A special type of LED lamps are LED strips, a cellular LED-canvas, with which you can create beautiful media facades. This is a new direction in the field of lighting, but quickly won the trust of consumers. In this article, we will talk about what the LED strip represents, how to assemble it and mount it - these are the issues that are covered in detail in this article.
Content
The work of LED lamps or luminaires is based on the use of LEDs (LED or English LED). The LED crystal initially emits light in a narrow spectral range. This means that unlike a conventional lamp, the LED exudes a specific color. The range of this color depends to the greatest extent on the composition of the semiconductors of which the LED is made. LED lights are environmentally friendly light sources that do not use or emit harmful substances during production and operation.
LED Tape: Application and Types
LED strips are sometimes called LED strips or stripes. Such lighting can be used not only as a basic lighting, but first of all, it is an innovative type of decorative decoration of premises.
In modern design projects, both LED stripes of the same color and multi-colored are used. Such lighting devices are reliable and durable. Their special advantage is that the installation of LED strip can be made in hard-to-reach places for performing complex design solutions in the decoration of premises.
The most popular areas of application are:
- Light interior decoration of premises.
- Outdoor lighting of buildings, architectural structures.
- Design of advertising structures.
- Car tuning.
- Light decoration of furniture.
In principle, LED ribbons can be used wherever it is necessary to express personal fantasy and give any design a designer-unusual light style.
By way of protection, the tapes can be divided into two types:
- Ordinary unprotected open. Designed for interior decoration and lighting.
- Waterproof, IP protection class. They are applied indoors, outdoors and in the aquatic environment (illumination of swimming pools, aquariums).
By the method of luminescence, the tapes are classified into:
- LED strip of lateral glow, where the light is radiated parallel to the plane of the tape.
- LED strips of frontal glow, where the light emanates perpendicularly.
By light emission, the tapes are divided into:
- Monochrome - white glow: cold, temperate, warm and one-color ribbons of other colors.
- Multicolored (full-color) RGB tapes, where diodes of different colors are located in one housing: green, red, blue. Mixing these colors allows you to give the LED strip a colorful glow.
LED strip construction
The tape itself is a substrate of a dielectric material, not more than 0.25 mm thick, on which LEDs are mounted. Producers produce a white and brown substrate to better match the color range of the LEDs.
On the tape substrate, there are tracks carrying current, and a special protective coating is applied. To the tape, radiating diodes are fixed in a certain order. In the electronic circuit, parallel connection of modules is used. The module consists of three diodes and resistance. This scheme allows independent connections of a group of modules, that is, the LED strip can be cut into selected segments.
Notes on the possible cutting location are on the tape substrate. In these places on both sides of the module there are pins for connecting the wires. On the back of the tape is a double-sided adhesive tape, so the installation of the LED strip can be done anywhere, glued to any material: metal, wood, glass, paper, plastic.
The light source in the LED strip is an LED. The most common are SMD 3528 LEDs. They are compact, reliable, have a wide glow angle. Also on the tapes are installed SMD LEDs 5050.
The length of the module of this tape is 5 cm, and through these intervals the tape can be cut. This is a more powerful series, such LEDs are the brightest, they can be used for lighting. The brightness of the ribbon itself depends on the density of the light-emitting diodes in one running meter. The minimum number of LEDs per 1 meter from 30 pcs. Powerful tapes contain a meter of length 240 - 360 diodes, they are arranged in two or three rows in parallel.
A variety of products allows you to choose the right type of tape, but the density of LEDs over 60 per meter can significantly heat the tape. Such a lighting device is attached to the heat-removing surfaces: glass, ceramics. Also, do not close the free air access to the surface of the tape, when organizing protection against damage. If the illumination is planned out of the room, then a waterproof LED strip of IP class should be used, which is designed for any adverse external influences.
Power LED strip
Manufacturers of LED strip is supplied in 5 m long reels. Such a maximum length is due to the uniformity of the luminescence, on a longer tape the glow will gradually fade to the end. To connect the power to the LED strip, you need to purchase a power supply designed for a certain power. The fact is that the LED strips work from a direct current. That is why, they can not be connected to an ordinary electric network with an alternating current of 220 V. To do this, a voltage converter is used - a power supply unit that transfers the AC voltage to a constant voltage of the required magnitude.
