Guide 2: Mounting 230V LED Strip in kitchen cabinet. Mounting the LED strip in safety protection profiles.

Continuation of Guide 1: https://es.ifixit.com/Gu%C3%ADa/Gu%C3%AD...

As a safety measure, once the profiles are fixed to the furniture, in each of the 4 corners, we will place some small, cut pieces of electrical tape, preferably white to minimize the "dark corner" effect, which is inevitable with this 230 V strip; with 12 V or 24 V LED strips, you can shape the corners better.

With strips like this 230 V one, you cannot shape the corners, as the risk of a short circuit or electrical accident is high.

Views of the remaining corners with the electrical tape applied.

To power the LED strip, a connector that fits the strip is sold commercially, but it is huge and does not fit in the profile used, so in my case I have opted to solder thin 0.8 mm wires directly to the 2 L - N connection points of each section of the LED strip.

To pass the wires to the back, I have located the hole with the help of a flashlight and a piece of rigid wire; you can also use a piece of wire that is not very thick and catch it with a pair of needle-nose pliers, take your time with it, sometimes depending on the distance it is not easy, but it can be done.

View of the white "guide" wire that will help pass the LED strip wire.

The LED strip can ONLY be cut to separate one section from another in the areas marked by the manufacturer (solder joints between one 10 cm section and the next).

When you need to make a 90º turn (corner), cut the LED strip at the area marked by the manufacturer and join one section to the next using 0.8 mm thin wires soldered from L to L and N to N.

Exploded view of the 2 soldered cables; BE CAREFUL TO RESPECT THE SEPARATION BETWEEN THE 2 SOLDER JOINTS, remembering that between them in this case (LED strip used in Europe) there will be 230 V AC.

View of the 2 strips connected by a soldered cable.

LED strip attached to the aluminum profile; note that the strip is only powered from one end, the other end remains free.

In my case, I left the 0.8 mm wires too short, ERROR; LEAVE THEM LONG TO WORK COMFORTABLY. I have attached ferrules for a better connection to the terminal block. My advice is to leave the wires much longer, with about 30 cm of excess, so you can work much more comfortably.

First, test the strip once it has been installed, before proceeding to install the protective light-diffusing covers.

Trimming the diffuser covers is a laborious task, as you have to take and retake measurements several times for each cover. Cut with a saw and touch up with a file.

END of Guide.