LED light strips

I've seen threads here about using them for lighting, especially under upper levels, in tunnels, etc.  No reason you can't use them.

I've used them for passenger car lighting on both my G scale and O scale trains.  They make the task so much simpler.  I have also used them in kitchens for task lighting under the upper cabinets and in indirect lighting as in valances near the ceiling.  I placed a strip them under the counter of my computer desk because I had trouble seeing the keyboard.  

The installation is very basic but works well.2nd pic, on/off switch.  3rd pic 12 volt adapter.

I'm thinking of putting 2 strips of each color behind a shallow valence over my layout. Seems like you could get lots of even light over the layout and be able to dim them from white daylight into blue nighttime

trainman129 posted:

I'm thinking of putting 2 strips of each color behind a shallow valence over my layout. Seems like you could get lots of even light over the layout and be able to dim them from white daylight into blue nighttime

Don't think too hard about it, you might hurt yourself.....LOL.   It's easily done and yes, they can be dimmed.  Just be sure you buy the dimming type of LEDs.  

I have a full strip with twice the LEDs (600 LEDs per strip) under my layout for working and finding things stored under there. I used the sticky back that came on the light strip and stuck then to the wood cross braces of the Mianne benchwork. They have been stuck up there for about a year and a half now with no sigh of them sagging or falling down. I have a switch on the fascia right at the entrance where I get under the layout. Got them on ebay along with the power supply for them.

How about the multi-color LED strips?  You can get an inexpensive controller that allows you to display virtually any color and brightness.  Supply 12VDC into the controller, and you're set.  The IR remote allows complete control of color and intensity.  Here's a typical setup from eBay, the controller handles up to three 5 meter rolls of LED's.  This may not be the best price, just the first one with the controller that I landed on.  I have a bunch of these with controllers that I ended up with because they sent me the wrong items, and just resent the order with the correct stuff.

eBay: 391386306247

I have used the all white LED version of the strip Gunrunner shows above. It was used under my top level to give better light to the lower level, and eliminate the shadow caused by the ceiling track lights being blocked by the upper level shelf.

Works OK, however the sticky strip supplied with the lights is not effective enough. I had to add wire ties ever 12" and two sided foam tape in between to keep the lights from sagging down. If I had used wire ties (which was a screw wrapped with 22ga wire) every 6", then I would not have needed to go back and add the two sided foam tape.

The lighting was good, and it responds partially to the dimmer switch used in the room. The LED strip lights dim, but not as much as the overhead LED track lights, so when at the lowest setting, the LED strip lights give off much more light than the overhead LED track lights. I have the room dimmer controlling both the overhead track lights and these LED strip lights, by using a wall plug that is on the same circuit as the overhead track lights. I added a manual light switch to the cord of the LED strip lights, so they could be turned off when you want dark night scene lighting.

The controller I posted will dim the lights down to virtually nothing, a full range dimming.  However, running them with a room dimmer will be more problematic I suspect.