LED strip lights may be a great decorative element in the living room, giving the house a cozy and inviting feel. An increasing number of people are decorating their living room ceilings with strip lights. So, how can one select a stylish LED strip light? Take a look at the lamp beads first. The popular lamp beads right now are SMD2835, 3528, and 5050, but you should also consider the brand of the lamp beads. Second, check the lamp beads’ color temperature and lumen output. Good lamp beads have comparable lumen color temperatures; the differences in brightness and hue are invisible to the unaided eye. It is also important to consider the strip lights’ quality; otherwise, it will be highly inconvenient to have strip lights that break easily when pulled.
Purchasing Guide for LED Light Strips
From the straightforward appearance of the LED strip lights, we are able to make an initial determination and, in essence, determine their quality.
Joint Solder
Regular LED strip light manufacturers use reflow soldering, solder paste, and SMT patch technologies to create their LED strip lights. Because of this, the solder joints on the LED strip are rather smooth, have less solder in them, and form an arc from the FPC pads to the LED electrodes. But the amount of solder in the solder joints of the fake LED strip lights is uneven, and the solder leg is typically surrounded by a dot. Additionally, the tin tip will vary in degree, which is a common occurrence with manual soldering.
Packaging
Standard LED strip lights are packed with moisture-proof and anti-static packaging bags after being packaged in anti-static rolls, often measuring 5 or 10 meters. Recycled reels are used in the fake LED strip lights to reduce expenses, and the packaging is not moisture-proof or anti-static. Examining the reels attentively reveals the scuffs and marks made during the removal of the labels.
Label
Printed labels will not be present on regular LED strip packaging bags or reels. On the other hand, the fake version has a printed label with inconsistent specs and settings.
Surface Cleaning of LED Strip Lights
When using LED strip lights made using the SMT process, the surface is extremely clean and free of stains and contaminants. However, no matter how the surface is cleaned, if the counterfeit LED strip lights are made by hand-soldering, there will still be flux and tin slag residues on the FPC surface in addition to stains and cleaning traces.
FPC Quality
There are two varieties of FPC: rolling copper and copper clad. The copper covered plate’s copper foil is sticking out. It’s visible if you look closely at the connection between the pad and the FPC. Since the rolled copper and FPC are tightly connected, the pad won’t come off when bent in any direction. The pads will come off if the copper-clad board is bent excessively, and they won’t fall off if the temperature is too high when maintenance is performed.
Addendum
Conventional LED strip lights come with connectors or card holders, as well as usage guidelines and specifications in the packaging box; counterfeit LED strip lights, on the other hand, don’t have these extras since, well, some manufacturers just want to save as much money as possible.
