In this tutorial we will deal with the situation when the LED strip light does not light up. There can be several reasons and a typical situation is either: the Led strip light does not light or part of the Led strip light does not light.
Led strip light does not light up at all
The whole Led strip is dark? Did it work before? So there are problems with the Led lights. LED strip lights are simply LED circuits mounted on thin copper.
Check the connections
When the led strip does not light up, make sure that the voltage of the led strip and the voltage of the led power supply are the same AND that it has +15% more power (POut) than the led strip needs.
Make sure that the positive and negative poles of the LED strip light are connected correctly.
Check that the connector (if your LED strip has one) is properly connected. We have years of experience with connectors and they are never long-lived.
If all of the above steps have been taken and the LED strip still does not work, it may be broken or the driver your LED strip may be faulty.
Check the power supply
The power supply may be malfunctioning if the LEDs do not light up. If you happen to have more than one power supply, the solution is to plug another power supply into the same strip and see if it works with the other power supply. If it works, you need a new power supply because the current one is damaged.
So if the flashing is caused by a faulty power supply, replace it, as a poor quality power supply can cause a fire if it breaks.
Led light dimming
Also note that if you have a dimmer, there may also be a problem of incompatibility between the dimmer and the transformer. Usually, the phenomenon takes the form of a sound, which I have discussed in the article Why led lights buzz. This is particularly true for TRIAC dimming.
Led strip lights do not go on
When you just turned off the LED strip light, was it on before? You’ve turned it back on, but nothing happened.
Before you throw out the LEDs, check that the power supply is working. Most often it is the power supply that breaks down, so it is a good place to start troubleshooting.
A separate control unit, such as Zigbee
If you have a separate controller unit (e.g. Zigbee with RGB ribbon) and driver, troubleshooting the LED strip can start with them. Try bypassing the controller and connecting the led strip directly to the transformer to make sure the led strip works.
If the remote is using batteries, try putting in new batteries. Try resetting and reprogramming the remote control.
If in doubt, take the power supply (and controller) to an electronics repair shop (such as LedStore) for a quick test. The test only takes a few seconds.
Part of the LED strip light does not light up
This next section requires the use of a pewter flask. When a single part of the LED strip light fails to light up, it must be cut off.
A piece of led strip light is dark in the middle
If there is a section of the illuminated LED strip with only a 3 LED section (or 6 LED in the case of 24V) that is not lit, there may be an “open circuit” in one of the sections. This means that one LED or one component of one section has become detached as a result of a manufacturing defect, transport or mechanical damage during installation.
As a result, all the LEDs in the area (2.5-10 cm) have lost power and will not light up. To troubleshoot a led tape, you should start by taking a closer look at the tape. Mechanical damage is often visible to the eye.
How to repair a faulty piece of led strip light?
- Find the faulty led circuit. It is found by pressing the LED circuits one by one when the lights are on. Pressing causes the LED circuit to make better contact and electricity to flow through.
Press the faulty LED circuit to reveal its faulty soldering - So at this point you can try to repair the failed LED circuit by reheating it from the top and bottom with a tin flask, which will re-solder it. If it doesn’t work. Cut out the whole defective set.
- First, mark the LEDs that no longer work with a marker pen.
Mark the defective part of the LED strip light - Next, disconnect the power supply of the LED strip light.
- Cut the broken part with a sharp knife, at the cut marks.
Cut with a sharp knife - Remove the cut part and replace it with a new LED.
Disconnect the cut piece of Led strip - Then drink it back into the space cut at both ends
Led strip soldering - Test if all LEDs are working correctly
Repaired Led strip
Note that there are plus and minus signs at the intersections. Then keep the led strip the same way when soldering so that the + and – don’t go the wrong way round. So always plus to plus and minus to minus when it comes to LED strips.
part of the Led strip is dark after a certain point
After a certain point, the LEDs do not light up? If all the remaining LEDs on the LED strip are dark, you probably have a problem with the solder joint, which has broken due to excessive heat or a bent LED strip. The fix is the same as the previous one but much easier.
Led strips are manufactured in factories in pieces, so they typically have a factory soldering point every 50 cm. This is the point where the LED strip usually breaks due to thermal cycling or mechanical stress.
Just reheat the soldering points to allow the current to flow forward.
COB led strip lighting
COB CCT and monochrome led components are significantly denser than traditional SMD led strip lighting. You will hardly notice a single dark LED on COB LED strips (up to 840 LEDs per metre!), but you will notice a whole failed cutting spacing. Replacing them is possible, just like replacing defective parts of other tapes.
Led strip light installation guides
- Parallel connection of a Led strip light – We will discuss the principle of parallel connection and give an example.
- Led strip light cut-off – Led strip light cut-off and led strip light replacement
- Led strip light flashing – Why does a led strip light flash? There are many reasons and we will go through them all.
- Led strip light lifetime – What affects lifetime and why do other strips last longer?
- Led strip light mounting – How do I mount a led strip light indoors or outdoors? What needs to be taken into account?
- Connecting a led strip light to a transformer – How do I connect a led strip light to different types of transformers?
- RGB Led strip light connection – How do I connect a led strip light to different control devices?
- Led strip light extension – How do I solder the joints? A little soldering guide for the beginner.
Led strip lighting specialist
LedStore has been an expert in LED lighting and lighting design since 2010. We have our own product design, so our products are technologically state-of-the-art. Products have quarantee for up to 7 years. We also carry out lighting maintenance.
We focus on temperature-controlled and high colour rendering lights, so they work brilliantly and last a long time. We do around 500 lighting designs for our clients’ sites in a year. Read more here or order a design. Did you know? LedStore offers lighting design from 99 euros for the whole house!
Made to measure Led strip lights
We offer a service of custom-made LED strips, i.e. custom-made LED strips in aluminium profile. Also installed.
Remember that we are always ready to offer our help to you along the way, by email (myynti@ledstore.fi) and by phone (045 251 4510). As always, feel free to share photos of your own projects on social media at ledstore.fi at Instagram and ledstore.fi at Meta. We love to see the cool things our LEDs do, and it helps to provide inspiration for those who are unsure about the power and awesomeness of LEDs.
Did you know that we already have over 3500 pictures of our LED installations in our Gallery!