🚨 AMAZON’s BEST DEALS (updated daily): bit.ly/3VWZKVS ☑ Check out my sponsor to begin your FREE 14 day trial to Aura: aura.com/chrismaher Spotless Regular LED Diffuser Channel 1m Amazon: amzn.to/47aIujz Spotless Regular LED Diffuser Channel 2m Amazon: amzn.to/3QoHeDb Spotless Corner Diffuser 1m Amazon: amzn.to/3DFhRpf Spotless Corner Diffuser 2m Amazon: amzn.to/3Krqw2q Govee M1: amzn.to/3VqFVDr LED Lights: amzn.to/2VOS4bi LED Lights AliExpress: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DnBQWTD esp8266 LED Controller: amzn.to/33BwvvP BTF Lighting HomePage: amzn.to/3nWxQYb ============================= Support My Channel Directly: Become a monthly contributor on Patreon: www.patreon.com/ChrisMaherDIY Buy me a Coffee: paypal.me/ChrisMaherDIY ============================== Install WLED/ESP8266 setup video: th-cam.com/video/l8OMi7SMpqs/w-d-xo.html Install WLED/ESP32 setup video: th-cam.com/video/TOEnFKLm9Sw/w-d-xo.html Projects I have made using these diffuser channels: RGB Board and Batten Accent Wall: th-cam.com/video/b13VLiK7AOU/w-d-xo.html DIY Music Visualizer: th-cam.com/video/K4EzLI1fFnQ/w-d-xo.html DIY LED Art: th-cam.com/video/NNAdbsINh-w/w-d-xo.html Links to a few of my other complete how-to projects: RGB Baseboard Trim: th-cam.com/video/Ik8HnGxfQq0/w-d-xo.html DIY Customizable Images: th-cam.com/video/2q_zrEcbXHE/w-d-xo.html RGB LIGHT PROJECT: th-cam.com/video/rIbTzUD2E4k/w-d-xo.html LED Strip Diffuser Ideas: th-cam.com/video/09-fiWjP42Y/w-d-xo.html DIY Hexagon Project: th-cam.com/video/t9xGyB4ahyY/w-d-xo.html DIY Corner Project: th-cam.com/video/ZB5HqWhMXNo/w-d-xo.html DIY Edge Lit Designs: th-cam.com/video/0_TtHkBB3vA/w-d-xo.html DIY Govee Glide: th-cam.com/video/n9LsiQARFas/w-d-xo.html DIY Black Acrylic Floating Shelves: th-cam.com/video/6csSMtV_op0/w-d-xo.html The best way to help support my channel is to like, comment, make sure your subscribed and share my videos with as many people as you can. The other way is to use my links above as I get a small % at no extra cost to you if you buy something. Thank you all for the support!
I just found you 2 weeks ago, thanks for my new addiction lol spent almost 200 on Amazon already. The best lighting out. I wish there was a mic so wled could do music mode. thanks!!
Lol sounds like me about a year ago when I first started! There are ways to incorporate a mic into wled but ive yet to look into it. Its definitly on my to do list! Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment!
I'm definitely having fun. I have an idea for a video. I recently purchased form amazon the 16×16 256 pixel Ws2812b eco led panel. It's a total game changer when it comes to the effects. Check it out.
@@Hdogg-ey5mr I'll for sure check it out! There are so many cool things out there its hard to not just jump around from one thing to another lol. Love to see the video if you end up making one!
I nearly gave up on this too! I am trying to create DYI lighting FX for my music videos. Found some polycarbonate tubes but was stuck on how to connect the led's inside. This idea now makes the tubes redundant but offers the perfect setup in a size restricted space. cheers!
The LEDs themselves have a significant bearing on the light diffusion. Both the quantity per linear metre and the angle the LEDs emit the light are a major factor. In my professional experience using LEDs for many years, having a deep channel and frosted convex diffuser will always help diffusion. The proof of a good diffuser is when you have to use a shallow channel due to the design constraints in your application.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment! Sounds like you already knew what it took me a long time to figure out lol. In your experience, is it even possible to have a shallow channel and have it look great while using only 30/led per meter?
@@ChrisMaherDIY Hi Chris. Appreciate your reply. Unfortunately not. They are simply too far apart to achieve this. There will always be spotting with 30 LEDs/metre in a shallow channel. A ‘milky’ diffuser rather then a frosted one is better but only fractionally. You’ll need at least 120 per metre for best results. Good luck 🤞🏼
You read my mind. I've had these in my cart for about a week and a half, and them getting an endorsement from you is enough for me to spend on them. I'm going to use the channel along with some mirror film and acrylic mirror to create an infinity effect inside my O11 dynamic pc case.
