What are the disadvantages of COB LED strips?

COB LED Strip Lights: Explained

COB, which stands for Chip On Board, refers to a type of LED strip light where the LED chips are mounted directly onto the circuit board (PCB). This differs from traditional SMD (Surface Mounted Device) LED strips where the chips are housed in individual packages and sold onto the PCB.

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Here's a breakdown of the key characteristics of COB LED strip lights:

Advantages of COB LED Flex Strips

1. No Visible LED Dots

- COB LED flex strips deliver uniform light output without the LED dot effect, even without using aluminum profiles. This results in a cleaner and more consistent light appearance, enhancing the aesthetics of any space.

2. Enhanced Flexibility

- These strips are exceptionally flexible, allowing for creative installations in various settings. They can be incorporated into intricate designs and tight spaces where traditional LED strips might not fit, offering customized lighting solutions that wrap around curves and fit into narrow alcoves.

3. Increased Stability and Fewer Issues

- COB LED strips use direct chip attachment to the Flexible Printed Circuit Board (FPCB), eliminating the need for gold wires, which are common points of failure in traditional SMD LED strips.

- The unique circuit design, with chips connected in parallel as groups and then in series, ensures the strip remains illuminated even if some chips fail.

- High chip density (up to 480 chips per meter) ensures uniform illumination, preventing dark areas if a few chips fail.

4. Wide Emitting Angle

- With a 180-degree beam angle, COB LED strips provide broad and even light distribution. This is ideal for task lighting, ambient lighting, and highlighting large surfaces, eliminating shadows and dark spots.

5. Anti-Vulcanization

- Designed with materials that resist vulcanization, COB LED strips maintain their flexibility and integrity over time, even in challenging environments, extending both their aesthetic and functional life.

6. Stronger Anti-Static Capability

- COB LED strips have a stronger anti-static capability, reducing the risk of damage from static electricity. This helps protect the electronic components and extends the lifespan of the lighting solution.

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Disadvantages of COB LED Flex Strips

1. Inconsistent Color Without Binning

- Maintaining consistent color across different batches can be challenging, as COB LED strips do not use the BINNING machine process. This can result in slight variations in color temperature and hue, noticeable when adding new sections to an existing installation.

2. Lower Luminous Efficiency

- COB LED strips may have lower luminous efficiency compared to some high-power traditional LED strips. They may produce less light per watt of energy consumed, though the superior light quality and uniformity often outweigh this factor for many applications.

3. Lower Power Output

- Typically operating at lower power levels compared to some traditional LED strips, COB LED strips might not be suitable for projects requiring intense illumination levels. However, they provide ample light for most residential and commercial settings, creating inviting and well-lit spaces.

Types of COB LED Strips

COB LED strips come in a variety of configurations to suit different lighting needs. Here's a breakdown of some key factors to consider when choosing COB LED strips:

Chip Density:

• This refers to the number of LED chips mounted per meter of strip length. Higher chip density translates to brighter and more even illumination but might also consume more power. Common options include: Low Density (60-120 chips/meter): Suitable for accent lighting or creating a soft glow. Medium Density (180-300 chips/meter): Ideal for general lighting and task lighting. High Density (360-480 chips/meter): Provides very bright and even light, often used for under-cabinet lighting or task lighting requiring high intensity.

Color Temperature:

Similar to traditional LED strips, COB strips come in various color temperatures, affecting the perceived "warmth" or "coolness" of the light:

• Warm White (K-K): Creates a cozy and inviting atmosphere, ideal for residential settings.
• Neutral White (K-K): Offers a balanced light suitable for kitchens, bathrooms, or workspaces.
• Cool White (K-K): Provides a bright and energizing light, often used in commercial spaces or task lighting.

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Voltage:

COB strips typically operate on either 12V or 24V DC power.

• 12V strips are commonly used for smaller projects or DIY applications due to their ease of use with low-voltage power supplies.
• 24V strips are better suited for longer runs or high-power installations as they experience less voltage drop over extended distances.

