Bending Linear Accent Lighting

Linear accent lights such as rope lights, neon flex lights, tape lights, and tape-rope hybrid lights are great for accent lighting applications due to their flexible nature. However, there is a limit to how much each can bend, and in what direction, due to the inner wiring and construction of each light.

There are two primary directions a light will bend: lateral and convex. If you imagine the linear light laying flat on a table (with the lighted portion facing up), a lateral bend is in the left/right direction, while a convex bend is in the up/down direction.

Let's take a look at the following types of lights:

• LED Rope Lights: Rope lights can bend in both directions. We recommend a 2" minimum lateral and convex bending radius.
• LED Neon Flex Lights: Neon lights have a minimum lateral bending radius of 2". They are not designed to bend in a convex direction.
• LED Tape Lights: Flat LED tape lights are not designed to bend laterally. If you need to turn them left or right, we advise using jumper cables. For convex bends, they have a minimum bending radius of 1".
• LED Hybrid 2 Lights: LED tape-rope Hybrid 2 lights are not designed to bend laterally. They have a 1-1/2" minimum convex bending radius.