Flexible LED strip Problems - Fire hazard?!

Hi All -

I installed the new flexible LED strips (I bought 4x 6foot strips) and put about 1 foot under each foot well in my car, and then some in my custom trunk set up. After about a week, the wire that feeds to the strip started smoking on 2 of the strips, and after another week, a couple others went up in smoke.

What gives? I spend nearly $250 on these strips to get only a couple weeks out of them. The wires the feed the led strips are VERY VERY tiny, I can't even estimate the gauge. Needless to say, we've deemed them the "fire hazard" lights at my shop as a joke...but in seriousness $250 down the drain hardly is a joke.

any suggestions?

i'm not sure -- but if you have your lights fused properly (3a is what you need), there's no way they should be doing that unless they're hooked up wrong.

well I'll have to check it...the wires feeding power and ground seem small to me...they looked great when they worked lol! here is a pic of my trunk with them in. I'll check the fuses, so far, i like the light output, their longevity stinks.

consider cathodes
http://www.oznium.com/cathodes

and if you're really unhappy, talk to phil (the owner)
i'm sure either he or someone else on the boards will get you fixed up and happy.

but the gauge of the wires is actually more than enough
the 38" led strip (which looks to be about the size you're using) only draws 640mA -- not even one amp.

That's not right - something's off. I've had strips in my car for months and months and have not had that issue - the leads seem perfectly adequate for the load since LEDs draw so little current. Have you put a volt meter on the power leads to see just how much current is reaching the LEDs? Of course, since they still light, it can't be TOO much, but...

Also, where are they failing? At a splice or solder point? Maybe where the wires are constricted or binding? You mention the wores, so I assume they're not failing in the strip itself, right?

If Phil doesn't pop in here shortly, I'd PM him - he always stands behind his product.

the wires are burning up beginning at the splice point to the LEDs and then the first 3 or so are burned out (physically look black)

I talkd to my wiring guy, he said they were fused with a 10amp fuse, but should not be drawing like that even with that fuse. The rubber around the wires are completely burned away, and they started smoking. The first few LEDs in the strip are black.

Any suggestions would be welcome

ImagoX wrote:

Have you put a volt meter on the power leads to see just how much current is reaching the LEDs? Of course, since they still light, it can't be TOO much, but... If Phil doesn't pop in here shortly, I'd PM him - he always stands behind his product.

Kevin_S wrote:

ImagoX wrote: Have you put a volt meter on the power leads to see just how much current is reaching the LEDs? Of course, since they still light, it can't be TOO much, but... If Phil doesn't pop in here shortly, I'd PM him - he always stands behind his product.

will do this.

the voltage meter says 11.8amps. I'll have to check the wiring to make sure all is good, and also put in the correct fuses. But from what I'm hearing, fuses or no fuses, they shouldn't be doing this. meh.

I want to order more stuff from teh site since I love the products they offer, but I'll hold off for now. I go to many, many car shows (HIN, NOPI, SEMA) and definitely got many compliments and inquiries about the lights.

10A is WAY too much. I'd start with a proper fuse - 3A in this case. That's what fuses are FOR - preventing fires.

I'll hazard a guess and say that the system is sending too much power to the strips and it's not the solder point that's failing but a resistor. The LEDs in the Flex Strips (IIRC) are wired in groups of 3 with a resistor there to step down the voltage peoperly. If your electrical system is sending too much current to the strips then it makes sense that the resistor at the end will overheat eventually and start smoking.

Of course, I can't be sure since I can't see how exactly you wired things together, but that's where I'd start...

You really need to get a volt meter on your circuit and see how much power is traveling down those wires. While you're at it, I'd check your other accessory lines, just to make sure you dnio't have other componants receiving too much current for some reason.

EDIT - If you're reading 11.8 then it might be surging. Check it while you start the car, turn on the stereo, etc. Surging is normal, to an extent. Properly fusing the curcuit will tell you if there's an issue as well - if the fuses pop then you know for sure that it's getting a surge at some point.

ImagoX wrote:

EDIT - If you're reading 11.8 then it might be surging. Check it while you start the car, turn on the stereo, etc. Surging is normal, to an extent. Properly fusing the curcuit will tell you if there's an issue as well - if the fuses pop then you know for sure that it's getting a surge at some point.

yeah, I'll try this, I'm just nervous because I have a major car show this weekend and do not want to have any problems I guess I'll see about the fuses and see if they pop.

We did this over teh weekend (amp meter while car was running) and did it with everything on. 11.8amps seemed to be going through the car consistently with maybe an 11.9 or 12 at some points.

here is my car in the most recent Hot Import Nights:



these were at the funk flex car show last year:

Nice flames - I really like that subtle flame effect.

jason2713 wrote:

I bought 4x 6foot strips and put about 1 foot under each foot well in my car, and then some in my custom trunk set up.

Were any of the strips cut?

Were the strips wired in series, or parallel? What power source were they wired to?

I think a 10 amp fuse is too large. The 6 ft strip draws 1.2 amps

That is a sweet car, that blue is SeXy

Damn dude that's a sick setup. What amps u got?

Phil wrote:

jason2713 wrote: I bought 4x 6foot strips and put about 1 foot under each foot well in my car, and then some in my custom trunk set up. Were any of the strips cut? Were the strips wired in series, or parallel? What power source were they wired to? I think a 10 amp fuse is too large. The 6 ft strip draws 1.2 amps

sorry for the delayed response, we cut the 6ft strips into about 1ft increments (where we could see they were able to be cut)

They are wired to one power/ground source wire. We wanted to be absolutely safe, so we put in a 1 Amp fuse and it has yet to blow. The show is saturday and sunday so hopefully it wont burn up.

