LED technology is already firmly entrenched in our modern life. We can say that this is the main source of illumination in various areas of human life. These are industrial injectors, and portable flashlights, and base lamps, and the backlight of the monitor screen. Everything is made using this technology. At the same time, LED strip is the most common type of product of this kind. To master the scheme of connecting the LED strip to the power supply, it is enough to have basic knowledge of voltage and power.
What is an LED strip
In fact, this is a flexible foundation on which contact tracks are located that combine the main components of the entire system, namely light-emitting diodes or LEDs.
In nature, there are two main varieties of such tapes:
For analog tapes, all LED components are connected in parallel and do not have additional means to ensure control. In other words, control is carried out over the entire tape at the same time, whether it is a change in brightness, color or mode of operation.
With digital tapes a little more interesting - there is already a separate chip for controlling each light source or a separate section of LEDs. As a result, control is not carried out by the entire tape, but only individually above each LED or group.
It is worth noting that connecting the power supply to the middle of the LED strip of a digital type is not so common among fans of backlighting. This is because such products are quite expensive. Therefore, these tapes for sale can be found in extremely rare cases.
Analog tapes are cheap and therefore have a wide range of applications - from creating a festive atmosphere in rooms to storefront lighting. In addition, based on the destination, such products may be:
- Monochrome or monochrome ribbons.
- RGB ribbons are full-color LEDs that can produce a large amount of color, including its shades.
In the hands of professional interior designers, RGB tapes are becoming a truly powerful tool.
How to cut a tape?
If you need to connect LED strips through the power supply, another need may arise. Sometimes they have to be cut into separate parts according to the size of the surface where they will be located. In this case, the tape can be at right angles in one plane (angles on ceilings or walls) or in mutually perpendicular planes (angle between surfaces). Only here it should be cut not as it wants, but wisely.
The tape is not only elastic, but also thin, and therefore the division into segments can be performed using conventional stationery scissors. However, you should understand its electrical circuit. Regardless of the length of the LED strip, it is represented by several segments, each of which, in turn, consists of three LEDs and the same number of resistors. All this is designed for a voltage of 12 volts.
The cutting step of the tape should be equal to the length of one segment, that is, they should not be separated in any place. Also present on each tape special markings - cut line. Otherwise, you should look for contact pads and cut strictly in the middle.
Rules for connecting the tape
There are basic rules for connecting LED strips, which in no case can be violated. Otherwise, stable operation is not guaranteed. As a rule, such products may fail due to poor-quality LEDs or a power supply. In addition, an incorrect connection also does not bode well. In this regard, it is necessary to adhere to three basic rules:
- adherence to technology;
- mandatory heat sink system;
- the right choice of power supply.
Now we will reveal these points in more detail.
We comply with the connection technology
As a rule, LED strip can be sold in segments of five meters or more. Moreover, if there is a need to use several such tapes, you should remember an important rule from the connection - only parallel connection of the power supply to the LED strip is allowed.
But what if you need a tape of 10-15 meters or more? It seems that you can simply connect the end of the first segment with the beginning of the second, observing the polarity and the thing in the hat. What could be easier? In fact, this is prohibited. The bottom line is that five meters is not just calculated - this is the limit of current-carrying tracks of the tape.
At much greater length it just fails due to excessive load. In addition, the glow will be uneven - at the beginning, the LEDs will light up brightly, but towards the end they are dimmer and dimmer. Therefore, only a parallel connection type.
What is characteristic, it is allowed to connect the LED strip not only on one side, but also on both ends. Such a measure will significantly reduce the load on the conductive tracks. In addition, the LEDs themselves will light evenly. This applies particularly to high-power tape (over 9.6 watts / meter). And experts who have been installing LED products for many years are advised to use a two-way connection.
Only with this scheme of connecting the LED strip to the power supply there is one serious drawback - you need to lay additional wires along the entire strip.
Heat sink system
During operation, the LED strip is able to heat up very much, which negatively affects the elements themselves. They overheat, lose their brightness and eventually destroyed. For this reason, products should be attached to the aluminum profile, which will act as a good heat sink.
Otherwise, a tape that could work smoothly for 5 and 10 years without an appropriate cooling system will simply fail, and in a short time. In this regard, the presence of an aluminum profile is a prerequisite for the use of LED backlight. However, there are pleasant exceptions here - the SMD 3528 tape. Its power does not exceed 4.8 W per 1 m. Accordingly, connecting the LED strip to the 12 V power supply can be done without a heat sink.
However, those tapes that are coated with silicone on top are in great need of heat dissipation. The fact is that just the bottom substrate is not enough. And if you still stick the tape on the surface of wood or plastic, then what kind of cooling can we talk about ?! He is clearly not here!
Power supply selection
The performance of the tape is guaranteed only using a good adapter, because the voltage for which the LEDs are designed is from 2.5 to 5 volts. The total voltage of the entire tape should be 12 or 24 V. In this case, the power of the power supply should be 30% higher than the parameter of the tape itself.
Only in this case, the full functionality of the backlight is guaranteed. If the adapter is selected end-to-end, then it will work at full power, which is called the limit. However, this mode of operation adversely affects the duration of operation. Therefore, you should take care of some stock.
Among the numerous adapters, connecting a LED strip to a Jazzway power supply is a good option. He has 220 volts of alternating voltage at the input, 24 V at the output. The power is 60 W, and the efficiency reaches 81%.
