In detail: do-it-yourself duralight repair from a real master for a site site.

Illumination of buildings and festive decoration have long been performed with the help of garlands. Recently, most of them are LED. Such illumination is made in the form of ribbons or cords. The LED cord is correctly called duralight, in this article we will look at how it is arranged and connected.

What is duralight, features of LED - duralight

The word "duralight" can be literally translated as "durable light" (from English durable light). And indeed, duralight, upon closer examination, turns out to be a transparent polymeric flexible cord, inside which there are lamps or LEDs (LED Duralight), in fact - a strong tubular garland. PVC tube as a frame provides duralight with moisture resistance, flexibility, UV resistance and physical strength.

Typical LED duralight can operate at ambient temperatures from -50°C to +60°C, and the resource in terms of operating time is limited only by the capabilities of LEDs - these are tens of thousands of hours.

Device and types

Duralight is a LED garland in a PVC sheath. It connects to a 220V network, there are several types of it.

1. Fixing. A cord that glows consistently over time. That is, you turn it on, and it just glows.

2. Chasing. This is the name of the mode of operation of the duralight when it flickers. In order for the LED string to work in chasing mode, you need to additionally purchase a controller.

3. Chameleon. Essentially the same chasing, but consists of different colors.

It happens duralight various kinds. The number of lines can be from 2 to 7 cores, respectively, the number of LED chains also increases, which allows you to get different lighting effects and color combinations.

The shape distinguish between round and flat LED duralight. The shape determines the ease of installation for a particular backlight configuration.

Since duralight is a PVC cord, it is sealed, which ensures normal work on the street.

The duralight cord can be cut; for this, there are special marks on its surface either in the form of a strip or in the form of scissors. The multiplicity of the cut is usually 2 meters.

You can see an approximate diagram in the figure below. The duralight cord consists of conductive wires, LEDs and a sheath. The number of cores and LEDs can be different, as well as their color.

Inside the cord is by no means hollow, the gaps between the LEDs are also filled with PVC to give the duralight additional strength. So, duralight can be safely used in outdoor and indoor advertising structures, in a variety of architectural lighting, for decorating trees and for interior design.

The tube is simply attached with clips or glue to the right place, and is securely held due to its lightness. The flexibility of PVC allows you to bend the tube at the discretion of the designer, make letters, inscriptions, figures out of duralight, or simply distribute the luminous LED tube along the facade of the building. Round and flat duralights, permanently lit or with different flashing modes, provide truly the widest possibilities for lighting design.

Single-color and multi-color, shimmering and iridescent - modern LED - controllers will allow you to realize any design idea.

Pressed into a round tube or into a flat tape, the LEDs are located at a distance of 1.25 to 27.7 mm between themselves, and the power consumption is about 1.5 watts per meter, which is incommensurable with duralights on incandescent lamps.

Compared to incandescent lamps, LEDs give an even saturated color, bright glow, and there is almost no heating, which makes LED duralight much safer than conventional lamp duralight, more economical and more durable.

Connection and installation of LED - duralight

The LED duralight is connected to the network from one end of the cord segment, using a special adapter, while the other end is closed with a plug. The adapter is a conventional bridge rectifier. It is possible to combine several segments with the help of couplings.

In order to build up a garland cord or connect in case of repair, pin connectors are used, the junction is sealed and protected with heat shrink, we will discuss this in more detail below.

What you need to connect

To turn on the duralight cord, you need to use a special adapter designed for a certain footage. It is a conventional rectifier - a diode bridge. The length for connecting the cord depends on its power. Typical length to connect to most adapters is 50 to 100 meters.

In addition to the adapter, connectors are needed, both for connecting power to the cord, and for connecting several segments or for connecting branches. Typical types of connectors are shown below.

In addition, you will need mounting brackets and plugs for duralight. They are shown at the bottom of the previous figure.

Make sure that both the adapter and the connectors are suitable for your duralight, both in shape (flat and round) and in the number of cores, for example, the connector from the power adapter for a 5-core cord is shown below.

As already mentioned, to connect a duralight in a flickering mode (chasing), you will need a controller. They differ in the number of channels, respectively, how many channels there are in the controller, and there may be veins in duralight that it can power.

Controllers for two-wire duralight provide simple flickering, blinking and smooth turning on and then turning off the entire garland.

Models for three-core cords already allow you to turn on the cores one by one, thus simulating the effect of rain or play of colors. The figure below shows that such a controller has three pins in the connector.

You can get a great light show effect by using a five-wire cord with a controller like the one shown below.

Wiring diagram

Depending on the number of cores, each of them has a certain connection polarity. Since the duralight garland is powered by a rectified pulsating voltage, you need to remember that the polarity of the connection is important - plus and minus.

If you have connected the cord and it is not lit, disconnect it immediately to avoid damage and turn the connector 180 degrees.

In the figure below, you see the pinouts of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 core duralight, both flat and round.

