In an earlier video I divided a string of LED lights into three sections of six LEDs each and attempted to put 3-in-1 oil into one string, WD40 oil into another and left one untouched. They've been out in the garden for a while now and have been thoroughly ravaged by stormy coastal weather conditions.
The first thing that happened was that the bottom LED in each string went very corroded looking and went out. This may be because they were where all the water drained to, and because they were open-end up. Latterly two other sections went out, although this may be down to the serious wind that meant they spent a lot of time flaying about horizontally. All strings had corrosion in some of the holders, some at the copper end and most at the steel LED lead end. The winner (if it can be called that) was the 3-in1 oil followed by the WD40. However, it didn't work as well as desired so I'd actually say the dripping of oil into the LEDs was not a success.
The first thing that happened was that the bottom LED in each string went very corroded looking and went out. This may be because they were where all the water drained to, and because they were open-end up. Latterly two other sections went out, although this may be down to the serious wind that meant they spent a lot of time flaying about horizontally. All strings had corrosion in some of the holders, some at the copper end and most at the steel LED lead end. The winner (if it can be called that) was the 3-in1 oil followed by the WD40. However, it didn't work as well as desired so I'd actually say the dripping of oil into the LEDs was not a success.
how this led connections diagram?
Should have shot the wire with either lacquer, clear ,gloss . or acrylic spray paint that probably wouldn't sealed it and kept the water out
Clive
Did you find any good way of sealing the gap between the heat shrink and LEDs?
I thought I would be OK with the set of isicle lights I bought as the PSU was outputting AC to give a rudementary twinkle effect with only two wire and having the LEDs wired in alternating polarity, but no some show that rust staining after less than a month up 🙁
Cheers
Having seen your attempts at a solution I decided to try something called Liquid Electrical Tape. I just coated the place where the wires go into the back of the light to stop water from entering. I will let you know if it actually stops the corrosion.
My local electronics store sells this neat dual-layer heat shrink, that contains a hotmelt glue on the inside. I found that it's really effective as a waterproofing when I used it to seal the contacts of LED strips to protect them from dog pee in a pet store. I figure the act of the shrinking really crams the glue into the crevices.
I have had reasonable luck with a tin of high quality marine polyurethane clear varnish diluted 50 50 with turps. I dunked sets of 500 icicle lights and hung them to dry. Worked really well, to stop uv destruction of the pvc insulation. and sealed every led for water.
Try good quality silicone sealant – I seal all the solar power lights and gizmos that i use outdoors as they all get water ingress into the battery and led parts – not had an issue now since ive been using the Lidl Greek Silicone sealant for £2.99 its as good as the most expensive sealants on the market imho.
May be worth a test using grease injected in with syringe and needle that you use for refilling inkjet cartridges.