A Complete Guide on How to Wire LED Strip Lights

LED strip lights are suitable for a wide range of application scenarios, which can be used for auxiliary lighting, decorative lighting, task lighting, plant growth lighting, special wavelength LED lighting, etc. LED Strip Lights’ inherent safety, softness, and cuttability bring us great convenience in using and enjoying the LED Strip Lights better.

There are various types of LED light strips, such as waterproof LED light strips, outdoor LED light strips, bedroom LED light strips, and room LED light strips. No matter how many types and names it evolves, it is all based on the 6 basic LED strip types of monochrome, dimmable white, RGB, RGBW, RGBCCT, and addressable LED strip. This article provides a detailed guide and wiring diagrams on wiring these 6 types of LED strips.

In order to better understand how to wire them, we should first understand the three key factors associated with LED strips, namely voltage drop, series and parallel connections, and LED amplifiers.

Understanding what voltage drop is

Voltage drop is a natural phenomenon in low-voltage LED lighting systems. The voltage drops gradually along the LED light’s power supply wire and varies depending on the type and size of the LED light installation. It is related to the length of the wire, the thickness of the wire, and the amount of energy or total wattage used by the LED light.

The voltage drop only becomes unpleasant when you notice that one area of the LED strip is significantly different from another. The color and brightness of the LEDs are best when the supply line from the power supply to the LED strip or array is as close as possible to the 12V or 24V voltage of the LED strip. If the LED strip is long, the strip will also experience voltage drop.

If voltage drop seems to be a problem, shorten the power supply wires or switch to a thicker wire gauge (lower AWG number), or shorten the length of the LED strip. You may also consider using an additional 24-volt or 12-volt power supply to create a second, separate installation.

Understanding the voltage drop will help you design a circuit that works efficiently. You can also use this tool to calculate the voltage drop across conductors: Voltage Drop Calculator.

Understand what series and parallel connections are

Series connections

Series connections are made by connecting the positive (+) terminal of the first LED strip to the negative (-) terminal of the second LED strip. Repeat this pattern for the other LED strips, from the negative (-) terminal of the second strip to the positive (+) terminal of the third strip, and so on. At the same time, connect the negative (-) of the first LED strip to the (+) of the second strip, then connect the (-) of the second strip to the (+) of the third strip, and so on.

In the case of a series connection of LED strips, the string current is equal to the current of the first LED strip, and the voltage is the sum of the voltages of all the LED strips (the voltage of the first LED multiplied by the number of LED strips).

Series wiring is a quick and easy method because it does not require you to create another separate power line connection. You simply allow “jumping” between the two LED strip sections.

The downside is that this can cause an additional voltage drop, resulting in less light output from the LED furthest from the power supply. The reason for this is that connecting LED strips in series only allows current to flow through one path. All of the current for the entire LED strip installation needs to pass through the first few inches of the LED strip run, which can become a bottleneck for current flow, reducing the amount of voltage and current that reaches the farther portion of the LED strip.

Parallel Connections

A parallel circuit is applied by connecting the positive (+) terminal of the first LED strip to the (+) terminal of the second LED strip. This pattern is repeated for the other LED strips, from (+) of the second strip to (+) of the third strip, and so on.

At the same time, connect the negative terminal (-) of the first LED strip to the (-) of the second LED strip, then connect the (-) of the second LED strip to the (-) of the third LED strip, and so on.

In an LED strip parallel circuit, the string current is the sum of the current values of all strips, and the voltage is equal to the voltage of the first LED strip.

The parallel connection reduces the amount of current that needs to flow through any given LED strip section because they are connected directly to the power supply. This significantly reduces the possibility of voltage drops.

The main disadvantage of this method is that it requires more wiring work. The main challenge is that most power supply units only have one positive and one negative output wire, so to connect them to multiple LED strip sections, you need to split that output into multiple wires. Specialized wire splitter terminals can be used for this purpose.

Another difficulty is that some LED strip sections may be located away from the power supply. In these cases, you may find that not only do long wires add expense, but they need to be of a large enough gauge. Otherwise, the voltage in the wire will drop before you even reach the LED strip section.

