led help

[fiddlebick]

I have a few questions. I have purchased some of the shoreline 4 inch six bulb units from wal mart, and also shoreline water resistant bl/wh strips from wal mart as well. Has anybody used these? I plan for lighting up the inside floor for night boating. Does the 3m sticky tape stain or ruin the vinyl if you ever decide to go a different route? To wire a parallel circuit I will have a splice that both powers the lamp, and continues the circuit to the next unit, correct? Three way splice? I am still in the planning stage, but any helpful hints will be appreciated. I have and will continue to read and search for other posts, but then remembering where I read it is the problem. I tend to over kill in my research, I probable should just go on and play with the lights instead.

[HandymanHerb]

Just use small screws the sticky tape with be hard to clean up from the vinyl, you just run two wires and hook them to each light

[fiddlebick]

I can't see using screws either, I wouldn't want to penetrate the rubber covering to that extent or risk severing any of the conduit...and I would a think the strip would buckle between the screws and look wavy. But maybe mount them with the tape to a backing plate that I could fasten with some screws. Come to think of it, I believe I can order mounting clips online as well. I am disappointed that shoreline has little instruction with this product (sl91854). There is only a diagram showing where to cut the strip..ok..but the diagram shows only a + and a - wire, and there is a red, black, and white three wire connection on the strip..of course since it is a two color strip. So I assume that the black is ground, the red and white would be+ for the color selection? They claim installation is easy and they disclaim any failure due to faulty installation...so why not give us the correct connection instructions?!! I know I will have to order some 3 wire conduit so I can have 2 hot feeds off the switch for color selection. I love the idea of installing one strip and getting both blue and white, as I don't desire any other colors, and the option to choose either appeals to me. These are the only ones I have found with the bl/wh option instead of rgb or single colors.

[HandymanHerb]

Ok I guess you have lights different than I bought, are you talking rope lights a picture would help

[fiddlebick]

Flexible strips. Two colors blue light and white light inclusive on the strip. Three wires, one red, one white, and one black. I can't do a picture right now but I will later.

[fiddlebick]

Ok I figured it out, only one 12v positive, and the other two wires are each a ground wire that will turn on either the blue or white lamps from the switch.

[fiddlebick]

Ok, now I need a three wire conductor to wire my 2 color led strips. Marine tinned wire for this is 16/3 with a pvc cover that runs about 40 t0 50 cents a foot. I can get 18/3 thermostat wire much much cheaper...any downside for using it instead? It has an outer insulation as well, although not marine grade...I mean we're talking low voltage lights here!

[babock]

Thermostat wire is not usually stranded.