You are very welcome and thanks so much for watching! I have so many ideas on what I can do with these lol. But i'll at least do a couple projects with them. Hopefully have one to release in a couple weeks.
Super cool find. I actually just bought material for a new project putting LED lights under a table I built for my theater room. Will check these channels out.
I was just checking these out last week. I want to line the perimeter of my ceiling with these and hook the light up to prismatik so when I game my entire room will light up according to whats on screen instead of just the back wall behind the TV. Now thats immersion!
That sounds epic!!! I've wanted to do something like that but its always just seemed a little over my head with my limited knowledge of programming etc. These channels are amazing though. Best I have ever used.
Thanks for the vid man. About to order some strips but just learned about diffusers. Stuff was giving me a headache. You made it a lot easier to understand, about to order now. Been watching your DIY vids too
Nice! 👌🏼 The right diffusion material is so important for led lighting. I'm working on a 12"x18" led key light and picked up Hobby Lobby's tracing blank sheets based on your recommendation in a previous video. Next I want to make a flapjack/pancake style key light, but I want it to be 24" in diameter, so I'm on the hunt for inexpensive but excellent diffusion material for that. Thanks again for sharing your builds!
You are very welcome and thanks for watching! Diffusion is very tricky for sure!! Let me know if you find stuff that works! I'm always curious what others find that I could potentially use in projects! Thanks as always!!
Great video Chris. I have a set of 6 of these for a outdoor project and I must admit they are great quality. Hopefully I'll have time to finish installing them this week. Thanks again for another well informed vid. 👍
I'm glad you think so too! I was also blown away at how bright get even at a low brightness level. Thanks for watching and hope your project goes well buddy!
I do something similar but, I buy a set that has white leds already in them. It has a shallower channel but leaves space in the bottom for the controllers. I use different leds with more close pixels and this makes up for the shallow channel. I also have to do a lot more work to make mine work like cutting the diffusion, which is a pain. But doing this way gives me room for the controller and makes each individual bar it’s own separate thing. Also I get the extra white leds to play with.
Thats a great idea! What channel with the whites in them do you get? I've also wanted to play around with those led strips where the pixels are even closer than the 60/meter but i've never talked myself into spending the money. At some point I will and like you said, that would allow to use more shallow diffuser and have it more flush with a wall or wherever you want to put them. Thanks for watching and taking the time to share!
I’m glad I found your channel! Lots of great stuff. I’d be interested in seeing something like this installed under a car. I bet you could do awesome things with that! Thanks for all you do!
Maybe I can do something down the road on a car! My dodge grand caravan would look pretty sweet with some fast and furious type under lighting! Might have to be a summer video! Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment!
Most diffusers are the same material but like you mentioned , the further away the diffuser is from the light source the better the effect will be. The only drawback is when you are after a slim or shallow recessed type , then you are back to the diffuser being very close to the light source potentially seeing the individual led chips.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment! Thats exactly what i've discovered. Although with so many of the ones i've tried before the diffuser material was the exact same thickness everywhere. This product, the diffuser is slightly curved and thicker in the middle and gets more thin towards the edges which i think takes this from good to great. The shallow ones do work but I think the only way to get good results with those are to have 120/led's per meter which takes a lot more power and are a lot more expensive.
Thanks so much for watching! I actually did just make a video about how to get something like this connected. Here it is! th-cam.com/video/TOEnFKLm9Sw/w-d-xo.html Let me know if you have any questions!
Hey Chris, this Video is exactly what I was looking for. In a few months I will become a new kitchen and for the lighting I want to use the same setup you used in the video, thanks man :)
Thats awesome! I'm also eventually going to put some led lights up under my kitchen cabinets but have not found the time yet. Let me know how things turn out for you and if you have any tips for me when I do it!
@@gigelz7091 that's a bummer! Whatever you end up buying, I would say for sure try finding one that is at least 17mm deep but preferably 20mm deep to have the best look!
Thanks so much for watching! What led strip do you recomend that is 100 led/m? I'm for sure wanting to eventually try using led strips that are more dense to give more flexibility on the diffuser material. Thanks buddy!
@@ChrisMaherDIYNo Problem! Most of the strips I use are BTF - Lighting W2812B strips from amazon. they have a bunch of densities and even different strip widths. Def look them up.
