Why are my LED lights different colors: reasons and ways to solve it

When you have decorated the room with LED strip lights, you expect that they are going to be the same color they were when you bought them and that nothing will ever change. Unfortunately, sometimes high-quality LED lights can lose their original color and turn yellow or get several different colors at the same time. Do not hurry too much and do not replace the LED lights with new ones. 

If you desire to know Why are my LED lights different colors and how to solve the issue, then this article is written for you.

LED lights: why they change color over time

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Now you will read about common problems with LED strip lights, which can emit light, cause a color change, or even cause total breakage. The information in this article will help you to avoid these problems, for sure.

There are several things about lights that are different. You should read about them carefully if you want to save time and money.

Knowing what can cause damage to the LED strip lights definitely helps you prevent the LED lights from breaking and changing color. 

Poor power source for LED lights

This problem of lights that are different is quite common. When you buy the LED lights and other electrical mechanisms, you should check the required voltage of the LED strip light. And, at the same time, you should be aware of the available voltage in your own house.

It may turn out that the house’s voltage is not enough for the LED lights. This poor power source definitely leads to the fading and changing of colors that would not be bright and could easily turn yellow. 

In this case, it is recommended to buy suitable LED lights that would be perfect for your house’s power source. Don’t buy a more powerful source because, unfortunately, it may be dangerous. And may not fix LED lights problems with lights that are different.

Therefore, you need to find an alternative solution to this issue.

The quality of LED lights is bad

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Poor LED light quality is another negative thing that you may face with LEDs that emit light. Fading color in the LED strip light and other lights that are different is a common issue.

It is recommended to buy special, high-quality LED lights that can serve you for a long time and cause minimal problems with lighting. 

Problem with the voltage drop of light sources

Most of the cheap LED strip lights contain less copper than the good and expensive strip lights. And this is one of the reasons why the color is changing on these LED strips. Copper is a special metal that is used to provide electricity.

If there is not enough copper, there will be high resistance, which easily leads to voltage drops. The voltage drop is the thing occurring when color is changing as far as it is from the supply power. That creates the issue with lights that are different.

Low-cost materials

Another negative feature of the poor quality of LED strip lights is that all the light sources that the lights are made of are cheap. The diode can be way too sensitive; it may become worse and appear in lights that are different very quickly.

There is nothing you can do but buy an LED strip light of the best quality.

If you buy low-cost LED strip lights, in the end, you will get to pay much more anyway because they can get broken really fast, and there appear lights that are different, and you will have to replace them and pay more.

Overheating LED strips

LED strips can be severely damaged just because of too much heat. The LED lights get broken, and there may be lights that are different very quickly if the heat in the place where they are is too high. 

It can happen because you placed them in hot places like a kitchen with warm air, which has significant heat, or because the room where the LED strips are doesn’t have good ventilation, and the room is not cooled down. 

So, in this case, you have to protect the LED strips, for sure, and there are several things that you can do. 

It is not recommended to place the LED lights on the wood surface, since wood gets significantly heated very quickly and may influence the heating level of the strip lights.

It is better to attach the LED strips to metallic or ceramic surfaces. In these places, there is not too much heat.

You can place the LED lights in a cold space, far away from the source of heat. 

You can purchase a special double-sided tape that has a cooling effect due to the heat dissipation mechanisms in the adhesive and that prevents the LED strip lights from overheating. It can help if you have attached the LED lights to the surface using tape.

The price is not very low, but it is worth it if you care about the LED light strip. 

Another thing that can definitely help is an aluminum channel that is a sort of heat sink. The features of this metal let the channel protect the strip lights from overheating and cool them in the hot spaces.

So, if you get the LED light strips in the hot rooms where the heat is almost always there, then you should consider buying the aluminum channel.

There is paint on the LED lights

It is recommended not to paint the wall or other surface when LED light strips are placed. Or, you are to protect them from getting painted strongly.

The problem with paint in the diodes and in circuits is serious, so you have to take all measures to prevent it. Why is that so?

If paint gets on the diode, it starts to change color, or the color starts to fade, and it happens very quickly. So, removing the paint from the diodes to prevent the appearance of light-emitting diodes is highly recommended.

But if the paint gets on the circuits, then the LED light strips can be seriously damaged; they will flicker, and the diode may stop working properly at all because the strip is shorted.

So, when it comes to painting, you have to take it seriously and prevent any paint from dropping on the LED light strips if you do not want to pay more money.

How to fix LED lights of improper color: instructions

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It depends on the cause of the color change if you are able to fix LED lights. But, fortunately, sometimes you can really fix LED lights and enjoy the illumination of the LED light all the time. So, you should read the instructions and choose what is appropriate for your particular issue with the LED strips changing colors.

Plug it correctly

First and foremost, you get to ensure that the LED lights are connected to the power source correctly. The strip lights get to be plugged in correctly. And the RGBW LED strip lights connector’s wire needs to be plugged into the power source on the exact same side as the +12V.

And the “+” end of the connector gets to be aligned with the positive side of the LED lights.

Another step is to ensure that the wires with “R”, “G”, and “B” are also connected correctly. 

Sometimes the light is fading due to incorrect plugging in. By doing these easy steps, you are able to fix LED lights problem quickly and remove the problems with discolored LED light strips.

Change the controller to fix LED lights

Quite often, the problem may be with the controller of the LED strip light. And if it is so, you get to fully replace the controller with the new one, because if you want to get your LED strip lights to work, it can be the only way, unfortunately.

Try to reset the controller to fix LED lights

Another way of solving the issue with the fading light of the LED lights is by resetting the RGB controller. The settings of the LED lights are able to go back to the factory defaults.

And it is good because sometimes, due to the damage to the LED lights, the settings change seriously, and it may cause the color to change. Resetting the RBG controller will remove any changes that the lighting system has made. 

To reset the controller, follow the instructions. You need to push the “On” button or another power button that you get on your controller and hold it for a while. And then, after this amount of time, you can let the button go, and that is it. The controller has been reset. 

Fix voltage drop and power supply

In case the lights are changing and fading, depending on the distortion of the power supply, you get to replace the whole wiring with a better one with a bigger amount of copper in it.

Then the fading of the lights will be eliminated, and you will be able to run multiple strips. 

Another way to fix LED lighting is to attach another power supply to those areas of the LED strip where the lights are fading or different LED light colors are appearing. 

Conclusion

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The LED strip lights give you wonderful illumination, but if they are not made correctly and have poor quality, then you may expect them to get broken over time and change the colors of the diodes.

The same thing can easily happen if you do not treat the LED strip lights properly, or if you put them in very hot places without an aluminum channel or a special tape with cooling effects. The LED lights get overheated and can be seriously damaged, unfortunately. 

Or if you decide to paint the surface where the LED lights are, and the paint drops on the diodes or on the circuit, you must be able to fix LED lights. Just follow the instructions from the article and be attentive to the LED strip.

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