How to cut a 144/meter LED strip

Hardware
1

Good evening, I am going to ask a question that will seem stupid to you.
I have LED strips of 144 LEDs/meter. I would like to know if I can reduce them by X LEDs. The only possible cutoff is at 72 LEDs. I would like to know how to have a strip of 35 or 54 LEDs. Thanking you in advance. Sincerely.

2

LED strips can only be cut on their cut marks/lines. You can’t just cut them wherever you want.

-If you are talking about 12v and 24v strips, many of those have LEDs grouped in sets of 3 or 6 or sometimes even more and can only be cut every 3-6 or however many between cut marks.
Reason? They are like this to drop the voltage down for the individual LEDs Also included within those cut marks is the IC chip that tells the LEDs what to do. So unless you buy strips that are individually addressable you are stuck with those cut marks spanning several LEDs.

cuts
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3

Hello, thank you for your response. This strip is 5v, there is a connection at the 72nd, to leave for 72 other LEDs. But no cutting trace between 1 and 72. I will therefore adapt my assembly. Thank you again, cordially.

4

Do you have a link to these strips?

5

Good evening! Your question is not stupid at all—it’s a common one when working with LED strips.

To create a strip with 35 or 54 LEDs from your 144 LEDs/meter strip, you can cut the strip at the designated cut points. Since you’ve mentioned that the only allowable cut is at 72 LEDs, here’s how you can proceed:

  1. For 35 LEDs:

    • You can cut the strip to 72 LEDs (the closest allowable cut) and then use the entire length, leaving some of it unused.
    • If you want to use 35 LEDs specifically, you would have to cut a longer piece (e.g., 72 LEDs), and then add a connector or splice to power only the 35 LEDs you want.

  2. For 54 LEDs:

    • Similarly, you can cut the strip to 72 LEDs and leave the rest unused, as there’s no cut point for 54 LEDs directly.

Important Notes:

  • Always ensure to cut the strip at the designated cut points marked by the copper lines.
  • After cutting, make sure to properly solder or use connectors for the remaining section to avoid short circuits. https://www.zouser.com/
  • Remember that using fewer LEDs might affect the overall brightness and color uniformity, depending on how you control the remaining LEDs.

If you have any more questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask!

6

Hello, thank you for your answers. As I was asked, here is the reference of the strip: IC Smart 144 addressable RGB LED light strip, 1-3M, WS2812B, WS2815, 5050 pixels/LED/m, IP30/IP65/IP67, DC 5V/12V. Ordered on Ali, works correctly in its entirety, but in my projects it sometimes remains too long, hence my question of cutting the LED ready. Once again thank you for your interest in my problem. Sincerely.

7

Thats funny, I’ve never heard or seen any individually controlled LED strip that were not cuttable at every LED! Hence “individually”

8

Jack is a spam bot ignore them…

If these are like what you are using: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805694042036.html

You can cut them between every pixel. From the listing: “Cuttable: Every LED is Cuttable”

9

Hello, thank you for your answers, I will be able to continue my editing. Sincerely.