Understanding what an LED amplifier is

An LED amplifier is an amplifier that boosts the weakened signal in a circuit so that the color and brightness of the LED strip behind it are the same as those of the previous strip. With a signal amplifier, more LED strips can be connected in series or parallel.

The LED amplifier is mounted behind the LED light controller. While the LED amplifier amplifies the attenuated signal flowing through the LED strip, connecting the strips is unavoidable. However, without a power supply, the amplifier does not work at all, so you need to connect the LED amplifier to the power supply. Simply put, the LED amplifier needs to be connected to the LED light controller, the LED strip, and the LED power supply.

The power of the LED amplifier is related to the power of the LED strip that the amplifier is connected to. If the LED strip that is connected to the LED amplifier is 36 watts, then the amplifier’s power should be at least 36 watts as well.

For simple LED strip projects, an amplifier is not required. The amplifier comes into play when multiple LED strip wirings are involved or when you notice that the LEDs are dimming due to signal degradation. When a dimmer is overloaded, the power of all the strips is greater than the power of the dimmer. In this case, an amplifier can be used to split the strip into two sections with an amplifier in the middle.

Learn what a DMX decoder is

DMX decoders are compatible with international standard protocols such as DMX512 and are devices that convert DMX512 digital signals into usable signals for LED strips with constant voltage power supplies and PWM outputs. DMX decoders are used for monochrome, CCT, RGB, and RGBW low-voltage LED strips, bars, and other LED lighting fixtures.

DMX decoders can be controlled individually or combined to create the same color and effect on lights controlled by multiple receivers. This setup is best suited for public spaces and commercial locations such as bars and restaurants. For these larger projects, you’ll find DMX receivers very useful.

4 Ways to Wire Single Color LED Strip Lights

Single-color LED strip lights are very simple to wire. Single Color LED Strip Lights have only two wires, one red and one black; red represents the positive pole, and black represents the negative pole.

1. Direct Wiring Single Color LED Strip Lights

For wiring single-color LED strip lights without dimming control, simply connect the positive wire of the LED strip to the positive output of the LED driver and the negative wire to the negative output of the LED driver. Please note that the total power of the LED strip should not exceed 80% of the power of the power supply, that is, the principle of 80% power of the power supply. Since the 5V strip has a voltage drop at 5 meters, it needs to be powered at both ends when connecting to the power supply to solve the color and brightness degradation caused by the voltage drop, while the 12V strip and 24V strip have no voltage drop at 5 meters, so they can be powered at one end.

2. Using LED dimming Power Supply Wiring for Single Color LED Strip Lights

To adjust the brightness of a single-color LED strip, you need to connect the strip to a dimmable LED power supply and a corresponding dimmer. The most common dimming methods are 0-10V, Triac, and DALI.

• Single Color LED Strip 0-10V Dimmable Wiring Diagrams

For a 0-10V dimming system, you will need to connect the positive and negative power cables directly to the LED strip and connect the dimmer wire to a compatible 0-10V dimmer. This system allows for smooth dimming from 0% to 100% brightness.

• Single Color LED Strip Light Triac Dimming Wiring Diagrams

Triac dimming systems use triac dimmers to regulate the voltage supplied to the LED strip. Wiring the dimmer to the supply voltage before the LED driver ensures that all components are triac compatible.

• DALI Dimming Wiring Diagram for Single Color LED Strip Lights

The DALI system provides digital dimming via a two-wire control protocol. Connect the DALI LED driver to the DALI controller to ensure proper configuration within the DALI network for responsive dimming.

3. Wiring Single Color LED Strips with LED Controllers

In addition, single-color LED strips can be wired to a LED controller to adjust brightness.

• Does not come with an LED amplifier

When you use an LED controller to connect a small number of LED strips, an LED amplifier is not required. Connect the LED strip directly to the LED controller, making sure that the positive and negative polarities are correct. This setting allows for basic on/off control and brightness adjustment using the remote control.

• With LED amplifier

For large lighting projects, many LED strips are required. When many LED strips are connected to the controller, an LED amplifier is required. This setup maintains signal strength and prevents voltage drop over long distances.

