Figuring out the enclosure for the PCB was a disaster. I couldn't make it waterproof or find something easy that would work. Then I had a revelation. The LED strips are already coming in a waterproof silicone sleeve. Why not use that? I redesigned the PCB so that it was thinner (the same width as the LED strip), and tried again. When the new boards arrived, I populated a bunch and tried it out. Success! The new PCBs are smaller, so I can panelize more to a board. For $4.90 I can get 10 boards of 10x4, or 400 pcbs! The previous board was 6x3, so 180 for $4.90. I just halved my PCB cost and eliminated the need for a separate enclosure, and reduced PCBA cost because it's more dense!
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/3740291507819266783.jpg)
After assembly, here's what they look like slid into the silicone sleeve.
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/5204111507820912581.jpg)
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/6373721507820927338.jpg)
You may be asking yourself why the LED strip is upside down in its connection to the PCB. I don't really have a well-thought-out reason for this. The strips came with the 5V and GND in different places than I expected. It makes absolutely no difference, though.
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