Perhaps, LED strip lights are the fan-favorite and famous among all the LED lighting fixtures. However, they can be used for various places and purposes, instantly enhancing the place’s mood.
Due to their flexible, thin stickable strips, these lights can be placed anywhere.
You can easily connect LED strips together depending on your power source and the strip’s power output. This lighting can be connected using cable and connectors. You can also connect two strip lights together, as cutting them into the desired sizes is easy.
Use a sharp blade to remove the protective plastic layer to uncover the circuit connection dots, now use connectors. Finally, connect the strips using soldering the copper pads of strips or connectors.
Go through this blog to understand everything about connecting LED strip lights together.
Is it possible to connect various brand LED light strips together?
Connecting separate brands of LED strip lights together is possible if they provide the same voltage.
For example: If you are trying to connect two strip lights with different voltages. They won’t work due to the various voltages needed for each strip, which can damage. So, it’s better you first read the manufacturing details on the box to know more about the light.
Is it safe to connect various strip lights?
It is not ideal for connecting multiple light strips as they can’t work on the same power source. For example: Connecting a series of cheap strip lights can lead to a fire hazard as they use low-grade thin material that cannot sustain high currents.
Considering you are still using an authentic and branded product, there are chances for heat up. RGB lights consume 3 times more power than a standard white LED strip light; using them together is risky and can cause damage.
Should You Connect LED Strips In Parallel Or Series?
When it comes to the series circuits, the lights are connected end to end. So you only need to plug the power supply into the first strip in the chain.
In these circuits, The voltage is divided among the LEDs while the current is constant. This means that you may not get an equal amount of brightness throughout the circuit and must ensure that the power source is constant. In addition, the whole circuit will fail if one of the strips from the light stops working.
In the parallel circuit, each strip is wired to the energy source. The voltage is similar, but the current is divided between every strip. These are hard to install, but other strips will work if one strip fails.
If you use only two strips, or one fails, then the current will double for another strip, leading to failure.
How to connect LED lights together?
There are two main methods of connecting LED strips.
The best and easy way to connect them is with strip connectors, and the tough road is to solder the connection pads.
Let’s dive into the easy way.
Using connectors to connect LED strip lights
There are various types and shapes of connectors available in the market. Choose according to your light, manufacturing instruction, and requirement. 2 pins connectors are used for white LED strip lights and 4 pins are used for RGB strip lights. These types of connectors are great for better lighting performance and increasing the strip length. You just need to place them on the strip end in the right place and align them with wires directly.
How to connect LED lights by soldering?
You may be surprised, but there is a way to connect the strip lights without the connectors.
You just need to solder some ends! The fact is that soldered connections are more efficient and mechanically sturdier. Therefore, it is recommended that your light uses more current. Unfortunately, some connector wires are unsuitable due to high-powered strip output, so the only option left is soldering the joints.
After completing the process, cover the joints with electrical tape to protect their joints.
Keep these things in mind while connecting LED strips.
We have already explained most of the things; still, there are a couple of things to keep in mind that we are gonna summarize this topic.
It is essential to only use the safe power supply for more wattages than the strip light requirement while connecting more LED strip lights to the single power supply.
Avoid using the same or less rated power supply as the combined strip watts. It can create a risk of voltage drop.
Always use a heat shrink, insulating or electrical tape over the connectors to protect them from excessive heat, which is different for both outdoor and indoor use.
Final Conclusion
It is always best to understand everything about lighting and make a plan before purchasing it.
As per your locations or requirements, you may not need connectors to connect many LED strip lights, and you better use connector cables to increase the length at a few places.
Follow the methods properly and choose only highly rated electrical connectors, strip lights, and other elements for better and safe performance.