How to Handle 90° Corners with IP68 Outdoor RGBW LED Strips
Outdoor garden lighting projects often require LED strip runs to turn neatly around the ends of small walls, steps, or coping edges. A common installer question is:
How do you create a reliable 90-degree corner with fully waterproof IP68 RGBW LED strip?
The key point is simple:
Avoid Corner Joins Wherever Possible
IP68 outdoor RGBW LED strips are factory sealed for long-term waterproof protection. Bending the strip sharply around corners or attempting corner soldering on site is not recommended, as it compromises the original waterproof structure.
In professional garden installations, the most robust approach is:
Use Separate Straight Runs Instead of a Physical Turn
Rather than turning one continuous strip around the corner, installers normally treat each wall face as its own straight section.
Each piece uses its own factory tail feed, and all cut ends are sealed properly using end caps and silicone. This creates the appearance of a continuous corner detail, but avoids introducing a waterproof joint directly at the corner.
On-Site Soldering Is Possible, but Requires Extreme Precision
With RGBW strips, the solder pads are extremely small and closely spaced because five conductors sit next to each other:
24V plus R, G, B and W
Even a minor solder bridge or imperfect joint can cause channel faults later.
More importantly, once an IP68 strip is cut, the joint must be professionally resealed using the correct silicone methods and waterproof finishing. Garden environments are unforgiving, and poorly sealed joints are the number one long-term cause of water ingress.
For this reason, most installers aim to minimise field-made joins wherever possible.
Need Help Designing the Full System?
Once the strip lengths and number of separate runs are confirmed, we can help you select the correct components, including:
Correct 24V power supplies with proper loading margin
Correct number of RGBW controllers per zone
App, wall panel and voice control options
Best practice for longer outdoor runs and parallel feeding
If you have your layout ready, feel free to contact our support team and we will guide you through the correct product matching.
