Where the water actually gets in when an outdoor LED run fails after rain
The cut end. Every cut opens the extrusion and exposes copper. A cut end not resealed with the method the manufacturer publishes for that product is an open door, and the most common entry point on a failed exterior run.
The joint. A clamp designed for indoor use has an unsealed body by definition. Water bridges two contacts a fraction of an inch apart, current takes the short path, and the run behaves oddly before anything looks damaged.
The wall or soffit penetration. A lead run through a hole that was never sealed and never given a drip loop carries water along the jacket by capillary action, straight to whatever sits inside.
The driver enclosure. Many drivers are rated for dry or damp locations only. Put one behind a fascia where wind driven rain reaches, and the fault will be at the supply rather than on the tape.
The low point. Water collects. Any dip in a horizontal run, any channel without drainage, any connector at the bottom of a loop becomes a small reservoir that never fully dries.
The timing tells you where to look
Failure during the rain and recovery a day later points to bridging: water completing a path it should not, then evaporating. Look at joints, cut ends and anything sitting in a puddle.
Failure that begins hours after the rain stops and never recovers means water got inside and stayed, usually through a penetration or into an enclosure. That one worsens with each storm.
A section that dims or shifts color while wet, then returns, is usually leakage across a connection rather than damage to the emitters. One that goes dark and stays dark after several wet cycles has generally corroded, and corrosion does not reverse.
What an exposure rated system actually needs
Match every component to the location, not just the tape. IP65 describes protection against dust and low pressure water jets, which suits covered areas and splashing. IP67 describes protection against dust and temporary immersion, the level usually specified for uncovered exterior positions. Neither rating covers a joint you left open. The EnoLED Glow67 wet location IP67 strip is one option built for wet location use (verify its published rating, output, cut spacing and end sealing procedure), and the outdoor lighting collection gathers parts intended for exterior positions.
The supply end needs the same discipline. Choose from the LED power supplies range by enclosure rating and mounting location together, and give the unit the ventilation its documentation calls for, since drivers and strips both generate heat and need somewhere to put it. A channel used outdoors helps dissipate heat and shields the tape, but it holds water as readily as it sheds it unless the ends are treated and it can drain.
Voltage still has to line up, meaning the strip's rated 24V or 12V and the driver's output are the same number, never crossed. Separate runs branch from the driver in parallel rather than one after another, and running them back to a sheltered driver usually beats pushing a driver out into the weather.
