R

ron sterba

Well Known Member
Connectors to each flexable strip with a 120 v/12 volt transformer and seperate 12 volt controller and a remote. You even get 15 shades of color. Either use just a two strip or plug all four together for 8' leg or 20' max. Saw them at Costco for $30 bucks. Item # 682883. Product name is MOSAIC. Sylvania Looks to be easly adapted to a your own connection on a wiring harness. Going to buy them today for my 9A.

Ron in Oregon.
 
Well John, I thought I would buy the strips since they are 12 volt and use them in the baggage area with the vans light controller. Its the strips that are cheap compared to other aviation/auto sites. I bought them today and am pretty happy with the connectors that tie the strips together. Looks to be very easy to tie into a wiring harness /controller configuration. Each strip come with a adhesive full length strips.Each LED light on the strip is 3 colors and the strip end has a nice finished connector. Those connectors I just mention are labeled with R for RED ,G for green, B for blue and a + for positive lead. I thought maybe I would look at the instrument panel too.You know a strip across the underside and above the instruments in RED. Not sure I would use the wireless remote light controller because of the RF,but the strips seemed a good bargain.

Ron in Oregon
 
I think it is a good idea Ron. I went to the Cosco sight and could not find the specific product but here are some general things to be aware of.

Most manufacturers (there are hundreds making these in high capacity plants in China, Taiwan, Singapore, etc...) warranty the product but the warranty kicks in when a percentage of the physical number of LED's go out (usually between 10-20% depending on manufacturer), so they consider it normal to lose some LED's.
Since they are a point source, spaced out on the tape, when you lose one perhaps not a big deal, lose two that are next to each other and you have a dark spot. Still might not be a big deal depending on application.
Each color of LED has a different lumen depreciation. So, if you set them for a specific mix of color, that mix will change over time. Higher end commercial products have built in sensors to monitor and adjust for this, but not in this type of product. Again, might not be a big deal.
Many of the manufacturers overdrive the LED's to achieve more performance. This also affects their life and depreciation. Most are tolerant of reducing input voltage to a point. If you dropped the input voltage even 10% you can greatly increase their life and potentially reduce the number of premature failures. You can do this simply with a rheostat, variable resistor, or a simple dropping resistor or diode for most products.
The controllers that are most common dim through pulse width modulation. This may or may not cause issues with intercom or other systems. Just be aware. With such low loads, I would choose to dim with a simple voltage reduction scheme and see how the product reacts. Most react very well.
Be carefull with the inrush current of LED products. Although operating current is very low, inrush can be very high. It is a very short burst but it is well above that of an incandescent lamp. While it may not trip some circuit protection it may very well throw a spike back into your electrical system. This is commonly misunderstood.

So, these are just a few things to be aware of with LED tape lighting.

The really good thing about LED tape; Cheap and Effective. The really bad thing; Quality varies wildly.
I sell literally tens of thousands of feet of LED lighting from many brands. We just try to insure the customers know what to expect and manage those expecations with the right product.

Good luck and have fun with it.
 
The LEDs are in Costco stores with Xmas decorations...

I found them and picked up one set to play with. $29. Dimmable 12v.
 
Hi Jon, Enjoyed reading your post on the LEDs.Interesting notes that you bring up on surge of current. I remember one item years ago that a gentleman invented and was soon bought out by another company that killed his product. Course he made out $ wise$. What it did was to limit the the voltage spike to a light bulb. The limiter was the size of a dime and had a adhesive backing to stick on the bottom contact of a light bulb before your screwed it in. In place that little unit removed the spike and your light bulb company no longer sold as many light bulbs. Now I didn't know about those variations in brightness and that's good knowledge. I figure I'll get 5 night flights a year. Based on 10,000 hrs on usage I'll be a twinkle in heaven. How ever the local light/fixture place sells one foot of LEDs for $30 and no connectors. Looking at the items that came with the kit it looks pretty easy to made a wiring socket. Each LED circuit of 10 strips will accept up to 2 amps in that 20 foot strip.( Max on ten two foot strips together according to the info on the package.) I think it will be fun to play with.Now you mentioned you sell LED lighting. What applications are your LEDs packaged as, auto,home,aviation? Are they kits with rheoststs? Is there something for the baggage area or under panel in a RV? Take care and maybe see you at Twin Oaks some FIRST SATURDAY of the month breakfast.EAA 105.

Ron in Oregon
 
Wendell, Have you experimented yet? I played with the controller and the varibles in the colors. Pretty cool. Might be fun to use parked on the ground at a airshow or alike just BECAUSE! Let me know what you are making and how it works out. YEA forgot to mention they are in the the Christmas section at Costco as you mentioned.

Ron in Oregon.
 
Panel lighting and baggage area too

Tested the color combos. For me, white is best followed by red. The blue does nothing for these old eyes and the green is slightly better than the blue. Those wire connectors are nice but not needed unless you make a sharp bend. The strips plug into each other for normal runs and you cut the strip at the desired length. I'll have some fun experimenting with the $30 light set. It's easy to cut the wire from the 12v transformer and rewire the strip to a switch and dimmer. I might even put a red/white choice on a panel switch. Thank Costco for beating the supplier down to $3.75/ft, eh?
 
Wendell. Glad you like them. I think more people will spread the word. Not a bad deal. Didn't get a chance yet. Pulled 4 -18 gauge wires thru fuselage to postion light on the RV9A rudder. LEDs strobe/nav Aveo engineering. Tested and work for cockpit. All navs done! YEA! Got engaged to my wife on the Clearwater Florida beach 14 years ago. Now she wouldn't go back because there's been reports of BIG alligators there. Go Figure! So much for Sun-n-fun.

Ron in Oregon
 
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