Dioder alternative?

[natron]

Wow, that is pretty blue! I haven't really tried the multicolor Dioders yet; I was thinking of using them for accent somewhere, but I need to actually have a display set up to know where!

Actually, the wires on mine were very visible, so I painted them black and ran them to the back of the shelves, down the middle, and out the back. They're not terribly noticeable, but the painting is annoying for a large number of them.

 

[Geil]

I use 3M exterior VHB tape for anything that needs to stick and stay stuck.. very strong stuff.

 

[natron]

I use 3M exterior VHB tape for anything that needs to stick and stay stuck.. very strong stuff.

Thanks, Geil. I'll have to try some of that. The mounting tape that came with the barlighting strips doesn't hold for !@?*.

 

[Geil]

make sure to clean the surfaces and in case you live in north pole use a hairdryer to warm up the tape which will make the bond even stronger

 

[natron]

Okay, I've finally got some pictures. I decided to wait until I unpacked a few figures. In this picture, the Barlighting strips are on the left, and on the right are Ikea Dioder pucks.

The Barlighting lights are a bit cooler than Ikea's old cool white lights. It works for my purposes, but I'm not sure the two types are a great mix for general use. The Barlighting power cables are much shorter than Ikea's, which meant that I had to drill a few holes in the bookcase backing (three per bookcase), but you can chain them together so there are fewer visible cables in the shelves themselves. You can see a bunch of the Ikea cables in the right bookcase (especially in the second shelf down), but the Barlighting ones are harder to see. They're all in the right back corner of the bookcase; you can see the one on the top shelf if you squint at it.

I'd say that these are a nice replacement for Ikea's now useless Dioders, but I wish the Barlighting cables were longer (and came in black so I didn't have to paint everything).

Here's a wider shot, with one side of my eventual shelf setup. The Dioder pucks are in the two bottom cubes of the far right shelf and in the entire wide shelf to its left (third from the left). The rest are Barlighting.

In case anyone is interested, I mounted the lights on a wooden mounting strip that I made from two pieces of precut balsa from a hobby store. For each shelf, I used a 30" x 1/2" strip and a 30" x 1/4" triangle, which I glued together. In the pic below, the left edge is what was mounted to the bottom of the shelf, with the bottom in this pic facing out.

I then glued the light strips' mounting clips to the slanted edge and attached the strips so that the lights are angled into the shelf. I painted the outside face black and attached the entire assembly onto the bottom front lip of the shelf with double-sided tape (3M exterior). The wires are run to the back of the bookcases, then to a remote-controlled power strip so everything comes on with a switch. The strips are a bit fragile, but they don't look too bad.

 

[Geil]

nice work!! did you pick up the pure white or are these RGB ones?

 

[natron]

Thanks, Geil! I was going for bright and cheap, so these are just the pure white ones. I'd be interested in seeing how the RGB ones look, but I don't think I'd use them.

 

[Geil]

yeah I am still undecided but worry that RGB gives off the wrong kind of white. Will likely stick with pure white as well just to be save and to get the brightest option as well. only thing is the RGB options usually come with remote controller bundled....... argh just dunno what to do yet.... oh well money has to go towards figures first and foremost LOL

 

[Custo]

yeah I am still undecided but worry that RGB gives off the wrong kind of white. Will likely stick with pure white as well just to be save and to get the brightest option as well. only thing is the RGB options usually come with remote controller bundled....... argh just dunno what to do yet.... oh well money has to go towards figures first and foremost LOL

Too bad the remote wont work with the pure white sets. Would have ordered it instantly. For now, the piss yellow ones from Ikea will have to do.

 

[natron]

[ame="https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Conserve-Switch-Energy-Saving-Remote/dp/B003P2UMOE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1345301614&sr=8-6&keywords=remote+power+strip"]This[/ame] is the power strip with remote that I'm using. I had the same worry about the RGB strips. I have one of Ikea's RGB puck sets, and the white isn't too yellow, but it's not very bright at all.

 

[Rorywan]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who has noticed the drop in light quality and warm color from newer Ikea strips. I bought 8 sets of identical lights, 5 were bright white light as I expected, the others were yellow white and about half the light intensity. let's hope they switch back to previous supplier, because these new ones are ****ing awful.

 

[solidsnake21]

WAS thinking about these until the most recent review popped up a couple days ago. I love the idea of a remote switch and no messy wires to run/conceal. Shame. Something (reliable) along this line would be great (cheaper would be ideal too).

[ame]https://www.amazon.com/Industries-Wireless-Light-Remote-Switch/dp/B007SRJME8/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pdT1_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1EUU0WXTUPQO2&coliid=II20IN2EOKH94[/ame]

 

[Geil]

I picked up a cheap backlit writing board an took it apart as it was using 5050 RGB light strips. The white was surprisingly white and quite uniform and still very bright so I am tempted to wire my setup using these instead. Have one reel on its way already so if that one turns out this nice to I might skip the pure white ones. The color change is mesmerizing to say the least

 

[Geil]

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/160562259516?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
this is the one I picked up and delivered in under 2 weeks and its very bright in its brightest setting

ok assuming they are all the same strips I ordered this one instead for my real round which does not incl the powersupply so total is a bit more per 5m but its a RF remote
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/10M-RGB-SMD...airy_Lights&hash=item231e087829#ht_6302wt_960
also got the connectors from same buyer
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/10PCS-10mm-...ultDomain_0&hash=item2572815de9#ht_3575wt_960

 

[natron]

Those look interesting, Geil. I'd love to see some pics when you get them installed.

 

[Geil]

I tested these for lightbox idea but not bright enough, I may order the pure white ones to see if those are any brighter

 

[Rkbrawl]

First thanks for pointing me in the right direction been researching lights for 2 days lol so right back at yah im leaning towards this website https://www.kutop.com/

Too bad the remote wont work with the pure white sets. Would have ordered it instantly. For now, the piss yellow ones from Ikea will have to do.

Check this
https://www.kutop.com/10-keys-rf-wireless-remote-single-color-led-controller.html

and for

I tested these for lightbox idea but not bright enough, I may order the pure white ones to see if those are any brighter

They have 14.16,18 and 20 lumens pure white strip the ones on ebay i think are 14 or less not sure how much difference that is maybe you guys know https://www.kutop.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=5050+pure+white+300+led


I think Im am going to try the 16 but im still debating if i should just get rgb Geil are the rgb good enough for besta lighting?

 

[Geil]

I am still waiting for my new sets to arrive. Maybe another week or two.

Also based on my search there seems to be brighter ones called 5630 and 5730 the latter being double the brightness of the 5050 but nobody seems to sell these in LED strips on eBay and so far I can only track them down on Chinese websites like Alibaba.

 

[CTO15]

Brighter then 5050? Those must be intense!

 

[Geil]

yeah but I just don't understand why it is not available on ebay like the 5050s... well getting a friend that is currently in china to help me source some to try. I need brighter LEDs for my new case design