4. Wiring Single Color LED Strips with DMX Decoder

Connect the input of a DMX512 decoder to a DMX console and connect the output to an LED strip. This allows the LEDs to be controlled by DMX commands and is suitable for complex lighting setups.

5 Ways to Wire Tunable White LED Strip Lights

Tunable White LED Strip Lights, also known as CCT Tunable LED Strip Lights, typically have three wires and two LEDs with different color temperatures: red for positive, white for white negative, and yellow for warm white negative. You can adjust the brightness of these two different CCT LEDs to change the mixed CCT.

1. Wiring Tunable White LED Strips with LED Controller

If you have a small number of tunable white LED strips, you can connect the strips directly to a compatible LED controller. This allows you to manually adjust the color temperature without amplification. If you need to wire a larger number of tunable white LED strips, an LED amplifier is required.

• Without LED amplifier wiring diagram

• With LED amplifier wiring diagram

2. Use an LED Dimmer Power Supply to Wire Tunable White LED Strips

In most cases, dimming power supplies can only be used to adjust the brightness of single-color LED strips. However, DALI has added the DT8 protocol to support dimmable white, RGB, RGBW, and RGBCCT LED strips. Connect the LED strip to a DALI DT8 driver and program the driver via the DALI network for a seamless transition from warm to cool colors.

3. Wiring Tunable White LED Strips with DMX Decoders

Generally, there is no dedicated DMX512 decoder (2-channel output) for adjustable color temperature LED strips. But we can use a DMX512 decoder with 3-channel or 4-channel output to control the adjustable color temperature LED strip. Connect the decoder between the DMX controller and the LED strip in order to precisely adjust the color temperature via DMX commands.

4. Using Dual Wire Tunable White LED Strips

The 2-Wire Tunable White LED Strip belongs to the rare type of LED strip that has only 2 wires; the warm white LED and the cool white LED of this LED strip have opposite electrodes. The warm white LEDs and cool white LEDs have opposite electrodes. 2-wire tunable white LED strips require the use of a specialized LED controller.

5. Tunable White LED Strip Light with Wall Switch ON/OFF

Wall Switch ON/OFF The tunable white LED strip does not require an LED controller or receiver to adjust the color temperature; just flip the wall switch to turn on/off the tunable white LED strip, which is easy to operate. However, this LED strip is only available in three color temperatures (2700K, 4000K, and 6500K), which change with each on/off cycle and return to warm white (2700K) after more than 6 seconds off.

3 Ways to Wire RGB LED Strip Lights

RGB LED Strip Lights have four wires: black, red, green, and blue. The black wire represents the positive pole, and the red, green, and blue wires represent the negative pole, corresponding to the R, G, and B LED chips, respectively. RGB LED strip lights are mainly used with LED controllers to achieve color mixing and effects.

1. Wiring RGB LED Strip Lights with LED Controller

For shorter RGB LED strip installations where signal strength is not an issue, basic color mixing and control can be achieved by connecting directly to an RGB LED controller. When longer RGB strips or higher brightness are required, an LED amplifier will need to be added to ensure consistent color and brightness throughout the installation.

• Without LED amplifier wiring diagram

• With LED amplifier wiring diagram

2. Wiring RGB LED Strip Lights with Dimmable LED Drivers

RGB LED strips can also be used with DALI DT8 dimmable drivers. You will need to connect each color channel of the RGB strip to the appropriate output port on the driver. This setup allows digital control of each color channel via the DALI protocol.

3. Wiring an RGB LED Strip Using a DMX Decoder

Integrate RGB LED strips into your DMX lighting system using DMX512 decoders designed for RGB control, enabling sophisticated lighting effects and scene control.

3 Ways to Wire RGBW LED Strip Lights

RGBW LED Strip Lights have five wires: they are black, red, green, blue, and white. The black wire represents the positive pole, and the red, green, blue, and white wires represent the negative pole, which correspond to the R, G, B, and W LED chips, respectively.