Waterproof Rating:

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COB strips can be categorized based on their water resistance:

• Non-waterproof: Ideal for indoor applications with no exposure to moisture.
• IP65: Protects against water jets and dust, suitable for damp locations like bathrooms or kitchens.
• IP67/IP68: Fully submersible, perfect for outdoor use or areas with direct water exposure.

PCB Width:

The width of the printed circuit board (PCB) can influence the flexibility and installation options for the strip:

• Narrow PCB (2mm-5mm): Offers greater flexibility for tight spaces or curved surfaces.
• Wide PCB (8mm-12mm): Provides more space for additional features like integrated heat sinks or higher chip density.

Additional Considerations:

• Color Rendering Index (CRI): This metric indicates a light source's ability to accurately reveal the colors of objects. COB strips with a high CRI (above 90) are ideal for applications requiring good color perception, such as retail displays or art galleries.
• Dimming Capability: Some COB strips offer dimming options for adjusting light intensity to create different moods or ambiences.

LED strips have been a trendy DIY lighting solution for many applications for many years. That&#;s why we are so interested in the latest LED strip technology, COB flexible led strip lighting.

What is COB?

COB stands for Chip on Board in the LED field, which basically means that the LED chip is packaged directly on the circuit board (PCB). Chip on Board&#; LEDs for flexible strip lights are sometimes referred to as flip-chips.

Flip chip LEDs are basically a bare-bones approach to LED construction. Take a look at an ordinary SMD (Surface Mount Device) LED. It has a Lamp bead holder that package the LED chip and then covers it with a phosphor coating. The &#;flip chip&#; that makes up the COB LED strip removes everything from its design, except for the LED chip, yellow phosphor cover layer, and connection pads.

How is COB LED flexible strip manufactured?

1. Expanding Chips
2. Die bonding
3. Resistors onto FPCB
4. Reflow-High temperature over 65 degrees for finished PCB with chips and resistors
5. Fluorescent Powder glue mixing
6. Drop the mixing glue on the surface of chips and resistors by auto glue machine
7. Put glued cob led strip into the oven
8. QC-testing the cob led strip after cooling
9. Soldering the PCB into 5 meters per reel or the length as customer request
10. Aging test, QC test, packing, then shipping

Advantages and Disadvantages of COB LED Flex Strips

Now that you have a basic understanding of how this new COB led strip is produced, it&#;s time to see its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

No LED lighting dot, even without aluminum profiles.

One of the biggest complaints about traditional LED strips is the lighting dot throughout the strip. A lighting dot is a bright area through the strip where you can see where the light is coming from. Light is more soft and attractive when it looks like a smooth light source rather than a lighting dot mess.

With SMD flex strips, the larger diodes are squeezed close enough so that the light is spread out and consistent across the illuminated surface at a distance. But if the light is too close to the surface or the strip itself is visible, the hot spot is an obstacle that the human eye cannot ignore.

With a 480 chip/M COB strip, it is pretty challenging to pick out any hot spots on the COB flex strip. This strip shines a soft, uniform light from end to end. Even light with no lighting dot is more attractive to the human eye and gives off a steady light even in the narrow places. The only natural way to see the lighting dot is to look at the back of the strip, where it is easier to see the individually placed flip-chip LEDs. You can only see the individual led if you dim strip down to about 5% brightness. This makes COB flex strips ideal for applications where

1. The led strip itself cannot be hidden from view.
2. The surface being illuminated is within 2 feet of the light bar.
3. Reflective surfaces like granite/glass are all around.
4. Those applications where you want an excellent neon effect.

More flexibility

These strips are much more flexible than other flexible strips because of the small size of the diodes and the uniform weight distribution. These diodes are so small and closely spaced that no point of the strip is the same. This uniformity makes it easy to set up the strips without planning around a SMD LED sticking out where you don&#;t need it. This extra flexibility will make it easier for them to fit into tight areas and turn corners in your application.

