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- We'd like to introduce a series of videos that we put
together on LED strips.
Something he likes to call LED tape,
and OSRAM like to call LED FLEX.
- Yeah and we've raided the OSRAM catalog to bring you
a massive range of LED tape,
from a economy based LED tape,
through to high specification LED tape,
and possibly some with features
you may not have seen before.
But we don't stop at the LED tape.
We're also looking at the driver systems
and some great control systems to help you really take
LED installations to a new level.
- What's the benefits to the electrician
of mastering this LED strip?
- Okay, so for me Gary,
LED strip, LED tape, LED flex, whatever we've called it,
throughout this series,
is one of the best light sources out there.
It's that flexibility,
and we don't mean flexibility in terms of it's just bending,
but the places you can use it.
So, if you think kitchens, okay,
quite common to see, under cabinet lighting in kitchens,
but bathrooms,
think bookcases,
think outdoors.
So think of the patios,
and the other areas you can embed it into.
LED tape's like a light source you can smuggle
into almost anything and that helps
the electrician add value to a project.
- What are we going to be looking at
in this series of videos, Gordon?
- We're gonna start with some very practical things.
So the things that you need to worry about that create
a reliable installation,
and that starts with connectors.
So we're gonna look at solder connections,
and Gary's gonna have an attempt at doing some of them.
So watch out for that video.
That's one not to miss.
But also connector systems is as well available
for LED tape.
We're gonna look at how we manage the heat that's generated
by LED tape.
- Everybody knows that LEDs don't get hot.
- Well you might think that,
but obviously now we've got a huge range of LED tape,
from ones that are quite low powered
at a few watts per meter,
up to ones that can be 20 or 30 watts per meter.
And that does generate some heat,
and if you don't manage that heat properly,
that can have an effect on both the short-term
and long-term reliability of the installation.
- We'll see how a profile can help you manage the heat
generated by your LED strip.
- Or as I call them, extrusions and how they can also form
part of the design process.
Or they can help you with some other lighting situations,
looking at diffusing light,
reducing glare,
and how you can use them to build into the building
structure, furniture, and other useful features.
- Always found that one of my biggest headaches
was getting the correct driver for the LED strip.
- Yeah, so we're gonna look at that in quite some detail,
so how you pick the right driver for your applications.
That means getting that power level right,
choosing the right voltage,
and also explaining what some of the baffling array
of symbols mean that you'll see on top of an LED driver.
This then leads us into dimming.
- Isn't that one of the biggest issues the electrician
has when dealing with LED strip?
- It is.
I mean, that can be one of the most confusing areas
because there's lots of different protocols when they
look at dimming.
Again, that affects what driver you choose.
But we'll go into that in quite some detail again,
but also looking at some of those new application-based
controls that are coming into the market.
- So what applications are we gonna be looking at in this
series of videos?
- We're gonna be looking at color changing.
So we're using RGBW systems.
And we're also gonna look at one you've probably seen.
Downright it's a lot that's quite popular is color tuning.
So moving from warm light through to cool light.
- We'll be looking at some useful tools,
such as soldering irons, thermal engine cameras,
thermal couplers, as well as a product with an earth,
for electricians, by electricians,
which can sit nicely with an innovation corner.
- Yeah, there's always electricians out there doing some
fantastic work that we like to seek inspiration from.
So if you've already done some fantastic projects
and wanted to share that with us,
we'll obviously give you a great shout out for that.
Send us pictures of your last project that you've done.
Fire the usual social media channels
and you'll make it onto the eFIXX website.
- To get a sneaky peek about
the stuff we've already produced,
click the playlist that's just appeared on the screen.
If you got any comments or any suggestions,
please leave them down below.
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