Since LED light strips are usually sold as long reels, the led strip light is fixed in length, so getting led light strips of a suitable size isn’t always possible. You must want to know, can you cut led lights if they are too long? Can you cut led lights to fit your room? There is no doubt that you can cut down led strip lights and reconnect them.
In general, if the led strip light has a cut line, you cut led lights, and they still work; on the contrary, it is better not to cut it down. But, there are some important details you need to note when you cut led lights if too long. This guide will show you how to cut led strips and where to cut led strips.
How do you cut LED strip lights?
Though it’s simple to cut LED lights strip, some people have not followed the proper way to cut led strip lights, which has resulted in damaging them.
There are straight or dotted lines on the LED strips, indicating where you can cut it down. It is safe to cut led lights without breaking them here, and they will still work due to circuits being completely closed here. So cut along the line marked on the light strips without damaging it.
Although the different types of strip lights, the cutting lines on each strip will also be different. But, most LED strip lights have cutting lines after every 3 LEDs. You will also find copper dots on both sides of the black cutting line. The pattern they form is symmetrical. There are two copper dots on single color lights, but on color-changing RGBs, you will find four copper dots. If you locate these copper dots, you will see the cutting line in between.
If you follow the guide below to cut your LED lights strip properly, Then whatever type of LED strip, you can cut it into your desired length to fit your different rooms.
How to Cut LED Strip Lights
Before cutting your led light strips, you need to test your strip lights first to see if they are working because cutting your lights will surely make your warranty void. There is one thing to note you must disconnect the power. Directly cutting strip lights connected to a power supply is extremely dangerous.
Step 1. Measure the length you need
You may want to cut off the extra part if the LED strips are too long. So you need to determine the length of the LED strip you need for your project.
Step 2. Look for the cutting lines on the light strip
If you hope to cut led lights and they still work, you must find the scissors logo before cutting your led lights strip. Generally, for users’ convenience, manufacturers have placed a scissors logo on the cuttable part of their LED strip lights.
Step 3. Cut the led light strips with scissors
The final step is to cut the excess strip lights along the position marked by the scissors logo with scissors. But to avoid damage to your light strips, ensure to cut straight. Because if you accidentally cut diagonally, it might cause the led light strips to stop working.
Can you cut led lights and still work?
The LED strip lights for bedroom consist of a series of LEDs installed onto a narrow, flexible circuit board. LED light strips are made up of several separate circuits, so each cutting line marks the end of one circuit and the start of a new one. That’s why LED strip lights will still work even after you’ve cut them, as long as you cut along those marked lines. However, if you cut elsewhere on the LED light strip, you might end up cutting through a circuit, which could cause that part, and maybe even the whole strip, to stop working.
Can you cut led lights anywhere?
The default length of LED light strips often can’t fit to go around corners. So you may ask if you can cut led lights to fit your room. Can you cut led lights anywhere?
Generally, most led strip lights have copper markings throughout the roll of LEDs. There are designated lines on LED lights strip that indicate where you can cut it down. Though you can cut led lights anywhere, we don’t recommend doing that if you hope they still work after the cut because the cut lines indicate where one circuit ends and where the new one starts. If you don’t cut LED strip lights on the cut line, but somewhere else, the strip lights will stop working.
How to reconnect cut led strips
Here is a brief guide to reconnecting cut led strips. Follow this guide, and you can connect led lights together easily.
- Reconnect cut led strips with connectors
LED Strip connectors are generally the most effortless as they don’t need any tools. Only cut away the translucent plastic covering the copper pads with a knife. Then, insert the led strip light into the connector, But you need to make the components match up.
- Reconnect cut led strips without connectors
This method is to solder directly to the strip light using a soldering iron and old wires. Melt the solder onto the copper dots to form a small puddle and line up the polarity. The black wires should align with the negative mark and the red wires with the positive mark.
How to reconnect cut led strips without connectors
Final Words
LED lights strip can be customized to fit the requirements of any installation. It allows you to cut led lights and put them in different rooms. Cutting the LED strip lights to your desired length is not hard. You need to note it designated cutting lines. You can cut led lights to make them shorter, and if you need longer ones, connect other light strips to your existing strips. If you’re still feeling unsure about safe to cut led lights, follow this guide, I promise there is nothing to be scared of.