LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

[Scott Danforth]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

Bruce,

like the extrusion, however it looks overkill

Im thinking of adhering to stainless trim with the adhesive backing doubled with 3m tape and maybe a clear silicone chaser. then screwing the trim in place

would love to get some of the opaque trim. would be able to put the LED strips in the windshield frame when anchored as party lights. my taylor made windshield frames have a nice location for a strip, however there is a black vanity strip in there now

here are links to what I am thinking

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr

 

[bruceb58]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

Bruce,

like the extrusion, however it looks overkill

That's me in a nutshell!

 

[fishrdan]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

the tape on the back of the RGB is worthless, I took the backer off and attached the strips to the bottom of the top rail around my toon. I ended up burning up all the controllers because I believe somehow the contacts touched the rail and smoked a little black circuit inside.

Did the tape fail or stay stuck, if it failed did it release from the LED strip or railing?

Sounds like you were saying the tape stuck, but the lights shorted out due to the tape some how...


The lights I bought have 3m double sided tape attached, so I was under the impression it was good tape. It does look like thin double sided tape though...

 

[lil buggy]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

Hi guys,
It's been a while since I have been on here,but maybe I can help some. As some of you know I lit my boat all up with the rgb's and can offer some info for you all going forward. In the heat of the 2013 season my stock 3m tape on my rgb's started to fail some, my guess is my camper top allowed the greenhouse effect to heat the backing to the failing point. My fix was a simple Lil bead of silicone under the failed sections, utilizing tape between the led bulbs, to hold the strip in place till the silicone dried. Once cured I removed the tape and have had no troubles since. So IMHO the 3m backing on the rgb's lasts 1.5 seasons, and is adequate enough, in fact if I were to redo the project I would just use the supplied 3m backed strip the same as before.
note; I mounted my strips on an angled plastic piece of painted L Chanel (used to hide the led's from any direct view)

i then used like 3m double sided tape to attach it to various materials, vinyl seat, tempered glass, unfinished wood(in glovebox cubby) and under my finished stern rail. Again IMHO the 3m tape works well and when it starts to fail silicone is an acceptable easy fix.

Heres the finished. Product,

My favorite glow is the orange on the middle pic
hope it helps

 

[bruceb58]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

I mounted my strips on an angled plastic piece of painted L Chanel (used to hide the led's from any direct view)

I highly recommend using aluminum vs plastic to mount the lights. These LEDs need to have the heat sinked away from them. This will also help with the adhesive sticking over the long term. They will also stick a lot better to metal over the long term. Just clean metal well with acetone before you apply. I have quite a few of them in under cabinet applications in home and have never had a problem with the strip coming off yet.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

In the heat of the 2013 season my stock 3m tape on my rgb's started to fail some, my guess is my camper top allowed the greenhouse effect to heat the backing to the failing point.

Did the tape pull away from the light strip, or did the tape pull away from the surface it was stuck to? Also, did you use the 3M Adhesive Promoter before sticking the lights down?

I have LED's with 3M tape to install and worrying about this exact problem, lights falling off after a couple of years...

 

[greenbm]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

I'm curious as to what others have to say about how the tape holds up, with and without the adhesive promoter.

Just finished installing so I can't speak to how well the tape will hold up. However I can say with 100% certainty that the tape did not stick AT ALL without the adhesion promoter. Had some difficulty finding a place to buy more promoter and ended up going with a different product number than what came with my kit. Both allowed the tape to adhere very well and I am optimistic that it should hold up well.

The kit that I went with was from XK glow and I am very happy with it. Seems to be good quality and the install was pretty easy once I figured out how I wanted to lay it out. I also used some aluminum 90 degree angle of allow mounting under the side compartments.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

Where did you get this promoter? Might have to look into this.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

3M Adhesion promoter 94 Primer

Comes in wipes, swabs, pens and pints. I'm not sure how far this stuff goes, so thinking of getting the pen I linked to. I don't want to buy too much, in case this stuff has a short shelf life.

I found it at O'Reilly's for $2.50/wipe but they have to order it in, probably available at automotive paint stores too.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

Doing some reading and it doesn't sound like its even recommended/required for aluminum surfaces.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

Anodized aluminum? I'm sticking it to (automotive) painted aluminum, so going with the promoter.

Either way, for the price of the promoter and the possibility of the tape releasing over time and ruining the project, I'm going to use the promoter.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

I bought some that I found on ebay. Its a different model number. It will be on anodized aluminum.

I didn't spend much time looking. Probably better than nothing.

This is what I got. had to buy 5 tubes. so the price was $6.95 with shipping.
Adhesive Promoter | eBay

 

[fishrdan]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

Looks like 3M has another adhesive promoter, 3M Adhesion Promoter 111 (AP-111).

Bottom of this article has a usage chart, and the 111 sounds better for metal and painted surfaces.

Pro Tips for Surface Preparation and Priming to Get the Best Bond

 

[bruceb58]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

I don't even see the AP-11 for sale anywhere

 

[fishrdan]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

This is what I got. had to buy 5 tubes. so the price was $6.95 with shipping.
Adhesive Promoter | eBay

Looks like a good deal, might have to pick those up....

 

[bruceb58]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

Looks like a good deal, might have to pick those up....

I am thinking yours was the better one to get now that I look at it. What material are you applying to?

 

[fishrdan]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

Painted aluminum, going to attach them under a 1/2" edge, bottom of the gunwale. I've have LED rope lights mounted inside the gunwales for 3-4 years now, but it's on the dim side, need more light to see well enough to tie fishing knots.

I wonder how much liquid is in each of those tubes? It didn't say in the Ebay add.

 

[lil buggy]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

Did the tape pull away from the light strip, or did the tape pull away from the surface it was stuck to? Also, did you use the 3M Adhesive Promoter before sticking the lights down?

I have LED's with 3M tape to install and worrying about this exact problem, lights falling off after a couple of years...

Fisherdan, the tape stayed attached to the LEDs but the tape failed to hold onto the mount in a few places. I wiped down with acetone before mounting. Again It's not a big deal to fix with the silicone, but worth mentioning. Don't let that stop you from using, I'm not sure if any promoter will change the properties but I can tell you, I wouldn't buy anything specifically to help this issue(now if I had some laying around,,,it would be another story)
Again, it's really a non issue to me.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

Fisherdan, the tape stayed attached to the LEDs but the tape failed to hold onto the mount in a few places... Again It's not a big deal to fix with the silicone, but worth mentioning.

Thanks for the reply lil buggy, good to know the tape stays attached to the LED strip. I'm going to use the adhesive promoter as I hate things falling apart.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: LED STRIP LIGHTING (Ins and outs info)

Good to know it failed on what it was attached to as well.

Just awaiting my stainless angles. going to polish them and use as trim, then mount the LED's to it using the stock 3M tape.