GembaRed Wheel Setup Guides
Our GembaRed Wheel offers a great potential value for 660nm LEDs! You get a 5 meter strip with 300 LEDs and 60 Watts consumed power.
However, that is all you get, just some LEDs on a strip! There is no plug, no adapter, nothing. Just some bare wires.
So lets take a look at some possibilities to set it up. But first lets review the specifications. Since that informs us of what is compatible with.
12V LED strip. This is important because there are 5V, 9V, 12V, 24V and even more standard voltages for strips. So make sure your adapter and all accessories are 12V rated.
60W power. If you want to power the entire strip continuously, then the power adapter needs to support at least this much power, or about 5 amps. If you use a lower-powered adapter, then the strip might flicker, fail to light up, or overheat. So be sure to use an adapter that is at least the rated power, or more.
Here are our typical recommendations for using the Wheel strip lights.
Quick Setup - Easy:
The quick setup is the fastest and easiest way to power up the strip light and get it going. Here is what you will need:
Tools:
Small Philips Head Screwdriver
Supplies:
60 W power adapter
If that is unavailable, use this one: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/TR9CE5000LCP-N(R6B)/1939-1237-ND/8598040
*we tested these ones and found them to be low flicker and low EMF*
(be sure to add-in the recommended power cord)
2.1mm barrel plug adapter
We use: https://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2227209_-1
Setup:
First use the screwdriver to open-up and loosen each of the slots on the connector.
Then slide in each wire to the proper spot. Just make sure to plug in the red wire to the "plus" side and the black wire to the "minus" side.
Once the wires are in the proper slot, you can tighten down with the screwdriver to make sure it is snug. Give a quick tug on each wire to make sure it is in snug enough.
BEFORE plugging in the adapter, make sure the strip light is unraveled from the plastic reel. Remember this is 60 watts of power going to the strip, so if it is all tightly wrapped on the plastic still, then it will quickly melt down.
That's it! If the light does not light-up after plugging in the adapter, then try checking the wires are making good connection inside the barrel-connector. Try loosening and re-tightening it on a different spot.
Now you can set up the strip light around the house as trim-lighting, mood-lighting, back-lighting, or night-lighting. You can use the double-sided tape on it as a quick way to attach it. But the double-sided tape might not hold forever.
Semi-Permanent Setup - Intermediate:
Here we will show how to install the strip in a diffuser to make it more permanent and easier to setup. We will also get into cutting the strip down to smaller lengths to use in more areas around the house, rather than just one long 5 meter length in one spot.
More coming soon!