Pixelpiper
Super Freak
For the buyer, that's an amazing price. Around these parts even at $50ea they go quick.
Lights for Detolf
- Thread starter hairlesswookiee
- Start date
Help Support Collector Freaks Forum:
Damn good price.
I agree the wires plastered all over the wall in that pic posted looks awful, but that doesn't mean Dioder strips won't work in Detolfs. The strips length covers most of the glass shelf width and provides a very clean, great light effect for display.
The problem using them is organizing the wiring in a way to make it look hidden & with a little planning in advance it isn't difficult to do as evidenced by many user displays on this board.
Imo one of the major mistakes when wiring up a Detolf with Dioders is starting from the bottom and wiring upward. This forces the wiring out the center and top of the display cabinet, then you'd need to bring all the wires 5 feet down to a socket. Very hard to hide that way considering the rear of the display is glass so the viewer can see the waterfall of wiring pouring out the top.
If you start wiring from the top and work down, you can simply drill a small hole in the back corner of the wooden base and run all the wires right through there and hide everything underneath & behind the cabinet for a much cleaner appearance.
I agree the wires plastered all over the wall in that pic posted looks awful, but that doesn't mean Dioder strips won't work in Detolfs. The strips length covers most of the glass shelf width and provides a very clean, great light effect for display.
The problem using them is organizing the wiring in a way to make it look hidden & with a little planning in advance it isn't difficult to do as evidenced by many user displays on this board.
Imo one of the major mistakes when wiring up a Detolf with Dioders is starting from the bottom and wiring upward. This forces the wiring out the center and top of the display cabinet, then you'd need to bring all the wires 5 feet down to a socket. Very hard to hide that way considering the rear of the display is glass so the viewer can see the waterfall of wiring pouring out the top.
If you start wiring from the top and work down, you can simply drill a small hole in the back corner of the wooden base and run all the wires right through there and hide everything underneath & behind the cabinet for a much cleaner appearance.
Pixelpiper
Super Freak
The problem remains that without modifying the cabling, the light set is not designed for the Detolf and the power distribution block will need to be somewhere inside the cabinet.
In my opinion, it's simply not worth the trouble and effort to hide all those ugly white wires. Do it yourself with ribbon LED and you have the choice of any wire color you want, plus you can easily cut the strips to custom lengths AND hide them. While ugly wires are the worst, a clear view of light strips is also high up on my "no no" list.
If you're interested in lighting up a Detolf, save yourself some huge headaches and consult my Office Build thread. Seriously, do yourself a favor.
In my opinion, it's simply not worth the trouble and effort to hide all those ugly white wires. Do it yourself with ribbon LED and you have the choice of any wire color you want, plus you can easily cut the strips to custom lengths AND hide them. While ugly wires are the worst, a clear view of light strips is also high up on my "no no" list.
If you're interested in lighting up a Detolf, save yourself some huge headaches and consult my Office Build thread. Seriously, do yourself a favor.
You don't need to modify the cabling to hide the power block outside the cabinet. It would just take a very minor modification to the cabinet, specifically cutting the corner plastic that holds 2 large glass panels together on the bottom an inch. With an inch cut you can run the wires between the 2 glass panels, out the back, and connect to the power block behind / under the cabinet.
The rest of your post I do agree with.
The rest of your post I do agree with.
Orrimarrko
Super Freak
You don't need to modify the cabling to hide the power block outside the cabinet. It would just take a very minor modification to the cabinet, specifically cutting the corner plastic that holds 2 large glass panels together on the bottom an inch. With an inch cut you can run the wires between the 2 glass panels, out the back, and connect to the power block behind / under the cabinet.
The rest of your post I do agree with.
Picture of this available?
I dug through an old Photobucket but sadly none of my pics focused on the wiring scheme, just the figures
Lejuan
Super Freak
Good to have you back mate! 
Mr. Schneebly
Freaked Out
That is a totally unnecessary exaggeration and simply nonsense. No need to get unfriendly.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.
Pixelpiper
Super Freak
But I'm telling you that's precisely how it looks from this end. If it's far removed from your intention and if you don't see it, then we'll have to agree that perhaps it's lost in translation. If I was an unfriendly sort of person I wouldn't spend the amount of time I do posting here, let alone the time spent offering advice and documenting my own work so others can learn and expand their own projects from it.
Anyway.....
IMO, here is by far the best and most versatile way to wire a Detolf cabinet (the link is to the "steps" in one of my thread posts): https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5437905#post5437905
Anyway.....
