LED polarity

It has a bridge rectifier soldered into one of the leads so it doesn't matter.  Without that it does.

John

Which specific LED strips are you talking about John?  Boy, a lot of John's in this thread!

The "standard" 12V LED strip certainly does have polarity, hence the question.  If you connect them to AC, they'll light either way, but you may want to consider a diode to protect against reverse voltage.

Are you powering them with AC? Most of the LED strips have the polarity markings on them and no rectification.

Brendan

"Is there a positive and negative side to an LED?"

Not applicable to your immediate needs, but good to know:

Yes.  The industry convention is the longer of the two leads is positive. The lead on the flat side of the plastic "lens" is negative. Finding the flat side is easier than finding the longer of the two leads, if the LED has already been used, or has had its leads shortened.

Google: "LED polarity"

Here's a photo. I'm planning to power them with DC. The strips are used and have no markings on them. Or, if they did, they have been painted over. I tested the strips (6 of them) with DC, and they work regardless of which leads go to positive and negative. I just want to be sure I don't cause any damage. Thanks again for the help.

OK, that one has a bridge rectifier it looks like, the round thing on the bottom.  Given that fact, it has no polarity.

Thanks John. The bridge rectifier also means I can also power them with AC, correct?

A bridge rectifier is an arrangement of diodes that converts AC to pulsating DC, so yes these will work fine on low voltage AC.

I thought that was the case, but wanted to be sure. Thank you!!

@BlueComet400 posted:

I thought that was the case, but wanted to be sure. Thank you!!

I  am curious not having seen these, is there any indication of voltage limitation?

Ray

There are no markings on them at all. Or, they have been painted over. They are plenty bright at 12V DC.