Dumb idea, or genius. (Temp range of LED tape

littlespark · Mar 19, 2023

Daydreaming today while at the ice rink.

Last day of the season, and they turned on their disco lights and music.
I got to thinking about embedding lights actually in the ice.
Would it be possible?
Not worried about the waterproof nature, but more any heat generated by a standard LED tape?
Could run the tape just an inch above the surface, but some clown would damage it with their skate.

nicebutdim · Mar 19, 2023

I don't believe LEDs would have any issue operating at those temperatures, but other electronics within tape could be problematic. There's bound to be plenty rated for much lower outdoor temperatures, common in colder climes.

Spoon · Mar 19, 2023

I'd go with, there would have to be a whacking big heatsink on them to keep the temp of them below 0.
Also maintenance of them would be a ball-ache.
On a positive note, they would look pretty.

Dustydazzler · Mar 19, 2023

I used to skate as a youth and I guarantee if you put flashy lights just below the surface of the ice , within 5 minutes of switching them on some skaters would use their toe picks to dig up the lights

Taylortwocities · Mar 20, 2023

Also you need to look at how the ice rink surface is maintained. It’s going to be melted, topped up with water and refilled periodically. Think there’s more IP issues to consider as well as temperature.

littlespark · Mar 20, 2023

Ok… so dumb idea.

Anything would have to be buried deep, as they do scrape off top layer after sessions and refill.
And PSUs would have to quite big for the length of tape involved.

Anything above the ice would get damaged… either by skates or the scraping machine.

The lights they have are fairly new, but original sound system gave up the ghost on Saturday night for an extra session.
It “burst into flames” before opening, so they had to improvise…. They had one unruly customer asked to leave… a window got broken and police were called.

Oh, and they had a complaint that the music was too loud.

From a house 100ft away, on a Saturday night!

I missed all that, as I went to the normal Sunday session.

Taylortwocities · Mar 20, 2023

You could have a look at how they use lighting effects on the dance floor on Strictly. Some very creative Laser stuff.
Might cost a few squillion though. Or hang around Elstree Studios on a Sunday and “borrow” some bits…

snowhead · Mar 20, 2023

I suspect along with some of the other potential issues, Volt Drop is going to be a problem.

However here's one someone did earlier,

LED Ice Rink

LED Ice Rink: Here is a cool project that I just did for my kids. An Ice Rink with remote controlled LED lights under the ice.

www.instructables.com

littlespark · Mar 20, 2023

snowhead said:
I suspect along with some of the other potential issues, Volt Drop is going to be a problem.

However here's one someone did earlier,

LED Ice Rink

LED Ice Rink: Here is a cool project that I just did for my kids. An Ice Rink with remote controlled LED lights under the ice.

www.instructables.com

Well that looks like redneck inginuity at its best…

“It was a bit bumpy when it froze, so I just used a hot iron”

I know it’s not a big town, but the ice rink is a full 4 lane curling rink. A bit bigger than this 30 x 15 feet.
Can’t get any speed up on a rink that small…

Rockingit · Mar 20, 2023

So lond as it's buried deep enough I can't foresee any issues of using IPx8/9 tape apart from the actual mechanics of cabling and drivers.

sunray · Mar 20, 2023

littlespark said:
Daydreaming today while at the ice rink.

Last day of the season, and they turned on their disco lights and music.
I got to thinking about embedding lights actually in the ice.
Would it be possible?
Not worried about the waterproof nature, but more any heat generated by a standard LED tape?
Could run the tape just an inch above the surface, but some clown would damage it with their skate.

View attachment 106918

When I started reading this I assumed you saw the ice hockey on TV a few days ago. Pro rinks are a slab of concrete with embedded gooling pipes, from start up they freeze the slab then spray water which instantly freezes and it built up to about 4". I can forsee no mechanical issues with sticking the tape to the slab, before adding water, as long at the change in shape (expansion/contraction) isn't a problem. Other problems have already been raised

littlespark · Mar 20, 2023

I think it is going to be down to volt drop..
the drivers/ controllers can be placed under the floor at one end wheee the public doesn’t have access, and as described, the ice is a slab that is added to as it gets worn down.
The curling rings are painted on on ice then covered by 2 inches of fresh.

I’m fairly sure they melt down all the ice during the summer while it’s closed. Be a time to add anything.

I’ll suggest it to them, but they’ve got a new sound system to buy… they were talking about 4 new speakers and an amp that doesn’t puff smoke in time to the music.

sunray · Mar 20, 2023

littlespark said:
I think it is going to be down to volt drop..
the drivers/ controllers can be placed under the floor at one end wheee the public doesn’t have access, and as described, the ice is a slab that is added to as it gets worn down.
The curling rings are painted on on ice then covered by 2 inches of fresh.

I’m fairly sure they melt down all the ice during the summer while it’s closed. Be a time to add anything.

I’ll suggest it to them, but they’ve got a new sound system to buy… they were talking about 4 new speakers and an amp that doesn’t puff smoke in time to the music.

Yes the markings are done within the ice, the only time I've seen it done was with powder rather than an actual paint but I have no idea if that is anything like a standard.

To thaw and drain then restart is a lot of work, not the sort of thing to do on a whim so I imagine it would not be done unless required for maintenance of some sort.

Using 24V tape makes a big difference to volt drop issues.

Isn't the blue smoke a designer special effect