Neopixel side light strip broke inside

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Fozzy0007
 
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Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2022 9:08 am

Neopixel side light strip broke inside

Post by Fozzy0007 »

Hi,
I purchased the 1 meter 60 LED Side light neopixel strip: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3636 a month ago and finally got to playing with it. i got this specifically because it was the length i needed and would bend perpendicular to the LED facing.

Is it expected there there be 3 or so soldered joints in the middle of the strip? Most of the strip shows the unsoldered copper pads, but my strip wasn't lighting up past the 12th pixel and i realized that instead of copper pads (that seem to be flexible), there were soldered pads. as if the strip had been put together. I thought that may be the case over a 1 meter, but this was about 1/4 through, and there are 2 next to each other.

I see that my strip has 3 soldered joints total in the strip. I can break open the silicone sleeve and fix this, but I was hoping to use the strip intact as it is.

Here is a pick of the 2 next to each other. the next one is about 18 neopixels further away.
2 solder joins next to each other. one broke.
2 solder joins next to each other. one broke.
broken_strip.jpg (430.1 KiB) Viewed 62 times
My main question is: Is this expected in a 1 meter strip? The solder joints don't flex anywhere near the copper pads (i wasn't crimping, i was going around a softarc) i didn't realize there were brittle connections in the strip as well. I've seen mention on some other strips (going over 1 meter increments, or buying other pieces, but didn't see it mentioned for this particular strip).

Thanks,
Brian

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Neopixel side light strip broke inside

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

The manufacturer only makes strips of a certain length, so getting a joint in the middle of a strip is highly likely. Having a joint break is unusual, but not impossible.

Do you feel comfortable resoldering the connections?

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Fozzy0007
 
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Re: Neopixel side light strip broke inside

Post by Fozzy0007 »

Is it common to have 2 joints next to each? there were 3 joints total in the 1 meter strip: The 2 next to each other 12 pixels and then another at about the halfway point of the strip. I didn't expect so many in a single 1 meter strip. Just want to set my expectations correctly as i decide on parts in the future.

I was able to solder the strip together (I likely need a better soldering iron with a smaller tip, but i did manage to get it working again. Unsure how strong my solder joint is, so trying to be extremely careful. I had to cut away the silicone a tad, so it doesn't look great right now, but managing :)

Thanks!
Brian

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Neopixel side light strip broke inside

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

Three joints in a strip isn't typical, but manufacturers will assemble whatever they can.

The broken joint isn't a complete failure, but you did have to do extra work to deal with it. Send a note containing a link to this page and your order number to [email protected]. The folks there will set you up with $10 of shop credit.

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Fozzy0007
 
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Re: Neopixel side light strip broke inside

Post by Fozzy0007 »

Oh thank you! Very much appreciated. I just got an email regarding the credit. so, it looks like you already found my account.

Again, thank you for both the info and the credit.

Brian

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