I'm a retiree working on a hobby project- a sculptural lamp made of wood with a section of COB neon rope light as the light source- and I need help understanding how to wire it properly.

Question

I'm looking for a tutor who can help me solve this fairly basic electrical problem- choosing the right transformer, dimming switch and COB strip for the effect I want- so I need some basic tutoring in those subjects. Again, it's a sculptural wood lamp and I want to install a surface mount touch switch stepless dimmer to control the light. There are a million products on the market, and my problem is getting the right components that will actually work together. I find my general ignorance of electrical circuits and the nature of relatively new items like COB light strips is holding me back. With a tutor I'd like to explain what I've done so far and learn what more I need to to make it work. I imagine a tutor might help me sort this problem in as little as one hour, but I may I may have ongoing circuitry questions about this and similar future projects.

Answer 1

That sounds like a great learning opportunity, John! Since you’re dealing with COB neon rope lights, a dimmer, and a transformer, a tutor with experience in low-voltage LED lighting and basic electrical circuits would be ideal.

You might find help from:

- Local makerspaces or electronics hobby groups—many have experts who enjoy teaching.

- Online tutoring platforms like Wyzant or TakeLessons, where you can find electrical tutors.

- Forums like Reddit’s r/AskElectronics—you can get specific advice from enthusiasts.

- YouTube tutorials—sometimes a step-by-step breakdown from a pro is all you need.

If you’d like, I can also help you figure out the compatibility of components based on what you’re considering! Let me know how you'd like to proceed.