LED light strip adhesive

[jfaberna]

I'm looking at installing the LED strip lighting in the front storage bin and the battery and hydraulic bin with Magnetic switches to turn them on when the doors are opened.

So my question is what will stick to the wall material in the storage area. It appears to be the same rough finish wall board as is used on the interior of the coach. Not sure if the adhesive that is on the back of the LED strip lighting will stick.

Has anyone tried this and what did you stick the strip to the wall with??

[Drifty1]

You might want to pick up a roll of double backed tape from Home Depot. It comes with different amounts of holding power. It might hold a little better on the rough surface.. Great idea I will have to try that next..

[Artemus Gordon]

Use Automotive grade two sided tape!

[rconkin]

quote:Originally posted by Artemus Gordon

Use Automotive grade two sided tape!

x2 for automotive grade. I installed an LED strip under my awning on the siding and got some tape from Advanced Auto that is made to hold the window visors on. So far it is holding very well.

[Exnavydiver]

As in every project "preparation" is the most important item to deal with. John and I took one of the orange plastic double sided razor blades and scraped the adhesive off of the back of the lights and then put the automotive trim tape in it's place. Like any adhesive if it is put over another adhesive and that one fails then you wasted both the good adhesive and the new lights which would end up along the highway.Granted it is a pain in the butt to do but the finished job is worth the effort. The adhesive that comes on the lights is lame at best. Even laying flat it will release as the lights warm up. I installed my bdrm closet lights with the adhesive that came on the lights and after 15 minutes of being on they all bell off the wall which was alcohol prepped paneling. So I removed the lights and removed the old adhesive and put the automotive in place of it. No problems now...

[jfaberna]

Well, I knew I needed the Automotive double-sided tape for the under awning strip lights, but now, I guess I'll use it on the wall in the front storage bin as well.

Thanks for the advice.

[steelpony5555]

I always keep a roll of the 3M auto double sided tape in my tool box...

[robebeckl]

The Reed (magnetic type switch ),are only rated for less than 1/2 amp. You will have too also use a control relay.

[jfaberna]

The 5m length of LEDs are 24w. So that's 2 amps. So each reed switch in my case is about 1 amp. That might work.

[nosticks]

The hook side of velcro will stick to the fuzzy stuff in the basement wall. I don't know how much weight it will support, but you could experiment with it.

[MrRobinGrimes]

I posted photos of the cargo hold lighting I did on another thread. http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...ad.php?t=57433 I really like the idea of the auto tape and will redo the lights if they don't hold with the normal backing. I'm also adding these Magnetic switches this weekend. I had planned to just wire them in directly, but the specs show maximum as 100V and only 0.25A. Not sure what type of relay I would need to add. Currently I just have all the LED strips wired to a 15amp Fuse, then a switch, then to battery.

[grayghost03]

http://www.reedswitchdevelopments.com/2020series.html

[jfaberna]

I replaced the 3M adhesive tape on one door strip light with the Automotive stuff, but I left the original 3M on the other one. I cleaned the wall with Alcohol and both installed easily and stuck well. Time and temperature will tell if the Automotive tape was required. Since it's in the basement, it may not get that hot.

I think I'll just install a switch for now. I have reed switches coming, but I may come up with some relay depending on the rating of the reed switch. Since the ones I bought are paid for, I'll use them somehow. A relay shouldn't cost as much as replacing the reed switches.

[jfaberna]

okay it didn't take long for the standard adhesive that was installed on the LED Stripe light to release in areas under a little stress. It's only been 2 days and the temperature has been in the 70s. I had to patch the adhesive by using the 3M Automotive double sided tape.

Since my reed switches came in and I found a general purpose relay from Radio Shack, I went ahead and wired up the LEDs so that if either of my front storage bin doors are opened, all the LED lights come on.

FYI, the relay coil only pulls 70 ma so the reed switches are not overloaded. The switch side of the relay can handle 10a so the LEDs are not a problem.

[MDL]

I did the same, used the included 3M tape and stuck them to the metal supports overhead. I haven't got enough time on them to tell you if they'll work well in the heat, but so far they're sticking just fine. On a side note, I also installed them under the sink, bathroom sink, pantry and soon the cabinet in our bedroom cupboard. So far it's sticking fine. I tried to redo one and pulled the wood right off with the tape...oops. Got it fixed, but it seems fairly secure.
I used microswitches so far as that's what I did on the last trailer. So far they're working great. I haven't tried the magnetic switches, but would like to do that. I added a lot of LED strip lighting to the basement and used the existing light fixture for a switch and power source. So far those are holding too. I did wipe everything down with alcohol first just to make sure it was clean. Lover the extra light!!! I used weather proof light strips in the front compartment, and regular strips in the main basement. Switch in the front is just a large 12VDC rocker right on the inside. Used Panduit covers to make it look nice where the wire runs to the switch.

[rafael33155]

3M molding tape sold at auto parts is the best there is