Sticky LED's not sticking?

[BruceS]

I've spent a lot of time replacing the inside workings of several flouro's with sticky lengths of LED's.
An hour or so of lights on & it all let go........
Has anyone else used these?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/131224150568 ... 1497.l2649
Even a lot of glue out of a hot glue gun was useless.
Ant tips for beginners?

[RussellB[SA]]

I reckon it's the heat, heat breaks. Down most glue and hot melt speaks for it self.

I would imagine the led strips were not designed for enclosed applications.

Best of luck.

Russell

[Keith Morris]

"tanks" here--- I had the same problem with my 5 metre lengths and I used Selleys clear ROOF & GUTTER silicone to fix the strip in place.
Just put a dob of silicone about every half metre and also put a dob at the power end of the strip.

If you are going around corners with the LED strip put a dob on each side of the corner.

You will have to hold the strip in place with sticky tape till the Roof & Gutter sets. I used bits of 2"gaffer tape, and I have also used 1" wide sello tape to hold the strip in place while the silicone is setting. Give it a few hours on a normal temp day. If it is cold give it some more time to set.
Let us know how you get on with it.
Keith.

[2foot6]

YEP ...I go with "tanks",I fitted a few metres of self sticking leds in my shed,the next day they had come down.I did the same as "tanks",silicone and tape until it dries.The only difference I put a thin line of silicone along the the length of led strips to prevent sagging . That was six months ago and there still staying up.cheers Peter.

[baysidetas]

I have not used long lengths (mainly about 450 mm) and stuck them to an aluminium molding using contact adhesive along the full length and have no problems with them coming unstuck. Usually wipe the back of the strips with turps before putting on the contact adhesive.

I use the 5050 series of LEDs/as they are much brighter than any of the 3000 series. Use more power but so what with LEDs.

[Wilbor]

I had the exact same problem with a 5m length of LED strip. Mine is on the exterior running along the body under the awning. I decided to remove all the old stick-less glue from the MH body and the strip and replace it with 'real' 3M double sided body tape, about $10 for 6m, it is now stuck like it is supposed, the hardest part was removing the old glue.

When I bought the LED strip I noticed the sneaky Chinese had an "M" and what looked like a piece of a cut off "3" on the tape on the double sided tape. But 3M it was not!!!

[Cuppa]

When converting Fluoros to LED, my method has been to retain the fluoro strip light & to stick 3 lengths of LED strips along it. I have done this using the sticky as supplied with the strip PLUS have used thin nylon cable ties to help the LEDS stay in place. You cant see the cable ties behind the diffuser & they work well. The advantage of putting 3 strips onto the original light strip is that being round it gives a better spread of light with the LEDS.

[Bobrovin]

Have done the same mod as Bruce and had the problem of the LEDs only staying bright for a week or so and then gradually getting duller over a few weeks till they were useless. They were 5050 waterproof led strips from the same place as Bruce. Was going to bite the bullet and buy new complete led light fittings but worried they might do the same or not be bright enough.

[BruceS]

Well I pulled two of the lights down, cleaned up the goo-ee mess with turps & hot soapy water .... dried it all off & redid it with Sika.
Re-installed them after leaving to 'set' overnight.
Minimal use & they still look good.
Be a week or so till I'm back to test in anger!
If a good hot burn in one night is successful then the others will get the same treatment.
I did intent using these "water proof" LED's up on the top deck but after looking at them I think water proof is definitely over stated.
I think I'll go more for the external rated ones. Because I can't install them up high overhead I have to ensure they don't blind people too much. Might look at the imbedded ones with a diffuser in front of the light. (like a bathroom shower screen? Gawd it's hard to see much through them!!!)