Hey man! Thanks for this, literally doing a cabinet job and was really going crazy trying to find the perfect channels. My friend uses lifex lights already which have very vivid, saturated colors and beautiful diffusion without any additional diffusion. So I had a mission, to try and too those lights with my setup. Thanks to you I should be able to impress him 👏🏻
@@ChrisMaherDIY he uses the led strips from them, I think whatever coating they put on it helps with diffusion it’s not truly per say actual diffusion. But he just stuck them to the back of his tv and there was no hot spots on the wall behind when he was showing me.
@@currentlylive_ec5768 Gotcha! That makes sense. As far as hotspots, distance is your friend. If led lights are even about 2 inches away from the wall, you can probably get away with 30/led per meter with no diffuser materials. Also the texture and reflectivness of the wall will make a difference in hotspots.
Awesome video, I’m glad I found your channel. I love the things you come up with revolving around leds and how it’s super easy to do. I’ve struggled with finding good led diffusers on Amazon so this videos a great help! It sucks to hear they don’t look so good with govee lights since that’s why I currently use but it’s not hard to find good leds that are 60leds per meter. Looking forward to future content, keep up the great work!
Thanks so much and appreciate the comment! Yeah, I think for a perfect spotless neon look using govee or any 30 led/meter strips you just cant do it without having a little more space between the diffuser and light. I'm going to keep looking though to see if I can find something, but for now I think this is your best bet. Thanks again for watching!
@@ChrisMaherDIY have you tried putting a strip of Govee lights in there and seeing what they look like? I just bought a strip of Govee lights and would like to avoid getting their light bars if I could make something similar to this in your video.
@@jstriker90 I have not tried them yet with Govee lights but this diffuser will give them the best chance of looking good. Still might not look perfect but you can always return them if they don't have the look you want. If only Govee made light strips with the LEDs a little closer together!
Alright you got me lmao This channel is all quality I’m impressed and bought some stuff already. Found a new passion lmao What can I do to connect these on corners, should I cut them or is there a piece that I can buy to connect them , that way the corners look like a smooth white bar.
I dont think they have corners for these yet which is unfortunate. Do you have any good ideas on how to make a nice looking corner? It might be as easy as cutting them at a 45 degree angle but part of me thinks the curved diffuser would not make a perfect angle and there would be a little seem. I'll have to try it one of these days and see if it works!
I accidentally opened TH-cam a minute ago and your thumbnail caught my eye! Incredibly serendipitous!!! I've been struggling for months with my ambient lighting using Govee products and I'm finally at a breaking point. You've given me hope!!! You have a new subscriber for life!!! I'm gonna go order those LED's and channels now!! I have a question. That control board you listed in the description. Does that need to run on a Raspberry Pi or similar SBC?
Thats awesome!! Glad it caught your eye! Thanks for watching and for the support buddy! For most of my projects, i use a very simple and pretty cheap method of a free program called WLED installed on an esp8266 wifi board. No programming required. Here is a video i made a while back showing how you can get it up and running! Thanks again! th-cam.com/video/l8OMi7SMpqs/w-d-xo.html
I'll second this request. I've got a few corners where I'll be running LEDs, and am in the market for a good corner/ quarter-round aluminum channel. There are a few other places where I want to do a larger diffuser channel like you did on either side of your TV as well, but I'm aiming for the 'low profile' look in some rooms. Thanks! I dig your LED work, yo!
Woah! Nice! Thank you! I'm more curious about the pegboard in the background. I am working on a pegboard for displaying my hot wheel collection and trying to figure out ways to light them up w/LED's. I'm putting LEDs on the back for background lighting but can't figure out how to light them from the front. I was searching for LED channel diffusers and found you. Thinking channels facing the sides to light them up but not sure.
I wonder if you could perhaps use a design somewhat like these th-cam.com/video/FNDikt7VfRw/w-d-xo.html to use as the shelves that the cars would sit on and incorporate that into the project? Maybe see if you could do a diy version of them. Just a thought! Otherwise I'll let you know If I think of any other good ideas on how to potentially light things up in the front.
