Lights for Detolf

[Pennyworth]

I am interested in the cool white LED light strips from barlighting.com. My one question is this:

I want to light up my Detolf's. If I buy one set of the light strips for one detolf, is that all i need or do i need to order additional connector cords or anything else?

Thanks in advance.

Finally got around to ordering a set of these cool white strip kits from barlighting.com - hoping they match my older dioder strips...

I'll post pictures when they arrive.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Finally got around to ordering a set of these cool white strip kits from barlighting.com

Just a FYI (for anyone else on future purchasing) you would have paid a fraction of the cost for the exact same thing, including power supplies and connectors, from Amazon or eBay... And you'd have loads of LED ribbon to spare.

 

[Pennyworth]

Just a FYI (for anyone else on future purchasing) you would have paid a fraction of the cost for the exact same thing, including power supplies and connectors, from Amazon or eBay... And you'd have loads of LED ribbon to spare.

Thanks - I looked into the sets on Amazon, but I needed something to match my other detolf and I value things being plug and play...the extra $20 was worth the convenience. If these things aren't what I want, I'll return them and buy enough LED ribbon to redo both my detolfs.

 

[Pixelpiper]

I hope the color matching is to your liking, that's always one of my fears when buying from a different batch or supplier.

If it was only $20 it's not a big deal. I was looking at higher priced kits on their site. Example: The price for their 11 strip multicolor kit is $150, but can be had elsewhere for under $50 which includes an additional 5 feet of LED.

 

[Rambler]

Finally got around to ordering a set of these cool white strip kits from barlighting.com - hoping they match my older dioder strips...

I'll post pictures when they arrive.

Cool. Let me know if one set fits one detolf without having to do anything to it.

 

[Deefuzz]

Right on...always cool to know there are people in my area collecting. I got my first one as a birthday present from my gal when she went to Atlanta. The second one I had a buddy pick up for me while he was passing through Chicago.

Also another St. Louisan here!

Was just popping in to look for Detolf lighting solutions as I will be up in Chicago for the weekend and was going to look for lights, nice to see a few St. Louis guys here

 

[Mr. Schneebly]

I have a lighting question that has not been posted before as far as I know.

Bought a detolf and a multicolor diodor pack (stick version, not the puck). I then used the double tape to put one LED stick to the top shelf and tried to run the cable down to the bottom only to realise, that is it too short for all the way from top to bottom. The initial idea was to hide the connector box somewhere at bottom outside the Detolf. Due to the short cable I would need to place the connector box basically in the middle of the Detolf where it is very visible.

What should I do? I see so many examples here where others have created exactly the set-up I was trying to go for, i.e. one LED per shelf and no visible connector box.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Put everything on top. Run only power to the bottom? Get different/better lights?

 

[lotus000]

LED Rope light from Walmart or any other Superstore 12.96 16ft roll

BTW 4 Detolfs vertically side by side and one Detolf "fish bowl" style Horizontally on top of the 4.

 

[Pixelpiper]

The problem with rope light is you can't direct the light - you get more light pointing away from your subjects than toward, including the possibility of shining in your face when you're looking at the display. It's also very thick and difficult to get into small spaces. LED ribbon, which is about the same price but requires an additional transformer, is a much better option. Also available in RGB with included remote control to modify the color output and brightness.

 

[Mr. Schneebly]

Put everything on top. Run only power to the bottom?

Not sure how this is supposed to solve the issue. If I put everything on top then I will have the same problem, only this time not for the top shelf but for the bottom shelf.

Not sure if I am articulating myself properly. Sorry for my English.

 

[Pixelpiper]

You can send a link to the product on Ikea's web site which will help.

What I understood from your message was that you have one light at the top of your Detolf and you're running the provided wiring to a connector box. That connector box I'm assuming is where you plug in the low-voltage light module and it somehow connects to high voltage main wire.

My suggestion was to have all the LED low voltage business up top and run only the high voltage wire down to your outlet, using an extension cord if necessary.

That said, don't most Ikea lighting kits come with extension cables for the low-voltage side? IMO, Ikea's lights use far too much wire and have inflexible LED modules. They're also much more expensive than LED ribbon from eBay.

