Having a lot of luck with getting outdoor garden spots to work. Had some RGB Alibaba lights running off 24v and a DMX controller. the ones mounted to point down failed due to water coming in the cable port. Looking to just replace with simple white ones but most of the outdoor spots seem to be sold as 12-24v.
The ones I bought seemed to indicate from the listing that they would work at 24v but turned up marked 12v AC (which was odd). Connected them momentarily to test and they worked, seemed bright. Installed the three I needed and they didn't work. Tested the spare one and left connected to 24v and it soon failed as well.
My knowledge here is sketchy - does the voltage matter for an LED? That there are different LED strips sold for 12 and 24V suggests it does, but then why are these sellers marking them as 12-24v?
How critical? Very, as you’ve found, you will burn them out.
Could connect 2 in series or wire in a resistor to make them suitable.
because the seller spent no more than 3 seconds writing the listing and/or doesn’t speak great English? Although my knowledge is pretty sketchy too so there could be another reason 😀why are these sellers marking them as 12-24v?
Most of the cheap ones just have a resistor in series so the voltage is pretty important. There are smarter ones that will work from a range of voltages but they are rare and unlikely to come cheap from China
LEDs tend to be able to run off a range of voltages, but around/just above their max will run very bright and burn out quickly. Often people designing their own lights using LED strip will run them off (e.g.) 9v instead of 12v. Drops the brightness a bit, but allows them to run off a lower amperage power supply, reduces cooling needs and will give them a much longer lifespan.