Chris, Hello my name is Danny and also hopefully addicted to making the world a more lit and colorful way. Kudos to you for finding this disfusser package. I'm a very DIY guy and been searching for something as well and found that parchment paper works great as long as there's something to make the paper more rigid. Still searching. But I've been using WLED and SR-WLED for over a year now and made some downright killer displays. I even outlined the three main windows of a radio station and it stands out from far out. I'm writing cuz I've advance into the 2d and 3d matrix world and WLED is still trying to catch up to Madrix and their amazing control systems that I've seen and used in nightclubs since around 2011. They are def the leader and innovator in the pixel mapping world. I digress, but have you made or invested in 144/m pixel strips? 60/m is enuff to fill the diffuser and put light out, but the first time I put the appropiate power to a strip I made that was 5m long (and injected) of 144/m was the first time I blew my own mind. Words are hard to come by trying to explain what it looks like. Like I could say lkajdsflkjadfdfak lkjdf la'kdjflkdfakj but that is not understandable....get it? lol What board are you using? I recently found out the esp32S has many features that quadruple the power of a D1 mini. Lemme upload my clips for you to see.
Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! I love your enthusiasm and feel the same way! It sounds like you are doing what I want to eventually start doing. I've never used anything more than 60 led/meter but I for sure want to try the 144/meter as well as the new cob led strip lights! What power source did you use on your setup that blew your mind?! I would love to try it out! Do you have a link to the esp32s that you use? I'm still using the old esp8266 because they are so cheap! Thanks again!
Hey there. I've been watching your LED projects and they all look amazing. Related to this video, is it impossible to eliminate the hotspots in 30 led/meter? My strip has 30 leds/meter and I'm having a hard time finding a video on how to diffuse such type of an LED strip. Can you suggest any tips?
Thanks so much and great quesiton! Its not impossible to eliminate hotspots with 30 led/meter but its not as easy as using led strips with a higher density led count. The biggest thing that your going to need is distance between the diffuser and led lights with the 30 led/meter strips. In this video that I made a while back: th-cam.com/video/09-fiWjP42Y/w-d-xo.html i used a led strip that has 30led/meter and there were zero hot spots in the first design and very very slight hotspots in the second design. Now the desing can be completely different than what I did in the video but what you'll notice is that the light source is further away from the diffuser than a traditional led channel that you might find on amazon. So my recomendation is to just do some fun experiments using different materials and different distances until you find a combination that looks good and then try building something based on your findings. I am still trying to find something on Amazon that diffuses 30 led/meter leds perfectly and I'll let you know if I ever come across something! Thanks again for watching!
It's amazing that the video you just sent was the first video I watched from you :D. I didn't know that the strip has 30led/meter though. Thank you for the suggestions. I like the second design because the design is somewhat not bulky and I think will fit my room perfectly. As suggested by you, I'll try to experiment with different materials and different configurations. Will also try stacking thin layers of different diffusers, maybe that could help. Thank you again for that wonderful tips.
Looks really good, thanks for the tip! I made a mistake by looking for a channel as flat as possible , and was thinking: so this is it? Should I buy more leds/m ? But now I see that it is about diffuser ánd somewhat higher channels...(obviously). Unfortunately those are not for sale at Amazon Netherlands :-(
Thats a bummer! I wonder if they are only available in the US? I'll have to try finding something else that is more available in different parts of the world! Thanks so much for watching!
@@ChrisMaherDIY I wasn't able to find this in the Netherlands or Germany. Then you will get different vendors and I don't know if they are pretty much the same... Would be aswesome if you can find something comparable! Also looking at the silicon channels, they look amazing and flexible. I want to have something in like 35 degrees on my desk, around the corner until the floor and don't know yet what I should do with that.
Thats a great questions and something that I am going to have to look into for an upcoming project! Let me know if you find any good resources on how to do it and I'll do the same!
Thank you. That was the most informative product review edited with great style. I spent all day researching this and you've answered all my questions in 2:35 minutes. How do you think equivalent V style would diffuse with that same light strip you used? Would I see the dots?
I think you would see the dots a little bit but I have not personally tested them out. I think over on the Hook Up he tests those out on a video he made very recently. Give that a watch as he is very informative. th-cam.com/video/DKOWeuV1FWE/w-d-xo.html
What’s up Chris, so informative I’m glad I’ve found your channel. Do you think these channels will be fine for the gouvee phantasy outdoor light strips. I don’t want to see any type of dots at all I hate them, also curious if you think it’ll take away from the brightness…thanks in advance
Thanks so much for watching! Do you have a link to those lights your talking about? Unless they have 60 leds per meter its going to be hard to get rid of the dots using a diffuser channel. It is possible to get a perfect diffused look with a strip that has 30 leds per meter but you need a good amount of distance between the leds and the diffuser!
