My LED strip experiences

They don't stick worth a hoot. Good for the first few days and then they let loose. Where I have them stuck on smooth enameled steel I found that if I clamped them for a week they hold just fine thereafter. See this post for more detail:  http://www.lkorailroad.com/a-not-so-sticky-situation/

Where I have strips stuck to plywood edge I used a bead of PVA glue down the center of the strip adhesive. Placed and then clamped overnight. This method works superb. Ain't no way they are coming off. See this post for detail:  http://www.lkorailroad.com/lower-deck-led-install/

Yes, you can simply solder jumpers across the pads from strip to strip. Do not exceed 5M length in a single strip. 

LED's Nice, Sticky-- Not so Much

My experience is to NOT depend on the sticky tape backing for anything. I recommend just peeling it off. You can use regular double-sided tape, or hot glue- just tack it down here and there.

John

Double sided tape, then

Sounds like I will pick up some double sided tape, then.  Based on the replies, I am guessing when i head downstairs i will see more of it hanging down.

At least it wasn't just me.

Thanks,

-Ed

Wow, I guess I'm lucky

3M

The oddest part is the adhesive strip is a 3M product which are normally top shelf quality items.

led sticky stuff

The rest of the srtrip

The rest of the strip of LEDs can be used for structure lighting or Passenger car lights. etc.  Each three LED section can be cut and used by itself.  Remove the protective yellow film with a hobby knife with careful scrapping, to expose the copper soldering pads at the end of the strip.  Solder wires to the pads using rosin core solder or rosin flux and solder.  Each section can use a 12 volt DC supply.  If the light is too bright, use a resistor on one of the pads or on the wire, to reduce the power and the light intensity.   For DCC use a bridge recfifier to supply dc for car lighting.  A 2K PC board pot can be used in place of a fixed resistor to adjust the light level.

The local home improvement store or lighting supply as well as Micro-mark and electronic supply or hobby supply sell the strips at much higher prices than what is available on Ebay.  Typical Ebay prices are about $10.00 for 5 meter warm white, non waterproof strips with 300 50/50 or 28/35 LEDs or 600 28/35 LEDs.  Each strip can be separated at every 3 LEDs for using as many as you want.  One supplier that I have good experiences with is katewu20152011 from Portland OR.  As the shipper is in the US, there is no long wait as when shipments come from China and they are with free shipping.  Typically the LEDs arrive in 3 or 4 days by US mail. 

 The LEDs can be used almost anywhere you need light.

Bill Feairheller

You'll never get 'em off

if you use contact cement.   Check Amazon under LED strip lighting for a company named Lighting Ever.  They have a 16 ft roll for only $8.00

Uses for the rest...

Thanks everyone for all the additional info.

@Bill, great idea about other uses.  I think I will use them inside some buildings when I get to that stage of the layout. 

@various... I am definitely sticking to no more than 5M per run from the power supply.  I got a 400W (33A) supply so that I can run up to 25M total length (again limiting to 5M max per strip) on a single supply. By the time I am done with the whole layout I will need between 3 and 4 more similar supplies depending whether I end up going with two or three strips over the viewable areas of the layout.  

With all the knowledge the community here has of these, I have a few other questions.

What gauge wire should I use to extend the leads that attach to the power supply and what is the reasonable practical limit on extending the lead wires from the power supply to the start of a 5M strip?  For the first two strips I ran, since it is under-layout for staging, it was appropriate to just connect the short leads directly to the power supply and start the lighting immediately. But now for all other runs I will have some distance between the supply and where the LEDs should start.  The leads themselves appear to be a pretty small gauge wire - probably 22 or smaller.

With regards to dimming:

1) Any specific suggestions of dimmers to use for the 5M strips? Also, can/should multiple strips be placed on a single dimmer if they are lighting a single area? For example, if I use 3 strips (warm/cool) for an area, would I use one dimmer on all three strips or should I be dimming each strip separately?

