Modding a fan controller for use within shelving

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Does that make sense? Plug > moulded psu > leds. I hope that helps, its hard to take a picture of the whole led rope light, because its actually fixed into the shelf now
 
So basically where you've chopped it is where those free ends were originally?

Are you sure they are LEDs and not neons or something. That 1.0mm 3183Y cable used for mains wiring. Not sure what the box is for. Maybe it's a filter to remove oscillation from the lights or something.

Are you able to get a shot of the LED/Neon up close? Lit and unlit.

Going to watch TV for a bit so will check back later mate.
 
Yep that is exactly, that is where I've chopped it.

"This is our fantastic quality Blue LED Ropelight, it is mains operated meaning that you can just plug it straight into a normal household mains socket using the fitted power lead that is 1.5 metres in length. As it is IP44 rated it is weather resistant and therefore suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. The tube itself is 13mm in diameter and is very flexible and there are 36 ultra bright long-life LED's per metre and the LED's have been tested up to 100,000 hours. They are also economical with a consumption rating of 3.96-4.56 Watts per metre."

That the description from the exact page I bought this LED ropelight from. I'll try and wire the leds back up tomorrow and take pictures.

No worries mate, I really appreciate your help :D
 
Oh perhaps they are mains powered LEDs. A 240v AC voltage uses a 1:1 or 1:2 transformer and is then rectified to high voltage DC using a bridge rectifier, then the LEDs are chained in series. The thing with this is that you can then have dozens of LEDs in series and only have one resistor. It's efficient and safe provided the rope is well insulated. It won't, however ever work off a 12v fan controller.

I'm guessing that black box contains a transformer, a rectifier array and a capacitor or two. If not and it is a filter then the electronic gubbins will be towards the start of the LED rope.
 
Well thanks for your help Tealc :D I guess I'm gonna have to buy more ropelight's. It is well insulated to be fair! I just soldered it back up and wrapped them in insulation tape.

I've finally got it on the wall now too. It's all set up, apart from the AV reciever/Amp, which I'll be buying soon. I'll also be doing some cable management outside of that shelf tonight, got all the trunking etc to put on the wall. Roll on 5 o'clock!

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Yes agreed. It is rather striking.

I bet when you walk in the room at night, it's like BLUE.

As for LED strips you can pick up blue ones that run off 12v for around £2-£3 for 30cm for really cheap ones. You can even get remote controlled RGB ones for creation of that perfect shade of colour that you want for around £10. I have one in my keyboard :)
 
Yeah I did think of the RGB one's to match the colour I want
:D I'm thinking of putting strips along the bottom of each shelf and covering the part you'd see when you look into the shelf because when you actually look into the shelf, the ropelight is abit of an eye sore.
Is there a reflective material I can paint onto a surface?
 
I doubt you'd need the reflect the light as SMD RGB strips are quite good at lighting an area.

As you can see here in this video I made after buying my first strip a while back. I went for the larger 44 key remote control to get finer control over the colour output.


Just stick it to the bottom at the back, possibly angled slightly. The strips tend to come with an adhesive backing too.
 
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