LED Stripes

The two values apply to two temperatures at the Tp measuring point on the flexible circuit. LED stripes are thus specified for two operating states: the 6LBR1CWJE0S07018 stripe from EDISON Opto delivers 672 lm/m and 140 lm/W at Tp 25 °C, but only 605 lm/m and 126 lm/W at Tp 65 °C – roughly ten per cent less at an unchanged 4.8 W/m.

The 25 °C figure is a laboratory value that applies only immediately after switch-on. Once installed, an LED band soon reaches temperatures closer to the 65 °C case. For lighting design the Tp 65 value is therefore the reliable one; anyone calculating with the 25 °C figure designs the luminaire systematically too bright. Where no Tp condition is given at all, the number cannot be compared.

Usually 5,000 mm from each power feed; EDISON Opto states this value in the datasheet for most series. What limits it is not the LED but the copper cross-section of the flexible circuit: the entire current flows through the same two tracks at the input, and the voltage drop accumulates.

The result is rarely a failure but a brightness gradient – the far end glows more dimly and warmer than the start. At 12 V the effect is twice as strong as at 24 V for the same power. Three points matter for longer runs:

• The Elite High-Performance series holds its brightness over 10 m from a single-end feed.
• Feeding from both ends or re-injecting halves the distance the current travels.
• Reel length is not feed length – reels up to 25 m are feasible, but power still has to be injected every 5 or 10 m.

The minimum cutting length follows from the number of LEDs connected in series within one segment – and that follows from the supply voltage. The same 5050 stripe with 60 LEDs/m has a cutting length of 50 mm in the 12 V version and 100 mm in the 24 V version: twice the voltage, twice as many LEDs in series, twice the segment length.

Across the range the span reaches from 10 mm on the Elite stripe with 700 LEDs/m to 166.67 mm on the Wall Washer version. When cutting to length:

• cut only on the marked separation line between two solder pads
• a part-cut segment stays dark – not a defect, but an incomplete series string
• on versions with an ingress protection rating, reseal the cut end

Around 15 per cent for the step from Ra 80 to Ra 90 – within the same series and at the same power consumption. The EDISON Opto catalogue lists two HE series stripes side by side at an identical 10.8 W/m and 80 LEDs/m: the Ra 80 version at 1,835 lm/m, the Ra 90 version at 1,565 lm/m.

The cause is the phosphor: good colour rendering requires a raised red content, and red light contributes less to the eye's luminous sensitivity than green. Across series, however, the arithmetic does not hold. The Elite High-Performance delivers Ra 95 at 140 lm/W and therefore more light per watt than some Ra 80 version of an older generation. CRI alone is thus no basis for comparing two stripes – the LED generation matters as well.

Sulphur compounds attack the silver-bearing reflector surfaces inside the LED package. Silver sulphide forms, the reflector tarnishes and the LED loses luminous flux without failing – a creeping fault that only shows after months. EDISON Opto puts this in the datasheet as a prohibition: "DO NOT use the products with materials has Sulfur."

Sealants, adhesives, vulcanised rubbers and some cable insulations are the usual sources. The same list also names oxidising gases such as H₂S, NH₃, SO₂ and NOₓ, rules out assembly in a humid environment, and adds two points routinely overlooked in practice:

• no pressure on the stripe – "even a slight pressure may damage the product"
• no rewiring while the circuit is live

Outdoors the selection starts at IP65, and at IP67 or IP68 for permanently wet locations. The bare IP20 version is intended for dry interiors only – in return it is the brightest: up to 195 lm/W against 148 lm/W on the potted IP67 version. Three points are regularly underestimated:

• The cut end is the weak spot. A shortened IP65 stripe is open there and has to be repotted or closed with an end cap; the Neon versions offer solder-free, glue-free IP67 connectors for this.
• Ingress protection is not UV resistance. The datasheet states: "Long time exposure to sunlight or UV should be avoided".
• The ambient limit stays at 45 °C – for every protection rating, reached quickly inside a closed profile in the sun.

The protection rating is not yet a separate column in our product table; we will name it for the specific article on request.

An LED stripe for 230 V carries mains voltage along its entire length – everything else follows from that. Within the range this applies to the Neon series marked HV AC 230 V, for example article 6LBU324N0S12001 with 12 W/m and a 100 mm cutting length. All other series work at 12 V, 24 V or 5 V within the safety extra-low voltage range. In practice this means:

• protection against contact over the full length, including cut points and end caps
• installation by qualified personnel only: "Only qualified personnel should be allowed to perform installations"
• no universal power supply, but the connection sets of the respective system

The benefit is the power supply chain that becomes unnecessary on long contours. For short runs in furniture and luminaire construction, the 24 V solution remains the simpler one.

A 120° stripe mainly lights the surface directly above it, and two metres further along hardly any light arrives. The Wall Washer series therefore concentrates the beam into 30° or 50° and carries the same light across the wall. The range covers three radiation characteristics:

• 120° – the standard for cove profiles and indirect lighting
• 140° on the FCOB stripes – the widest distribution, for dot-free linear lighting
• 30° to 50° on Wall Washer – for surfaces lit evenly from a short distance

What the body shape costs is visible in the Neon series: three 230 V versions at an identical 12 W/m range from 523 to 919 lm/m. The difference lies in the silicone body, not in the population – a deep diffuser produces the more homogeneous line of light and swallows light in return.

The catalogue range is the starting point, not the limit. An LED stripe consists of a flexible circuit, a population of LEDs and an encapsulation – which means almost every parameter the datasheet names can be changed:

• length and assembly – cut to size, reels up to 25 m, flying leads, connectors or solder-free IP67 couplers fitted at the factory
• light colour – colour temperatures from 1,800 to 6,500 K, Ra 80, 90 or 95, dim-to-warm and tunable white
• construction – 60 to 700 LEDs/m, widths from 4 mm, protection ratings up to IP68, 5 V to 230 V
• colour point – a tighter binning specification than the catalogue range covers

The quickest route is through the target values: tell us the luminous flux, colour point, installation dimensions and protection rating of the luminaire, and we will establish with EDISON Opto which version meets them.