Light strip is the abbreviation of LED light strip. Most people are not used to long nouns when talking about it, so they omit the LED in front and just call it light strip. This name of light strip also includes many old-fashioned light strips that directly connect LEDs with wires without using FPC or PCB. Of course, it also includes flexible light strips and hard light strips.
The structure of LED light strips There are two types of LED light strip structures: one is the ordinary type, which is a series and parallel circuit structure; the other is the combined type, which is the structure used in the magic light strip, which contains integrated circuits and timing control circuit.
The following will explain the related issues about LED light strips with commonly used LED light strips:
1. What materials are LED light strips made of?
LED light strips are composed of FPC, LED, chip resistors, waterproof silicone (there is an article introducing the waterproof treatment method of LED light strips, you can refer to it), connection terminals and other materials.
2. What is the circuit structure of the LED light strip?
The circuit structure of conventional LED light strips is a series-parallel circuit. Most of the LED light strip wholesale products provided to us are 12V powered LED light strips, which use three LEDs and a chip resistor to be connected in series to form a component circuit; Each LED light strip is composed of 10 component circuit combinations connected in parallel. The advantages of designing the circuit structure in this way are:
A. The use of resistor voltage dividers can effectively ensure that the LED operates under the specified rated voltage, and will not shorten the service life of the LED because the input voltage exceeds the rated voltage of the LED.
B. Parallel shunting can effectively reduce the impact of the input rated current on each group of LEDs through a parallel circuit, allowing the LEDs to be stabilized within a current range, thus greatly increasing the service life of the LEDs.
C. Parallel constant voltage, because each group of LEDs is a parallel structure, so cutting off one group will not affect the normal use of other groups, which can effectively save installation costs and avoid waste.
3. What is the physical structure of LED light strips?
LED light strips are divided into 4 types according to width, including 6mm/8mm/10mm/12mm, and 6 types according to LED size, including 0603, 0805, 1206, 1210, 5050, and 5060. So what is the physical structure of each LED light strip? We also provide conventional LED light strips (led5050 220v flexible light strip) as an example to illustrate their physical structure.
Since LED light strips need to be divided according to the specific length of the light strip, the number of LEDs and the cutting position, no matter what kind of LED light strip, the arrangement of its physical structure is calculated according to the following formula:
(LED light strip length - cutting position width x number of cuts)/number of LEDs = LED spacing.
Number of LEDs/3=number of chip resistors
Features of LED light strips: 1. Soft and can be curled at will.
2. Can be cut and extended.
3. The light bulb and passage are completely covered in flexible plastic, with good insulation and waterproof properties, and are safe to use.
4. Strong weather resistance.
5. Not easy to break and have long service life.
6. Easy to create graphics, text and other shapes; it has been widely used in buildings, bridges, roads, gardens, courtyards, floors, ceilings, furniture, buses, lakes, underwater, posters, pink signs, signs, etc. Whitewash and illuminate.
The working principle of the LED light strip is that each segment is a unit. Each unit has a fixed number of light-emitting diodes and distributed current-limiting resistors. When cutting, it must be cut by unit, otherwise this segment will not light up. Each unit is connected in parallel to withstand the power supply voltage, including DC 200V, 24V, 12V, 5V, etc. The power supply and the light strip are connected with positive and negative poles. Reverse connection and light up.
How to install LED light strips
1.Indoor installation: When LED light strips are used for indoor decoration, they do not have to withstand wind and rain, so the installation is very simple. Take the LED light strips produced by Guanghong Electronics as an example. Each LED light strip has self-adhesive 3M double-sided tape on the back. During installation, you can directly peel off the sticker on the surface of the 3M double-sided tape, and then fix the light strip where needed. Where to install, just press it flat with your hands. What should I do if some places need to be turned around or are too long? It's very simple. The LED light strip is a circuit structure composed of a group of 3 LEDs connected in series and parallel. Every 3 LEDs can be cut off and used individually.
2.Outdoor installation: Outdoor installation will be exposed to wind and rain. If 3M glue is used to fix it, the 3M adhesive will decrease over time and cause the LED light strip to fall off. Therefore, outdoor installation often uses card slots to fix it. Where cutting and connection are required, the method is the same as for indoor installation, except that additional waterproof glue is required to consolidate the waterproof effect of the connection points.
3.Power supply connection method: The general voltage of LED light strips is DC 12V, so a switching power supply is required. The size of the power supply is determined according to the power and connection length of the LED light strips. If you do not want each LED light strip to be controlled by a power supply, you can purchase a relatively high-power switching power supply as the main power supply, and then connect all the input power supplies of all LED light strips in parallel (if the wire size is not enough, you can extend it separately). All are powered by the main switching power supply. The advantage of this is that it can be controlled centrally. The inconvenience is that it cannot realize the lighting effect and switch control of a single LED light strip. The specific method can be measured by yourself.
4. Controller connection method: LED marquee strips and RGB full-color light strips require a controller to achieve changing effects, and the control distance of each controller is different. Generally speaking, the control distance of a simple controller is 10 to 15 meters, the control distance of the remote controller is 15 to 20 meters, and the longest distance can be controlled to 30 meters. If the connection distance of the LED light strip is long and the controller cannot control such a long light strip, then a power amplifier is needed for tapping.
5. Pay attention to the connection distance of LED light strips: Generally speaking, the longest connection distance of 3528 series LED light strips is 20 meters, and the longest connection distance of 5050 series LED light strips is 15 meters. If this connection distance is exceeded, the LED light strip will easily generate heat, which will affect the service life of the LED light strip during use. Therefore, installation must be carried out in accordance with the manufacturer's requirements during installation, and LED light strips must not be overloaded.
Precautions when installing LED light strips 1. Do not turn on the power to light up the LED light strips before the entire roll of LED light strips is removed from the packaging or piled up;
2. When the LED light strip needs to be cut according to the length of the on-site installation, the light strip can only be cut at the place marked with scissors, otherwise one of the units will not light up. Generally, the length of each unit is 1.5-2 meters;
3. When connecting the power supply or connecting two light strips in series, first bend the head of the Licai lamp to the left and right to expose about 2-3mm of the wires in the light strip. Use scissors to cut it clean without leaving burrs, and then use a male needle to connection to avoid short circuit;
4. Only LED colorful light strips with the same specifications and the same voltage can be connected in series, and the total length of the series connection cannot exceed the maximum allowable length;
5. When LED light strips are connected in series, try to light one section after each connection, so as to promptly find out whether the positive and negative poles are connected incorrectly and whether the light emission direction of each section of light strips is consistent;
6. The end of the light strip must be put on a PVC tail plug. After tightening it with a clamp tape, use neutral glass glue to seal around the interface to ensure safety.
7. Because LED has unidirectional conductivity, if you use a power cord with an AC-DC converter, you should first conduct a power test after completing the power connection to make sure that the positive and negative poles are connected correctly before putting it into use.
Post time: Oct-25-2024
