How to connect LED strip

Good afternoon, tell me how to find out the power of an RGB tape to select a power source? It was bought not by me, but by friends, so the power is unknown.

Dmitriy, Hello. If there are no corresponding markings on the LED strip, then the only option is to determine the power of the strip empirically. To do this, measure the load current of the tape. The nominal voltage of the tape is usually 12 V. You can use a car battery as a power source. Connect the LED strip to the battery, observing the polarity, and in the gap of one of the conductors, that is, in series, turn on the ammeter (multimeter). Fix the value of the load current, then measure the voltage value at the terminals of the battery. The product of the load current and the battery voltage is the value of the power consumption of the LED strip.

Are these universal schemes for connecting LED strips, or, depending on their types, types of power supplies, can the connection schemes be different? I'm interested in the question of connecting LED strips to the power supply. I have a four-pin LED strip (most likely RGB), but no RGB controller. Are there ordinary four-pin LED strips? If this is still an RGB tape, is it possible to connect an RGB tape without a controller, just to the power supply? Will it work at the same time? If possible, then how to connect? It’s just that the LED strip has four outputs, and the power supply has two, where and what to connect according to the scheme?

When two five-meter tapes are turned on, a spark jumps in the switch and a shock is heard. What need to do? This is a danger.

I was looking for information on LEDs and tapes. Found and experimented. By the way, I came across an incomprehensible moment: one standard five-meter piece of tape for a voltage of + 12V consumes a current of 0.75A. When you connect to the end of the second of the same segment, their total current becomes equal to 1.0 A, and when you add to them in the same way (one after another) another, third segment, the total current becomes 1.15-1.17 A . Measurements were carried out by different types of instruments. And further. What do you think the current will consume 45 meters of LED strip type 3528 with a rated power of 4.8 watts / m? In fact, a little more than 4 A !!! And according to the calculations of 18 A. What's the catch?

Good afternoon, Eugene, the joke is that you calculate the current per watt / m, and you need to count with each meter it is more resistance and therefore less current.

Is it possible to connect a piece of RGB tape in series, as in the case of a single-color tape, using soldering or connectors (it was cut off earlier, but now we want to return it to its place)?

Good afternoon! Please tell us whether to connect a single-key switch for an LED strip before the power supply or after? And is it possible to connect two .. three key switches after the RGB controller to turn on a specific color.

Hello, please tell me, is it mandatory to purchase a power supply? Is it purchased separately? And is it possible to power the 5m tape from the batteries, how long will they last?

Andrew, it is mandatory to purchase a power supply, since the LED strip is not directly powered by the mains. If you want to use LED strip as an emergency light source in case of a lack of electricity, then it is better to use batteries.The batteries in this case are not practical.

Evgenyif the passport power of the LED strip is 4.8 W / m, then, accordingly, the power of the five-meter section is 24 W. With a supply voltage of 12 V, the load current is 2 A. It is clear that the declared power of the LED strip can differ from the real one and the supply voltage also changes both smaller and larger, but still the current will be much more than 0.75 A.

When connecting several sections of the LED strip, a voltage drop will be observed - this is mentioned in the article. In order for the tapes to operate at full power, it is necessary to connect each section with a separate conductor from one power supply or each section from a separate power supply - the second and third schemes in the article.

Marina, the segment can be connected back by soldering or using connectors. The main thing when connecting to observe the marking of the terminals. But it should also be borne in mind that when connecting a segment of the tape, the total power consumption increases, which should be acceptable for the power supply and the LED strip controller.

PaulIf you really have an RGB LED strip, then it can be connected without a controller, directly to the power supply. Only in this case, all colors will light constantly, without changing the intensity of the glow, since all these functions are performed by the controller.

The power supply has two terminals “+” and “-”; the RGB LED strip from the terminals has one common “+” (V + on the tape) and the other three outputs are individual “-” of each color, which are usually marked with the letters R, G, B. To connect, you need to connect the “+” tape to “+” Of the power supply, and connect the terminals R, G, B to the “-” power supply. You can optionally install switches on each of the colors so that you can turn on the desired color individually.

Ildar, the spark in the switch is an electric arc that occurs when contacts break under load. If the sparking and cracking are strong enough, then most likely the circuit breaker is in poor technical condition and you need to replace it to solve the problem.

Denis, a single-key switch must be connected before the power supply, that is, to break the supply wire of the 220 V network. Firstly, at a voltage of 220 V, a lower load current will flow through the switch, which significantly increases its service life. Secondly, when the switch is turned off, the power supply is de-energized. If you install a switch after the power supply, the latter will be constantly in operation, which is undesirable.

Why additional switches, if the controller performs the function of adjusting the intensity of the glow of each of the colors of the LED strip?