1. Wiring RGBW LED Strip Lights with an LED Controller

• Without LED amplifier wiring diagram

• With LED amplifier wiring diagram

2. Use the DALI DT8 Dimmable LED Driver to Wire RGBW LED Strip Light

3. Use DMX Decoder to Wire RGBW LED Strip Light

Use DMX512 decoders to integrate RGBW LED strips into DMX lighting systems for sophisticated lighting effects and scene control, as well as precise control of color and white light.

3 Ways to Wire RGBCCT LED Strip Lights

RGBCCT LED strips include red, green, blue, and dual white channels (cool white and warm white). This allows for a full spectrum of colors as well as adjustable color temperatures, providing vibrant colors and customizable white illumination.RGBCCT LED Strip Lights have a total of six wires, which are black, red, green, blue, white, and yellow. The black wire represents the positive terminal, and the red, green, blue, white, and yellow wires represent the negative terminals, which correspond to the R, G, B, CW, and WW LED chips, respectively.

1. Wiring RGBCCT LED Strip Lights with an LED Controller

• Without LED amplifier wiring diagram

• With LED amplifier wiring diagram

2. Use the DALI DT8 Dimmable LED Driver to Wire RGBCCT LED Strip Light

3. Use DMX Decoder to Wire RGBCCT LED Strip Light

3 Ways to Wire SPI Addressable LED Strip Lights

Individually Addressable LED Strips, also known as Digital LED Strips, Pixel LED Strips, Magic LED Strips, or Fantasy Color LED Strips, are LED Strips with a control IC that allows you to control individual LEDs or groups of LEDs. You can control specific parts of the LED strip, which is why it is called “addressable.”.

SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) is a synchronous serial communication interface specification used primarily for short-range communication in embedded systems. The SPI protocol is commonly used to control SPI-addressable (or pixel) LED strips. An SPI-addressable LED strip receives the SPI signals directly and changes the color and brightness of the light based on the signals. Because it can transmit more than 512 values, it can even control up to 1000 individual RGB LED pixels.

To wire the SPI Addressable LED Strip, you first need to identify the data, clock, ground, and power cables on the strip. Connect the power wire to the power supply, the ground wire to the power supply and controller, the clock wire to the clock output of the controller, and finally, the data wire to the data output of the controller. One thing to note is that you want to follow the direction of the arrows on the SPI LED strip to ensure proper data flow!

However, one of the problems with SPI is that it is a protocol with no international standard. So you need to make sure you use an LED controller that is compatible with the strip protocol, such as the WS2812B or APA102.

1. Single Data Signal SPI Addressable LED Strip Wiring

Single Data Signal SPI Addressable Strips can only operate with one data signal, where one IC controls an area called a pixel. If one pixel fails, the other pixels stop working because the connection consists of only one positive wire, one negative wire, and one data wire.

2. SPI Addressable LED Strip Wiring with Data and Clock Channels

Dual-signal SPI-addressable LED strips contain a clock channel in addition to the data signal, which allows you to set the lighting time of the LEDs.

3. SPI Addressable LED Strip Wiring with Data and Backup Data Channels

Dual data channel SPI addressable LED strip, also called breakpoint repeatable addressable LED strip, is the upgraded version of the single data signal addressable LED strip. The addressable LED strip adopts a 4-channel dual data line control circuit, including a data line and a spare data line. When the single data line fails, the spare data line will automatically start to ensure uninterrupted signal transmission.

Ways to Wire DMX Addressable LED Strip Lights

DMX Addressable LED Strip Lights are a kind of LED strip light that receives DMX512 signals directly without a DMX decoder and changes the color and brightness of the lights according to the signals.

To connect the DMX512 Addressable LED Strip, first connect the DMX input of the strip to the output of the DMX controller. Connect the strip’s power cord to the power supply, making sure the voltages match. Ground the strip and controller together. Set the DMX address on the light strip to define its starting position in the DMX control chain. This setting allows you to control the color and pattern of the LEDs through the DMX console for precise and complex lighting scenes.

Conclusion

Connecting an LED strip, whether monochrome, dimmable white, RGB, RGBW, or addressable, requires an understanding of each component’s role and ensures compatibility throughout the lighting system. By following these guidelines, you have learned how to connect different types of LED strips.

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