Are your LED strip lights not working anymore? There could be variety of reasons for this problem. And it is possible to resolve most of these issues in pretty simple ways. It is not rocket science to troubleshoot these issues. But first of all, you should detect the exact location of a problem. Once that is determined, assessing the nature of the issue becomes easier and simpler. Eventually the problem can be fixed and your LED strip lights get back to life once more.
In the following section of the blog post let us troubleshoot few common issues found in LED strip lights. It is important to note all the lights discussed in this blog run on either 12V or 24V.
Problem – Your LED is flashing in a regular and consistent manner, like it stays on for second followed by off for the next second and likewise. Competent electricians experienced in LED light repair know the problem pops up as a result of overloading of power supply. A small example here will make it easier how the particular problem actually crops up.
Suppose you have 10 m of LED strip that draws 5 watt per metre. Thus, the total strip requires (10×5 =) 50-watt power. Now the strips are powered by a 30-watt power supply, the mechanism automatically goes to overload protection mode. As a result, when it is turned on it realises the circuit is overloaded and thus immediately gets turned off and this cycle continues till eternity.
Solution – for a simpler solution to this problem all you have to do is replace the existing power supply with another that has a higher capacity. That will enable the system draw the required amount of wattage. Alternatively, you can reduce the quantity of strips on that power supply without replacing it. As third option get another power supply with the same capacity and split the strips across both the power supplies.
Problem – LED turns excessively hot and almost causes burning when touched. This particular issue arises because either of two reasons mentioned below –
- A 24-volt power supply is connected to your 12-volt LED or
- A ‘short’ exists along the strip
But how is the short being created? This is possible when the solder goes across somewhere in the PCB and thus the positive (‘+’) and the negative (‘-‘) are touching each other to create the short in the circuit. However the phenomenon may also occur when there is an output cable and the ‘+’ and the ‘-‘are touching each other inside that cable.
If the first probability is true (that is 24 volts is passing through a 12-volt strip) then though the strips will keep working but it will damage your LED pretty fast. Interestingly, the light will be brighter. This is because double the power is passing through the strip. There is also a fire hazard looming across it.
If the second is correct – that is the positive and the negative are touching each other somewhere, then the strips will fail as well pretty fast hardly within an hour. Not only the LED will be damaged but there can also be a foul smell of burning as well as a fire hazard.
Solution – When a 24V power supply is going to strips of 12-volt capacity, you can change this condition by replacing the power supply with 12 volt capacity. Else you can plug in a converter between the strip and the power supply that converts 24 volts down to 12 volt. To overcome a ‘short’, it is important to carefully check every single part of the strip closely to notice for any solder that is going across the connections. You can either re-solder that or just split it with a Stanley knife to make sure the ‘+’ and the ‘-‘are no more in touch with each other.
Problem – RGB/RGBW LEDs are showing different colour and full colour is not working. If just one colour of a LED strip is not working then the problem can affect every other colour in the strip. In other words, suppose a single red colour is not working then the entire length of red LEDs will not work. So either the red cable itself is faulty or the soldering of the ‘-‘red cable is not properly done. Whatever may be the exact cause behind, the problem is solely related to cabling, say experienced electricians. These tradesmen are associated with the Electric Works London which is a widely reliable electrical services company in London. These qualified and registered electricians are readily available and you can get access to them easily through online searches using strings like “lighting installation engineers in London”.
In this case you have to remember certain thing – check the cable in between the controller and the strip. If you have used a connector block for extension, remove it and facilitate direct power to the strip. In both RGB and RGBW strips the black is always meant to be positive.
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