Tip: Glare Shield LED strip comparison

[Jekyll]

I purchased the blue strip from Stein:

http://www.steinair.com/images/store/blueledstrip.jpg

Installation instructions say to hook directly to 12v source or a regular rheostat.

I hooked it up to my rheostat last night to test my panel. It didn't work for a bit but finally came on for about 10 seconds. Then the strip fell 1 foot and nothing worked. The 1 amp panel fuse blew and the LED strip is dead. Makes me wonder how this will tolerate vibration.

Did more troubleshooting and discovered I have a problem with my EGPAVR rheostat from Perihelion. Eric said he would fix or replace it even though the warranty is long gone.

[RVG8tor]

Pat,

Were you able to shield the dimmer switch to get the dimming to stop when you Tx. I am just getting my electrical panel finished up and doing some Tx/Rx tests and one set of LEDs will blink when I transmit even though the POT is in the off position. I have two other LED sets that do not behave this way so I am not sure what to do. My dimmers are not even in a cover, the circuit board just hangs from the switch mount. I have been chasing down lost of gremlins from radio transmissions.

Thanks

[quote=Pat Hatch;494474]I finally got a night flight in last night to try out the new LED lights and dimmer. I wanted to mention a problem I had with the dimmer for those following this thread. It wasn't a huge deal, but when I transmit, the intensity of the lights will vary (dim) when you push the mike button. So obviously RF is affecting the dimmer circuity in some way. I might try shielding the dimmer as it's in a plastic box now and enclosing it in aluminum might help. QUOTE]

[alpinelakespilot2000]

For anyone who used the light strips from ledlightsworld.com...

From the pictures posted by Pat Hatch and others above, it appears that the SMD5050 18-LED/foot strips is way more than adequate. I just inadvertantly purchased the SMD 5050 9-LED/foot (36" in pure white). I'm happy that the overall power consumption is half that of the 18-LED version, but will the 9 LED's/ft be enough light for the panel?

9-LED version
http://www.ledlightsworld.com/smd-50...eds-p-134.html

18-LED version
http://www.ledlightsworld.com/smd-50...eds-p-135.html

[Bugsy]

I bet that 9 will be fine. The full up 18 are very bright

[Pat Hatch]

Originally Posted by RVG8tor

Pat,

Were you able to shield the dimmer switch to get the dimming to stop when you Tx. I am just getting my electrical panel finished up and doing some Tx/Rx tests and one set of LEDs will blink when I transmit even though the POT is in the off position. I have two other LED sets that do not behave this way so I am not sure what to do. My dimmers are not even in a cover, the circuit board just hangs from the switch mount. I have been chasing down lost of gremlins from radio transmissions.

Thanks

Mike,

I found a better LED dimmer. I have since replaced the one that I got from LED LightsWorld with this one and it has been in the airplane for several months now without a problem. I think I paid $16 or so for it:

http://www.kicklighting.com/PWM-dimm...ch-for-LED.htm

It is much simpler and lighter than the other one, nicely built and potted. I added some Shoo Goo under the pot to support it from vibration where it mounts directly to the panel. Sorry I missed your post from last March, but better late than never...

[Flying Scotsman]

Hey, for tip-ups...how'd you guys run/protect the wires from the strip forward/down on the tip-up frame, in order to get it routed to your switch/dimmer on the panel (or other accessible location)?

[acroflyrgirl]

I am putting in the cool LED light strip under the panel. It is red and white. This I guess requires some way to control each color.

Is there a way to dim and control each color with a single switch? The switch I saw in the Spruce catalog is a two knob assy. and big.

I have these lights


and this single channel switch


Perhaps I need this 2 Ch switch


What I am hoping to have though, is some way to use the single CH switch or even better yet, a single switch that is a 3 way, rheostat red or white light position. Has anyone found such a switch? I think I could put a toggle switch in and connect it to the dimmer, but then I have two seperate switches to essentially run one light source.

[Bugsy]

New product at Ledsupply.com 3 ft sealed led strip $9.95, high quality warm or brite white needs a dimmer they are brite, but no driver required so they will dim well.

Warm white:

http://www.ledsupply.com/r8030aa-war...m_medium=email

Cool white:
http://www.ledsupply.com/r8030aa-whi...m_medium=email

[Flying Scotsman]

Looks similar to this

http://www.elementalled.com/flexible...-the-foot.html

might even be the same thing...I put these under the glareshield and they work *great*. Nice, even lighting and dimmable with no noise.

[Taildrgr]

Has anyone used the RGB tri-colored LED strips?

I was thinking about using a DPDT switch wired to a PWM dimmer to change between white and green. White should be all three wires from the strip connected together, and green would be just the green wire to ground.

A 16 foot strip was just $20.

Will that work?