LED Courtesy Lights

I purchased some LED strips from a guy in China on Ebay to use as courtesy lights. I hooked every strip up individually to make sure they worked before install and everything lit up and was very bright. I didnt even realize untill I was installing them today, that all of them have the contacts sticking out of the resin in one place or another. I found this problem after installing them and several of them wouldnt light and the ones that did, melted the wires. They have very small wires coming out of them. So, now I'm a little nervous to use them even if I can find some sort of backer so they arnt contacting the aluminum. I have 12 or 13 strips and had only planned to use 5 so I have plenty left. Is there a simple solution to fix these or should I just buy some more from a better source. If so, where is a good source. Id need 5 green strips about 9" long. By the way, I paid a buck per strip. I guess the old saying that you get what you pay for rings true here.

Heres a couple pics so you can see what I mean about the contacts not being fully enclosed in the resin.

I hate to say it, but Id throw those ones out. If they melted the wires, that would be enough evidence for me to get better ones. The ones I purchased have the LEDs embedded completely in the plastic, with two lead wires at one end, nothing else poking through. They are 9" as well. I got mine from a store here in Canada similar to your harbourfrieght stores..

I'll toss these and buy new ones if it means not burning my boat down on the lake but I just had a thought before I do. This looks to be a flexable resin or silicone product that these are imbedded in. What if I cut strips of a bicycle intertube the same size as the back and smeared silicone on the back and then put the rubber strip on it? Am I still asking for trouble down the road? I only have 20 bucks in these so if I have to toss em, I will, no biggie. They looked pretty before they shut down, lol!!

HF dosnt have any LED strips. I cant think of anyplace I could get them local.

Before anyone asks, yes, my breaker tripped and thats why the wires only melted and didnt catch fire. The ground wire got hot enough before it tripped that it melted all the insulation off of the wire though.

There used to be an LED place that sponsored the site. Are they still around?

Blue water led

I've yet to purchase these so I don't have actual experience with them, but I'm planning on using these mounted under the gunwale in various spots. Been talking to dearjon who used a different module for his navigation lights from this company that he was happy with. I'm also planning on using the same ones he did for my bow lights.

https://www.oznium.com/premium-led-module

Dearjon's build. His nav light pictures are on page 2.

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=26483


They are relatively inexpensive and I'm thinking I'll only need 3-4 per side to light my 16 footer. Going to go with green or red. Something too brite like standard white will kill your night vision.

I also bought light strips off eBay, mine turned out awesome though. The ones I bought were one continuous roll and I cut them off every third light and spliced the wires in. Completely sealed and waterproof

By the time you cut the inner tube, get silicone all over your fingers, etc.... For a buck each, just pack them up and send them to the waste bin..... Seems like these previous posts above have better products....Just my 2 cents...

Thanks for all the replies!!