The_Mastor wrote:

That is a sweet car, that blue is SeXy

thanks man. appreciate all your nice comments, I dont win all the shows, but I do get lots of nice complements for my "tasteful" modifications....I did not want to go overboard.

ummmm afaik, if u cut the strips they arent supposed to be re-wired?

Mad_Eyes wrote:

Damn dude that's a sick setup. What amps u got?

My amps are JL Audio 1000/1 feeding my 2x 12 inch Kicker Solobaric L7 subs and a JL Audio 300/4 feeding my diamond audio D3 components.

justin wrote:

ummmm afaik, if u cut the strips they arent supposed to be re-wired?

maybe i worded it wrong.


We cut them and put 4 strips under each foot well, and then above my amps (see pic of trunks, you'll see blue glow behind "Teeth" of the amps) and in my spare rim (also pictured)

we think somewhere down the line, the positive and negative wires touched or something, because liek I said, we put a 1amp fuse on the line at the point of origin that feeds all 6 strips (4 in foot wells, 2 in trunk)

no you said cut.

when you cut them, the "removed" portion is garbage, no?

justin wrote:

no you said cut. when you cut them, the "removed" portion is garbage, no?

these strips have creased sections indicating its ok to cut i there, correct me if I'm wrong.

jason2713 wrote:

these strips have creased sections indicating its ok to cut i there, correct me if I'm wrong.

Here's what the product page for the Flex Strips says about cutitng them:

---------------------

Can the LED strips be cut or trimmed?
Yes! You can easily cut the LED strips. Use a sharp utility knife. The LEDs are wired in groups of 3, so you should cut every 3 LEDs.

Can the cut section of the strip be re-used?
While it is physically possible, it is not a simple procedure and not worth the effort. For practical purposes, you are better off discarding the cut portion.

Once cut, is the strip still waterproof?
If you cut it right, it will maintain a degree of "weather resistance". But to make a cut strip fully waterproof again, we recommend you add some silicone sealant to the cut end.

-----------------------------

So... If you spliced the cut sections back together, then it seems likely that somewhere you may have run afoul of the "not a simple procedure" mentioned above and did something wrong, but I have no idea since I can't see what you're seeing nor do I know how you re-wired them after cutting. I suggest close-up pics of the spices.

I assumed from the product FAQ that once cut, the removed secrtions should be discarded, not spliced back together. I don't remember seeing any "creased areas" that indicated you could cut there - I just plan to count every 3 LEDs as indicated when I cut mine.

In theory, i think that you can cut and reattach them if you cut between the last of the 3 led's and the surface mount resistor. Just make sure to begin counting from the end where the wires attach to the strip, as the resistor is supposed to be in front of the affected led's.

just wondering also, if you took the 6ft-er and was goings to cut it down to 1ft strips, why wouldnt you just buy 4 9.5" strips for each well?

alerored2000 wrote:

just wondering also, if you took the 6ft-er and was goings to cut it down to 1ft strips, why wouldnt you just buy 4 9.5" strips for each well?

Good question...


6X 9.5" strips would actually be a few dollars cheaper than 1X 6' strip ($62.94 for 6X 9.5" vs. $68.49 for a longer strip).

fish eye ftl

I've never had a problem with the strips, seems like the odd factor out here is the cutting and reconnecting . I second the call for close up pictures of the connections .

Yea I'm really curious how you attached new wire to the cut portions

good luck at the show

jason2713 wrote:

ImagoX wrote: EDIT - If you're reading 11.8 then it might be surging. Check it while you start the car, turn on the stereo, etc. Surging is normal, to an extent. Properly fusing the curcuit will tell you if there's an issue as well - if the fuses pop then you know for sure that it's getting a surge at some point. yeah, I'll try this, I'm just nervous because I have a major car show this weekend and do not want to have any problems I guess I'll see about the fuses and see if they pop. We did this over teh weekend (amp meter while car was running) and did it with everything on. 11.8amps seemed to be going through the car consistently with maybe an 11.9 or 12 at some points.

First off are you reading volts or amps? You say you have 1 amp fuses before each strip. If you're getting 11.8 amps throughout there's no possible way those fuses are in tact unless you have things wired wrong.

Second, did you install thes yourself or did you have your wiring guy do it? If you did it yourself then I hope you've learned a thing or two and will continue to do so. If the wiring guy did it then fire him imediately. LOL He should never have put a 10 amp fuse to protect them in the first place. The total draw is well less then 10 amps.

Now here's the deal, if the insulation is burnt off the wires consider the strips junk. But don't call it quits. Grab yourself a cheap neon tube or any other light you can find. Wire it in the same way as you had the strips. Turn the switch on and check your connections. Make sure you have somewhere in the ballpark of 12 volts it can be a little more or a little less. Make sure you have a good solid ground. If things are wired right the tube should turn on.

If you decide to give the strips another chance make sure they are wired properly and fused with the correct size fuses. If they are fused properly then any short to ground will blow the fuse as will any overload or surge.

I coined the name Fire Hazard for my Dakota after litterally setting the interior on fire by not having things properly fused. LOL I understand your frustration but seeing as they weren't protected the way they should have been and it sounds like you may have tried to re-use the cut pieces I would just let it go and try again. If you need help with anything, ask there are plenty of us here that would be willing to talk ya through things so you get them right the first time.

Good luck to ya man. You have a nice ride by the way.