How to improve the brightness difference of LED strips caused by voltage drop

A typical 12V LED light strip is basically formed by a plurality of light groups in which three SMD LED beads are connected in series. In an ideal situation, the voltage input to each group of LED beads should be 12V, but in actual use, the input voltage of the LED groups far from the power supply is less than 12V, resulting in their brightness is significantly lower than the LEDs that closer to the power supply. What caused this?

Voltage drop issue (from www.mldrled.com)

The main reason is that the copper foil circuit inside the LED strip has resistance. The power output from the power supply needs to go through a longer loop to reach the far-end light bar. As this distance increases, the power loss also increases, so the actual voltage input to the far end is not enough to fully drive the LED light. Similarly, if an improper wire is used in the circuit, the voltage drop will be aggravated.

It can be seen from the above that the root cause of the voltage drop phenomenon of the strip led light is the current loss in the circuit. Based on this principle, there are several ways to improve the problem.

1. Increase the thickness of the copper foil
The resistance of the conductor is related to the size of its cross-sectional area, so the use of thicker copper foil can reduce the resistance of the PCB and increase its ability to carry current. Although this method is effective, it will result in an increase in the cost and price of the lighting products.

2. Use a higher voltage LED light strips
In the case of the same power, the higher the voltage, the lower the current. Therefore, as the input voltage increases, the current in the strip circuit decreases accordingly, thereby reducing the current load of the PCB. This is why the maximum series length of the 24V strip is longer than 12V.

3. Install in parallel
We know that the longer the series length of the tape lights, the more obvious the voltage drop. Therefore, we can install a certain length of the strip in parallel to reduce the inconsistency of the first and last brightness caused by the series connection.

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