This support page offers a comprehensive hands-on guide, explaining why your LED strip lights are not working and how to fix them.

NOTE: These troubleshooting instructions apply to LED strips from whatsoever manufacturer/supplier, not just strip lights purchased from InStyle LED. (In fact, our LED strip lights use the very highest-quality components, so they're actress reliable and fully backed with a five year warranty then delight bank check us out!)

Overview:

If your LED strip lights are not working, there may be many unlike reasons why. But in every case, the first step is to observe where the problem is located. Once you know that, it becomes much more elementary to assess the nature of the fault and how to repair/resolve it.

This guide covers troubleshooting for all LED strips that run on 12V or 24V. That includes white, single-colour , RGB, RGBW and dual-white LEDs.

Cut your LED strip lights at the marked cut-points

Quick links:

Problem: MY LEDS ARE FLASHING

Reason:

If your LEDs are flashing in a regular, consistent sequence (e.g., on for i second, off for i second, and so on for 1 second over again), then your power supply is overloaded! This ways you lot take too much striplighting connected to that power supply.

For example, if yous accept 10m of LED strip that draws v watts per metre, the strip requires 50W in total (whether it's two 5m strips or 10x 1m strips, it yet adds up to 50W). If those strips are all powered past a 30W power supply, this will go into overload protection mode, which means it will plow on, realise it is overloaded and immediately turn back off once more, then keep repeating this bicycle.

You may chose to get a larger power supply that can handle the full wattage required, so a power supply higher that the total wattage of all your LED strips.

Or you could get some other ability supply of the aforementioned size as y'all already take, and separate the strips across 2 ability supplies.

Or mayhap your project will allow you to reduce the amount of strips onto that power supply.

Hither is a great video to piece of work out how much strip yous can put on a ability supply:

Problem: MY RGB/RGBW LEDS ARE SHOWING A Different COLOUR IN SOME Minor SECTIONS OF THE STRIP (eastward.g., 100mm non working)

Reason:

Are your LED strips working fine for well-nigh of their length, except for i section or a couple of sections within the cutpoints of the record? (e.m., when yous select Orange, a 50mm or 100mm section shows Green only.) Well that ways the Red LEDs inside that section are faulty. You lot tin can easily confirm this – if y'all set the strips to just Red then on that department they will exist completely unlit, and if yous set to Purple that section will prove Blue only.

RGBW LED strip with a faulty circuit section (dry joint)

This can be very confusing when you install your first LED projection and see these colours not matching. But the answer is simply that one color of the RGB/W LEDs is not working within that section and needs replacing. This tin be caused by static-electricity impairment, or bending and twisting the strip too much, or being trod on, damaged in transit, a cheap poor-quality strip, or dry solder joints.

LED strips are made upward of 50mm / 100mm sections (sometimes other sizes), and wired in a style that means each department is a discrete, enclosed circuit (in other words, if a LED or resistor is damaged it will only issue the section of strip within the cutpoints).

If the complete section betwixt cutpoints is non working, this is a very similar problem to a damaged LED or resistor – most probable caused past a dry solder joint.

Solution:

In about cases here the simply option is to replace that section of the strip. You tin can practice this by swapping the full strip. Or yous can get another, say for instance, 100mm section and solder this in – or y'all can employ connector clips to prune in a new 100mm section.

Before taking this step, information technology'south worth attempting to bear upon or printing down on the LEDs/resistors in the faulty section – in the best case possible, you lot may see that the light miraculously comes back on; in this example the trouble is a dry solder joint, and if you're capable of soldering y'all can repair this strip!

Video walkthrough :

Problem: MY RGB/RGBW LEDS ARE SHOWING A DIFFERENT COLOUR (total colour is afflicted or not working)

Reason:

If all of the LED strips colours are working except for but one colour, and this is affecting that color all along the strip (e.g., the whole length of the Red colour LEDs are not working), then there is either a mistake with the soldering of the Red -ve cable onto the strip'south PCB, or else Cherry-red cable is faulty from the strip to the receiver, or the connection of the Red cablevision into the receiver is faulty or disconnected.

Electrical cabling with a braided copper shield

We can say this with some certainty, because here is no style that full length of Ruby-red LEDs are all faulty; the fashion LED strips are made means that a faulty LED will only affect the department between those cut points. Therefore the issue is related to the cabling.

Solution:

Check the cables betwixt the controller and the strip, especially if you take extended them with a connector block. An effective test would be to wire the ability supply direct to the strip, thus cutting out any extension cables and any control gear. And note that black is e'er positive (+) for RGB/RGBW strips. then commencement by wiring the positive from the power supply to the black cable on the LED strip. Then wire the -ve from the ability supply to the cable for the color that isn't working.

Let's imagine that information technology's the blue cable that is non working. In such a case, you should so see that the Bluish lights will light up, proving that they work – which means y'all have a bad connection somewhere else. With this noesis in mind, rebuild the organisation step-by-step, adding the controller (and extension cables if yous have them) and see which component makes the Blue lights finish working.

(If at this point the Blue does not piece of work at all, then cheque if its cablevision has come off the solder pad on the strip, as this is the only reason left as to why it would not work.)

