SMD Light Strip

[antd91]

So i got a couple vanquish Light bars and and they look nice and all but now I'm looking into making my own with the cuttable 12v smd light strips, they are pretty cheap on ebay and i just want to make really cheap insanely bright light bars. Not worried about housing them yet just wanna learn about them and make some. Not seeing many if any in depth info to read about wiring them up to rc electronics. All the companys that sell them just mentions power supplies. If I were to just wire them straight in with my 3s lipos would that be all i need, does it need resistors or any other thing like that and will 11.1 be enough or is there a smarter way to get the full capabilities of them.
I also see a lot to choose from 5050 seems the most popular but from what im seeing they have advanced quit a bit and there are better more efficient ones to choose from like 3020, 3014. which ones would you go for and still affordable.

Sorry for the novel just really anxious to learn more about this.

Please post your experience with these and any advice you have for me.
feel free to pm me if your a wizard of electronics

 

[losikid]

A fully charged 3s lipo is 12.6 volts...

 

[1rcmonster]

Check these out... Value Hobby R/C Hobby Store (Addison, Illinois): LED Light Strip - Bright White (1 Meter/3.3 Feet)

Cheap enough to try and if they don't work as you thought you're not out a lot of cash....

 

[robertjpjr]

Check these out... Value Hobby R/C Hobby Store (Addison, Illinois): LED Light Strip - Bright White (1 Meter/3.3 Feet)

Cheap enough to try and if they don't work as you thought you're not out a lot of cash....

I've used that strip of LEDs as underglow. Its not light bar bright, in my opinion.

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/electronics/492857-hobbyking-light-bar.html
Not sure if that light bar fits the VP housing, but its stupidly bright.
Another option, which I haven't personally tried is on ebay, search- led light bar 14cm

 

[antd91]

I picked up a roll of 5630 smd. I'll post up my findings if anyone else is interested. Also been looking for mats to make a clean housing for the leds


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[Duuuuuuuude]

I've picked up a few rolls of ebay led strips...they throw out decent light and work just fine on 3s. The VH light strips are pretty good too, I've got them on my quad copter, but there is a full 12" on each end.

Ideally you want the leds packed as close as possible to get the most amount of light out of them.

 

[skerb]

I've used that strip of LEDs as underglow. Its not light bar bright, in my opinion.



http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/electronics/492857-hobbyking-light-bar.html

Not sure if that light bar fits the VP housing, but its stupidly bright.

Another option, which I haven't personally tried is on ebay, search- led light bar 14cm

I bought a pair of those 14cm ones, they would make good rock lights or underlie, but they are not bright enough for a lightbar

 

[Awesome-Sauce RC]

i use the 5730 smd led's for my lightbars, they are 0.5w each and do generate heat so i had to use a 4 layer pcb to try and get rid of as much excess heat as possible, they work pretty good and the board/thermal pads tend to sit around 65c



the pic really doesnt do it justice due to the insane brightness and trying to focus lol but they are the business out on the trail, everyone smiles when they turn on their lights when we go for a night run.....at least till i turn this on haha

 

[Got TF2]

I have a 3D printer and have been working on a remix of some designs for a light bar housing. This could work out with being tailored to fit the strips you are using.

This is the basic design, of course it can be modified to be the perfect fit.

 

[antd91]

I have a 3D printer and have been working on a remix of some designs for a light bar housing. This could work out with being tailored to fit the strips you are using.



This is the basic design, of course it can be modified to be the perfect fit.

That looks solid. I'd like to see the result when you print them


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[Got TF2]

I am working on some tuning right now, but once i refine it, i will post the finished product!