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Help Testing RGB Light Strip for Shorts

Submitted by Doug on
Digital Electronics

My first post here. I've trid to find specific information on my issue, but I cannot find much. So, here I am.

--Electronics--

12V RGB LED strip light (Non addressable)

Application: Attachment to a computer motherboard's RGB header.

Problem: Caps on RGB header melted.

-------end------------

I bought an RGB light strip from Amazon and wanted to create my own strip with specific sized section for installation in my computer. After making ot and soldering the conection, I attached it to the RGB header (nonaddresable). It's 4 pin 12+ RGB. I have two videos I'll try to link here because some of the stuff.

At first I thought maybe I casued a short overheating the strip and LEDs, but I don't think I ever did that. I checked all of my solder joints and they were fine, no bridged connections. Anyway, I started testing the strip with my multimeter. I have two parts of the 16 foot strip, one that I have never plugged into the RGB header and one that I have.

I found problems in both. They are in the videos. I don't know if it was a bad MB header or the strips caused the MB header caps to melt.

Some things are simply not adding up to me logically. So, it will be easy to just show you in a video.

Last, what are the possible outcomes of a short in a 12V RGB strip plugged into the RGB header of a MB, and how can I tell which one casued the other to fail? I'm leaning towards the strip at this time. I RMAed my MB because it is nearly new, but they may tell me to kick rokcs on that. If so, that 15.00 dollar light strip just cost me $178.00 lus I have to buy another MB.

Thanks very much.

Well, that's it. Pretty bummed about my new computer I just built, but knowledge is fredom so I hope I can get some help and get free!

This video is from a section that I soldered together and had installed whn the RGB header caps on the MB melted and fused:

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AqQihxjVvPuLhdskoBXU4zEiNklaYA

This video is from a section of the strip that I never used.

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AqQihxjVvPuLhdsjsz1cN0Hnasq85A

Debashis Das

Permalink

This happens all the time with this type of cheap chinese LEDs. 

this hapened becaus, its made up of very poor qulity flat flex PCB also the solder joints of the LED's & Resistors are very bad to. 

The ocnnection of the interna flat flex PCB breaks very easily with bad qulity Flat Flex PCB.

------solution------

1.Solder the unconnected pad with 32 AWG copper wires( which i did and it workerd fine).

2. If you realy wnat to go cheap buy led strips with waterproofing, (This also worked realy well for me)

   Joined December 02, 2019      117
Monday at 10:02 PM