For LED strips, the usual DC supply voltage is 12 Volts. That is why a connection of three LEDs is used, - with this voltage results in the maximum energy-saving effect. In addition, there are tapes with a voltage of 5 volts and 24 volts. To select the required power supply unit (PSU), you need to know the length of the LED strip, the power consumption of one meter, as well as the number of connected LEDs. At the same time, it is always necessary to leave a power reserve in the region of 20% for good operation of the power supply. The instructions for the LED strip indicate the operating voltage, this parameter is also taken into account when selecting the power supply.
It should always be taken into account that the more LEDs on one running meter, the more powerful the power supply is required. Naturally, such a purchase will cost more.
power multi-colored RGB tape
To the multi-colored RGB (Red Green Blue) ribbon, in addition to the power supply, a controller must be connected to control the color rendition. If such a tape is connected only to the power supply, it will not be possible to achieve a dynamic light effect. All diodes will be static with continuous glow. For control of colors and their smooth switching, a controller with a remote control is intended.
Multifunction LED DMX controllers have a wide variety of functions that allow you to set the algorithm for glow and color transfusion, some models of which contain up to 100 different light programs.
Especially beautiful look LED strip supporting the effect of a traveling wave. Different parts of such tape light up independently of each other, thus creating stunningly beautiful light-dynamic effects.
LED strip connection
It should be noted that you can connect the LED tape with your own hands only if you have some skills when working with electricity.
The contact areas, located on both sides of the cutting line, allow, in the case of a cut, to solder to each other for splicing different pieces of tape. You can also do this with connectors.
Solder contacts should be carefully, low-power soldering iron. Before doing this, remove the protective film from the tape, then apply the solder to the copper contacts and apply the contacts to each other. It is necessary to fix the connection by heating the solder at the junction until it melts.
Attention! When connecting the LED tape to the PS, be sure to adhere to the polarity. If the plus and minus connection is incorrect, the tape will not work.
connection of single color tape
The power supply on one side contains a power cord or two wires for connection to the 220 V network. On the other hand, two wires for low-voltage connection to the LED strip come out. Wire red - plus, black (blue) color - minus. These wires are soldered or attached with a clip to a single-color LED strip, while the installation is considered complete. Between the PSU and the tape, a dimmer (dimmer) can be installed.
If you need to extend the light path more than 5 meters, do not connect the tape in series. In this case, the second tape will be dim, but the diodes will overheat. Therefore, either an additional power supply is installed, or buy a more powerful PSU, and the tapes are connected in parallel. The connection diagram is shown in the figure.
rGB type ribbon connection
When connecting such an LED strip between the power supply and the tape itself, a controller must be installed. The red and black wires of the power supply are connected to the input to the controller.
Four wires are connected at the output: three for color management ("R" red, "B" - blue, "G" - green) and one common power wire "V +".
Attention! When calculating the power supply unit, you should also take into account the power consumption of the controller, about 5 V.
If two or more RGB tapes are connected, a parallel connection is also used, but amplifiers are additionally installed. They maintain the intensity and synchronism of color management. The amplifier connects to the first tape, and a second LED strip is connected to it, the power supply unit can use one (powerful) for the controller and amplifier, or purchase two PSUs separately for the amplifier and controller.
It should be noted that the most modern LED tapes already initially have everything they need: a power supply, a controller. Including protection against incorrect polarity selection.
Recommendations for the selection and installation of LED strip
When installing, do not hide the power supply or the controller tightly behind the surface on which the tape is mounted. In the event of an unforeseen breakdown, it will be very difficult to get the parts.
When buying, you need to pay attention to the strength of the tape, the quality of fastening diodes and wires, as well as the integrity of the protective coating. Do not buy a very cheap light tape. Its practical application will not withstand the stated life, very quickly the color balance will begin to be disturbed due to the intensive tarnishing of the diodes.
Deciding to use new technologies in lighting the premises, it is important to make the right choice. The presented video shows in more detail how the LED ribbon is arranged, how to connect it with your own hands without much difficulty.
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