Inside a HEX-light - and the slight electrical issues

This type of hexagonal lighting grid seems to be very popular in many modern retail outlets. It packs a large light into a small box as a series of illuminated batons and joining pieces that allow it to be assembled in various shapes to make a very large illuminated honeycomb grid on the ceiling or a wall.

There is an internal wire link in each strip that feeds power to all parts of the light grid.

There are issues though. Aside from the copper coated aluminium wire, the system is designed to have larger arrays fed at multiple points, and aside from the risk of someone trying to feed it from multiple circuits and causing a backfeed shock hazard, the connectors on some systems are not polarised and it is possible to cause a dead short through the flimsy internal wiring if plugs are not put on in the correct orientation. Ideally that would just trip a circuit breaker, but when one of an inappropriate size has been used there is a risk of the internal copper coated aluminium wire having a high enough resistance to cause sudden thermal issues.

To put multiple feeds on in the correct orientation may require probing between the plug and receptacle.

This one came from an eBay seller. You can find them on all the usual online selling platforms though. Note that there are multiple systems with different connectors and shades of white, so buy a larger kit than needed so you have some spares.

In a way it's quite a nice system, and quite fun to play with. It's also impressive how a huge honeycomb light grid can be shipped in such a small box.



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