Sean Meighan
General => Lights => Topic started by: babybear on January 05, 2017, 02:12:09 PM
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Has any one used these yet? Good bad
I just bought 4 roll of these lights 5 meter 300LED/node WS2812b 5 volt. Yes 900 channels per roll. Im going to use them on my Ferris Wheel. Each LED/node is 5/8 on center. Thats tight. They are silicone covered not in a tube. Just thinking of the resolution of these on a mega tree. A small 8 foot tall tree could be 150 tall 20 wide. Thats 10 rolls And I think Ray has them for 22 each. I'll light them up later tonight. The 3 copper tabs are exposed on the back side. I'm guessing I'll need to get them sealed up.
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I used a 12v version of those on my boat. The 3m adhesive on the back sticks very well to fiberglass. But, as you noticed, even though the front is encased in flexible silicone, the copper traces on the back are exposed. Every boating season, I lose more pixels due to water intrusion. It was really cool the first year, but I'm probably pulling them out of the boat this summer due to all the failed pixels after a few years in the boat.
If you use these on an indoor thingy (tree, or whatever) they are great. And could probably even hold up to some brief water splashes in a kitchen or bathroom environment. But they would not hold up very long outdoors in the rain.
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Are you thinking of the dumb RGBs yes the exposed tabs but right to the edge of the lights.
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following, like the density, put them on emt like Sean does and they are easy on and off with hooks on the hanger.
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I used a 12v version of those on my boat. The 3m adhesive on the back sticks very well to fiberglass. But, as you noticed, even though the front is encased in flexible silicone, the copper traces on the back are exposed. Every boating season, I lose more pixels due to water intrusion. It was really cool the first year, but I'm probably pulling them out of the boat this summer due to all the failed pixels after a few years in the boat.
If you use these on an indoor thingy (tree, or whatever) they are great. And could probably even hold up to some brief water splashes in a kitchen or bathroom environment. But they would not hold up very long outdoors in the rain.
Ray would probably slip these into silicon tubes for you to give them more protection, but I find some condensation still occurs and that would be still bad on a boat.
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Yes, the strips in my boat are dumb RGB, but the physical construction of the strip is the same as your picture. 5050 LED package spaced at 60 per meter with full silicone encasing on the front and 3m peel-and-stick on the back.
All I'm saying is even though they claim to be weather-proof, mine got rained on and water got in through the backside which is not encased in silicone. Only the top side is covered with silicone. You might be luckier with them mounted vertically and water running down. On my boat, the strips are mounted horizontally.
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I think I'm using the same strips at 5 volts. I used mine to modify some icicles that I got on close out. Most of my stuff is 12 volts so I just used a dc-to-dc converter
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The dumb version I use all the time at camp. I have ways to control the water issue. Those the led are cheep so I'm not expecting much from them. 2 to 3 years max. I'm asking more about the time they will last. You can buy them in a tube or incased. On my Ferris wheel the tubes will look sloppy to me. I did get then lit up tonight. 300 LEDs on white defiantly needs power at both ends.
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I built a megatree a few years ago out of 60 LED/m flexible strips. there was 24 strands, each one universe or 170 pixels. I mean it looked great but doing a few things with it had its draw backs. Send me a message and I will send you a link to see it in action
Zane