12V LED Modules for Channel Letters, 3-LED, IP65 Waterproof

These are the small light modules that sit inside a channel letter or a lightbox and light the face. Each module has three LEDs under lenses in a sealed, injection-molded housing, and the modules come joined in a chain by wire, with adhesive tape on the back of each one. They run on 12 V DC and are rated IP65: dust-tight and protected against water jets from any direction, which suits the inside of an outdoor letter. Sign shops call them LED sign modules, injection modules or channel letter lights.

Choose the color and the pack:

• White 6500 K, 20 or 100 pieces.
• Warm white 3000 K, 20 or 100 pieces.
• Red, 20 pieces.

Use them to repair a sign rather than replace it: swap a dead run, relight a letter that has gone dark, or add light to a dim corner.

Match the color temperature of the modules already in the sign. A 6500 K run next to a 3000 K run looks blue beside yellow through the same white face. If you are not sure which white you have, replace all the modules in that letter so the whole letter matches.

The usual spacing is about 3 in apart along the middle of each stroke. Wide strokes need more than one row; how many depends on the stroke width and the depth of the letter, so copy the layout that is already in the sign when you can.

A typical repair, with the power off:

• Take off the face. On trim-cap letters, the face comes out with the trim cap.
• Cut out the dead modules and note which wire is positive.
• Clean the surface, peel the backing and press the new modules in place.
• Join the wires positive to positive and negative to negative with connectors rated for outdoor use, and seal them.
• Test before you close the letter.

Feed each run from the 12 V supply in parallel. Several shorter runs, each wired back to the supply, light more evenly than one very long chain, because thin wire loses voltage along its length and the last modules glow dimmer.

Adding modules adds load. Check that the power supply still has headroom: the LEDs should use no more than about 80 percent of its rating. Ask us for the watts per module if you are sizing a supply.

To count modules, measure along the middle of each stroke of the letter in inches, add the strokes together and divide by 3. A stroke wide enough to need two rows counts twice. Add a few spares; the 100-piece pack makes sense once you are relighting more than three or four medium letters.

To pick the color, look at the old modules or at the sign at night. A crisp, slightly blue white is 6500 K; a yellowish, warm white is 3000 K. If the letter has a red face lit with red modules, take red.

Before you add modules, read the label on the power supply and confirm it says 12 V DC. If the sign runs on 24 V, these modules are not the right match.