BTF Lighting

J

Jon_101

Apprentice elf
Joined
Mar 5, 2019
Messages
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Hi guys, has anyone used these LEDs before? I was looking at them and they offered good prices with free shipping but I just wanted a second opinion.
 
Many have used BTF lighting before, I am not one though. I do not know their quality.

In general for strip; it looks great but it is hard to repair and waterproof compared to pixels with wire between LEDs.
Strip also becomes a nightmare with water ingress if you haven't sealed the ends off properly.

I got given some strip and this happened in some parts. I reckon water has entered somewhere else and pooled at this point.
dead_strip.PNG

But don't be afraid of strip, it looks great and works if you treat it properly.
One member I know has strip for at least 80% of their display, and I reckon their display has more lights than Tom BetGeorge.
 
I bought about 70m of them from BTF last August, used them for halloween and didnt take them off in the Western Australian sun, over several 40C summer days. No issues with the strips. I used the non-bright version and they were sufficiently bright. Their power supplies are reliable too.
 
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I had issues very early on with the silicon tube style strip, you really need to makes sure every little gap is blocked otherwise water will find its way inside. Ended up covering the entire thing in clear cellophane (was a sphere so very easy - and it looked cooler after the fact) to waterproof. I don't think it was BTF lighting supplied, but all silicon tube leds strips i've had in the past seem to be very identical.
 
I have toyed with their WS2815 strips (12 Volt). Both 30 and 60 LEDs per meter, silicone only on the front (forget the IP rating at the moment). So far none have been used in a display, just testing. The build quality looks good and no DOA pixels in the strips (about 60 meter total length) purchased. My only complaint is the paper covering the sticky back wants to peel away; kind of think I should have purchased the silicone tube type.
 
If I hadn't just bought a whole bunch of pixels I would buy these for sure. Another thing worth mentioning is that the IP65 silicon coating isnt as UV stable as the IP67. I use strip on my house/roof outlines , arches a couple of mini matrix and a medium matrix. Are you going for 12v or 5v strip?
 
Adsy said:
If I hadn't just bought a whole bunch of pixels I would buy these for sure. Another thing worth mentioning is that the IP65 silicon coating isnt as UV stable as the IP67. I use strip on my house/roof outlines , arches a couple of mini matrix and a medium matrix. Are you going for 12v or 5v strip?
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Thanks for the reply, good to know the difference between ip65 and ip67. I'm going for 12v. Is this led strip brand from China a good one? anyone used them before?
 
If you are fairly certain regarding 12 Volt pixels I would recommend the WS2815s rather than WS2811s. WS2815 pixels have a different LED control scheme which results in significant less current per pixel. The tradeoff depending upon how one looks at it is 12 Volt WS2811 strip typically has 3 LEDs per pixel so pixels per meter is usually less whereas WS2815s can be obtained in 30, 60, and 144 pixels per meter variations.
 
TerryK said:
If you are fairly certain regarding 12 Volt pixels I would recommend the WS2815s rather than WS2811s. WS2815 pixels have a different LED control scheme which results in significant less current per pixel. The tradeoff depending upon how one looks at it is 12 Volt WS2811 strip typically has 3 LEDs per pixel so pixels per meter is usually less whereas WS2815s can be obtained in 30, 60, and 144 pixels per meter variations.
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Terry I think ws2815 pixels are not supported by falcon F16V3.
 
Sorry, overlapped post. The fourth wire is a backup and for the 1st pixel the BIN wire is typically connected to GND.
 
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