To be fair i have seen this issue a few times over the years but mainly with diy audio boards. Too large a washer, brass standoffs when they should be nylon etc. I once shorted out an amplifier power supply i had built, the brass washer i used was slightly too wide and just caught the edge of a live track. Maybe a warning sticker on each strip could avoid this happening again, the product is otherwise exceptional imo.
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I say this as positive criticism, the traces are too close to the bolt holes not allowing for nuts, bolt heads or washersā¦you know what needs to be done.
@Fisch for a fix I reckon nylon washers will fix your problem and the bolts do not need to be tight at all they just need to be done up so everything is together.
If the bolts are bigger than M3 you need to change them.
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I actually think nylon screws are a good idea. A heavy handed individual could easily put too much pressure on the strip with metal screws and damage the PCB or even cause it to hump/rise up and loose contact pressure with the sink in-between the fixing points.
@Fisch hopefully the nylon washer and screws fix the issue bc you certainly built a nice rig.
Everyday Iām inching closer and closer to making the switch to @Baudelaire ās SOL strips but Iām really gonna have to educate myself and get better versed with all the engineering and electrical jargon before I can even pretend Iām ready to take on a DIY project such as this. HIDs are certainly no good for the summer monthsā¦ glad thereās folks like yāall here bc I feel like Iāve at least learned a few basics on this new tech. Even watched a couple YouTube videos to try to get a grasp on the basicsā¦
Wishing you the best in troubleshooting this issue. Hopefully the nylon screws and washer suggestions solve your problem! Otherwise looks like some great work. I second the wiring props too! Super neat and clean!
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These strips are as easy as it gets to diy build an led rig. @Baudelaire has made it simple, there are all the guides you need on his solstrip site to choose number of strips, how to blend them and what driver to use. The wiring is simple series connection and the voltage is low at only 24V, safe for beginners to build, and much safer than mains powered rigs to operate. You will also get loads of help from people on here.
HLG-150H-SPEC.PDF (218.8 KB)
Iām using two of these drivers to power my solstrip rigs. If you open the pdf and scroll down to near the bottom there are guides for connecting to led lights.
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Itās parallel wiring on strips bro. And series on cobs at least for me. @Swampthing if youāre stuck give me a shout when Iām back in sunny Manchester and Iāll throw you a personal tutorial together.
Strips are 
the easiest form of diy out there. If youāre stateside. The only thing I will suggest is attach your driver to the frame not remote as it will give you a ānatural earthā bro
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Oops nice catch bro, donāt know why i said series when i know the strips should all be paralleled. The drivers are earth protected so iām happy bro. Iāve never heard of any other low voltage transformer powered DC equipment being directly connected to mains ground btw 
I did read someones suggestion on RIU to take a single core jumper from your drivers mains plug earth pin and connect it to your rigs frame. Thatās really not cool at all bro lol
Maybe next time i stick my car battery on charge i should run a wire from the bodywork to the house earth circuitā¦on second thoughts, thatās just sheer paranoia at workā¦then again there is that there door bell transformer to considerā¦
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I dont think the US ground at the wall like we do bro. But Iām not on the way their circuits run. I just remembered when I built my first cob rig @Jellypowered said the driver on the frame would act as an Earth. That wasnt my reasoning for attaching driver to frame but seems logical
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We have a twin wire feed and return with separate earth bro. The US and plenty others simply connect their earth (ground) to the return, or neutral. It works, it still trips the breakers BUT it isnāt quite as safe. Places that use that method usually have a lower line voltage which is in itself slightly safer but it increases the current demand to do the same work.
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Yāall are making it sound a lot easier than I had imagined.
What do you mean by ānatural earthā btw @anon58740919
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Sorry, i think you are 100% wrong on this one.
First - using metal bolts/washers on printed circuit boards is the error here. Thats just not good practice in electronics in general.
Second - its not always possible for the traces to avoid the bolt holes - especially if you need large traces to carry larger currents - as in these boards. Good design practice often dictates that you have to place the mounting holes in less than ideal places in order to preserve circuit integrity or function.