In addition, the adapter is equipped with protective systems:
- from moisture according to IP20;
- from overloads;
- from overheating;
- from power surges.
All work surfaces have ventilation slots. In addition, there is the possibility of adjusting the output voltage, due to which this power supply can be suitable for connecting any type of LED strip.
One block - one tape
This scheme of connecting the LED strip to the power supply is very simple to implement. In addition, for convenience, short wiring for connection can be attached to the outer end of the tape. Nevertheless, sometimes they are not. Then you should solder them yourself. To do this, take a stranded wire with wires of different insulation colors (usually black “-”, red “+”) and measure them in length so that it is enough from the tape to the power supply. Then it is necessary to strip the veins on both sides.
Using rosin and tin, you need to tin the ends of the conductors, after which they are soldered to the contacts of the tape path. In this case, it is worth using a low-power soldering iron, and the procedure itself should be short-lived. Solder points should be insulated with a heat shrink tube.
As for directly connecting the LED strip to the power supply, here it is better to install NSHVI (insulated pin bushings) or any other for better contact on the ends of the wires. The circuit is ready to go.
Multiple tapes per network adapter
As we now know, LED strip is on sale only with a limited length of not more than 5 meters. Cutting into smaller pieces is not a problem, but sometimes it takes quite a long time, for example, eight meters. In this case, two segments (five and three meters long, respectively) are connected exclusively in a parallel way, which was previously considered in the rules. In fact, this scheme is implemented in the same way as above, but with a slight difference - more wires will be required.
As practice shows, different situations may arise, including the one when you need to connect a large number of LED strips to the power supply. This scheme of connecting the LED strip to the power supply is relevant in the organization of illumination of shop windows or for simultaneous illumination of paintings located at different distances.
In this case, you can stretch the wires from each section to the power supply. However, this looks too confusing, and such an approach is not practical. It’s much easier to use one main highway. It is located at an optimum distance from LED strips for quick access to it. And after connecting all sections of the backlight, you can let the wires to the power supply directly from the main bus.
Connecting an LED strip to a 220 V network without an adapter
Most LED strips are designed to be connected to a 12 volt power supply. Rarely can be found where the backlight powered 5, 24 or more volts. Connecting such tapes directly to a regular electrical network is clearly not worth it. In less than a second, all the diodes and resistors simply burn out.
At the same time, you can do without a power supply for connecting Ecola LED strip. Tapes from this manufacturer should be considered a real breakthrough in the field of LED backlighting. At the same time, for each meter it can be a different number of LEDs:
To implement this idea in practice, you will need 24 segments of equal length of the LED strip, which are independent of type and color. And what’s most interesting, here they are connected in series. At the same time, the connection of the segments themselves is carried out as follows: using short wires, the negative contact of the very first tape is connected to the positive contact of the second. Further from the minus of the second segment, the wire goes to the plus of the third.
Similarly, all other tapes are connected. Ultimately, instead of parallel connection of the segments, a long sequence of LEDs is obtained, which is able to withstand a voltage of 288 volts.
The final part
However, to connect a 220 V LED strip without a power supply, you must first straighten and smooth the voltage. After all, in a normal outlet it is variable, while LEDs need constant power. For this, a diode bridge vd1 (U ar = 600 V, I pr = 10 A) and a polar capacitor C1 (10 μF, 400 V) are used. As a result, the output will receive a voltage of approximately equal to 280 V.
Despite the operability of such a scheme, it is not without certain drawbacks:
- In places soldering (and there are several) is present dangerous voltages.
- Since the connections are not so small, then because of this seriously reduces their reliability.
- Ergonomics of the finished product is poor.
If for someone such an idea of connecting an LED strip without a power supply unit seems incomprehensible or even complicated, then you can find industrial products in the store that are just designed to connect to a single-phase household AC network.
The main design difference of such tapes is that the LEDs are not grouped in groups of three, but 60 each. A diode bridge is included in the package, so there is no need to assemble it yourself. Ultimately, it is worthwhile to soberly assess your strengths and capabilities, it is probably cheaper to do everything yourself than to buy a finished version.
How to connect a color RGB tape
In this case, the connection principle remains almost the same, but with the only difference being that a controller or dimmer is added. This is the device that is responsible for changing the color scheme of lighting. Also, after the controller, not two wires come out, as it was before, but four whole! On the color ribbon itself, there are also four of them, respectively.
How is the controller connected to the LED strip and power supply? The positive contact of the dimmer is connected to the plus of the LED strip. As for the other wires, here you should be guided by their color (there is even a letter designation of contacts on the tapes):
- Red - R.
- Green - G.
- Blue - B.
- Black is V +.
The controller also has corresponding contacts for the power supply. The maximum length of an RGB tape is the same five meters. That is, in this regard there are no differences between monochrome and color products.
Useful recommendations from specialists
A number of useful tips from experts will help you connect in the right way. As previously mentioned, during the soldering of contacts, the procedure should be short-lived. That is, the soldering iron tip must be in contact with the contacts of the tape for no more than 10 seconds! This is to prevent damage to the LEDs. The maximum allowable temperature should not rise above 260 ° C.
If during installation of the connection diagram of the LED strip to the power supply unit it is impossible to do without bends, you should choose such places where the working mechanism will not be damaged. In no case can not put pressure on yourself diodes for secure attachment during installation. If necessary, this is done in places where there are no bulbs.