That's a great questions and I'm not sure what would be the best! I'll have to look into that and see If i can find something that people recommend for outdoor use.
Do you think this would work well for landscape lighting/placed behind foliage/bushes? I am wondering if it will provide enough light for uplighting as well as out
Thanks so much for watching! I personally think it would provide more than enough lighting for that situation but might just have to try it to know for sure! Everything I link to I believe has free returns!
Do you know how many LED's the Phillips hue lightstrip has per meter? I've never used them so I'm not sure myself. However if they are 30 led's per meter it will still look better than anything else you will find on amazon but it will not look as good as the 60 led's/meter that I used in the video. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!
This is a little off topic, but what LED strip light could you recommend for a shower. I have Stage four glaucoma and I just want to be a little safer...
Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! You would for sure need some waterproof led lights. I'd recomend these: amzn.to/3GRrUqj but make sure to select the ip67 option before ordering. Ip67 is the waterproof strip that they sell!
It is possible but I have not taken the time yet to look into it so i'm not much help right now. Its definitly on my to do list for a project and at some point I will see how its done! Thanks for watching!
so how would I make this into a baseboard thing? I have 50ft of govee rgbic (in 2 rolls of 25) and want it to wrap around my living room but wouldn't know what to do where the corners meet. Thanks for inspiring me!
I would try doing something like it did at the bottom in this video I made: th-cam.com/video/b13VLiK7AOU/w-d-xo.html As far as the corners I would just have them pushed together with a little overlap. Kinda hard to explain without showing but if you just play around with different ideas, you should find something that works well! Govee led strips can be cut and soldered together so you can always keep that in mind if that will help get around angles!
I am literally in the market for diffusers right now! PERFECT! Also I wanted to mention that I have a band that I feel like fits your style on your channel. Check out the band "Hurtwave". They have 4-5 really good vibe songs that I feel like you'd like to add to your videos. Small band so I doubt there are any copywrite issues. Let me know what you think!
lol great timing! Also love the music suggestion! I'm always on the lookout for good music and I'll for sure check them out! Edit, just listened to one of their songs and Its amazing! Good looking out buddy!
So quick question. I'm very new to this and I'm looking to do a wall project. if i want 90 degree turns will i need to chop with 45's or is the a 90 degree adapter?
I dont think they have L connectors (at least I have not found any yet) so will probably just have to do a 45 degree cut and see how that looks. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out! Thanks for watching!
Hi Chris - Great video! Any chance you can add a link for matching corners for the Muzata U108 that you linked above? I can’t find them on Amazon… the only versions I see don’t match…
Thanks for watching and that's a great question! Unfortunately last I checked they did not have corner pieces for this channel. I have not tried cutting them at a 45 degree angle to see if that would work but its something I will probably be trying here soon. Hopefully they will come out with corner pieces soon as there would be a lot of people wanting them!
No, unfortunately I don't think they sell the corner pieces for this product. However, I'm going to try cutting them at a 45 degree angle on my miter saw and see if they line up nicely!
You could for sure use the mounting brackets they came with and I would for sure recommend led's that at least have 60/leds per meter like I used in this video. Powering that many LEDs would be the part that would probably present the biggest challenge depending on how much power injection would be needed and how to somewhat hide the wires! But that for sure sounds like a fun project!
It looks even better in person! I'm using WLED installed on an esp8266 board. th-cam.com/video/l8OMi7SMpqs/w-d-xo.html As far as power, i'm using a 5v 10am supply unit. Power only going in on one end. Thats a great question but I have zero experience with growing plants or the lights needed for that. However if you need the light to get bright, whats great about this diffuser is that they are very bright and let a ton of light through so i would imagine they would work perfect for growing plants. Thanks for watching!
@@ChrisMaherDIY par ranges for growing plants would be anywhere frome 150-300par for starts, 300-600par for veg and to flower 600+ more the better. Thank you for getting back to me
Thanks so much for watching! You can for sure do that. They come with mounting clips you could use but i've also used 3m sticky tape on these for some projects and that also works great.
will the plastic diffuser fit onto the shallower more common channels and if so, does it improve diffusion against the stock diffusers that the shallow channels normally come with?
I don't think this is universal to other channels. The diffuser fits perfectly into a small groove in the aluminum and I doubt it would fit in anything else. Great question!
Thanks so much for watching and great question. They actually get really bright! For sure you could use them to illuminate an area. At night, I mostly have them set to about 20% brightness as anything above that is just too much at least with the led strips that I'm using.