It is desirable to connect pieces of equal power. A special plug is put on the end free from connection. In the manufacture of decorative frame structures, wire or metal tape is used. Special guides will enhance the brightness of the duralight.

Installation rules

Before you start working with duralight, read the rules for its installation. Remember that it runs on rectified 220 volts. This means that at the peak the voltage reaches 310 volts. Therefore, we have made for you a selection of tips or an algorithm for installing a 220V LED cord.

1. Cut the cord only when it is disconnected from the power - otherwise you may make a short circuit.

2. Make a cut only on specially designated marks, otherwise the segment will not work.

3. Fill the connecting connectors and power supply connectors with sealant, silicone or glue, you can also additionally protect the joint with a heat shrink tube. This is especially important if the backlight will be used outdoors.

4. Avoid mechanical stress on the connectors, remember that they can come apart.

5. Put a plug on the end of the garland - this will save you from electric shock if you suddenly touch it. Also seal it as described above.

6. It is advisable to place the backlight out of reach of children and animals.

Nuances when working with duralight

A wound duralight coil cannot be connected to the mains for a long time, as this will cause excessive heating. However, before starting installation, the entire cord is checked, including it in the network. Contacts must be dry.

You can cut duralight only by marks, by multiple lengths. Mount - only in the off state, turn on - only after the installation is completed. Unused contacts must be protected with plugs. The coupling points must not be severely deformed or bent.

The use of heat shrink tubing to improve insulation is encouraged. It is allowed to combine pieces of equal size in specific power, designed for the same voltage. Observe polarity!

Ensure normal heat exchange, do not cover duralight with metal objects. The supply voltage must correspond to the passport for this duralight. Pieces with damage must be excluded from the chain. Power - only rectified voltage.

The LED string can be used both indoors and outdoors. This is a convenient solution for backlighting or holiday illumination. The advantage of the LED strip is that it works from a conventional diode bridge, that is, from a rectified voltage from a 220V network.

At the same time, there are tips on the Internet that with the help of duralight, you can organize lighting for the pool. Of course, if all safety measures are observed, this can be done, but remember that high voltage power has not gone away, and this is extremely dangerous. For such purposes, a 12V LED strip with dust and moisture protection is ideal.

2-core, round section

3-core, round section

3-core, rectangular section

4-wire, rectangular section

5-wire, rectangular section

7-wire, rectangular section

1. How to determine the place of the cut.

As a rule, it is depicted in the form of scissors and must be cut off exactly along the mark. Offset to the left or right of the label will corrupt the underlying connection (label-to-label).

2. How to cut duralight.

(1) Cut the duralight exactly at the mark as shown in the figure
(2) Make sure the cut is straight
(3) Use pruner or sharp cutter to cut.
(4) Make sure that there are no split ends of the wires, which may cause a short circuit.

3. How to connect the power cord.

(1) Insert the connector needles into the duralight.
(2) The needles must enter evenly into the holes with current-carrying wires in the duralight.
(3) Apply sealant and firmly press the connector to the duralight. Let dry.
(4) Put the thermal sleeve on the duralight.
(5) Insert the mating part of the connector into the power cord, also treating it with silicone.
(6) Slide the thermo-sleeve to cover the entire joint and heat with a heat gun until it shrinks and seals completely.

By the same principle, duralight is connected to each other using various types of connectors, which can be seen from the photos below.

4. Installation of the "cross" connector.

5. Installing a plug on the free end of the duralight.

6. Connecting the power cord to the duralight of rectangular section.

For more than 10 years PROsvet has been selling LED products in such cities as Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Stavropol and Astrakhan. Here you can buy LED strips, duralight, flexible neon, led spotlights and garlands, at the best price. The specialists of our online store will be happy to help you with the choice of LED products. Moreover, you do not have to wait, the entire range presented in our online store is always in stock in Krasnodar.

If you have questions, you can send them to us using this form.

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Duralight is one of the most popular lighting materials. It is used in a variety of areas, and the question of how to work with duralight is of interest to an ever wider circle of people.

The good news is that you can cut duralight! The bad news is that you can do it in strictly designated places. Usually the multiplicity of cutting duralight is 2 meters. Carefully inspect the cord and find the "scissors" icon, it says that you can cut the duralight in this place. You should not neglect the icon, otherwise the LED cord will simply stop working.

Read also - connection and installation of duralight.

To make it clear why it is necessary to adhere to the cutting ratio, get acquainted with the duralight device.

As can be seen from the diagram, the LEDs are placed in groups in a transparent PVC cord. It is important not to damage the group of LEDs during cutting. It is possible to cut duralight between groups.

Examine carefully the duralight in the area of the "scissors" icon. Twist the cord until you see the contact tips on both sides. You can make a cut with ordinary scissors, but this must be done strictly along the line of contacts. Make sure that no pieces of wiring remain inside the cable. Such pieces can lead to a short circuit.

