How to Cut Govee LED Lights and Connect Them Together? | LEDwatcher

LED strip lights are one of the best and most fascinating ways to decorate and illuminate a room or space. They offer a nice, low-key, pleasant light that’s perfect for accenting certain objects and areas without being too bright and off-putting. they’re affordable, easy to use, and are becoming increasingly popular for good reason.

However, many are not clear about things like whether govee led strip lights can be cut, how to connect them together and other similar questions. The entire process is relatively simple, but it can be overwhelming at first.

so, here’s our quick guide.

how to cut govee led lights?

led strip lights are designed to be cut to any length you want and govee led strips are made as easy to cut as possible. the trick is knowing where to cut the govee led lights. each strip has specific breakpoints between every two or three leds that are easily noticed. the cut line will be surrounded by copper dots on each side. this is what you want to do:

1. decide what length you want for your strip and measure it. if you want to practice first, cut a short strip to test.
2. Use sharp scissors or a sharp utility knife and cut the line between the copper dots as precisely as possible. you don’t want to cut off the copper points, as then you won’t be able to power the entire led strip.

and that’s it, there’s nothing else. again, try a short strip first if you’re not sure how sharp your scissors are or you’re worried you’ll mess something up.

how to connect govee lights together?

Now that you have a led strip of the right length, it’s time to connect it to a power source and place it where you want it. this is the most complicated part of the process, but it is also very doable. there are two main ways to do it.

using a quick connector

The easiest, simplest and fastest way to do this is to use a quick connector. quick connectors are simple devices that are sold in any hardware store, they can also be purchased together with your govee or other led lights. This is a very simple way to connect the copper points of the LED strips to the electrical circuit. this is what you would do:

1. pull the plastic bar 1⁄8 in. away from the quick connector. it is usually black and is at the end of the connector. it’s delicate, so be careful and pull it forward.
2. place the + and – symbols on the back of the led strip, across from the copper dots. the connector should have two wires, one black and one red. align the black wire with the – (minus) sign and the red wire with the + sign.
3. peel the adhesive backing off the led 1⁄4 in. (0.64 cm). just pull back enough to expose the copper points/terminals for the connector. if there is no adhesive backing but a plastic cover, use a box cutter to gently cut the plastic off the terminals.
4. connect the copper points of the led to the quick connector.
5. close the plastic led bar back over the quick connector.
6. connect the quick connector wires to a power supply with a terminal wire connector. if you don’t have one, you can get one at any hardware store. match the black and red wires to the correct slots in the terminal wire connector. then simply turn the connector screws clockwise to screw the wires into place. plug everything into a power source and you’re good to go.

soldering the leds together

if you don’t want to use a quick connector, you can try soldering the leds together. We recommend using a quick connector in pretty much all situations, but soldering can work too – you’re doing the same thing, just without a quick connector. this is what you should do:

1. remove the plastic cover or adhesive that covers the copper points of the led strips.
2. get a soldering iron from a hardware store and heat it up. Next, hold a metal solder wire over the copper terminals of the LED strip. melt the solder wire with the soldering iron directly on the copper spots. just melt enough wire to create small puddles of metal to cover the copper points of the LEDs.
3. Get a plastic cap from a hardware or home improvement store. cut a small hole with a box cutter, small enough for a couple of wires.
4. cut the black and red wires to the length you need and feed them through the hole in the plastic cover.
5. use wire strippers to strip one-half inch (1.3 cm) from the ends of the wires. you can get wire strippers at any hardware store.
6. twist the end of each wire to bring the frayed strands together. then use the soldering iron again to melt the solder on the exposed wires.
7. Matching the polarity of each wire (black with the – (minus) sign and red with the + sign) solder the wires to the metal already you’ve soldered the copper leads to the leds.
8. connect the wires to a power source. if you don’t want to use a terminal wire connector, you can twist the ends of the wire and cover them with shrink tubing or use an end cap.
9. glue another plastic cap over the connection between the wires and the leds to make it safe to touch. you can use silicone glue for that, it won’t interfere with the electrical connection.

And that’s it. Test the lights, if they don’t light up you’ve likely connected the wires incorrectly. That’s unlikely, however, the more common problem is leaving exposed wires which can be dangerous so, always make sure you glue plastic end caps over every exposed wire connection.

how to glue to separate the led strip lights together?

This is done in exactly the same two ways you would connect a single light strip to a power source. you can use quick connectors or a soldering iron. However, instead of connecting the quick-connect or solder strips to one power source, simply use a second quick-connect or second soldering operation to connect the wires to another LED strip. that is all. You can connect two or more govee led strips together and then just connect one of them to a power source; if all the connections are made correctly, they should all light up perfectly.