LED Ribbon is a fine example of the changing technology in the lighting industry.
Many of us have used incandescent tape light for projects such as display lighting, cove lighting and many other unique applications which require a tiny , flexible , out of sight light source. Due to the advancement in LED technology, LED tape light now is state-of-the-art and incandescent tape light is no longer manufactured . The LED Ribbon or LED Tape Light is a better product over the old tape light for many reasons. Lets take a closer look and this amazing light source.
LED Ribbon / LED Tape Light
The obsolete tape light was used a lot as it was the only option for many tasks that required a small light source . It was tiny and flexable and worked well for those hard to light projects . The differences between the two products are the size, flexibility , ease of instillation, life span and energy consumption .
This project is sponsered by BLI Lighting Specialists.
Holding the LED Ribbon in your hand you can see this is way smaller than the old incandescent tape light . It’s width is 3/10′s (0.30) of an inch wide and 1/10 (0.10) of an inch tall . The LED Ribbon will fit into smaller places and will not stick out so much from the surface. In addition, the LED Ribbon comes with double stick tape already applied to the backside this means you can just stick-it and forget-it . This advancement in LED Ribbon allows the user to install the LED Ribbon in places that will suprise you .
If you need to cut the LED ribbon it can be cut between the copper colored dots. (see image) If you need to skip an area that you don’t want lit , you may cut the ribbon , then solder leads to the copper points.
For this demonstration I used the warm white color. The colors available are: white, warm white, red, blue and rgb. Use a LED driver to supply the proper power,then by adding your switch the lights can power on or off . By adding a LED controller , you can build more elaborate designs .
Just maybe LED Ribbon is a new product for you , here is some information that will help you understand the basics. The LED Ribbon has its power supplied by a transformer, it’s called a driver . A driver is a transformer with a few added components for the LED’s .
The LED Ribbon lights by connecting the two leads from the ribbon to the 12 volt diriver . Should your LED tape light not light up , reverse the 12 volt leads. Make sure to wire the LED Ribbon correctly , i.e. positive to positive and negative to negative connections. Do not use anything but a driver with the correct opperating voltage .
In summary, the LED Ribbon product is far superior to the old, obsolete incandescent tape light . It takes up far less room and uses much less electricty . Its flexibility is outstanding and the double stick tape already installed on the ribbon makes installation a snap.