After the cut, attach one end of the duralight to the controller or power supply, and carefully solder the other end. In your hands is a working piece of duralight of the length you need.

Behind last years with LED strips, LED duralight is almost equal in its prevalence. This model is actively used today to create decorative lighting. Despite the fact that it has a certain similarity with the LED strip, there are significant differences in connection.

Our article will help you figure out how you can connect this cord to the power supply with your own hands and not spoil it with inept handling.

Duralai is a kind of analogue of the LED strip, in which the diodes are placed inside the PVC cord. It is a silicone shell that provides a high degree protect LEDs from moisture and dirt.

Note! To connect an LED duralight, be aware that the circuit here does not need a power supply. This is the main difference from LED strips. A possible connection diagram is shown below.

Light LED cord today is often used for street lighting. With the help of duralight, they create figures of fairy-tale characters, geometric shapes and various inscriptions of an advertising plan. How to make figures out of it can be found in a special video lesson.
To create a figure, you can use the following types of LED light cords:

duralight chasing. It has several channels for placing LEDs. Therefore, when you connect a controller to it, you can create various lighting effects. Duralight chasing is often used for festive or themed lighting;
duralight fisting. Has only one channel. Therefore, it is capable of simultaneously glowing all of its light sources. If you make figures out of it, then they can only blink. But this requires a controller.

In addition, the LED light cord can be of the following types:

duralight round. It has a round section. Using duralight round, you can make various shapes. It must be remembered that round duralight can sometimes slide off the frame. Therefore, it must be qualitatively attached to the base of the figure;
duralight is flat. It is more suitable for creating a luminous figure due to the fact that it can most closely adjoin the frame of the product.

Mark for cutting on duralight

For whatever purpose you use this luminous cable, you need to be able to properly connect it to a 220 V power supply. But in order to do this, you need to know specifications lighting product.

The light cable, made on the basis of LEDs, has the following technical characteristics and features:

increased resistance to moisture;
can function in a fairly wide temperature range: from -20 to +50 degrees;
simple installation;
working from a mains voltage of 220 volts;
may have one or more channels (depending on the model).

Note! To connect to the network, it is important to know how many channels a light cable has.

When connecting such LED products, you need to know that it, like a tape, can be cut into separate pieces. But you need to cut only where the cable has a corresponding mark.

In order to install everything yourself, you will need the following materials and tools:

the LED cord itself;
adapters (connectors). They are necessary for fastening the cut segments to each other;
network cable with a special connector for connection and with an adapter for 220 volts. It should be purchased simultaneously with duralight;
protective caps. They are put on cuts, on the side that does not need to be attached anywhere after cutting the lighting product;
knife and scissors;
fasteners, a screwdriver and a hammer in order to fix the luminous cable in the right place.

After all the materials and tools have been collected, you can start connecting the duralight with your own hands.

It is recommended to connect the LED light cord not to a socket, but through a permanent connection. This will avoid the need to call a professional electrician to carry out electrical work.
The adapter plays an important role in the installation process. It is a bridge diode rectifier that converts the alternating mains voltage into a pulsating unipolar voltage, which is necessary for the operation of the light cord.

Step-by-step instructions for connecting a light LED cord looks like this:

we take duralight and cut it according to the marks. Remember that you need to cut only according to such marks, otherwise you will simply ruin an expensive product;

Note! Cutting step - one or two meters!

cut the cord with scissors or a sharp knife. When cutting it, you need to be very careful. If you make an oblique cut, then the product may not work correctly in the future. If you do not want to take risks, then you can buy a ready-made kit with a length of 10 meters and a controller already installed;
the power cord with an adapter must be connected to the duralight using a special adapter that looks like a metal pin placed in the case. The same adapter must be used when it is necessary to dock with each other for a piece of a light cable;

Note! This adapter for various models will be different. For a single-row product, it will have two pins, for a two-row product, three.

Duralight connection for network adapter

now it remains only to connect all the elements of the backlight. To do this, insert the plug (adapter) of the power cord into the cable. Moreover, it must be inserted in such a way that the location of the pins coincides with the wires running inside the light cable;
after that, you need to fix the connection with a snap-on cover. It is located in the network cable.

Ready-made duralight that can be connected to the network

Now you can connect the product to the power supply and check its operation.
After all the backlight elements have been assembled into a single circuit, you need to install a glowing LED cord on the surface. To do this, use transparent special plastic staples.

When using different types of duralight, the process of connecting them may undergo some changes. But the connection principle itself, described above, will remain unchanged.
To ensure that your work is not in vain and that you ultimately get the desired result, you must adhere to several recommendations:

before connecting, it is necessary to make sure that the connected product is working;
unwind the cord carefully to avoid possible overheating. Only unwound product can be connected;
the incision must be made strictly along the line. Due to the fact that the product has a sufficiently powerful silicone protection in the form of a tube, it is not always possible to make an even and clear cut;
the connection points of the light tube must be located in such a way that they have maximum protection against adverse external influences. This is especially true of mechanical influences;
to increase the tightness of the segments, the places of cuts after connection should be additionally treated with silicone sealant or waterproof glue;

Connector and cap for light cord

to avoid the risk of a short circuit, this lighting product must be checked for damage of various kinds in the contacts.

