IP68 Waterproof COB LED Strip Light, 16.4FT 12V 3000K 480 LEDs/m CRI>90, Flexible Cuttable Tape Light for Outdoor Bathroom Swimming Pool Decoration (No Power Supply)

The reel of light has leads at both ends. So easy to cut into 2 pieces and both be pre-wired. I have not tried adding leads to a cut end. Prior experience with other waterproof LED strips has taught me to avoid it if possible. Don't see any reason this will be different. Speaking of a little different, the cross section of these LED is a little different than other waterproof LEDs I have used for the past decade. Not bad, just different. These are squared off on the clear part instead of radiused as I usually see. And for seeing. When I first powered these I they were very bright. At first I though I wired them to the wrong power supply. Turned them off and checked the power supply, 12V. I have the correct power supply, I didn't screw up and use my 24V. These lights are some of the most powerful LED strip lights I have used. Which isn't bad, you can always put a dimmer in and throttle the light back if it is too much. Side benifit is they will also last longer. If I have to find something that might be an issue for some people. The cut lines. They are old school spacing. I'm spoiled on the new stuff that can be cut in short incriments. These, 2" spacing. It's been years since I have seen anything over 1". I can work around it for that I am planning. But that might surprise some people. But for the light you get out of it, I'll take the light over cut line spacing. These are still a win.

These are 12v lights and as the instructions state you must use a transformer if you want to power them with anything other than 12v. I directly wired these to my 12v system through a dimmer/switch (not included) without any problem. They are very bright and the wires in both ends are awesome. I’ve installed this type of light before and soldering the ends when cut is very painful unless you have some great soldering skills for tiny tiny areas. Having wires in both ends make this much easier if you choose to cut them. It would have been nice if end caps were included for where you cut them and I would have preferred a white cover instead of the clear silicone that is included. You’d lose some light transmission but if they’re going to be visible not the most attractive look with the yellow stripe and circuit on the side. Bottom line is that the brightness, color temp (warm), no hotspot COB light, and two sided wiring is better than other strip lights I’ve used.

DON’T buy, a cheap overhyped product that doesn’t work. I noticed it was starting to fade in brightness, and now after 45 days it’s almost completely gone and it doesn’t live up to its claim of a continuous bright light, it’s now just a few intermittent sections that are faded and almost completely gone. It’s beyond the Amazon 30 day return window, so it’s just $ in the toilet purchase.

While installing this does require some degree of electrical knowledge, the instructions should guide you to the proper type of power supply and dimmer. These cannot be controlled from a normal wall dimmer, but require a dimmer after the DC power supply (1-10V dimmer). With high quality silicone tube, IP68 waterproof, the COB LED strip has higher brightness than older SMP lights, with Uniform lighting, without dark areas and spots. The COB strip is very flexible and bendable and can cut to different lengths. If you want a longer strip (say double), you will need to add a power supply to the other end and control independently.

I ordered this to use in an indoor lighting application so I can’t comment on the claims of water proofing, but for my use it is great. Hooking this up is easy though you will need an appropriate transformer (plenty available on Amazon) and it’s a simple matter of sticking it in-place, connecting the wires and, if needed, cutting to length. I also added a dimmer to my setup and it worked just fine. The light output is plenty bright (almost too much for my taste which is why I added the dimmer) and has a nice, warm slightly yellow color to it. Overall I’m pleased with this product and would definitely recommend it.

You'll need to provide your own 24V power source for these. The ones I got were 6000K color temperature which puts out light like a fluorescent bulb (like sunlight). Some people call this "cool white," which is actually a misnomer because a 6000K bulb is a very hot-burning filament (these don't get hot or emit any heat at all because they're LEDs, but if it were incandescent it would take a very hot filament to get to this color temperature, hotter than for a softer "warmer" white). So there's your lesson for the day. These are bare-boned meaning that they come with the lights and wires - no controller, no power source, no plug; you have to wire that up yourself. So if you already have a 24V power source, you're already halfway there. These are waterproof. They're not rounded over like I've seen a lot of the other waterproof strip lights, instead they're squared off, which I kinda like just for aesthetics. This doesn't mean that you can't cut them, because you can so long as you cut along the correct lines (shown on the rope itself). These are pretty standard strip lights and I had no problems with them, neither with installation nor with operation. You can see the individual lights if you look REALLY close, but from a short distance, it's not noticable at all, especially if they're at full bright (24V).

Pros: Very bright LED strip, easy to use spool, standard connection Cons: There is no technical data included in the packaging. The Amazon listing does have some, but none with the package. The sticky backing wasn’t applied with great care. There were at least 3 dead LEDs in my strip. I didn’t / couldn’t test the waterproof aspect of this LED strip, but it was just ok in dry conditions. There are better LED strips out there for the money.