An LED strip is a long printed circuit board with bright and powerful LEDs printed on it. This device is ideal for decorating any space. Due to its flexibility and compactness, the tape favorably emphasizes the contours of interior design projects, provides illumination of small and large niches.
Instructions
Step 1
The most common tapes with diodes are SMD3528 and SMD5050. The abbreviation SMD indicates that the type of mounting of this electronic component is surface, that is, the diode contacts are soldered directly to the surface to be mounted. Surface mounting is widely used in electronics due to its compactness. The numbers after this abbreviation indicate the size of the LEDs: 5050 - 5 x 5 mm LED, 3528 - 3.5 x 2, 8 mm diode.
Step 2
Looking closely at the product, you will notice that the SMD 5050 has six pins, while the SMD 3528 has two. The fact is that the former contains three separate crystals, while the latter contains only one. Accordingly, the glow brightness of the SMD 5050 tape is more intense, but its price is also higher.
Step 3
An important role when choosing an LED strip is given to the color of the glow. A single color ribbon can be blue, green, yellow, red or white. However, if you want to change the color of the tape glow during operation, select full color (RGB). To get the desired color, it will be enough to press a button on the controller's remote control.
Step 4
Pay attention to such a parameter as the density of diodes per meter. On sale are widespread tapes with a density of 120, 60, 30 diodes per meter. The light will be more uniform and brighter if the density of the diodes is higher. For lighting, it is advisable to use tapes with a density of 60 - 120 diodes, for backlighting - 30 - 60.
Step 5
If you intend to use the tape in a damp room or outdoors, pay attention to its protection class. Tapes can be waterproof and non-waterproof. In the latter, the conductive layer is clearly visible, and the soldering areas of the elements are not protected in any way, therefore their use is limited to places where moisture will certainly not get on them.
