LED Strip Lights
 

I've got some cheap weatherproof LED lights that are prone to rapidly failing. First a color stop working at first, followed by more colors and finally the LED will not function at all.

At first I thought the urethane covering the LED strip was causing them to overheat, but I just did an experiment on a small section where I slowly peeled back the urethane while the LEDs were on. Just as the urethane is pulled away from the center of the LED, it stops working. Pressing it back in gets it to work again. It seems the PN junctions are exposed and the urethane contact is needed for them to work.

I think the LEDs are not burning out, but losing contact with the urethane over time. My question is, what sort of LED tech requires urethane to operate?

Anyhow, I can't recommend the weatherproof ones since they don't last.

Maybe it's just that the urethane keeps pressure on a contact? Have you tried for instance clampin a strip of wood against the back?

You can barely tell from the photo, but I left a button of urethane in the last LED that had the strip of urethane pulled away. That little bit is enough to allow the LED to operate. Pull it out and it stops working. It seems the urethane itself has electrical properties to make the LED work, but perhaps it's just putting pressure on the PN junction?

At work we have a silicone spray we put on all electronics which will be used in highly corrosive environments. Might be worth a try?

Check these variants www.bestadvisers.co.uk/led-light-bars. There is different sizes. I'm using 22 for my Chevy.

Those light bars are different from strip lights.

I don't use waterproof ones in principle, they stop working too quickly

I also face the problem that the tapes quickly stop working. I have been searching the Internet for various reasons for a long time, but everything was wrong for me. And a classmate advised me to order from my friends ukled.co.uk the driver for the LED tape. I had nothing to lose, and I decided to try it. I don't know how, but it worked. After using the driver, I realized that it was not about the self-tape but the voltage. And the working time of the LED tape has also increased. In general, an incredible thing; try it. Also, I'm currently looking for only such a LED tape so that there are multi-colored LEDs on it. I drag myself through such lighting.