Lights for Detolf

[StayingInTheBox]

My mother in law gave to me a set of the sylvania mosaic (from CostCo) LED light strips for Christmas. After tossing around the idea of using the set or going another route for lighting up my Detolfs, I went ahead and put the CostCo lights up.

They turned out great and the white setting on them is fantastic. It'll be difficult to hide the wiring, but overall I'm happy with the set up.

 

[Hidden Jitsu]

Nono. Dioders are expensive and limited. The best by far is led ribbon from Amazon or eBay sellers. Period. All she wrote, etc.

Thanks for the advice bud.
Please forgive my uneducated mind but am I right in thinking these come on a big reel and you cut them to size and they only take one plug?
If so have got a link on exactly how to do this please ?

 

[Pixelpiper]

There are literally loads of good-to-very-good instruction videos on YouTube and other sites. Here a quick Google search for the basic terms:

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=how+to+install+led+ribbon&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

The ribbons can be cut in segments of 3 LEDs which are clearly marked. You can cut and rewire as many sections as you want and power from one or more supplies. Just kep in mind the power consumption to make sure you're not overdriving the supply. The consumption will vary depending on what size LEDs are used on the strip and their density (how many per inch or strip). 5050 LEDs are the bigger and brighter and much more power-hungry ones. 3528 are the typical smaller ones, which IMO, are perfectly suitable for shelf lighting in a density of 150 LEDs per 16ft roll (about 50 LEDs per meter).

5050 vs 3528 size comparison:

 

[Hidden Jitsu]

Or is it basically this?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6LK8S...uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6LK8S8apBy8%26autoplay%3D1


Also would 1 strip per shelf be too bright?
Or should I do one at the top and one in the middle?

 

[Pixelpiper]

The Lee Valley video is fine - keep in mind that they sell sets are pretty high prices, so don't buy from them. Go to Amazon or eBay.

When you say strips per shelf, do you mean a section of ribbon the width of the entire shelf? That depends on what you're going for. For instance, you can light a Detolf shelf with a 12-13" strip, or you can light it with 3 LEDs on about 2" of strip. I have a bunch of shelves with minimal lighting to create dramatic shadows and soft light. On wide shelves where I had long 3 to 4 foot strips, I've gone and disabled every other group of 3 LEDS (break the resistor) because I found they were to bright - and taking up too much power.

Take a look at the pictures in my office thread and in my photo stream.

 

[murdomac]

I just thought I would share my current solution to the wires everywhere problem, it's not the most elegant of solutions but it might help sombody.

Basicly it's a 25mm strip of white cable conduit which runs the length of the Detolf with small holes cut for the wires to exit. The conduit has a snap on top so it's all very easy to do.

As I said it's not the most elegant but it's way better than wires everywhere and is cheap and easy to do.

 

[turtle]

Some old pictures. Tried a single light per shelf but it was way too dim.

Now I have 4 of these wired up the same way and raised off of the floor. I really should take some new pics, as these are a couple of yrs old.

 

[turtle]

Found some more old pics of the 2 units setup:








New 4 units setup photos:

 

[egel]

Hmm, I like it Turtle. Don't see a lot of sidelights on the forum, but yours look really classy.

 

[Spellbot5000]

Well, after much planning, and a certain amount of procrastination, I finally got my first set of lights up in one of my Billy's. Still have two more to do, but this was a good test case. Although the contents aren't too crazy in this one, as this is my "to be painted" cabinet. The other two have my prepaints in them.

I got a bunch of 3/8" triangular balsa strips, painted them black, and then mounted them with double-sided tape under each shelf, with the angled side pointed inward. Then I mounted the LED strips on the angled side, so they pointed inward at a 45 degree angle for maximum light coverage. Then I simply ran the wire down the sides of the cabinet, which is handily hidden by the frame of the glass doors.

 

[Crash1207]

URL=https://s12.photobucket.com/user/turbofishben/media/collectibles/detolf/Detolf%20Raised/detolf1cropped_zps7758d322.jpg.html]

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I agree with egel, I really like how this looks. I haven't really considered this in the past but my consider it going forward.

 

[Spellbot5000]

And here's my other two Billy's lit up now.

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

Looks great Spellbot

Anytime I go to Ikea I look at those exact Billy's and think about getting one to display 1/6 figures, but end up passing. Do you think you could display 3 figures on a shelf without the view getting cut off by the door frame? Or would 2 be the best display option?

 

[Spellbot5000]

You could actually put four 1/6 figures per shelf. The Joker, RoboCop, and Threepio on the bottom there are all 12", so you could fit two per side. The depth on the Billy also means you could put a small riser in the back and have another row of figures behind the ones in front.

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

Oh sorry, I was referring to the unit on the right which I thought was a single Billy?

 

[Spellbot5000]

Oh yeah, with that narrow Billy you could only fit two 12" figures per level. It's also about 4-5" less deep than the larger Billy as well, so it can be cramped with pieces that have expansive poses or bases.

 

[Crash1207]

I got a bunch of 3/8" triangular balsa strips

Where did you get the triangular balsa? I've been thinking about the same thing but didn't realize I could get triangular pieces already. I thought I was in for a lot of very fine cutting.

 

[Spellbot5000]

Where did you get the triangular balsa? I've been thinking about the same thing but didn't realize I could get triangular pieces already. I thought I was in for a lot of very fine cutting.

I got them from a Canadian supplier (as I'm in Canada), but you should be able to find them at a load of online hobby shops and wood suppliers. Just do a search for triangular balsa strip/stock, and I'm sure you'll find loads of shops selling it.

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

Oh yeah, with that narrow Billy you could only fit two 12" figures per level. It's also about 4-5" less deep than the larger Billy as well, so it can be cramped with pieces that have expansive poses or bases.

That's for confirming

 

[boba_fett300]

Don't remember reading a while back about the ikea 4 white dioder lights being changed or not. Heard the color was different or something like that. Is that true? Cause I have 2 of those dioders that I'm using right now that I bought about 2-3 years ago and now I want to get another one and just wanted to make sure if I got it then it will match the color to my old ones. Please let me know.