LED strip is widely used in almost all industries that require high-quality lighting with low electricity consumption. It is also often used for the manufacture of advertising stands and for tuning elements. In most cases, such a tape is simply bought in specialized stores, but for specific purposes and as an economy, an LED tape is made by hand.
Homemade LED strip can be made according to individual requirements and taking into account the specific characteristics of the application. In this case, you can set a certain distance between the LEDs and select their color, which in most cases matters.
Do-it-yourself waterproof LED strip is made using three volt LEDs, which are mounted on strips of textolite, plastic or any other material - it can have certain properties. For example, you can take a strip of getinax about 0.5 meters long and 1 cm wide. When using this material, a flexible LED strip is obtained, endowed with the ability toremember the form given to it. A strip of colored plastic can be glued onto the getinax tape, which will serve as a light filter.
In such a strip, it is necessary to make holes with a diameter of 0.5 cm for installing LEDs. In this case, the distance between the holes should be chosen at your own discretion and depending on the need. Usually, in such a strip 0.5 meters long, the placement of sixteen LEDs is considered optimal, since it is in this design that you can get the most clear lighting and a beautiful visual effect.
When a DIY LED strip is made, it is necessary to accurately calculate the resistance of the entire LED circuit. When using sixteen LEDs with a voltage of 3 volts, they should be connected in series in a circuit of four pieces. In this way, four separate electrical circuits of four LEDs are obtained, which are all connected in parallel. This LED strip is designed for a mains voltage of 12 volts.
After connecting all the LEDs and placing them in the holes on the strip, the DIY LED strip must pass the test. It is necessary to connect the electricity and make sure that all diodes work. If everything was done correctly, then no problems should arise.
In fact, everything is ready, but we need a waterproof LED strip, and this device can fail if moisture gets in. That's whyyou need to take a heat shrink tube or hose made of transparent materials and put it on the finished tape. After that, using a building hair dryer, the pipe should be heated until it tightly wraps around the entire strip. It is worth noting that before using the hair dryer, you need to make sure that the contacts to which the power will be connected are outside the pipe.
After shrinking with a hair dryer, the ends of the pipe can be soldered, leaving the wires for connection outside. After that, the moisture resistant LED strip is ready to use.
