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Interesting China Component Market Find: LED Light Tape! (ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS) — Parallax Forums

Interesting China Component Market Find: LED Light Tape! (ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS)

Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,401
edited 2010-07-19 04:10 in General Discussion
Hey there,

While strolling the component market last week in Shenzhen I came across a bunch of interesting finds: mini PIR sensors; tech-pad sensors from laptops; and these LEDs on tape. What you're looking at is a 5-meter roll of LEDs. The tape is about 0.4" (1 cm) wide and it can be cut anywhere in 10 cm increments. The lights are quite strong and run from 12V. The cost of this reel is about $30 or thereabouts - available in many colors too! Almost like CCFLs on a robot, these are really cool for robot pimping yet they have several additional benefits of being able to bend around corners, be cut to length and they simply stick by removing the 3M adhesive backing. Current consumption is lower, too, at about 60 mA/foot @ 12V.

Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.

NOTE: to get some of this material scroll down and find my "ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS"

attachment.php?attachmentid=67117

attachment.php?attachmentid=67118

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Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.

Follow me at http://twitter.com/ParallaxKen for some insider news.

Post Edited (Ken Gracey (Parallax)) : 4/21/2010 6:01:58 PM GMT
LED Tape - Lights On.jpg
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LED Tape - Lights Off.jpg
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Comments

  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2010-01-25 17:35
    Ken,
    Do they have RGB ? That would be cool.

    Bean.

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    PropBASIC thread http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=867134·
  • kf4ixmkf4ixm Posts: 529
    edited 2010-01-25 17:39
    Also is this something we will see on the parallax website anytime soon? (hint, hint)
    Bean (Hitt Consulting) said...
    Ken,
    Do they have RGB ? That would be cool.

    Bean.

  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,401
    edited 2010-01-25 17:40
    Hey Bean,

    Didn't see RGB together, but I saw these colors individually.

    I'm pretty sure we can buy this in the USA (for a price) but I haven't really taken a look on eBay or elsewhere.

    - Ken
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2010-01-25 17:42
    I wonder what the lifetime of those are...

    A lot of the stuff sold from China is rather... optimistic on specs...

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  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,401
    edited 2010-01-25 17:48
    @Gadgetman, you already know this but surprise, surprise - almost every raw component we (you, us, Digi-Key) buy is from China. I'm just bringing the reality a bit closer to your home and mine. And there are often no specs, too. We can ask for them in the market and sometimes they'll give us a Chinese datasheet, but we don't count on them until we verify as much as we can on our own.

    @kf4ixm, probably not, unless somebody else in Parallax picked up this project and ran with it. There's just so much we could do with components but I'd need a serious helper in that department to make it happen. Sometimes the reality of actually selling something wrecks the casual fun of buying, experimenting and distributing this stuff among forum members.

    Ken Gracey
    Parallax Inc.
  • kf4ixmkf4ixm Posts: 529
    edited 2010-01-25 17:51
    Ken Gracey (Parallax) said...

    @kf4ixm, probably not, unless somebody else in Parallax picked up this project and ran with it. There's just so much we could do with components but I'd need a serious helper in that department to make it happen. Sometimes the reality of actually selling something wrecks the casual fun of buying, experimenting and distributing this stuff among forum members.

    Ken Gracey
    Parallax Inc.
    I Understand and Agree, Thanks Ken!
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2010-01-25 17:54
    Yeah, I know you get a lot of your stuff from China.

    That's why I prefer to get the stuff from people like you, who has already evaluated it and sorted out what's good or not.

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  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,401
    edited 2010-01-25 17:59
    @Gadgetman, qualifying it is a big task. We have an office of three engineers (university graduates) who approve every single component and product. As a result, they've attained a level of quality as high as we can provide from our Rocklin SMT line.

    Ken Gracey
  • Oper8r AlOper8r Al Posts: 98
    edited 2010-01-25 18:35
    Those sure would make it easy to add some "Bling" to a shirt. Probably easier than trying to find room in a shirt for the inverters needed for the CCFL tubes.
  • IRobot2IRobot2 Posts: 164
    edited 2010-01-25 20:05
    @Ken - Do you have any idea of what the price on the LED tape is (or at least a guess)? It seems like I have seen small strips of something like that but is was decently expensive. I would really be interested in a roll if it is not ungodly priced. I appreciate you sending back pictures of your cool finds over there. I got to admit, I am a little jealous tongue.gif . Have fun and let us know if you smuggle any of the tape back with you!

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    Alex Burke
    "It is not how smart you are rather, it is how you are smart." -Jon Campbell
  • ChetChet Posts: 150
    edited 2010-01-25 20:48
    Ken, any chance that a couple reals could be shipped to the US if thee are some interested buyers?

    Wish I was there to dig through all that cool stuff.

    Regards

    Chet
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,401
    edited 2010-01-25 21:11
    @IRobot2 and Chet:

    I think the cost is a few dollars per foot. I'm not sure I want to get into stocking this stuff since it requires documentation (and testing, qualification to some extent) and because we'll find a way to make it expensive once a bunch of us put our paws on it, but I'll get some reels brought over. If I put it in stock you could use our eBay and PayPal account to buy it - much easier than putting it on our on-line webshop.

    What colors do you want? I can get white, blue, red, and purple. There are probably others, but if you have a preference let me know.

    I think your cost would be about $2-3 per foot.

    Ken Gracey
  • IRobot2IRobot2 Posts: 164
    edited 2010-01-25 21:57
    Thanks Ken! I understand about not being so excited about stocking items like this. Like you said I bet it kind of takes all the fun out of finding and playing with new gadgets.

