Question for our resident LED experts

[thatpurplestuff]

So I've got an idea for my Skeeball machine and I need help!  I found this 50' string of "neon" LEDs on Amazon -> https://www.amazon.com/LETIANPAI-Neon-Flexible-Multiple-Waterproof/dp/B0C16W512V/... typically when I've seen these they are of the addressable variety, but since I'm using an LEDwiz with LEDBlinky to control them I just wanted basic RGB LED strips so these are POTENTIALLY perfect... except they are no-name no-documentation no-support knockoffs and I have no idea what I'm doing.  Below are pics of the 50' strip, it has very obvious brightness dropoff  the further it gets from the power source but that shouldn't be an issue if I'm able to cut them into relatively short lengths.



So below is my idea, basically having the rims of each hole have short LED strips inside them (slightly recessed to avoid direct impact).



I'm stoked with how these look and hopeful that I can pull this off, but my question is how do I know if this strip is able to be cut to size?  If it can be cut to size, how in the heck can I figure out where those cuts can be made?  Typically on an LED strip I've seen marks every X number of LEDs which indicates a safe cut area, but these have no marks anywhere and pretty much zero documentation (other than just recommending an app to use it as a 50' strip in its entirety).

[thatpurplestuff]

For anyone reading this, I think I may have answered my own question after digging around the internet.  It appears these are in the standard 3 LEDs per section, so I SHOULD be able to cut them up but I will have to sacrifice a few to get an idea as to exactly where the cut lines are inside the enclosure.  I'm still not sure this is a super feasible idea given that I will have to solder each section and then install it in a ring that is going to get bashed over and over and over by skeeballs (the durability of these are questionable even before we start talking about ball impacts), but I'm tempted to create a proof-of-concept ring to just see what happens haha.

[lilshawn]

typically all this stuff is standard 12v "5050" RGB strip... and in this case... in a fancy wrapping.

ive seen some longer kits come supplied with 24v power suplies and some shorter kits come with 5v supplies. so watch what you buy and make sure it's the voltage you want to use, or is the same voltage you already have (if you need more).

the reason for the higher/lower voltages is because in longer runs, it makes more sense current wise to run a higher voltage (you would only need a 3 amp 24 volt power supply on say, a 6 meter long strip, where you might need a 5 or 6 amp supply for the same length of 12v strip.)

[thatpurplestuff]

typically all this stuff is standard 12v "5050" RGB strip... and in this case... in a fancy wrapping.

ive seen some longer kits come supplied with 24v power suplies and some shorter kits come with 5v supplies. so watch what you buy and make sure it's the voltage you want to use, or is the same voltage you already have (if you need more).

the reason for the higher/lower voltages is because in longer runs, it makes more sense current wise to run a higher voltage (you would only need a 3 amp 24 volt power supply on say, a 6 meter long strip, where you might need a 5 or 6 amp supply for the same length of 12v strip.)

Thank you very much for the info!  After playing with this LED strip for a couple of days with the ring material and seeing how fragile the solder points are, I think I'm going to scrap this idea or at least put it on the backburner.  I have a feeling I would be constantly chasing down broken wire connections with the skeeballs directly hitting the lips of the rings.  I absolutely love the way it looks though!

[lilshawn]

i mean for the cost... even if you had to replace it once a year... still

perhaps consider threading through one LONG segment through all the hoops... start somewhere under the board... come up out of a hole...around...and down under the field again... then to the next hole....up.. around....down...

keep it all one piece... you'll be lighting under the board, but it will keep the soldering to a minimum and the solder failure points from a dozen down to 1.

alternatively... maybe look into RGB "rope" lighting. it might be a little tougher