Review on 16 4Ft 1200LEDs Flexible Holiday Decoration Seasonal Decor by Michael Hemmig

First the specs are wrong. If you go by their specs, you're buying an underpowered PSU that will either not work or burn out the PSU. They draw over 4 amps (48 watts). They draw about 9.84 amps (118 watts). That's a huge difference. So if you calculate 20% overhead (you should, since PSUs can only run at 80% of their rated power continuously), you need a PSU with about 147W. And at the same time, it gets warm because it's maxed out, but it shouldn't burn out . Many LED manufacturers recommend using double the wattage. In this case, the 236W PSU may run slower. You then use 2538 LED chips with half the current they are designed for. (0.1W vs. 0.2W) Why? This allows them to pack more per strip to boost the light while reducing power consumption compared to the number of LEDs. The light output of LEDs is more efficient at lower currents, so the power requirements are also lower with only 30% fewer fluorescent tubes per chip. They also generate less heat, so they can be packed tightly together. So you don't really get the output for each LED as you might think. This strip is no different than what other manufacturers make, so I'm not deducting a star for that. This is the only way to pack so many LEDs onto a thin strip. With that in mind, if other strips that use a different LED type at 0.2W per LED (like the 3030) might actually give you more light with a lot fewer LEDs. I wish I had known that beforehand. I had to use a multimeter to figure out what was going on because the numbers were wrong and my power supplies were getting hot. They work just like other strips I've bought from other vendors. They use 3M protective tape and have not peeled off yet. The first time I tried to peel off the paper, the sticky part came off with it. That worries me. However, it is very thin and if held well, it can transfer heat better to the heatsink I'm using. The bulbs get hot even with a heat sink, but you can still touch them without burning yourself. I would recommend sticking them to metal only. There are a lot of LEDs on these tapes, which means more heat. I would be afraid of overheating if they couldn't be cooled. I expected and planned it. Time will tell how well they hold up. I ordered white and warm white. The warm stripe is yellowish. It fits me as I expected. However, they mislabeled the package and said the warm LEDs were 6800,000. You are 3000k. I was half done when I noticed 6800k on the packaging for a warm color. Ouch! But I grabbed the right package. You will need to fix this label or you may be eligible for a refund. A few sections were cut and soldered but they work fine. It's the same with other brands. Solder strips have smaller solder pads than other strips I've used. I only broke off one solder, but soldered better the second time. I wish they had a 4000k band. There is a length of 20 gauge wire at each end of the strip. It is actually a 20 gauge and marked accordingly so it is not misleading. I bought a strip from another supplier and they marked their cable as 18 gauge when it is actually 20 gauge. I first used a barrel shaped pigtail connector assembly which I connected to these strips which should be 18 gauge. Actually it was 22 gauge or 24 gauge. Don't use those cheap connectors with those strips. These strips have lots of LEDs and use more power than some other strips. These premade braids have turned out very warm. So I ordered "real" 18 gauge (US spec) solid copper wire and they work great with it. The cables stopped heating at all. (Check the Chinese cable specs as they are actually too small. Also, use solid stranded copper, not tinned.) Note that it can get very hot when using the barrel connector found on some cheaper power supplies. use. These power supplies don't have gauges printed on their wires (they're thinner), and the cylindrical connectors have too much resistance for those strips. Even if the performance looks good on the PSU, they don't match. If you cut the strip so that the current drawn is much less, the barrel connector will work. I can't say anything about the actual light output. I don't have a luminometer. They look just as bright as the other vendors. That's all I can say about it. If the strips stick and continue to work, I'm reasonably happy with them for the price. However, I can look for more light output from another LED strip. It's very difficult to choose light strips because you don't really know what you're getting until you connect and test them. I wish I could find a 1.0W 2538 chip on a strip that runs on regular current. The number of lumens per watt is way better than a 0.2 watt chip, especially when you see vendors halving the current. If you're looking for an inexpensive solution, they'll work just as well as anyone else with the same configuration.