A look inside some mains voltage LED tape.

There seems to be a lot of this flat wall-power LED tape available on eBay. so I bought some recent stuff to take a closer look at, including the internal circuitry and how it's made. It's interesting to note that this is very similar to the traditional round LED tubelight, but the construction is a lot simpler. It's also much more flexible, but not (3D) like tubelight as it puts most of its light out in a single direction.

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[MusicalBox]

I'm so glad there is a place on YouTube 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.

[mrh]

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.

[whitehoose]

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.

[tomasjosefvela]

You are truly "The Happy Painter" of electronics.

[georgestewart]

Thanks for another great vid Clive better than watching TV.

[Blowcrafter]

will we ever get a tour of your workroom? Or is it too messy to show like mine is :P

[caiotbc]

yaaay metric system! 90% of the world thanks you. Finally a video i can watch without a converter in my hand.

[Enjoymentboy]

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.

[gregorythomas]

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 :)

[SidecarBob]

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.

[locouk]

Damn, I kept getting distracted by this pair of day glow sleeves! 😂 I bet you look awesome under LED blacklight Clive.
Hahahaha..

[DaveCurran]

The looks like one hell of a jumper you've got there Clive.

[clydesight]

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?

[zxztv]

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.

[petereverett]

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!

[Frenchcrop]

Verdigris, brilliant word, thank you.

[dennisjansen]

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..

[abedbug]

leg warmers on your arms and "Lips that can be parted" at 16:10. Great videinuendoes as we have come to expect

[Nugglashine]

How visible you must be on the tiny Isle of Man, bright green sweatshirt with your red beard flowing in the wind.

[Symbolizer]

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