It is also necessary to remember that, despite the high protection, the light cord is primarily a rather complex electrical device. In this regard, it must be placed out of reach of pets and small children. Otherwise, both the breakdown of the lighting device and the risk of electrical injury to children and animals are possible.

Connecting an LED duralight may seem complicated only at first glance. In fact, it is enough to follow simple instructions to create an excellent backlight. The main thing when working with this LED cord is to be careful.

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I. Connecting the duralight to the network alternating current.

1. Any duralight has a minimum length marked with symbols (if you did not find such a mark on the cord itself, look at the instructions in the product passport or contact the supplier)
2. Cutting the flexible cord of the LED duralight is allowed only according to special marks (or according to the cutting ratio). Use a utility knife or sharp scissors to cut.

3. Bend the duralight first in one direction and then in the other. The protruding sections of the wire should be carefully cut with wire cutters to the level of the cord sheath. This is done so that there is no short circuit during the installation work of the light cord.

4. To avoid electric shock or moisture ingress, be sure to close the free ends of the duralight with special plugs.

5. If you need to connect two equivalent types of duralight, use the “connector”.

6. If you use the mounting system No. 1, then the finished connection of the two sections of the duralight must be fixed with the help of screwed plastic nuts.

7. In order to make designs of free design, duralight is fixed on a metal base - it can be a rigid thick wire, a small metal tape, etc.

8. To enhance the brightness of the glow of the duralight, special “guides” are used.

II. Connecting the duralight to the controller.

In addition to LED duralight of constant glow, you can also purchase LED duralight chasing, the glow of which can be controlled using special controllers.

How to connect LED duralight chasing? What duralight connection scheme is used in this case?

To connect the duralight chasing to the LED controller, you need the following components: a contact, a cord and a plug. Duralight connection is carried out directly with the controller. At the same time, the LED duralight is also powered through this controller (which, in turn, is connected to a 220V network).

There are several options for LED controllers for duralight. Depending on the type of light cord duralight (round, flat) and size, duralight can be equipped with various controllers. There are two main types of LED controllers - for 100 meters and for 20 meters, which are connected to a 220v network. To connect two pieces of duralight, use a coupling, a cord with a plug and a plug on the free end of the duralight for additional protection against moisture. Care must be taken to ensure that the contacts of the coupling and duralight are correctly aligned and connected. All duralight connections begin only from the place where the cord is cut off. In the future, after putting on the plug on the free end of the duralight cord, the final installation of the duralight is carried out using brackets, clips or a special plastic guide.

To connect a duralight coil and a 100-meter controller, the following scheme of action is required:

1. Checking the performance of the duralight light cord. To do this, the duralight is connected to a standard electrical network using the power cord included in the kit.
2. Connecting the power wire of the duralight: it must be cut off from the side where the connector is located, immediately after the square or oval rectifier.
3. Stripping three multi-colored duralight wires - blue, yellow, brown.
4. Determination of a common current-carrying wire among these three and its connection to the controller (white terminal).
5. Other contacts are connected to the red terminals, the connection sequence is not important.
6. The final connection of the duralight to the network, the adjustment of special effects programs using the power switch.

Standard duralight is a flexible light cord, made in the form of a flat tape or a solid tube. The material is transparent plastic, into which a whole garland consisting of LEDs is poured or pressed. Some designs use miniature incandescent bulbs. Such garlands are widely used, therefore, quite often the question arises of how to connect a duralight. They are mainly used in outdoor advertising, contour lighting of buildings and structures, as well as in interior design and decoration.

To install and connect a duralight, special knowledge of electrical engineering and wiring skills are not required at all. In the simplest version, installation is carried out even without the use of a tool. The garland is simply plugged into the socket and the duralight starts working. As a rule, this is a garland for Christmas trees, intended for temporary use.

A more serious installation, for example, to highlight interior details, will require some tools and little skills to work with them. Most importantly, strictly follow all the recommendations described in the instructions for use of the product.

In addition to the duralight itself, you need to purchase a power cord, where there is a connector for connecting and an adapter for 220 volts. The adapter is an ordinary bridge diode rectifier. It serves to convert the alternating voltage of the mains into a unipolar voltage of a pulsating type.

Connecting the power cord and adapter to the duralight is carried out using a special adapter. It is made in the form of metal pins enclosed in a housing.

With a single-row duralight, there will be only two pins in the connector, and for a two-row garland, a connector with three pins is used. The same connector is used when joining two pieces of duralight. The structure is fixed to the surface using special transparent plastic brackets. Bare wires remaining on the cut of the garland are closed with caps included in the duralight kit.