Problem: MY LEDS ARE VERY HOT TO Affect – ALMOST Called-for

Reason:

This trouble has 2 possible causes. Either (A) You you have a 24V power supply connected to 12V LED strips. Or (B) there is a 'short' forth the strip – in other words the solder has gone across the PCB somewhere and the +ve and -ve are touching, shorting the circuit. Or if y'all have an output cable, the output +ve and -ve may be touching.

If option A is true, with 24 volts going to a 12V strip, then yes the strips will all the same piece of work. They will in fact be brighter than they should exist, equally you have double the power going through. Merely the trouble is that this will impairment the LEDs very speedily (ordinarily inside hours) and can be a burn down hazard.

The aforementioned with option B: if +ve and -ve and are touching somewhere, then the strips will fail within hours and LEDs will be be damaged. You may even smell burning and this could exist a fire take chances,

Solution:

If y'all accept a 24V power supply going to 12V strips, you can resolve this by getting a 12V ability supply, or you tin can find a converter that converts 24V down to 12V (this would wire in between the power supply and the strip).

If yous take a 'short', y'all will need to thoroughly bank check every single role of the strip close up and see if whatsoever solder is going across the connections. If then, so y'all tin either resolder, or simply carve up the solder with a Stanley knife then that the +ve and -ve are no longer touching.

Video walkthrough :

Trouble: MY LED STRIPS ARE TRIPPING MY BREAKER

Reason:

This can be caused by two things. You may have a faulty ability supply. Or else the inrush current is too high for your breaker.

Solution:

If you suspect a faulty power supply, test it past removing all the power supplies you lot take on the billow and endeavor reconnecting them, one at a time – adding another until the breaker trips. And so you know which ane is faulty.

Wiring your 12V power supply

If you don't take a faulty power supply but have several power supplies on a breaker and it is tripping, then the inrush electric current is too loftier for that type of breaker. You will take to increase the breaker size. If it is still tripping, and so look into splitting the power supplies across different breakers.

Video walkthrough :

Problem: MY LEDS ARE LESS BRIGHT TOWARDS THE Finish (dull, uneven brightness)

Reason:

You accept voltage drop beyond the strip.

Solution:

Most standard LED strips can be used in lengths upwardly to 5m, powered from one end, with no voltage drop along the strip that will be visible to the human eye. (some specialised strips can be used in 10m,15m or 20m lengths).

And so if, for case, y'all accept joined 2 ten 5m strips together and powered them from one terminate and the strip is less bright towards the terminate, then you should either: (A) spit the strip up and wire the 2 x 5m strips in parallel, or (B) wire in a ring main with a starter atomic number 82 and exit lead on the 10m and wire both cables back to the one power supply, as shown below.

Video walkthrough 1 (voltage driblet) :

Video walkthrough 2  (wiring options) :

Problem: MY LEDS Odour Like THEY'RE BURNING – WHEN LEFT COILED UP

Reason:

If the LED strips are powered up when left on the reel provided or withal coiled upwardly, then the build up of the estrus volition cause them to get extremely hot and burn out.

Solution:

Simply ever test strips when they are uncoiled. They must non be coiled up in any manner.

Video walkthrough :

Problem: MY STRIPS ARE SHOWING INCONSISTENT COLOURS IN PATCHES (e.g., cool white strips are showing warm white in sections)

Reason:

You have paint on them! Very simply I have seen this issue hundreds of times, if you have a cool white strip and and so in random sections of, possibly, 50mm y'all run into warm white (or they appear to be completely 'off') then this is considering they accept been painted on.

This happens a lot when the painters come in and paint and practice not know that there are LED strips where they cannot see them (inside a coving, for example). Then when you turn them on, bam! – you come across the faults.

Solution:

Depending on how much paint there is, the strips tin sometimes be saved! You can wipe the paint off the strips. Do not use any water-based products or that will damage the LEDs. Y'all can also scrape the dry pigment off the LEDs with a fine knife. Make certain the strips are turned off. I have done this successfully many times, and the strips worked perfectly afterwards.

Video walkthrough :

Problem: MY LEDS WILL NOT Light UP AT ALL

Reason:

If the LEDs will not light up at all, then this could be down to a faulty power supply.

Solution:

If yous have several ability supplies, then try a different power supply onto the same strip to see if this at present works. If it does, then you have a faulty power supply and volition need a new one.

Problem: MY RGB/W LEDS ARE ONLY LIGHTING Upwards A Depression (RED) GLOW

Reason:

Yous have a 12V power supply going to 24V LED strips.

Solution:

The just option here is to get a replacement 24v ability supply for your 24v strips.

Problem: WHEN I SELECT COLOURS FOR MY RGB/RGBW STRIP, THEY ARE ALL Wrong

Reason:

You take crossed over the cables into the controller. If you have wired the Cherry cablevision into the Bluish final and the Blue cable into the Red final on the controller, for example, so whenever you select a colour on your controller the colours will be mixed wrongly, then you'll encounter different calorie-free colours to those you lot've selected.

Solution:

Yous must check the cables, and re-wire any that are crossed over into the correct terminals. If you take extended the cable with a cable connector y'all must also check those connections too.

Sometimes the cables can be touching, which can create unpredictable results. If Red and Blue cables are touching, for case, then you lot'll need to split them so the connections are pure and without interference.

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