LED strip overheating

[Masterjuggler]

I got a 12V UV LED strip to run off the regular rgb header and over time noticed it's gotten significantly dimmer. I pulled it out today and one look made it clear what the problem was. Obviously it needs some kind of heat sinking, and I guess being adhered to the case itself wasn't enough for it. Does anyone have any tips for how to keep these strips from overheating and burning themselves out?

[Darknighterror]

6 minutes ago, Masterjuggler said:

I got a 12V UV LED strip to run off the regular rgb header and over time noticed it's gotten significantly dimmer. I pulled it out today and one look made it clear what the problem was. Obviously it needs some kind of heat sinking, and I guess being adhered to the case itself wasn't enough for it. Does anyone have any tips for how to keep these strips from overheating and burning themselves out?

Are we talking about only one strip? I know that this happens quite often when connecting multi strips in a chain.

[Masterjuggler]

It's one strip I cut to about 40in long.

[Kilrah]

Does it actually get uncomfortably warm? 

It could be that since they're plastic coated it's rather the plastic getting degraded by the UV.

 

That said while a decent strip manufacturer would choose a current that preserve the LEDs' lifetime some just aim for more brightness and burn them out quicker, in this case you could undervolt/dim the strip to compensate for the excessive output.

 

If it's UV degradation then maybe prefer an uncoated strip.

[Masterjuggler]

Well since they've gotten so dim, they're no longer getting very warm lol. I don't believe it's just the plastic coating that's getting degraded, the diodes themselves are actually significantly less bright than they were new.

 

I wouldn't go so far as to call these being made by a "decent" strip manufacturer. I got them off Amazon a while ago, not from a brand name. I'll have to try a more reputable source next time.

[Alex Atkin UK]

I have a white strip that did exactly the same thing.

 

These cheap strips overdrive the LEDs, only solution would be to reduce the current they can take, especially if it was actually stuck to the case and still did it.  On mine it ran so hot the adhesive just gave up.

 

[Masterjuggler]

Makes sense. I'll put in the spare strip I have from the same roll and try bringing the voltage down to about 8V or so and see how hot it gets. I never actually took temp readings, but it seems I should next time.

[Poinkachu]

7 hours ago, Masterjuggler said:

I got a 12V UV LED strip to run off the regular rgb header and over time noticed it's gotten significantly dimmer. I pulled it out today and one look made it clear what the problem was. Obviously it needs some kind of heat sinking, and I guess being adhered to the case itself wasn't enough for it. Does anyone have any tips for how to keep these strips from overheating and burning themselves out?

Peel off the water resistant plastic and test if the brightness restored.
(or just get a non IP67 strip for the new one)
 

additionally you can try replacing the adhesive on the old / new strip with this thing :
https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Adhesive-Performance-Heatsink-Computer/dp/B085CLXM7J/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=thermal+tape&qid=1653863864&sr=8-3

[thrasher_565]

thows are water resistant witch need some air flow

[Masterjuggler]

4 hours ago, Poinkachu said:

Peel off the water resistant plastic and test if the brightness restored.
(or just get a non IP67 strip for the new one)
 

additionally you can try replacing the adhesive on the old / new strip with this thing :
https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Adhesive-Performance-Heatsink-Computer/dp/B085CLXM7J/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=thermal+tape&qid=1653863864&sr=8-3

I just tried peeling back the waterproofing and it made a bit of a difference, but not all that much. The LEDs are definitely quite a bit dimmer than the unused ones from the same reel. I put in the new strip, cut from the original reel, and just set it down to 9V, which is what I happened to get by setting the green value from 255 down to 50. I have it stuck across the positive and green pins since they're next to each other.

 

They certainly seem to be running pretty cool. They don't feel at all warm to the touch after a few hours of running, so time will tell if they last this way.