anyone know about LED strip lights?

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

I got a 16' spool of LED strip lights, a couple of 110 to 12 volt transformers and two "switches" to light the inside of my kitchen cabinets. Unfortunately I didn't get much in the way of technical help. These switches are in the low voltage side of the circuit. They are the type were you touch them and the lights come on, and the longer you touch them, the brighter the lights get - that's the theory anyway. They are a pain. The correct brightness is hard to attain and it seems to "drift." Can I replace these with some simple low voltage pots from radio shack?

86Meesta2 · 11-09-2012, 05:44 AM

Unfortunately LEDs are not linear devices- so the brightness will not decrease consistently if you use a linear pot. You could use an exponential pot if you are planning on dimming regularly, but if you are just planning on setting and forgetting these lights I would just use a linear pot. Either way, make sure you get a pot in the correct range- sometimes those switches that come with it have a fixed, built in resistor to step down the voltage to make sure that each LED doesn't get oversupplied (3.3v per LED is typical for bright white). Definitely don't want to blow the strip! What kit did you buy, I might be able to tell you more if I get more info...