More stable, fewer problems

1. COB strip is the chip directly attached to the FPCB, does not come with gold wire. Traditional SMD LED strip, very many problems are caused by the gold wire inside the LED beads. Because the gold wire is too small, it is straightforward to be broken, leading to the chip not being illuminated.
2. The circuit design of the COB strip uses three chips, first in parallel, as a group, then each group, and then in series to form one step. Even if a group of two chips inside the bad, this one-step strip can continue to light. And COB a meter of chips how big 480, even if 1-2 chips do not light, will not produce dark areas, will not affect the use. While the traditional SMD strip, a CUT, as long as there are lousy lamp beads, this one cut will not light, so there will be obvious to see a section of the dark area.

Wide emitting angle

The traditional SMD light strip luminous angle is 120 degrees, while the COB light strip luminous angle is 180 degrees.

Disadvantage:

1. The most significant disadvantage of COB led strips is that it is difficult to maintain the consistency of color. Because there is no COB led strips binning machines on the market. At present, all COB led strips manufacturers are only sampling to ensure color consistency. So, COB led strips are difficult to ensure that 100% are within the 3-step color tolerance.
2. COB led strip light efficiency, currently only about 120LM/W. If you need higher light efficiency, COB led strip is not suitable.
3.  The maximum power of COB led strip, only recommended doing 15W / m. Because the number of chips per meter is too much, if the power exceeds 15W / m, the chip&#;s heat is brutal to dissipate. COB led strip life will be shortened.

SMD encapsulation procedure &#; Binning

Conclusion

If you need a light effect without light spots, you can try COB led strips. If you need strict color consistency, such as 3-step Macadam color tolerance or 2-step Macadam color tolerance, or if you need high lumens, high luminous efficacy, then you can only consider the traditional SMD led strip.

Characteristics of COB Flex Strips

If you&#;ve been listening, the advantages and disadvantages of COB flexible light strips should be obvious, so now let&#;s get into some specific details about this sort of strip. If you&#;re acquainted with LED strips, then lots of this may sound familiar, but there are some differences during this form of strip, so it&#;s best to test out the guidelines below before using COB strips.

Cut and Connect

COB led strip can cut this strip just like our other strip lights. Please only cut along the cut marks marked on the strip every 50mm (24) / 25mm (12V). This allows you to cut the strip to a custom size or add gaps to your application. The cut strips can be used again and are best connected by soldering, but if this is often not an option, our COB strip connectors also are available as an option.

Dimmable

COB led strips are dimmable as well as regular SMD led strips.

You can use DALI, triac, PWM, 0-10V dimming power supply to use with COB led strips to achieve dimming.

Color Options

White light: K, K, K, K, and other custom color temperatures are available

Colorful light: Red, green, blue, yellow, pink, etc., are available.

Tunable white, RGB, RGBW are all available.

Tunable White COB led strip

RGBW COB led strip

IP grades

IP20 none waterproof, IP52 silicone drip, IP65 silicone sleeve, IP67 silicone sleeve, and other various waterproof ways are available.

COB led strip light applications

1. Architectural
2. Furniture & wine cabinet
3. Holtel renovation
4. KTV & KTV bar
5. Parking
6. shopping mall

How to install the COB led strip light? (step by step)

1. Clean the surface where you wish to put in the COB led strip light.
2. Cut the scale of the COB led strip light you would like to put in.
3. Tear the 3M backside of the COB led strip light.
4. Paste the COB strip light where you would like to put in.
5. Connect the ability supply with COB led strip light.
6. If you wish to attach the COB led strip light, you&#;ll be able to solder or use the connector.

After you read this article, I believe you already have a basic understanding of COB led strips. If you want to know more, please visit https://www.ledyilighting.com/all-you-need-to-know-before-buying-cob-led-strip/