GUOTONG 16.4ft/5m White LED Strip Lights, Waterproof & Cuttable 300 SMD 2835 Tape, 6000K 12V Flexible Ribbon for Kitchen, Cabinet, Indoor/Outdoor Lighting (No Power Supply)

I needed some LED strip lights for an auto engine compartment lighting project. This product was perfect for the application: inexpensive, waterproof, 12V, cuttable, high brightness, 3M adhesive. I found the adhesive backing to be excellent, worked well on the metal surface I attached it to. Make sure to clean the area first with alcohol. The product comes on a reel with a male 2.1 x 5.5 mm plug connector on one end, and a very thin 22 ga wire pair on the other end. I didn't want to use the plug connector, just the wired end. In retrospect, I should have cut off the wired end, because the 22 ga wires are very light duty, and replaced it with 18 ga wires. It's simple to cut and add power wires to the strip. After cutting at an indicated cut point, use a razor blade to gently get under the rubber coating over the terminal pads. Go slightly beyond the end of the pads, then cut from above to remove the rubber coating over the pads. Solder on your pigtail and you're in business. I suggest sealing the pad area by using a piece of 1/4" adhesive lined shrink tubing. The adhesive will then form a watertight seal. See photo for an example with an 18 ga pigtail. Time will tell if I experience issues that others have reported with individual LED failures. Did a 1 hour stress test on the entire strip, no early failures. FYI, each cuttable segment with 3 LED's uses 10 mA / 120 mW, the full 300 LED's uses 1 A / 12 W.

Wanted to make a more functional under hood work light. This spreads the light source perfectly so i am not blocking my own light all the time. Holding up well after a few test runs. The adhesive seems to hold but i added rtv in serveral places for insurance. I will update if/when it fails. But handles underhood temps fine for now

I have installed 8 of these now in Warm White. They are paired in strings up to just under 10M (33 feet). These strings are installed under the nosing of stair treads around the edge of a large deck. I routed the 2x6 nosing prior to installation to provide a place to conceal the strips. the strips can be cut to length every few inches. To link the strips, I carefully cut off the silicon covering a few mm to solder leads to the second string of LEDs. You need to connect positive to positive / negative to negative to link the strings. When in doubt, try a test connection by hand with the system powered up. Its 12v. That is safe to do. Then using a fine tip hot iron, I coated the tip in melted solder prior to touching the strip and lead wire with it. Do it relatively quickly. Do not leave the iron in place to transfer heat to the other components. When all is finished, waterproof the connections with something. I used two coats of "Liquid Electrical Tape". Great stuff. The adhesive on the back of these was sufficient to hold these in place on smoothly cut and stained wood while I installed them, but I used clips every 12 inches or so to secure them permanently. My one comment is that the "Warm White" seemed still a little too bright at first. These are also a lot brighter than the old LED rope light I replaced. I knew they would be, but it was still a bigger difference than I expected. It is pretty dramatic, and after a few months, I really like it.

Ordering help: careful which product is being reviewed. These reviews include more than one product (considering options) Brightness - The Warm White is 3000k. That's what i bought. It's bright. IMO it's brighter than a 3000k bulb. and whiter. Reading other reviews, the people who bought the White color say it's more like a Daylight bulb at 6000k. This was welcome news to me as i didn't want it to be as yellow as the pictures. Yellow bulbs are so 1990s. Waterproof - Before i bought, i saw the indoor/outdoor and didn't give it much thought. I'm using it indoors. However, it does have an impact. The plastic coating adds weight which is probably contributing to so many reviews saying that the sticky tape doesn't hold it up (if mounting vertical or on ceiling). And they're right. I was simply laying mine down in a ceiling molding so i didn't use the sticky tape. However, i could get the strip to lay facing up because the waterproof coating makes the strip turn over like a turtle on it's back. UGH! I thought installation would take me minutes but it took several hours. Rope vs Strip - I probably should have ordered a "rope" not a "strip". Rope is round and emits light all around so i wouldn't have struggled with the turtling effect. Also, an indoor-only likes right-side up easier. Length - I got lucky that i needed this exact length for 2 of my 3 rooms. It does cut easily. I'm not an electrician through and don't know how to solder. There are no real instructions from an English-first writer. So, i just threw out any tail i cut off. I also couldn't figure out how to extend one (or run 2 in series) if i had needed.

Works flawlessly And even has a connection on both ends, so you can use any cutoff even without needing to attach or solder a.new connection. Nice warm light. I used it for indirect light in otherwise dark compartment in my boat. Now I have a nice light in the engine compartments which really lightens upp all sides of the engines. The glue on the back of the strips really holds well.

Awesome. So bright and easy to install. Sticky backing is very affective in holding them up.