When deciding how to connect a duralight, a number of prerequisites must be observed:

Duralight cannot be included in the network if it is wound up or somehow in contact with surfaces. This may cause heating and subsequent damage to the product.
Before installation, it is necessary to check all the tapes intended for connection through the electrical network. This will allow you to identify possible defects in advance.
To avoid a short circuit, you need to check the cleanliness and integrity of the contacts at the joints.
The cut of duralight must be made only in marked places so as not to spoil the cut piece.
It is forbidden to carry out installation work with the duralight turned on.

Organize lighting along the contour, secondary lighting, inscriptions and decorations, for the implementation of all of the above, it is best to this moment suitable duralight. The idea of hiding lighting elements in a transparent tube to protect them from moisture, mechanical damage and for ease of installation is not new, however, only with the advent of duralight did it become possible to perform such installation completely simply and without undue effort.

Duralight is an assembly of incandescent lamps or diodes in lines on a flexible board, they are combined into long cords, where each lamp store is connected in parallel to a single power bus.

Main technical characteristics:

Degree of protection - IP44;
Service life - 25,000 hours for incandescent lamps. 100,000 hours for LED;
Section - round, rectangular from 5 mm;
Insulation material - PVC;
Vibration and UV resistant;
Power consumption is on average 15-25 W per linear meter.

All duralights are divided into two main types: fixings and chasings.

Fixing is a duralight, in which all lamps are powered by a single power bus, and the entire cord has only two power outlets, in which one wire is neutral, and the second is directly the power channel. Naturally, all elements light up at the same time, and there is no way to control them separately. The only control option is brightness control when using the appropriate controller.

Chasing is a more massive version of duralight, in which even elements of one whole group are connected to one normal and several channels in a certain alternation. Power is supplied through several pins, where one is normal, and all the rest are channels.

Chasing allows you to implement garlands with sequential or arbitrary inclusion of elements, the organization of running lights or other light music. Management is carried out by means of an appropriate controller capable of covering all channels of duralight.

Typically, such light cords are somewhat wider than fixings and, accordingly, require more space in niches for installation.

There is another notable product on the market – flexible neon, which you can read about here. However, unlike duralight, it is not able to give out sufficient light intensity for illumination, but it glows completely evenly. Flexible neon is only able to outline the contours of the object, and is clearly visible only in poor light conditions or in the dark. Duralight gives out a powerful luminous flux, moreover, with both incandescent lamps and LEDs, and can play the role of a lighting device. Its glow will be clearly visible both day and night. So the choice of this or that luminous cord, it is important to accurately describe the requirements for the product, depending on the installation location and the desired effect.

Due to the high security IP44, duralight can be used both indoors and outdoors. It is not afraid of moisture and is sufficiently resistant to mechanical stress. The wind will not break or tear. The polymer shell, more often PVC, provides it with flexibility and protection along its entire length.

The installation method is extremely simple, the connecting elements have splitters in their list for parallel connection of luminous cord sections.

Having such technical characteristics, duralight is perfect for the formation of advertising signs, decorating building facades, highlighting niches, stands, ceilings. In the interior, it is perfect for highlighting contours in multi-level ceilings, niches in walls, flights of stairs or forming decorative elements. The brightest and most festive way to use it is, of course, the creation of bright and spectacular garlands on trees, buildings, etc. Especially when it comes to chasing with the ability to control.

Christmas decorations from duralight

For backlighting, it is easier to use fixing, it is cheaper and easier to install, it takes up less space. LED duralights have gained great popularity, which, unlike incandescent lamps, do not heat up. Read about the benefits of LEDs in this article. In addition, diode duralights can be made both in round and in flat design, which allows different ways mount the tape. In the simplest version, the power supply of the duralight is presented in the form of a small adapter designed for power from a 220 V network and an output corresponding to a light cord. It is easier to hide than a PSU from diode tapes.

It is reasonable to use chasers only where it is really necessary to use, for example, a treadmill or change the color of duralight if LEDs are used.

It is worth remembering that tubes with incandescent lamps cannot change their glow color, it depends only on the color of the tube itself, diodes in this regard are much more practical and even look better. The tube used is always transparent, and the color depends on the diodes themselves.

All duralights are equal in terms of protection IP44. Therefore, you can choose a more reliable one only among different manufacturers, counting on best quality manufacturing. Duralight can be used in a wide temperature range from -40 to +70. Incandescent lamps are still more responsive to temperature changes and heat up by themselves, so the upper limit is lower in practice.

The special charm of duralight is the simplicity of its connection and installation. For this product, appropriate fasteners, power supply elements, wires, adapters, etc. are already provided. It is best to naturally purchase duralight and all related elements from one manufacturer for complete compliance.

