CreativeLightings Blue LED Side View Fire Flexible Strip Light Tape, 12VDC, Waterproof IP65, SMD 335 300leds 16.4 feet 5 Meter Black 8mm PCB Lighting, Side-Emitting Glow (Sapphire Blue)

This edge emitting, LED strip is a rip-off in EVERY way but unfortunately, CreativeLightings.com is the only current source for this item and Amazon, at least, is a reliable go-between.DECEPTION is obvious when you try to use this product in the versatile manner it is represented. For starters, these emitters are bug-light YELLOW, not amber, so be prepared for that! The next tip off is that BOTH ENDS of the strip are supplied with wired-on coaxial plug connectors and a matching socket connector with red and black, tinned leads. "How nice." you might think and sure enough, you can test both end connections in turn, and the strip lights up bright yellow. So far, I was a little disappointed in the color, but since I was using these to replace existing, yellowish, SM-5050 LED's I figured, "Oh well." and got on with my project.My particular application required EDGE emitting LED's because my regular SM-5050 LED strips could not be curved enough to fit my application and the edge-emitting configuration would solve the mounting problem. Looking at the enclosed literature, I saw that this strip was represented to be just like any other IP66 strip and indeed, the included instructions for cutting and soldering were the same. So far, so good.Now my requirements were for a pair of two 11 segment strips, each to be wired in series to produce a pair of 22 segment, 24 volt strips that would fit exactly into the spaces vacated by a pair of similarly, series-wired SM-5050 emitting strips that they were replacing. These, in turn are wired in series with an existing SM-5050 11 segment strip to produce a 60 VDC lighting configuration that takes advantage of the directionality and mounting characteristics peculiar to edge emitting LED strips. While seeming a bit obtuse, I'm including these details to show that simply changing power connections or physically swapping the two constructed strips would be of no avail. They were each unique and because of the consequences I am about to show, had to be completely remade.Back to construction details. In good faith, carefully noting the polarity markings on the strip and the emitting orientation of the LED's, I cut a pair of 22 segment strips out of the center of the reel (since I could not use the single ended, dual conductor cable that was attached to each end of the reel) and proceeded to wire each of the polarity marked ends with appropriate, single, red and black wires. The centers of each 22 segment strip formed the series connection between the two 12 VDC, 11 segment ends. This involved carefully cutting out the appropriate shorting edges to retain structural integrity and bridging the + and - buses so that the parallel 12VDC LED segments were properlly polarized to form a 24 VDC strip from end to end. I then secured everything with shrink tubing and silicone as specified in the instructions, to establish IP66 specifications. Just to be on the safe side, before mounting, I then tested each of the series wired (now 24 volts from end to end) strips with 11.7 VDC instead of 24 VDC. NOTHING! Could my wiring be faulty? I tested the second of the pair. Again, NOTHING!Should I immediately tear everything apart? Instead, I tried reversing the polarity of my 11.7 VDC battery pack and there was LIGHT! I rechecked my power source polarity, hooked it up to each of the Creative Lighting Solutions-wired end segments and they lighted. What gives? Well folks, the printed circuit "board" markings do NOT match the required polarity. They are REVERSED. Now, either the people who made the board stencil messed it up, or the edge-emitting LED's that were soldered onto it had reverse polarity from what was designed. What were the manufacturers to do? Scrap the batch and start over or label the product an mismarked and maybe take a little less of a profit?And how about the retailers? Could they, sell a mismarked item? Who made the decision and where? In any case, it was a MANUFACTURING DEFECT! But the product worked! Now, you can sell a mismarked product to the maker of a consumer product, but you OUGHT NOT to sell it to the public without FULL DISCLOSURE.Did Creative Lighting Solutions know about this? YOU BET THEY DID! How do I know? Because they COVERED IT UP by reverse-wiring BOTH ends of the strip WITH ROUND cable so that MOST of their customers would not know the difference. All of the many LED lighting strips that I have purchased come with the red and black leads wired directly to the strip and covered by flat shrink tubing so you can see that the red lead lines up with the +++ edge and the black lead lines up with the --- edge. CLS even included a coaxial "adapter" lead with exposed red and black wire ends so that everything would APPEAR to be "normal." An oversight? Not likely! Creative Lighting Solutions ALSO included a detailed, cutting and soldering guide, even hand highlighting weatherproofing instructions at the end so yes, it was known and INTENDED that SOME customers were going to cut and wire this product AND that the product was supposed to comply with standard marking and wiring procedure.Can CLS plead ignorance about the the intended consumer of this "new" LED strip lighting product? Considering the evidence, not likely! Could they have mentioned that there was a manufacturing error with THIS strip and that someone other than a plug-n-play individual would need to know this crucial fact? Yes, the COULD have, but they DID NOT!!!!WHY?Creative Lighting Solutions charges a premium price for this strip, more than 4 times what other vendors charge for the same quality SM-5050 strips. Are SM-335's that much more expensive? I doubt it. And then, CLS has the unmitigated gall to overcharge for USPS shipping, and with sales tax on this overinflated tariff, I ended up forking out $80 for what was represented to be a direct replacement for a $14 item. On top of that, I was forced to waste 2 days reworking, rebuilding and correcting an inoperable assembly that would have been completely avoided with a little honesty! Would admitting that CLS is delivering a product that deviates from the norm and and simply informing any potential "hobbiest" that they know the markings are wrong and exactly what they had done to deliver a working product to the consumer who only wanted to use "whole" 5-M strips, have cost them that much in sales? Probably not. In fact, admitting it and offering a slight discount would most likely, be beneficial and enhance their image. Instead, they chose to lie about it. QEDAm I UNhappy with Creative Lighting Solutions? Absolutely! will I EVER patronize them again? NO!!!!Caveat Emptor; let the buyer beware! DISHONESTY ought to be exposed because it denotes POLICY.Your call my friends, I'm only trying to provide a service.

Edit: the review below is for white strips. I ordered amber strips after the white, and the amber strips had the polarity reversal problen noted by another reviewer (years after that review).High quality side-emitting LED strips. My batch had correct polarity markings on the PCB. Expensive, but about the only source of side-emitting, black PCB strips I can find (that aren't Chinese junk).

Great quality and good adhesive

I love the various types of projects this thig can be used on. Much more brighter than I thought being a side mounted LED. It also helps that they are close to each other so you won't get that single LED look.