2) What about lesser numbers of LEDs? For example, if I have a small number of LEDs for a few buildings in a small town, would I use a different selection of dimmer than for a full 5M run?  In other words, can I standardize on what dimmers to use for everything or do I need to look at power consumption calculations and choose different dimmers depending on the lengths of the runs?

3) Are specific warm vs cool LEDs better for specific accessory uses.  For example: lighting inside homes, versus inside a roundhouse, versus "outdoor" lighting, etc.  I am thinking the leftover cooler LEDs for outdoor lighting and leftover warmer ones within homes or other buildings, but I'd love to hear thoughts.  

4) As mentioned every set of three can be cut apart.  If I have a spot I only need one LED, are these strips out, then?  Or is it possible to use each of the two ends of a set of three individually by cutting it further and having the copper pads just at the end being connected to power?  Is there something about the sets of three that makes cutting further a hazard or non-operational?

Thanks again to all the input.  Despite the stickiness issue, it took only a few minutes for me to conclude that I really like using these as a lighting approach!

-Ed

an easy valance and better sticking...

I mounted my LED strips in my staging area to a special drywall end cap that gave me a nice surface to adhere to, and a small valance to shield my eyes from the LED's

Since it's metal it also acts like a heat sink.

  What gauge wire should I

Think current. The maximum current that should be run through the flex circuits on these strips is ~2 Amps which determines the length of daisy -chained lighting. (Note: You need to have the specifications for or measure the current draw of the strips you are using as the current variation between types of LED can be significant.) The size of the feeder wires is also determined by the current and the length of the feeder just as for track feeders. So once you know your current, you can determine the minimal allowable voltage drop and consulting a wire table ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge) determine the correct wire size (V = IR). Number 22 wire has a resistance of about 0.02 Ohms per foot, so a ten foot run at 2 Amps will only drop about 0.4 Volts.

Although a linear voltage regulator will work, for a greater control range I would suggest one of the PWM controls. The are some very inexpensive controls specifically designed for these strips available on evilbay or from distributors like http://shop.ledwholesalers.com. I have used several of the single color and RGB remote control units on the layout.

Again it an issue of current capacity. The $35 (I have seen these for < $10) Color Temperature CT Radio Frequency Controller & Wireless Remote will handle two 6 Amp channels while the $7 PWM Dimming Controller For LED Lights or Ribbon, 12 Volt 8 Amp non remote controller will handle 8 Amps.

Unless you are thinking of using the LED lighting for photographic purposes (another whole topic),  color selection is really an issue of personal preference. In one application we tried both warm and cool strips and ended up with RGB strips to get the color we wanted (Now we use a Arduino board to provide lighting effects). Any segment cut as specified can be used as an independent lighting element. I have used single segments to light buildings and LS passenger car interiors, and I have assisted other in installing these lights under deck railing, in display cabinets, as under cabinet kitchen lighting and more.

Cutting into a segment will most probably cut the driving circuit. Remember for a single color strip the circuit consists of usually one resistor in series with three LED chips, so cutting anywhere along the segment will cut that circuit.

Thanks for the detail!

@Ken, thanks for the detailed answers. I don't ever plan to have more than 5M in series based on the info with the strips, but the power supply will allow the multiple runs in parallel.

I had not thought about the sets of 3 LEDs having a single circuit in them.  Sounds like for any application where I need only one LED I will be better off getting the individual components rather than scavenging from these strips.

Thanks!

-Ed

extending wires

What I do

I have a garage sized layout and I am running a buss of 12ga wire around the layout and then feeding each small strip of LED's 5' max with feeders of 20ga, just like I do the track.  So far it has worked out.  Will have several thousand LED's when it is all said and done.

John

Lighting Bus

Same here. The 12ga bus arrangement works very well. It's all about voltage drop. The heavy bus minimizes the voltage drop to the LED strips just the same as track bus does for the rails.

Lighting bus - great idea

John & Alan, great idea.  I will do that for my tighting for the two visible levels.  The staging it wasn't necessary because the power supply is about center of the run I needed so i just went each way from the supply.  For the remainder of the layout, the bus idea will work great.  

-Ed