Hello, tell me what I did wrong. The problem was that the lighting was done for two aquariums, 80x40cm on three sides, cut out the necessary segments (it was strange when the LEDs on the cut pieces started to glow, soldered on the fingers, it was hot on the soldered))) using acid. there were 4 outputs in the block (two + and two -) so I connected two aquariums at once with separate two wires.
The problem is, the first segment in the chain on the second aquarium is off, the second and third are on. Where is the mistake?

And, I realized the polarity was confused ((

I connect the tape to the unit and it does not light up, but lights up only in those places where I touch it with my finger ... what kind of garbage?

I connected three ribbons of RZhB in series, blue - light blue-blue, length 0.5-1.0-0.5 m are lit in different colors. What's the catch? The remote control works, and white light and red work simultaneously on all three.

I bought a diode tape. It has two wires on both sides and an LB005 power supply. On one side he has a cable with a plug for an outlet on the other, a cable with a tube.I explain it not professionally. I can not understand where to connect the wiring?

Hello! You need to connect the tape 5050, white. The total power of the tape is 75 watts. Five meters from the tape to the power supply. Which wire should I use?

Many people write about problems with the tape, but they did not check it during the purchase and do not ask the seller now ...

# 15 Svetlana, attach to the wire with a tube at either end.

# 16 Alexander, google, they’ll tell you how to calculate the cross-section of any wire from the load, this is not directly related to the topic.

# 5 Eugene, it was also interesting to observe how 5 segments per meter consume in fact many times more power than 1 five-meter meter. This should be taken into account when planning and choosing a power supply, which sellers often do not talk about, referring to the allegedly nominal watt per meter tape. Therefore, ideally, we take a wattmeter or a tester for amperes we consider the actual consumption of tapes (s) before putting the power supply on a permanent basis. And a PSU with a "hot" case should be mounted on a radiator when the load approaches maximum. And certainly not to mimic the PSU in secret places without ventilation.
And certainly not to connect sequentially segments longer than 5 m - this is not recommended by the manufacturers themselves ...

Thanks to the author for the article! And what did they eat to take the PSU twice as much power as necessary? (I just hope not to buy a separate PSU for each tape)

And tell me what happens if I connect instead of 12v 15v. The fact is that there is no other PSU available. Tape 5m RSL 5838 (the first figure is exactly 5).

# 13 Eugene, in your case, most likely, the LED strip is faulty. If the tape is connected from several segments, then the cause of the malfunction may be the lack of contact on the connectors, through which sections of the LED strip are connected.
#14 tour, sections of the LED strip are small, so the only reason is the design features of the LED strip itself. If two colors shine normally, but blue does not, then most likely it is a marriage in the second segment of the tape.
#15 Svetlana, as they answered you correctly - you need to connect the LED strip to the wire with a tube, but you must remember to observe the polarity of the connection. The article states that red is a plus and black or blue is a minus. That is, if the color marking is this, then you need to connect the wires of the LED strip and the power supply by color. If the color marking is different, then you should pay attention to the marking of the terminals on the tape and the power supply and connect the wires of the "plus" tape to the "plus" of the power supply and, accordingly, "minus" to "minus".
#16 Alexander, if we take into account only the active power consumption of the LED strip, then we determine the load current by dividing the total power of 75 W by the rated voltage, as a rule, this is 12 V - we obtain a current value of 6.25 A. In addition to the load current, it should be noted that in the 12 V circuits A voltage drop is observed with an increase in the length of the supply wire. In order to minimize the voltage drop, it is necessary to choose a wire with a cross section of at least 4 square meters. mm for this case.

The second option. You can move the power supply closer to the LED strip (if this is possible) and lengthen not the 12 V wire, but the supply wire of the power supply 220 V. With a power of 75 W and a voltage of 220 V, the load current will be less than one ampere. Therefore, in this case, it will be possible to use the wire of the minimum cross section, which is available.

#18 Egor, as I understand it, that you want to purchase one power supply for two LED strips and connect as in the second diagram in the article. In this case, you need to calculate the total power of the LED strips that you plan to connect, and select a power supply with a power reserve so that the power supply does not work continuously in full load mode.
#19 Vitaliyif the LED strip is designed to operate at a nominal voltage of 12 V, then when connected to a 15 V power supply, it will fail. Perhaps it will work for some time, but its service life will be significantly reduced - it may burn out after a couple of hours. That is, you need to choose the power supply specifically for the output voltage for which the LED strip is designed - usually it is indicated on the tape itself and on the package.

Thanks. I copy everything in a row at the Young Technician level.

Slavko
always include a fuse in the 220V circuit !!! The key to saving your body and soul health ...

Good afternoon. I wanted to ask - If I do not need all 5 meters of the diode strip, is there an opportunity to purchase, for example, a meter piece of tape ready to connect?

It even happens that the resistance in the tape is so high that the difference when connecting from 1 side and 2 sides in consumption and brightness is almost one and a half times. It depends on the thickness of the copper conductors in the tape itself. Also, do not forget about the correct cross-section of the supply wire, this moment is often underestimated.