IMO, here is by far the best and most versatile way to wire a Detolf cabinet (the link is to the "steps" in one of my thread posts): https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5437905#post5437905
Last edited:
joda76
Super Freak
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2007
- Messages
- 2,837
- Reaction score
- 5
Here are a few things that help with cable management for lights.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/A/V-Ca...nt/pcmcat166600050000.c?id=pcmcat166600050000
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/A/V-Ca...nt/pcmcat166600050000.c?id=pcmcat166600050000
Those look pretty solid.
I personally like the Cord Channels from Home Depot which come in 5 foot white strips & you only need 1 per Detolf unit. Easily cut them to size with a razor and literally snap 'em onto the silver internal railings of the Detolf. They fit all the Dioder wiring nicely & a last touch is spray painting them silver to match the railings.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Wiremold-Legrand-Cordmate-Channel-C10/202059078
joda76
Super Freak
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2007
- Messages
- 2,837
- Reaction score
- 5
Those look pretty solid.
I personally like the Cord Channels from Home Depot which come in 5 foot white strips & you only need 1 per Detolf unit. Easily cut them to size with a razor and literally snap 'em onto the silver internal railings of the Detolf. They fit all the Dioder wiring nicely & a last touch is spray painting them silver to match the railings.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Wiremold-Legrand-Cordmate-Channel-C10/202059078
Cool, the more info the better. I may try those from Home Depot.
aau10
Freaked Out
Hi, I am new to LEDs. I have an extra adapter for my laptop (18.5V output/ 100-240V input) which I do not need. Could this be used to power 4 feet of 3528 LED ribbon strip? Sorry if this sound stupid.
Pixelpiper
Super Freak
No. But you can run its output through a DC-DC converter to bring it down to 12v. That should cost you about $3-7 shipped from eBay. As the ribbons are adequately protected with resistors, you only need the voltage dropped and don't need the more expensive current-limiting variation.
Search eBay for "dc-dc step down"
Search eBay for "dc-dc step down"
Pixelpiper
Super Freak
Unless you buy your LEDs all at or around the same time, you may find that the color temperatures won't match exactly any older versions you might have. Be careful putting them in a situation where you need the light to look precisely the same. Generally not an issue if you use them in a different cabinet.
WRT Ikea, don't they have both warm and "bright" white versions at the same time?
WRT Ikea, don't they have both warm and "bright" white versions at the same time?
I'm not worried about them matching exactly, I'm more concerned about the actual color of them. J14 had a good example of what I'm referring too. I want the color to look like the strips on the right in this picture, instead of the yellowish ones which look extremely cheap.
Pixel is right, dioders come in bright white and also more yellowish hue flavor.
Pixelpiper
Super Freak
"yellowish" is "warm" white. It's meant to look like traditional incandescent lighting, including tungsten and halogen bulbs. Bright white (cooler color temperature) is closer to crisp noon daylight and is great (in light sources other than LED) at bringing out a subject's true colors. It is however quite stark.
Personally, I don't like the look of bright/daylight LEDs for any of my displays, so while I have a few dozen feet of such LED ribbon, I don't use them. I did custom-mix warm and bright for my Hoth display since it's supposed to be an outdoor snow simulation, but for everything else I'm exclusively using warm LEDs, whether in ribbon or single LEDs. I'm even converting my Tumbler from its stock bright white to warms.
Another example: Christmas lights - can't stand them in bright white, especially on a christmas tree. Do love bright white high discharge bulbs on cars though - and daylight brights fluorescents for aquariums.
Anyway, like I said, I am pretty sure Ikea offers (or offered) both. I was just in a store today but I didn't hit the lighting section. I only see warm white (2700k) listed on their web site right now. Probably due to customer feedback.
Personally, I don't like the look of bright/daylight LEDs for any of my displays, so while I have a few dozen feet of such LED ribbon, I don't use them. I did custom-mix warm and bright for my Hoth display since it's supposed to be an outdoor snow simulation, but for everything else I'm exclusively using warm LEDs, whether in ribbon or single LEDs. I'm even converting my Tumbler from its stock bright white to warms.
Another example: Christmas lights - can't stand them in bright white, especially on a christmas tree.
Do love bright white high discharge bulbs on cars though - and daylight brights fluorescents for aquariums.Anyway, like I said, I am pretty sure Ikea offers (or offered) both. I was just in a store today but I didn't hit the lighting section. I only see warm white (2700k) listed on their web site right now. Probably due to customer feedback.
Last edited:
Similar threads
