Why Are My LED Strip Lights Not Bright? Complete Fix!

You’re asking why are my LED strip lights not bright? We will answer that question!

Actually, LED strip lights tend to lose brightness due to aging and bad internal components.

Except for these irreversible faults, weak brightness on your LED strip lights could also be caused by loose wiring or activated dimming through the LED control station.

If your LED strip lights aren’t bright, make sure there are no loose connections in the setup and perform a power cycle. Check for a dimmer switch and increase the brightness of the LED remote. Lastly, attempt using a shorter run to increase the brightness.

It’s recommended that you learn what is decreasing the brightness in your LED strip lights and learn whether it’s possible to fix the issue with common troubleshooting.

Why Is My LED Light Not Bright?

First of all, it’s recommended that you determine whether there is a fault in your LED light setup. Such a problematic connection might be essential to find out why your LEDs are not bright.

For instance, loose wiring, improperly connected strips, or even problems with the power brick.

Here are the causes that are decreasing the brightness of your LED strips:

1. Problem With Power Brick

An insufficiency in regard to the power supply reaching your LED strips may impact the brightness of your EDs.

2. Faulty Connectors

Many users have installed connectors to attach their LED strips to one another. If those connectors are faulty, the LED may not be as bright.

3. Lengthy Strips

Having too lengthy strips (over 5-6 meters) may decrease the brightness of the LEDs in the given strip.

4. Loose Connections

Faulty or lose wiring in your LED strips setup may also impact the brightness of the device.

5. Power Outage

Sometimes after a power outage, the electricity in your household could be weaker and will decrease the brightness even on the ordinary bulbs.

Let’s, for now, exclude the possibility of a lethal fault with your LED strips and learn what you can do to fix the low brightness of your strip.

How To Fix LED Strip Losing Brightness?

Now that you know what could have impacted the brightness of your LED strip lights, we will provide you with the best-working solutions available for you.

Make sure to apply our fixes consecutively and test your LED strip’s brightness after each of the methods.

Here’s how to fix the brightness of your LED strips:

Solution #1 Power Cycle LED Electricity Supply

Power cycling your LED strips will definitely help with issues with the brightness and power problems in general.

Since the brightness is directly dependent on the electricity income, the less electricity the less brightness you will get out of your strips.

Here’s how to power cycle your LED power supply:

1. Go next to the LED power supply.
2. Press the power button on the supply once.
3. Locate the power adapter of the LED supply.
4. Unplug it from the power source.
5. Standby for 5 minutes.
6. Re-attach the adapter.
7. Test.

Note: Make sure to wait exactly for 5 minutes or more. Your LEDs must become cold on touch before connecting them.

Solution #2 Use Alternative Power Supply

In case you’re still asking why are my LED strip lights not bright, you should attempt connecting the strips’ power supply to an alternative source.

A problem with the current source of the LED supply may be causing the dim of your lights to drop significantly.

Simply detach the power supply of the LED strips and connect it to a different wall outlet.

It’s recommended that you use a wall outlet over a power strip/divider since these types of devices can be carriers of nasty issues.

Note: In case it’s too complex to use a standalone wall outlet, attempt with all inputs of your divider.

Solution #3 Disconnect Any Connectors

Many users find the LED strip connector very comfortable for creating their LED setup.

Little did you know, these connectors may significantly decrease the brightness on the strip that they use to connect to the main LED line.

You may even notice flickering in the LEDs that are next to the connector. You will want to get rid of these connectors and test if that would solve the low brightness on your LED strips.

Generally, the connectors have a LED strip light slot on each side and by disconnecting both of the strips from the connector, you’re able to take it away from the setup.

Note: After taking away any connectors you’ve connected, power cycle your LED supply and test again.

Solution #4 Reset LED Strip Power Supply

Resetting your LED strip power supply may just fix the brightness issue you’re experiencing.

That’s to say, since sometimes upon a boot sequence, the supply may not withdraw enough electricity to support 100% of the strip’s brightness.

Here’s how to reset your LED strip power supply:

1. Grab a paperclip or similarly sized object.
2. Go over to the power supply.
3. Insert the thin object into the reset hole of the supply.
4. Keep the object down for 8 seconds.
5. Release after the five-times flashing of the light strip.

Note: Only release the thin object after your LED strip flashes 5 times otherwise the reset won’t be complete.

Solution #5 Shorten LED Strip

Based on your LED power strips’ power supply, you’re limited in regard to how long your strips can be. Let’s say that your power supply can support around 10 meters of LED strips with full brightness.

If your strip is any longer than that, you will notice that the LEDs at the end of the strip dim will drop.

Important: Before cutting any of your LED strips, make sure that the power supply is unplugged from the source.

Where Should I Shorten My Strip?

That’s easy. Wherever the dim of the LEDs seems to be dropping, you will want to cut one LED before that to make sure everything is appropriate with the power supply.

Let’s say you have 10 meters of LED strip. If you notice that the last 2 meters seem to be dropping in dim, you will want to cut there.

How To Shorten LED Strip?

Shortening a LED strip is one of the easiest things. Actually, manufacturers have even thought of it and applied lines and parameters of where you should cut.

Between each light of your strip, there is a cut line. Use a pair of sharp scissors and forcefully de-attach the LED lights that are losing dim at the end of the strip.

Note: Disconnect the strip from the power beforehand, because there is a danger of electric shock due to left electricity.

Thus, to fix the brightness of your LED strip brights, power cycle the device and check for loose connection. Get rid of any connectors and shorten the LED strip to fix the dimming. You should also test with a proven to work wall outlet.

Read Next: How to Fix LED Strip Connector Not Working?

Bottom Line:

After answering “why are my LED strip lights not bright”, we hope you were able to fix the issue on your own.

After all, all electronics come to an end of life, you may notice some performance reduction for the time being, such as the low dim on your LED strips.