Remote-control color-changable LED light rope/tape/ribbons (5 meters)

[mdrejhon]

Hello,

Does anyone here have experience with remote-controlled LED light rope/tape/ribbons?

I have recently discovered that the prices for 5 meter (16 foot) LED light ribbons have fallen to between $25 to $35 on eBay, Amazon and many other resellers -- you know those light ropes that can change a color on a button press (red, blue, orange, green, pink, etc). These ribbons used to cost $200 each only a few years ago. Not anymore!

Most of them come in 'tape' form, which means you have to supply a 12 volt power supply. Some sellers include a remote and power supply for a few dollars extra, and you can daisy chain several. All of these are standardized at 12 volts, and some of them allow you to cut them at any 2 inch intervals, for precise length measurement

Does anyone have experience installing them at home for accent lighting? I'm thinking of buying 3, but I want to know how interoperable they are with each other's competitor devices (i.e. replacing the standard infrared controller with a DMX-compatible controller, etc -- these third party devices are available as upgrades on some brands.) I have observed that the power standard on the cheap eBay $25 versions are similiar to the connectors on the formerly-$150 versions (now down to selling for about $59.99 and $69.99 at high-end resellers and architectural component stores/installers).

They light-rope ribbons all use standardized 5050 RGB LED, so the voltages and dimmable compatibility is all similiar, so I could probably create a $1000-league "upscale bar style lighting" system for under $150 for my home theater room? (about 20 meters worth of RGB LED light ribbon, plus a sufficiently large 12 volt power supply, and a single $10 infrared remote to change the color)

(Search terms include "RGB LED ribbon" and "LED light tape"

 

[mdrejhon]

More advanced questions include:
- Can I mix vendors, as long as they're all using SMT5050 LED's on the same light ribbon? They seem to all have standardized 12 volt hookups, four conductors (3 colors plus 1 ground).
- If I decided to later splurge on a more advanced controller than a $10 cheap infrared remote option, and go something more elaborate (such as a DMX hookup or a Insteon/X10/Zigbee/etc automation hookup -- for program controlled operation), how interoperable are they? Will one vendor's controller work on another vendor's light ribbon?

Start out cheap with just the light tape, and add upgrades later, I say. Upgrades in the form of adding a connection to my computer, etc. I don't see why not, but I'd like to have the flexibility of adding a future computer controller, so I can control it via touchscreen, or even the TV itself (aka Philips Ambilight style). These light ribbons come with separately-purchased IR remote controllers, RF controllers, wall panel controllers, computer controllers, DMX controllers, iPhone touchscreen apps, X10/Zigbee, etc. Soooo many options! Buy piecemeal, mix and match...

One vendor example is http://www.led-tape.com/colour-changing-led-tape but the reels of compatible color changing LED light tape is sold on eBay for as low as around $25 per 5 meter roll; (For those unfamiliar, this website shows example pictures of a room light up by this changeable color light tape.)

 

[kalekainxx]

As long as they are the same voltage, ie 12 or 24, they can be daisy chained. Strip lights lack the full DMX functions, ie, no chasing scene. Most of the stuff sold on Ebay are not UL or cUL certified. There was a recent news story on cheap LED lights catching on fire. If they do, your insurance will not cover it. Most ppl get away with a UL or cUL certified driver.

There are strip lights with IC, they can take full advantage of the DMX function.

 

[itguy07]

Most of the stuff sold on Ebay are not UL or cUL certified. There was a recent news story on cheap LED lights catching on fire. If they do, your insurance will not cover it. Most ppl get away with a UL or cUL certified driver.

That all depends on your insurance. I know for a fact ours doesn't mention anything about it. Been through it front to back due to flooding this year and there was no exclusion for non UL listed stuff.

And personal experience when our fish tank caught on fire in 2005 and caused $25k worth of damage to our house (we were not home and luckily it put itself out when the stand collapsed), neither the insurance company or fire department asked for UL certifications. In fact there was little left of the fish tank appliances. The cause of the fire was determined to be the electrical system in the fish tank.

Moral is that you should check your policy - there are weird exclusions. But blanket statements about what is and is not covered are not true all the time.

 

[Canuke]

Things to watch out for (I have some of these):

Polarity of the common pin, common anode vs. common cathode. These cannot be mixed together.

RGB vs. BGR and so on. Often, but not always, marked at the connectors.

Connector pin thickness may vary, resulting in loose or impossible connections.

The remotes often look exactly alike, but are not necessarily interchangeable either.

Last but not least: the blue emitters usually overpower the red and green; "white" is usually a strong bluish tint as a result. You can compensate using the RGB balancing (if your controller supports it) but if warm colors are important to you, particularly when trying to match incandescent-ish tones, you'll find your "resolution" a bit limited.

Keep an eye out for the emitter density. This can vary from 1 to 2 inch spacing, often specified as emitters-per-foot. I have two 12-per-foot strips and a bunch of 15-per-foot ones.

These are handy for illuminating computer cases; I am now using the 12 emitter strips for that purpose, run directly off the power supply 12 volts.

 

[mdrejhon]

Thanks for the very useful information.

To be fair, cheap CFL's have caught fire too, but I am curious about incidents specifically relating to these LED strips as well.

Chase is not important, but future whole-strip DMX control might be desirable addition in the future (set the color of the whole strip via DMX), as it is useful for Phillips AmbiLight clones and AmBX stuff (www.ambx.com). Theoretically, this requires no DMX capability within the strip itself, but a compatible box connected to the strip.

Canuke, any general rule of thumbs for purchasing generic RGB LED strips (by the 5 meter roll)? Ideally, in this initial 'inexpensive' foray, I'd go bog-standard as possible, for maximum future interoperability. Has there been general recent trends to sticking with ground (common anode), RGB pin order, etc?

 

[kalekainxx]

Good DMX controllers are expensive. If you just want the basics, like setting it to the most common colors, dimming etc, a basic touch or wireless controller will do.

 

[Canuke]

mdrejon, my experience is limited to having two strips of OLS / PPC international brand from Fry's (way overpriced) and then going to ebay to pick up some additional strips for cheaper, and then noticing the "common" terminology. The mismatched pin size issue only surfaced once the ebay strips got here.

Based on my ebay cruising, common anode seemed to be somewhat more common than common cathode. I went with CC because that's what the PPC stuff was.

All I can suggest is to spend some time on ebay, identify sellers with *informative* ads that tell you the common type *and* the RGB order, and that seem like they will be around for a while -- then buy as big a batch as you expect to need, to avoid having to deal with compatibility issues. RGB order mismatches are easy to fix with a spot of wiring, as is pin size mismatches. I don't think "common" mismatches can be fixed at all, they need completely separate systems.

Regarding DMX etc. I am out of my element there. I purchased a controller that lets me adjust RGB steps and store 6 presets, and that was the extent of my interest.