In the simplest version, to install a duralight, you will need:

Construction knife or side cutters;
Duralight;
Power cord with adapter;
Connector, power contacts;
plug;
Mounts;
Silicone glue or any other waterproof.

The light cord is structurally divided only into segments of 1, 2 or 4 meters, but no less. In this he concedes, for example, led strip, where you can divide the strip into 3-5 elements (2-10 cm). On the duralight itself, the places where they can be separated are marked with a cross line and a scissors icon.

Controller for connecting duralight

On a flat hard surface with a knife, the common cord is cut into the desired pieces. In this case, the cut must be even and perpendicular to the axis of the cord. It is unnecessary to expose the wires in the future or solder them, but it is desirable that the site be as even as possible.

It is checked that all the wires of the power bus that go to the end are cut neatly and do not diverge to the sides, are not ragged.

The connector is a plate of plastic, into which metal pins are inserted with thinning at the ends, while they hold onto their middle with plastic, stick out in both directions. Usually on plastic there are sides or a border of the appropriate diameter for the used duralight. The pins are inserted into the cord until they stop so that each contact falls between the veins of each supply wire.

The power cable for the duralight already has a corresponding connector, with a mating connector for the pins installed in the cord. There is also a sheath, a protective cover that is put on the junction. So it remains only to connect the power wire and the light cord. The junction where the protective cover is on the duralight is desirable to additionally protect and glue.

More often, controllers for duralight have their own power adapter, and therefore the installation is carried out as described above. Otherwise, the controller is inserted between the power adapter and the light cord using connectors.

WITH reverse side the end of the cord remains with bare wires of the power bus. An appropriate plug is put on it, tightly fitting to the cord body. For reliability, again, it is better to use glue for reliability. After that, you can fix the cord in the prepared niche with the help of fasteners. They wrap around the cord and have an eyelet for a screw.

The duralight is actually powered by a voltage of 220 V. The adapter only converts it from AC to DC voltage required to power the elements. So the safety precautions are the same as when working with high voltage, this applies to the moment of checking the performance and installation, ensuring the tightness of the connections.

The cord can bend quite strongly, however, the recommended bending radius is 5-6 diameters of the duralight itself. It is forbidden to bend at a right angle, as well as to spoil the outer shell, cut or expose part of the wires, mount it in places where it can rub against the building envelope. If damaged sections of the shell are found, the corresponding piece from mark to mark is cut out and replaced with a new one.

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LED duralight, a common version of today's favorite LED strip. The difference between an LED duralight and a conventional LED strip is that the LEDs in duralight are not fixed on a thin tape, but are enclosed in a silicone shell.

Like the LED strip, the LED duralight itself can also be easily bent at different angles and into various shapes. LED duralight is an excellent lighting solution for beautiful design interior in the house. All that is required in order to give the interior a zest is to purchase an LED duralight and connect it with your own hands.

How to connect LED duralight? Yes, very easy! To do this, you just need a special adapter and adapter.

The huge advantage of such a backlight is that you can install and connect the LED duralight with your own hands, without outside help and electrical work skills. You can make a good garland from LED duralight, which will be much more beautiful than a regular factory product.

To connect the LED duralight with your own hands, you need to know and prepare this:

Have a minimal set of tools. Soldering iron, screwdriver, sharp knife and electrical tape;
It is better to connect the LED duralight to a permanent connection, and not, as many do through a socket;

If the light duralight has already been purchased with a power adapter, then you can safely proceed to its installation and connection.

To connect the LED duralight, you must have a special adapter. It is installed at the end of the power cord, which is connected to a socket or directly to a 220 volt network. An adapter is built into the power cable itself for connecting a light duralight, which reduces and equalizes the voltage from the 220 Volt network by means of a diode bridge.

Depending on which LED duralight is purchased (single-row or double-row), an adapter is also needed to connect it. For a single-row duralight, you need an adapter in the form of two pins, and for a double-row duralight, an adapter, at the end of which three pins are installed.

If it is necessary to connect two pieces of light duralight, then an adapter is used for this, with exactly the same pins. Be sure to close the opposite end of the light duralight, on which there are bare wires, with a plastic plug before connecting.

Installation of light duralight to the surface of the ceiling or on the walls is carried out using special plastic brackets. There is nothing complicated in this. The only thing you should know when connecting an LED duralight with your own hands is that most often it is cut into pieces of one or two meters.

This is done because of the special schematic capabilities of the light duralight, so it is very important to take this fact into account when decorating the interior of the room.

Duralight LED(Duralight) is a waterproof, durable, flexible, transparent, round or flat colored cord with LEDs inside. Made of PVC, thanks to this it can work at temperatures from -20°C to +60°C.

The duralight cord, due to its water resistance (protection class according to the IEC-952 - IP54 standard), is widely used as decorative elements and creating color-dynamic effects in street lighting of houses, trees, creating advertising signs, organizing festive events, lighting water in pools, installed in cars and many other cases.

