LED Strip Warranty Guide

Hi-Line Lighting was founded with a passion for lighting. Since our inception, we have worked diligently to provide only the best available components on the market.

Many of our LED strips, which you will find on our website, were originally sold with a 3 year warranty. The reason for this is that we had to account for the average installation; meaning that not everybody adheres to the strictest rules when it comes to fitting professional lighting. Projects change all the time and customers install however they can. While we always strongly suggest that the most suitable of surfaces are used for the application of a strip, we do understand that not everybody can meet these requirements.

Under such conditions, then, an LED strip may die out long before its time. Our LED strips use high-grade LED chips, which are the highest quality chips on the market; they go through a very selective binning process, which means that all of our strips remain consistently bright across the board. The average lifespan of these strips is 36,000 hours, so when we do the calculations, based on them being on for ten hours a day, 365 days a year, we can actually get more than 9 years of usage out of them. This is by design. Our strips are meant to last for many, many years and should therefore be considered as an investment.

However, to get the absolute best out of our strips, you must heed to the advice that whether its IP00 or IP65 and above, a strip will always perform better when placed on an aluminium flat-bar or an LED profile. Aluminium is a conductive surface, which helps to dissipate heat, thus in turn prolongs the lifespan of an LED strip. It makes sense that when you spend the kind of money on high-end professional equipment that you would want to safeguard its longevity by going that little further.

With this in mind, we have decided to extend the warranty for most of our IP00 LED strips to 5 years (check product listing for warranty details), under the condition that when you purchase from us, you intend to install your tape on one or the other of the aforementioned surfaces. If ever the time comes that your strip begins to malfunction, you can contact us about the problem and we can arrange to have the strip sent back to us for testing.

You will find that our IP65 strips stay at 3 years warranty. Anything that is designed for protection against water is affected greater, as the resin used on the protective coating can degrade depending on circumstance. This is why, if you can help it, to stick with IP00 if IP protection is not paramount to your installation. Various factors during installations can affect the way a strip will behave over time; the tiniest hole or exposure to moisture can lead to quick failure. Moreover, due to heat, the resin may destroy the chips if installed in high temperature areas without ventilation or a proper heat sink, so things like this make it difficult to offer any more than 3 years. 

Our IP68 strips, designed for use with saunas, steam rooms and pools also have 3 year warranty, which drops to 1 year if that strip is placed underwater.

None of the above means that IP65/67/68 strips will fail in less than 5 years, but they do require some care when installing to make sure you've covered all bases. 

LED Strips always exhibit tell-tale signs when they die out and so we are able to determine when an LED strip stops working whether or not it was installed in a profile/on a flat-bar. For example, if the chips themselves exhibit tiny black dots, we know that they weren’t housed in the appropriate manner. Sometimes, they may begin to decay after just 3 years, which again informs us of how they were installed. If an LED strip has a high temperature and isn’t well-ventilated, again this causes concern.

With all of the above said, if you are happy to work with us when you purchase your LED strip, we’re happy to help out when it comes to helping you enjoy your products. A little give and take can go a long way, so if ever you have any questions about a future project and would like the best and most honest advice available anywhere, please do give us a call on 020 3322 9192 or email us at Support.

You can also download our PDF LED Strip Installation Guide HERE.

We look forward to assisting you.