IP65 LED tape coating fail

I was using this tape above my computer for ambient illumination. Over time it imperceivably changed from warm white light to a dull orange glow.
When it got the point that I couldn't identify component colour bands I decided to take a closer look.

The gel they use to make it waterproof (more like splash-proof) has degraded through exposure to the blue/violet wavelength of the light. Directly above the LED chips it had gone so brown that it was blocking and colouring the light. Initially I thought it was the phosphor that had degraded, but when the coating is cleaned off the LED it is as bright as when new.

The LED strip was being under-run for long life, but it shows that the LEDs themselves aren't the only factor in optical degradation. This is a good reminder that you should always treat LED tape as a consumable, and ensure it can be replaced easily in the future.

Here's the original video where I hacked the LED into an old strip light:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_ds5XFJvPs

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