LED strip burned out.

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yigiter007
 
Posts: 175
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 10:37 am

LED strip burned out.

Post by yigiter007 »

For my project I was trying to connect these strips

Ultra Skinny NeoPixel 1515 LED Strip 4mm wide - 0.5 meter long - 75 LEDs PID: 4368
and
Adafruit Mini Skinny NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip - 144 LED/m - 1m WHITE PID: 2969
to
Adafruit Feather 32u4 Basic Proto PID: 2771

I had to cut the Ultra skinny strip and solder wires to the end. I used Silicone Cover Stranded-Core Wire - 25ft 26AWG - Red PID: 2513 to solder to the strip, but the strip tips are so small and thin that any amount of heat to get solder to stick causes the pads to separate and burn the strip making it impossible to use. I ended up ruining a whole strip trying to solder to it.

In the same project i was trying to connect the mini strip to the ultra skinny and there was a internal short in the led strip that caused a high/max current to go through the 5V wire connected to my Adafruit Feather 32u4 Basic Proto PID: 2771 the short burned out the whole stripe and the regulator on the feather.

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mikeysklar
 
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Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:10 pm

Re: LED strip burned out.

Post by mikeysklar »

So both strips and the Feather regulator have burned out and you feel that the cause is a short on the mini strip?

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yigiter007
 
Posts: 175
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 10:37 am

Re: LED strip burned out.

Post by yigiter007 »

Yes, I had a breadboard setup and with prototyping leads and the wire heated up to the point where the plastic melted off then the feather led indicator turned off and the board was super hot.

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atlr
 
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:44 pm

Re: LED strip burned out.

Post by atlr »

Thank you for sharing this experience. I am considering using an ultra skinny in a project. Knowing what happened to you, I will add a fuse on the 5V.

I would really like to find a 4mm wide LED strip that uses a 2020 Dotstar (APA102-2020 or SK9822-EC20).

Using a low temp solder paste and heat gun instead of regular solder and iron might be a solution for attaching the silicon jacketed wire to these fragile strip pads. Something like SRA Low Temp Solder Paste SSLTNC-15G that melts at 137C (278F). I have not tried this paste to connect leads before though.

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atlr
 
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:44 pm

Re: LED strip burned out.

Post by atlr »

I plan to use an automotive blade fuse and in-line automotive blade fuse holder. Examples of brands of automotive blade fuses are ATC, ATO and MINI. Amperage ratings vary from 1 A to 40 A. To see some designs that incorporate automotive blade fuses, internet search for ' quinled fuse '.

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yigiter007
 
Posts: 175
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 10:37 am

Re: LED strip burned out.

Post by yigiter007 »

atlr wrote:Thank you for sharing this experience. I am considering using an ultra skinny in a project. Knowing what happened to you, I will add a fuse on the 5V.

I would really like to find a 4mm wide LED strip that uses a 2020 Dotstar (APA102-2020 or SK9822-EC20).

Using a low temp solder paste and heat gun instead of regular solder and iron might be a solution for attaching the silicon jacketed wire to these fragile strip pads. Something like SRA Low Temp Solder Paste SSLTNC-15G that melts at 137C (278F). I have not tried this paste to connect leads before though.
If you plan on using the ultra skinny strip just use the leads already soldered and shorten it from the other end. It almost impossible for the average person to cleanly solder to the pads.

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