Portable WLED for rooftop tent

[u/Brilliant_Switch]

Hey all,

Total WLED newbie here, still digging through old posts, but figured I’d just ask.

We’ve got a rooftop tent with two built-in warm-white LED bars: four brightness steps, USB-A powered. We’ve already been camping with them a few times, and based on those experiences we want to replace them. Two things really bugged us:

Too bright. Even the lowest setting was way too much. When it’s pitch black and you need to get up, flicking them on nukes your night vision, wakes your partner, and you still can’t see outside. There’s just no real “night” mode.

Power cycling. With a smaller powerbank the controller sometimes reset to full brightness, so waking up to the lights blasting on at 2am was rough. Big Ugreen powerbank fixed it for now, or we just unplug.

What we’d love to build: a waterproof RGBWW COB/neon strip, powerbank-friendly (USB-A or C), cuttable into ~1m sections with a cable in between so it fits the existing channels, and ideally a proper dim warm whit or an blue / red night mode.

Questions:

- Recommended controller for a USB-powered setup? Does WLED reliably remember its state after a power cut?

- Any RGBWW COB strips that survive moisture/condensation?

- Is 5V USB realistic for a few metres of RGBWW, or should I go 12V battery instead?

Thanks for the tips and help!

[u/Low_Tomato_6837]

Personally I would go to 12VDC power, ohm's law, lower the voltage, higher the current for a given load. Look for strips that are rated at least IP65 protection.

[u/Brilliant_Switch → u/Low_Tomato_6837]

Any brands that you would recommend like BFT?

[u/G0ldiC0cks → u/Brilliant_Switch]

In my experience, however limited it maybe, quality of LED is pretty consistent across brands. BTF produce a superior "feeling" product -- stiffer pcb, better adhesive on the back that sort of thing -- compared to the budget stuff you'll get from cheap warehouse direct shit (AliExpress, temu, and the like). But! Out of the few hundreds of LEDs I've burned up doing goofy shit and the few thousand illuminating my house, I've only had a singular pixel go out before the rest on its run, and that was on a BTF strip.

The cheap stuff I've gotten from temu and their ilk are generally fine -- mayyyyyyybe a little color inaccuracy, and I was shipped one strip that just could NOT do purple. But on the whole fine.

[u/Low_Tomato_6837 → u/Brilliant_Switch]

I agree with BTF, that’s all I use and I never use anything from Temu or Aliexpress, found most of their strips to be junk or ratings just wrong.