Dirt cheap LED's

[bumpster]

Rob is correct in all that he says.  Over-voltage will rob (pardon the pun...) the lights of their bulb-life.  Try this.  Hook up a set of LEDs designed for 12VDC to 120VAC.  They'll work for a while, pretty soon the bulbs just start burning out one after the other.  Granted, that's a little extreme, but the point is...

Rob is also right, you get what you pay for, just as in any business.  While I'm not trying to throw a damper on this thread (although it probably appears that I am!), I'm just stating a business caveat that we all are aware of.

BTW, Rob, have you given anymore thought to coming out with spreaders, along the lines of Taco (hate that light, has a really "funny" light pattern), or ScarabChris' (LOVE that light, and it's worth $85 per)?

And, yes, I am busy...

I have given spreaders a thought. My biggest problem seems to be that I have very little time. I am running 4 residential projects plus the Marine tape and the Flounder Lights. Not enough hours in the day and not enough days in the week

[Glock Diver]

Bumpster, do you have a website?  I wasn't familiar with your product line.

The old adage, that "you get what you pay for" is usually true, I agree. Who knows, these lights might turn out to be crap.  But they might turn out to be really good LEDs, and for a minimal investment, I'm willing to chance it.  

[gran398]

Here is a novel use of Samsung LED's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw

Mutton fancy...

[Glock Diver]

Here is a novel use of Samsung LED's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw

Mutton fancy...

Scott, I'm not sure what to even say about that.... Strange!  The baaah-studs!



Anyhow, I ran the wires and new 3-way switch today (so I can use 1 switch to turn on either the Red or White lights).  Now just waiting on that dang Hong Kong postal system to send my dirt cheap LED's.

[RickK]

Anyhow, I ran the wires and new 3-way switch today (so I can use 1 switch to turn on either the Red or White lights).

Liked my idea, eh?

[Glock Diver]

Anyhow, I ran the wires and new 3-way switch today (so I can use 1 switch to turn on either the Red or White lights).

Liked my idea, eh?

You betcha!    Glad you mentioned it, cause I'm out of aux switch space, unless I wanted to start getting creative. But I think this'll work perfect.

[Glock Diver]

I was pleasantly surprised to find a package from China in my mailbox today!  The LED's, ordered on 5/9/11, arrived just 11 days later.  Not too shabby.  Hooked each strip up and tested, all seem too work just fine. Pretty bright too!    

Very surprised how small the wire gauge is... Must be 28ga or something.  Hope I can make a strong connection.    maybe solder instead of butt connector?

[wingtime]

Cool!  maybe mine will be here soon!

[Glock Diver]

The led strips usually come to where you can cut the strips after every third led and then solder the joints together, so to spread the light out and not have a concentrated bright spot.  

Here's my makeshift schematic of what I'm talking about.  the equal signs are the pos and neg leads and the X's are led's.  

(+/-)=====XXX=====XXX=====XXX=====XXX=====.

OK, I do need to trim one strip, and these look a little different than your description.  They have the sets of 3, but then a single diode in between every set of 3.  Kinda like this:


wire leads (+/-)===X===X===X=O=X===X===X=O=X===X===X=O=X===X===X=O=X=|


WHERE SHOULD I CUT?

[bumpster]

The led strips usually come to where you can cut the strips after every third led and then solder the joints together, so to spread the light out and not have a concentrated bright spot.  

Here's my makeshift schematic of what I'm talking about.  the equal signs are the pos and neg leads and the X's are led's.  

(+/-)=====XXX=====XXX=====XXX=====XXX=====.

OK, I do need to trim one strip, and these look a little different than your description.  They have the sets of 3, but then a single diode in between every set of 3.  Kinda like this:

(+/-)=====XXX===O===XXX===O===XXX===O===XXX===O===XXX===O


WHERE SHOULD I CUT?

You dont see any clearly defined cut marks with solder pads on each side? If not you may not be able to trim them.

[Glock Diver]

Success!  ...For those who also ordered some of these, this is what your strip will look like:

X = a Light Emitting Diode
O = a non-light emitting diode


wire leads (+/-)===X===X===X=O=X===X===X=O=X===X===X=O=X===X===X=O=X=|



I made a cut right here ("/") to shorten a strip, and it worked fine.  No soldering or anything:


wire leads (+/-)===X===X===X=O=X===X===X=/O=X===X===X=O=X===X===X=O=X=|


I put that shortened strip under my foot rest at the helm. Don't mind the tape holding the strip in place while the 5200 dries!  Also put one 4' strip under each aft gunwale, in addition to some Reds in the same places.  Will take photos of the entire thing later.  

Not bad for $1



Now I'm looking for spots Forward of the console to add some lights (I have two extra 4' strips), but I really don't see any obvious places.  Anybody gotten creative up there?

[DOCREED]

anchor locker?

[RickK]

Where's the red?

[wingtime]

Well my taped up styrofoam box from china arrived today.  The LEDs look good.  Can't beat the price.  I was surprised to see actual 3M double sided tape on them.

[Glock Diver]

Reds are installed, but I haven't taken a good picture yet.  Problem is, my boat is parked under a rather large and bright streetlight, so I need to move it to a dark place on the lot to snap a good photo.

I like the idea of anchor locker, but the thought of running THAT wire is scary!

Wingtime, I used 5200 in addition to that 3M adhesive. I don't think it would have held very long after getting wet.  Cute packaging, wasn't it!