Third - it is clearly, and repeatedly, spelled out in fine detail in the instructions that you MUST use the proper mounting hardware or things will go wrong. Since when is it ok to NOT follow the installation procedure/instructions - which again are clearly spelled out - including the reasons why and what will go wrong - and then blame the seller?
Its not possible to idiot proof everything, and I dont think its right to blame the designer/seller when the customer was very clearly - and repeatedly - warned.
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The word āgroundā or āearthā in electrical wiring and electronics originally comes from the fact that they literally use the ground - as in dirt. soil, the earth itself - to ground things. The word āearthā is also used interchangeably with āgroundā. The word ācommonā also comes from the fact that the earth is the one ācommonā or shared thing to all electrical circuits on planet Earth - this includes lightening and the earths entire electrical system 
In all modern homes, businesses, etc that I know of - at least in the US, all electrical wiring is required by code to have an āearthā ground. They will take a long copper rod and drive it into the ground and attach a lead to it which runs to the ground in the main electrical panel.
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These units are sold as DIY to non electricians and non electronics technicians they do need to be fool proof.
It is always possible to design different.
My units came with nylon washers and no instructions.
There is no blame game here buddy just a community trying to help each other.
Percentage of wrongness is in the eye of the beholder I guess.
Have a fantastic day.
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Good point. LED rigs are very expensive for high quality ones with parts like the ones @Baudelaire is sellingā¦ so putting them together yourself will obviously save you a lot in cost relative to the ones already put together. That being said, there is a learning curve for all of us non-techies.
Is there a āhow toā thread? Also, maybe a list of everything we need? Maybe I just skipped over it, in which case I apologize.
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Your light would be grounded to the frame bro
Hi guys 
I Am at work so nothing long to write 
BUt overall I am 100% responsible for the mistake 
Shit happensā¦ I am curently removing all of the screws and I hope that it wont do any problems anymore. But I dont think so because even when I tight the screws really gently they already left some damage marks on the strips but will see. I used the termal paste so I cant and I dont want to use termal TAPE anymore. But I will definetly use the tape on future builds etc.
Instead of the screws I am mounting the strips with zip ties to the heat sinks and seem to work very well now. I did 4 strips so far so I cant tell if it works yet.
I will post pictures in the evening. Its 10:44 AM in czech republic now
Thanks for the activity guys I really appreciate it!
Keep growing!
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Once you have removed all those steel fasteners and cable ties are fitted, turn your driver outputs down before you switch them on to test them Donāt turn them right up until the strips are fastened firmly with nylon fastenings. Good luck mate!
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That should work as an interim solution. If you used thermal āpasteā as opposed to āgreaseā you may not need either screws or ties. The paste is an epoxy that should hold the strips on its own.
Actually I donāt recommend SolStrip DIY projects for ānon-electronics techniciansā. Thatās why we offer complete kits and assembled units. Both the kits and the units include all of the proper hardware and instructions to build the intended lights. DIY is just that, ādo it yourselfā. We have customers who build 25 strip mega-racks, and two-strip shelf and space bucket designs. We have folks building desert habitat lighting, reef tank and vivarium lighting, kitchen cabinet lighting, and laboratory bench lighting. Our designs are proven and broadly applicable to a wide range of uses.
Hereās a snip of our X2 strip circuit design, showing the placement of the traces:
As you can see, thereās quite a bit going on underneath the thin PCB mask layer. Keep in mind that in addition to routing power to the LED chips, the copper circuits perform a critical heat mitigation role by reducing resistance and providing a heat dispersion pathway from the chip to the aluminum backing and finally the heatsink. The answer to the question āhow can we design the circuits to perform these dual roles better?ā is simple: wider, thicker traces using more expensive copper. 2 oz. of copper to be exact.
Designs can always get better, but designs are always compromises between competing priorities. Thicker copper traces leave less room for large, reinforced bolt holes, which are entirely unnecessary to mount a 3.5 oz. LED strip. Weāve chosen superior circuit design, quality PCB construction, and superior LED components over bullet-proof mounting holes. Use the suggested mounting options: M3 nylon screws, or thermal tape, and none of these issues will arise. -b420
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Check WhatsApp @Baudelaire dropped you a message there regarding the strips I forgot you needed to send still
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On it amigo. Check email later today, good things in the offing for SolStrips UKā¦
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