light from passing too much current and stops the LED from burning. LED strips use SMD resistors. SMD resistors are black with numbers printed on them, and the numbers indicate the resistance value of the resistor. The number is composed of 3 digits, and the last digit indicates how many zeros there are after the previous 2 digits. For example, 151 means 150 ohms.
Most LED strips only have LED beads and resistors. Some LED lights come with lamp beads, resistors, and ICs, which we call constant current LED light strips. Constant current LED strips can solve the voltage drop problem of LED strips. The voltage drop problem is that the farther the LED strip is from the power supply, the dimmer the part.
FPCB(flexible printed circuit board), the primary material is copper, and its function is to electrically connect components such as lamp beads, resistors, and ICs. Another role of FPCB is to help LED strips dissipate heat faster. Excessive heat will shorten the life of the LED strip. The amount of copper in the FPCB determines the amount of current that can pass. The width and thickness parameters of FPCB are the most concerned. Common widths are 10mm, 12mm, and 15mm, and common thicknesses are 2 ounces and 3 ounces.
The ends of the LED strips will be soldered with wires for easy connection to the LED power supply. The size of the wire is usually 18AWG or 20AWG. The cables have 2PINs, 3PINs, 4PINs, and 5PINs for single color, tunable white, RGB, RGBW, and RGBTW strips.
Double-sided tape is usually on the back of the LED strip, which is also an important component. 3M is one of the best brands. The LED strip may fall off if poor-quality double-sided tape is used. There are many double-sided tapes, and different types of double-sided tapes are used in different scenarios. For more detailed information, please read How to Choose The Right Adhesive Tapes For LED Strip.
If you need to use LED light strips outdoors, then the LED light strips need to be waterproof. LED strips usually use silicone to make them waterproof. We have the following waterproof grades, IP52(silicone coating), IP65(silicone tube), IP65H(heat shrink tube), and IP67(silicone encased). For more knowledge about waterproof LED strips, please read A Guide to Waterproof LED Strip Lights.