Despite the high reliability, like any electrical product, the duralight system may burn out and it will need to be repaired, which you can do yourself if you know its principle of operation, circuit and device.

Scheme, device and principle of operation
LED cord Duralight

To repair LED duralight cords, you need to know their device, electrical circuit and principle of operation. Without this knowledge, self-repair will be difficult and can only lead to additional malfunctions.

Main technical characteristics Duralight

The range of LED cords duralight represents several varieties, the main of which are shown in the table. Duralight is available in lengths from five to one hundred meters.

A duralight cord with a mono glow color can glow only in one color, which is determined by the color of the LEDs installed in it. They can be all the same or different colors. When connecting the cord directly to the source direct current, it will glow at a constant brightness. If you turn it on through the controller, then the brightness of the glow can be controlled.

The Chasing cord contains several groups of LEDs of the same color, usually red, green and blue. Each color group is connected to a separate core of a wire passing through the body of the cord tube along its entire length. Thanks to this connection scheme, using the controller, you can control not only the brightness of the glow, but also the color.

By design, duralight cords are split and continuous. From the point of view of maintainability, split ones are better. If one of the LEDs burns out, it will be possible to cut out the non-luminous section of the cord and replace it or connect the serviceable parts of the cord using a special connector without tools directly at the installation site of the garland.

Duralight cords made with using SMD LEDs have, in comparison with DIP diodes, an increased brightness of the glow.

Wiring diagrams for Duralight cords

Differ electrical circuits duralight cords only with a circuit of LEDs connected in series. They are connecting all in series or in series in groups with an equal number of LEDs in each of the groups.

In a two-wire duralight, all LEDs are connected in series. To limit the current, resistors R1-Rn are soldered evenly along the length of the cord. The beginning of the LED circuit is soldered to one current-carrying core, and the end to the other. LEDs can be all the same glow color, or different. For example, in this circuit, LEDs of four colors are used.

This scheme differs from the one described above in that the LEDs are turned on in small groups, as in an LED strip. This allows you to cut the cord in the places indicated in the form of scissors into segments. Such a circuit solution is convenient for repair and interior design.

Unlike the circuits discussed above, in the electrical circuit of the Chasing LED cord, each group consists of several chains of LEDs of the same glow color connected in series. The beginning of all LED chains are soldered to one common positive wire, and the ends of LEDs of the same color are soldered to a separate wire.

The scheme of the Chasing cord is similar to the RGB LED strip and allows you to get any dynamic color effects with the help of a controller, from a running wave to a transfusion of colors.

Wiring diagrams for connecting Duralight cords to the network

The LED duralight is a finished product and can be operated by supplying a DC supply voltage to the terminals located at the ends of the tube. It is unacceptable to connect directly to the 220 V network.

You can connect duralight through a simple rectifier, consisting of a rectifier bridge and an electrolytic capacitor.

A ready-made diode bridge can be taken from any burned-out LED or energy-saving lamp. Inside there is a driver, it is enough to remove unnecessary details. Typically, such drivers have diodes rated for a current of 1 A, which is quite enough for most duralights.

To test duralights rated for 220 V, I use the LED tube driver shown in the photo. I cut off a part with a current stabilizer from it and soldered a cord with a plug. I left the fuse and voltage filtering parts.

When connecting duralight through a diode bridge, you can only get a constant glow, without lighting effects. To realize the maximum possible lighting effects, it is necessary to connect the duralight through the controller. The simplest one is shown in the photo. By pressing a button, you can set one of eight lighting modes.

The most simple circuit The controller consists of only a few parts - a rectifier bridge, a voltage divider into two resistors and an electrolytic capacitor to provide power to the microprocessor and two parallel thyristors of the PCR406 or PCR606 type.

The microprocessor type Q803 is soldered on a separate printed circuit board, which is soldered into the main controller board.

Chinese printed circuit board The controller is not made very high quality, but at a sufficient level for its reliable operation.

In the controller circuit there is no protection against short circuits of the output circuits, not even the simplest fuse. In the event of a short circuit in the output circuits, in a connector or duralight, all active elements of the circuit will burn out, I have come across such a case.

The photo shows a complete diagram of the duralight system. The 220V AC supply voltage is supplied to the controller. From it, the rectified voltage, processed by the embedded algorithm in the microprocessor, is fed to the cores of the cord wires.

To connect a round duralight cord, first you need to put on it the clamping nut of the collet clamp, insert the connector pins for their entire length into the duralight tube, so that they fit exactly into the conductive wires, and screw the nut onto the connector collet.

To connect a flat cord duralight, the pins of the connector also cut their entire length into the plane of the duralight, and the connector on the cord is fixed with the help of two special strips pulled together.

It should be noted that at a negative temperature, the PVC tube of the cord hardens strongly and it is almost impossible to connect it to the connector. Therefore, it is necessary to assemble the system at a positive temperature and install the already assembled outdoors.