    However if some random pieces or rolls make it back I would still love to get some (from the ebay store or what have you), but I understand if you are not able to. Color wise I would use the white or a blue if they have it. @2-3 dollars a ft, I would purchase several ft if there was enough to go around for every one that wants some.

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    Alex Burke
    "It is not how smart you are rather, it is how you are smart." -Jon Campbell
  • sam_sam_samsam_sam_sam Posts: 2,286
    edited 2010-01-25 23:32
    Ken

    I would like to have a few rolls my self if you can



    Thanks····· smile.gif

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    ··Thanks for any·idea.gif·that you may have and all of your time finding them smile.gif

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    Sam
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,401
    edited 2010-01-25 23:46
    sam_sam_sam: you got it.

    I'll order about a dozen reels of this stuff today. When it comes in (a week or ten days) I'll show what I've got here on the forums. At that time we can decide who wants what, but worry not - we can get more of these reels anytime! Our staff is on the ground full-time in Shenzhen.

    Ken Gracey
    Parallax Inc.
  • Peter KG6LSEPeter KG6LSE Posts: 1,383
    edited 2010-01-26 05:27
    I know LinRose Makes RGB ones but the rolls are not cheap !

    Whats cool its the RGB LEDs are that they are HOT Common so a FET from each color sinking to ground makes then a snap to interface to a UCon like a stamp.
    Also the 3 colors are in 1 LED die so you can mix Via PWM any color you want ...

    KG6LSE Peter

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    "Carpe Ducktum" "seize the tape!!"
    peterthethinker.com/tesla/Venom/Venom.html
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    LOL
  • VIRANDVIRAND Posts: 656
    edited 2010-01-26 09:39
    Speaking of RGB, are there lots of small and bright 8x8 RGB matrixes? And how expensive?
    I could really use 4 or 16 of those... unless there is something else similar...
    a bright 64x64 (O)LED matrix? (must be matrix only no chips, IF they work similar)...
    how about micromirror chips with pinouts and other useful info...
    If they are reasonably easy to operate, I really wish Parallax sold those![noparse][[/noparse]i/]

    Just curious.
    If you would just get me a few you'll wish you had many when you see what I would do with them!
    Something awesome I designed 10 years ago but still can't get parts for and still nobody else made yet.

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    VIRAND, If you spent as much time SPINNING as you do Trolling the Forums,
    you'd have tons of awesome code to post!     (Note to self)

  • Timothy D. SwieterTimothy D. Swieter Posts: 1,613
    edited 2010-01-26 13:02
    This product comes in single color and RGB. The version that Ken is showing is a sealed version that is 'weather proof'. There are unsealed versions on Brilldea's web site that I have been selling for some time now. There are all sorts of great LED products, but as Ken said it is matter of qualifying the vendors.

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    Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.
    www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, 3.0" LCD Composite video display, eProto for SunSPOT
    www.tdswieter.com
  • RichKRichK Posts: 54
    edited 2010-01-26 15:11
    How weather proof? Can I get away with putting it on my boat? I can think of a lot of places that could use some bright, custom sized light strips. You can get rope lights but they are little Christmas tree bulbs of a fixed length (5 ft at Cabelas). And how sticky is the double sided tape? Anything I can use to make it more weather proof?
    Thanks. Rich.
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2010-01-26 20:58
    If you're worried about how sticky the tape is, just remove the tape and use transparent silicone to fasten the strip...
    (Be careful with glass, though, as it's a right pain to remove from those surfaces... )

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  • ChetChet Posts: 150
    edited 2010-01-26 21:19
    Ken, I could do with about 8 feet...

    Regards
  • BradCBradC Posts: 2,601
    edited 2010-01-27 00:26
    Chet said...
    Ken, I could do with about 8 feet...

    And I could use 4 arms, but it ain't gonna happen [noparse]:)[/noparse]

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  • Jim FouchJim Fouch Posts: 395
    edited 2010-01-27 19:23
    WOW... with this I can finally build that TRON bike I've always wanted!!!!

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    Jim Fouch

    FOUCH SOFTWARE
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,260
    edited 2010-01-27 21:14
    Speaking of Tron, please keep the guy below off the freebie distribution list:

    headshot-web.jpg

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  • CannibalRoboticsCannibalRobotics Posts: 535
    edited 2010-01-30 23:31
    I'll take a roll of blue - it's the solution to my boat lighting.
    Jim-

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  • OakGraphicsOakGraphics Posts: 202
    edited 2010-01-30 23:59
    I would love blue personally. But purple would be fun. smile.gif
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,401
    edited 2010-01-31 05:13
    Well, we bought a bunch of these rolls of lights in Shenzhen, China today.

    We obtained about a dozen rolls of white, blue and an RGB version. We'll see how they look when they arrive at Parallax. Our staff bought them and they have a discerning eye, so hopefully they're as good as the first roll I purchased.

    When they arrive I'll poll the group about who wants what, and start sorting it out.

    Give me a week or so.

    Thanks,

    Ken Gracey
  • Roy ElthamRoy Eltham Posts: 3,000
    edited 2010-01-31 10:36
    I'm interested in the RGB version. Perhaps 2 or 4 rolls depending on the final cost you work out.

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  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    edited 2010-02-01 06:31
    Thats a new measurement 60mA/foot smile.gif

    Nice find and from my estimates..

    3 leds / 10cm = 300/m = 1500/5m roll @ $30 = 2 cents/led

    60mA/foot = 60mA/30cm = 20mA/10cm strip = 6.6mA/led = 10A/5m roll

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  • BradCBradC Posts: 2,601
    edited 2010-02-01 06:50
    Hrm, I could go a roll of RGB and a Roll of White myself. Pretty please with sugar and fairies.

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