 

[Resident Eric]

He's saying the connector box needs to be hung half way down the cabinet. The cable between the LED strip and the connector is about 4-5 feet long. So if you put one LED in the top shelf, the cable isn't long enough in order to hide the connector at the bottom of the cabinet. I'd imagine you can buy some sort of extension cable to extend the length?

 

[Pixelpiper]

Is this what you're talking about? https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/50192365/

The connector has four sockets where LEDs can plug? Did you also notice that the strips can be connected on the other end? And that it ships with adapters to connect multiple strips? Just chain your strips together and connect only one to the connector box. Then put the box wherever you want, the chained LED modules will easily cover the height of a Detolf.

Or better yet, as I've suggested repeatedly, get a different product and save some dollars.

 

[Resident Eric]

The adapters to connect in between strips are extremely short. Unless you connect all strips together in close proximity, they are not good. Ultimately, below is what he's trying to do. As you can see in the picture, all the connectors are hung in mid air on the wall

 

[Pixelpiper]

Yeah, the wiring in that picture looks like total crap, sorry. Nice figures but the display, because of the lighting and wires, is absolutely terrible. That mess would look better with no lighting at all. It pains me to see stuff like that because it's so easy to have amazing light with very little to spend. Honestly, you have to want to make something look bad to go that route.

Modify if you need to, but the gist is this: Primary connector block to wire lead to LED strip to adapter to wire lead to LED strip, etc.

Also super easy? Cutting any of the wires to extend them. Even if you don't know how to use a soldering iron, you can always twist wires and cover each with electrical tape. Basic electrical was taught in grade school when I was a kid.

 

[Resident Eric]

lol i've never seen anyone tapes those things on the wall like that. It does look bad. Sorry whoever this picture belongs to.

 

[Mr. Schneebly]

My suggestion was to have all the LED low voltage business up top and run only the high voltage wire down to your outlet, using an extension cord if necessary.

And that won't work because the low voltage wires are too short for that. If I put the connector box on top I will only be able to reach 3 of 4 possible shelfs/LEDs at maximum.

Connecting the strips at the other end won't help as well as I am trying to put one LED per shelf and the low voltage extensions are way to short for that.

The high voltage power wire is not the issue. This wire is rather long and I could use an extension cord if needed easily.

I can of course start to cut wires and do a manual fix if need be. I just figured that there might be a less "damaging" solution.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Dioder strip was not designed to fit in Detolf, so you are already trying to do something starting with the wrong parts.

Let me put it clearly: You have bought absolutely the wrong lights for the Detolf cabinet and your absolutely best option is to return them for a refund and use something else.

Now you have 3 options:

Buy the correct part from Ikea: If you want the only plug-and-play LED for the Detolf from Ikea it's a round single module that you can insert into the hole on the top of the unit. Illumination at the bottom shelf will be poor because there's only a single light source at the very top.

Buy something else: If you want to buy something else, you should look at LED ribbon lights from Amazon or eBay with a suitable power transformer (my recommendation). Very versatile because you can use as little as 3 LEDs to make your own small strips. This lets you create dramatic lighting instead of blasting each shelf which makes your display look like a sandwich refrigerator in a cafeteria.

Use the wrong parts: If you want to use the wrong parts you already have, you must modify them. I looked at the instructions and photos online and it's a very simple task to check to see if the MALE connectors at the ends of the wire leads will fit into the FEMALE receptacle on the LED strips. If not, it's also very simple to use the correct male plug end from the smaller adapters. Cut them off, cut off the plug from the longer wire leads, and then attach this new male plug to the longer wires. Wrap with white electrical tape or white heat shrink tubing.

That's it. Those are your only options, aside of course from having the ugly mess shown in that other image, which as I understand it, is something you're trying to avoid.

What I can't understand however is someone asking for help, getting a ton of it, and at each step along the way putting up roadblocks to shut down that advice instead of continuing the conversation to get the job done.

 

[jye4ever]

Thinking of putting my 3 detolfs up for sale, obviously for pick up.

What's a good price, thinking $35.00 each.