Quality source of LED strips/bulbs/assemblies?

[Joh.Ghurt]

May I inquite why you need high-quality?

I usually go for Chinese bulk ware. What made things easy for me is to buy only once for all LED I'm going to need on the whole boat. this way I get a consistent colour-temperature and brightness. When shopping for LED-strips, check the number of LED per meter / yard and whether the light is more on the warm (yellow) or cold (blue) side.

Other than this, I'm quite happy with what I got.

[aybabtme]

If the traces aren't thick enough, or too many high power LEDs are served power by too thin a trace, or they're shedding too many watts as heat for the trace's dissipation ability, or they're not well located on the solder pads, or the solder isn't good, or the backing material is of lesser quality, or if the traces adhere poorly to the backing material, or if there's no conformal coating, etc. Also some strips will use lower quality LEDs that don't provide good color rendition, making it harder or impossible to see certain colors, hues and tints. And some LED strips have smalls ICs on them, and if they're of poor quality, they might emit EMF noise.

All things that could lead to shorts, overheating, fires, radio noise, or early end of life for the strip. Or just make it harder to see.

My main concern was fire, it's easy to pack a ton of LEDs on a strip that is unable to keep the LEDs cool in some circumstances. This could create hot spots that could lead to a fire, over time.

[Joh.Ghurt]

All true Antoine,

but with how many kW do you want to illuminate your boat? In most cases, we're talking a few Watt per fixture and for those you usually can dissipate the heat easily with a small aluminium backing plate.

Colour-temperature is usually not a big issue as long as it's consistent across various fixtures. Having every other light with a different one really looks like crap. For this reason better buy enough once and don't expect to be able to get matching colours later.

[aybabtme]

Color rendition is important for being able to distinguish between colors. With incomplete color rendering gamut, it's harder to read maps, harder to see signs of leaks, etc.

As for kW, even a low power system can be a hazard if the failure is concentrated on a spot. Aluminium backing will help with heat dissipation, but can be a short if the strip is of poor quality and exposes the leads to the aluminum when cutting and soldering the ends.

Anyways, all this to say that there's valid axis of quality to search for. At least in my opinion.

[deltaten]

Look for sales of Christmas tree lights at True Value (or other) hardware. Warm white strings of 200 in a clear, flat tube near to 15 feet. 3 years ago was $11. Best of it vs China mart, ya can return 'em iff' ya don't like 'em. .
Glued (4000 works a treat) up to the FG overhead, against cabinetry with a 5/16 quarter round in front to cover/hide. Nice warm indirect lighting.

[CarinaPDX]

I have dealt with these people and been happy. They have quite a selection of strip lights, including high-CRI lights for those wanting accurate color rendition. Of course a bit more expensive than an unknown vendor on fleaBay or AliExpress, but it is local and supported. https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/...rips-and-bars/

Greg

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by BurcLen

[. By the way, I will now persuade a friend to buy a pair of LED Tapes for himself at home, but he does not want to, that's a stupid person!

Nah, it's somone who doesn't want to waste money buying $**t he doesn't need or want.