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-   -   LED strip lighting (https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/general-boating-discussion/276160-led-strip-lighting.html)

mittens 05-10-2012 10:55 AM

I bought some from

http://www.coastalnightlights.com/no...N0eWxlcy5odG1s

they plug into eachother or you can wire them separate. they work great so far. I used the power coming to my courtesy lights in the storage compartments... added 2 foot n each side and another foot on each side under my cutp holder/arm rest for the back bench. it worked out Well. now you can see where to walk, and has nice glow. will get pics up soon.

36 foot long strips = 1 amp.. so my 6 are like .2 amps. haha.

Hellbent 05-10-2012 11:18 AM

I bought mine from these guys....had them in about a week. I didn't find anyone who came close to their prices. These are the ones I got but if you goto their store they have many to choose from. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=220980492919

TBAG 05-10-2012 01:04 PM

Looks awesome US1fountain, where did you buy from?

tman 05-10-2012 04:17 PM


Originally Posted by Fountain Family (Post 3684209)
Do you have a link to the type of LEDs you used?

You never stay out late enough to need lites.

US1 Fountain 05-10-2012 05:32 PM

LOL!

Thanks guys.

I bought mine from a local auto stereo shop since he had them in stock. Course that was $120 for a 16' roll. I found it online for $80 after I got home.
Mine are Pipedream brand. They are waterproof silicone encased. Have to use the 8mm strips to fit behind the JL grills. Even then I had to dremel a little clearance out of the grill ears. All work done on the inside, doesn't show when assembled. Probably have 1/2-1 hr in each speaker. The standard RGB strips are 10mm wide, won't work. Gotta go with the single color strips to get the thinner strips, and then get the narrow strips yet still.

http://pipedreamleds.com/products/flexible/nl-f2.html

jasonmd2 05-10-2012 07:13 PM

US1 Fountain how would you rate the quality of them? Are they waterproof enough for an engine bay? And sealed/safe enough you think?

I'm looking to put lights in my engine bay, thinking I could cut these in 4' strips for each side and front and back. How do they wire together when you cut them? There's not a lot of info on their website.

Thanks for the help!

US1 Fountain 05-10-2012 07:46 PM

2 Attachment(s)
I'm very happy with them. Course they all are pretty much the same, 3 leds per resistor/section, meaning they can be cut at any 3 LED intervals= 2" per. Just need to make sure they are waterproof, whichever brand you buy.
These being encased in silicone are completely water poof. I'd say as long as you seal the ends, you could mount them under water. :) I used clear heat shrink with sealant to seal the cut and lead ends. Seen some just use silicone dabbed on the ends to seal, which is fine too.
I used 22awg wire for leads, which is more than enough, plus its very flexible and easy to run the small wires. Also very easy to solder the smaller wires. A full 15' roll only uses approx 1 amp, where as a regular single bulb can use several amps in itself, so small wiring is a huge benefit. Just be sure to fuse accordingly. Don't use a 15A fuse for a 22awg or smaller wire. Wire will melt before fuse blows. :) I'm using 5A fuses. Coulda used less, but 5 will protect the new wiring and is common for couple other circuits I have.
To use, cut at any location between 2 sets of dots (solder contacts) and scrap the casing off to expose the contacts. The casing is soft, I just used my fingernail to scrap off. Using a $10 pencil type solder iron, put a drop of solder on each contact spot, and then tin your wire, followed with soldering the wires to the solder drops, then seal with silicone or heat shrink. Seal other end. Done!
You can run each wire lead to a separate switch, or wire multiple LED sections together end on end. LEDs are polarity sensitive, gotta keep + and - correct, otherwise they don't light.

jasonmd2 05-10-2012 08:15 PM

So basically cut them between the 4 dots (2 on each end) and then keep + to + and - to - and just solder 22awg to connect them. You think 18awg would be okay? I already have that run from my dash panel into the engine bay.

I'm not sure I understand how you heat shrunk the cut and lead ends. If you solder the wire onto the cut end it's basically a wire onto the flat surface, I'm used to heat shrinking two wires together, how do you heat shrink to a broad flat edge?

US1 Fountain 05-10-2012 08:28 PM


Originally Posted by jasonmd2 (Post 3684782)
So basically cut them between the 4 dots (2 on each end) and then keep + to + and - to - and just solder 22awg to connect them. You think 18awg would be okay? I already have that run from my dash panel into the engine bay.


I'm not sure I understand how you heat shrunk the cut and lead ends. If you solder the wire onto the cut end it's basically a wire onto the flat surface, I'm used to heat shrinking two wires together, how do you heat shrink to a broad flat edge?


Yep! You got it.
18awg will work, just be stiffer and a tad more harder to solder as the dots are close together.... But doable. If you have several strips to be connected, be easiest to locate some 22 and use that to connect them and give you a power lead, then solder your 18 to the 22 lead.


Pinch the heat shrink flat and slip over the wires and LED strip, leaving an 1/8" or so long. I used 1/4" adhesive lined heat shrink. Fit perfect. When heated, pinch the shrink ends closed till the adhesive squeezes out to seal the open ends.

BIGSLOW 05-10-2012 10:09 PM

Thanks for the info. I just installed 2 pairs of JL M650's in my boat and was thinking about the speaker rings. This looks much better. Just cut to fit the inside diameter of the speaker and trim a little bit. I wish you would have posted this 2 weeks ago. I just got done doing my install last weekend. Looks like another off-season project for next year.


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