Repair LED cord Duralight

Attention, the electrical circuits of the duralight controllers are galvanically connected to the phase of the electrical network and therefore extreme caution should be exercised. Touching an unprotected part of the human body to bare parts of a circuit connected to an electrical network can cause serious damage to health.

On the eve of the next New Year, it was necessary to decorate the Christmas tree installed on the street with duralight cords, which last year worked flawlessly in severe frost for several weeks. When checking, it turned out that one of the six cords did not glow. I had to get it repaired.

First of all, the controller was checked by connecting a working duralight to it. The controller worked, therefore, the fault was in the cord.

If it is not possible to check the controller by replacement, then you can connect the duralight, observing the polarity, to the network through the diode bridge described above. For ease of connection, you can cut off a few millimeters of the cord, exposing the wire strands.

When examining the cord tube, it was found that in the area where the LEDs were installed, there were dark spots on its inner surface, as if all the LEDs had burned out. Therefore, the tube was cut lengthwise to the length of one section of LEDs including the resistor.

The diodes and resistor were removed through the incision and checked with a multimeter included in the resistance measurement mode. All details were correct.

It became obvious that the black dots appeared for a different reason. When examining the rations, it turned out that the flux had not been removed from them, and its remnants were imprinted on the tube.

To determine the voltage drop across the LEDs, a DC voltage of 15 V was applied to the chain from the power supply. The LEDs lit up brightly.

The voltage drop on one LED was about 1.8 V, which is slightly less than that of SMD LEDs.

After checking some of the LEDs, it became obvious that the rest were also in good condition and the current-carrying wires that ran along the entire length of the cord were broken. For their continuity, a plug was removed from the opposite end of the cord. When checking with a multimeter, the forecast was confirmed. One of the veins turned out to be in a cliff, and it remains only to determine its place.

To find the place of the break, one multimeter probe was attached to the previously bare end of the core, and the second to a thin needle. The first puncture was made in the middle of the line, which minimized the number of punctures, as it immediately became clear in which half the break was located. Next, a puncture was made in the middle of the failed half, and so on.

In order to find the place of the break in the vein, no more than ten punctures had to be made. Since the plastic is soft and the punctures were not through, they did not violate the tightness of the cord. The rupture of the core was about eight millimeters. It seems that when the duralight was filmed in frosty weather, it was greatly bent, and one of the veins was torn.

The beginning of a chain of series-connected LEDs in the cord was connected to one core, and the horses to the other. Therefore, in order not to violate the tightness of the cord, I decided to apply the supply voltage from the side on which the plug was previously put on.

To do this, from the side of the cut, the wire coming from the first LED was connected to a working conductor by twisting. Unfortunately, all attempts to tin the core with solder using even acidic flux have not been successful. For reliability during assembly, he wound the twist into a tube and covered it with silicone.

In connection with the supply voltage from the other side of the cord, in order to observe the polarity of the connection of the duralight, it was necessary to swap the output wires in the controller. As you can see in the photo, the left pair of wires is soldered.

The repair of the duralight cord is completed, and you can begin to assemble it. Since the cord was cut lengthwise, the place of the cut and the end were covered with a layer of silicone.

It remains to combine the pins of the connector with the cores of the cord and stick them into the tube. Next, screw the union nut onto the collet.

When tightening the nut until it stops, it began to scroll without squeezing the collet petals tightly around the cord. I had to cover the thread and petals of the collet with a layer of silicone.

Since the controller had to be disassembled, and its tightness was broken, the junction of the halves of the case and the exit point of the wires were also smeared with silicone.

Do-it-yourself duralight cord repair has been successfully completed, all joints are sealed and now you can use it to decorate street objects. It will work flawlessly in any weather.

Duralight is one of the most popular lighting materials. It is used in a variety of areas, and the question of how to work with duralight is of interest to an ever wider circle of people.

Magical compositions are obtained from duralight

How to cut duralight so as not to spoil it?

Good news - you can cut duralight! The bad news is that you can do it in strictly designated places. Usually the multiplicity of cutting duralight is 1 or 2 meters. Carefully inspect the cord and find the "scissors" icon, it says that you can cut the duralight in this place. You should not neglect the icon, otherwise the LED cord will simply stop working.

To make it clear why it is necessary to adhere to the cutting ratio, get acquainted with the duralight device.

Let's go in order:

Examine carefully the duralight in the area of the "scissors" icon.
Twist the cord until you see the contact tips on both sides.
You can make a cut with ordinary scissors, but this must be done strictly along the line of contacts.
Make sure that no pieces of wiring remain inside the cable. Such pieces can lead to a short circuit.
Connect the connector to the thick PVC sheathed wires.

Step 1. We turn on the network, check the glow.

Step 3. Disconnect duralight from the network

Step 4. We cut the duralight by the mark