LED strip panel wiring

[Drew M]

My upcoming project will involve making some small light panels using LED strips. I've already made some prototypes (you might have seen me working on them over the last couple of weeks!), and am almost ready to go.

I'm looking for an efficient way of connecting the LED strips using solder and wires. So far I've been connecting all the +ves on one end and the -ves on the other end to make the circuit, but it's been very time consuming an not very elegant. Someone briefly showed me a larger example, but I can't remember exactly how they've done it.

For reference, here are how two of the prototypes have been wired.

[Marrold]

Hi Drew, 

You can get connectors for LED strip available in various widths and pin counts. They look like this-

There's some pre terminated ones on Ebay Or you cold crimp your own. Hopefully a seller can suggest what crimp tool you need, although I suspect a dupont style crimper will do it. Terminating them yourself would allow you to use white cables, thread them out the way and possibly crimp two cables in at once, which may be helpful to keep things neat.

I've not actually used them so I can't comment on their effectiveness, so YMMV

Cheers

Marrold

[Marrold]

I had Gliffy open already so I did a sketch of how I'd do it. Be mindful of current and wire thickness, but with the relatively low number of LEDs you're using you should be fine.

On Wednesday, January 24, 2018 at 11:58:03 PM UTC, Drew M wrote:

[Phil Marsden]

I have gone through a few iterations with a word clock

I found the connectors to be a little tempremental as in:

So ended up just bending them to make one long "snake":

[Stephen Casey]

That is a great idea!

Stephen.

[Drew M]

I like the idea of folding the LED strip!