Hi Chris, I have a question for you, could you please tell me how you deal with LED light recording and you don't get overexposure at the same time. Maybe you have a way ?
Thanks for watching and the great question! I've found that certain colors look better on camera than others for whatever reason. I'm definitly no expert and I dont have fancy equipment. I'm using an old samsung note 6 i believe for all the recording and pictures. The only thing I will adjust is the amount of light that the lense takes in. Generally I have to reduce the amount of light by just a little bit so that you can actually see what color is being shown vs just a crazy bright white looking auro since the camera has a hard time automatically making those adjustment. Thanks!!
Thanks for watching! Last I checked they unfortunately do not have the corner connector pieces for this product yet. I'm hoping they will come out with one soon! I'll let you know if I see them.
What is the difference between these LED lights and the Govee lights as far as what they can do? Is there any other LED lights like the Govee lights that can segment out color and use an IC chip or whatever?
The biggest difference is 2 things. The led strips i'm using in the video have 60 lights per meter. Govee will generally have 30 lights per menter. Having more lights per meter mean the leds will be closer together which will help achieve the neon effect with no hotspots. The other difference is with the lights i'm using in the video, each led can be its own color and brightness. With Govee, the led lights are able to be controlled but in groups of 3. This means that the animations will not be as smooth or fluid. Hope that helps!
Thanks so much for watching! They are the same size and shape and even though the black ones still work great, I think the bare aluminum color does a little better job and are a little brighter. Cant go wrong with either one but I personally prefer the bare aluminum ones.
These look amazing, thank you! I've been looking for something that seems promising. Not being able to buy all kinds to test, this helps a lot. Do you think these would defuse Philips Hue strips as nicely? I have some I got as a gift, and I know I can connect Philips Hue to Razer's software which can change lights depending on what happens in games that support it, but I don't know of other types of light strips/LED controllers that can be controlled by Razer.
Thanks for watching and great question! Do you know how many led's the phillips hue has? If your pointing the led strips towards the wall and want the light to then bounce off the wall, you probably don't need any diffuser for that as long as the strips are more than a couple inches from the wall. If you will be looking directly at the led strip lights then you would for sure want a diffuser. This one will do better than anything else I have seen on Amazon but if the phillips hue light strip is only 30/leds per meter its not going to look as good as this video because I was using 60led's per meter. Also you would want to make sure the phillips hue lights trips would fit in the channel as I'm not sure how wide their lights trips are.
I'm really enjoying ws2812b led lights from BTF Lighting. They have yet to dissapoint me yet. Here is a video where I go over different ways I have powered these led strips in the past and I have all the links to what I use in that videos description: th-cam.com/video/KFtjf5mD6tA/w-d-xo.html Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to comment!
Can you fit connectors inside these channels? Or would everything need to be soldered??? How would you connect multiple strips of your addressable RGB's together? I need like 55 feet for a basement. So much information to consume lol but love all your videos, been very helpful to start understanding
lol i just checked and the answer is yes and no. If you get these connectors, amzn.to/3IFqUaI i was able to rip the white top piece off and it fits like a glove without that attached. I think there is enough pressure that would be put on the strip with just those silver things pressing down on the pads that you should be ok. With that being said, I would still probably solder if its an option as the connection would be a little bit better. Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment!
@@ChrisMaherDIY thank you for the reply!! If soldering these BTF strips together, do I need to add inline power with each 5m I add? or can they can be soldered one strip directly into the next so there's no gaps? Or can I just add a bigger power source at the head end to power the whole thing? sorry for so many questions or if theres a video that might address this
@@iananderson8920 great questions! You can definitely solder them all together in 1 long strip. You may need to add power injection depending on how they perform with the power source your using compared to your expectations. For example, if I wanted to run a very long strip of lights at full brightness and full white, I would need many power injections. However if I was just mostly going to be running animations or different colors and if running them at half brightness still achieved the look I was going for, then you might not need any power injection or maybe just a few. My approach is I will set everything up on the floor and test it out and then make adjustments based on how it looks!
New subscriber here! Just getting into this stuff. I have some govee phantom pro lights coming in that i want to mount to the roof line on my home. First question being, can I mount these diffusers without any drilling? Would 3m body double sided tape work? I know from auto work on how strong this stuff is to withstand the different climates we have in that northeast. Second question is do I need to attach the govee strips with the double sided tape onto the diffusers or can I just place them in like you did in the video? Thank you a ton!
Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! I appreciate the support! What are govee phantom pro lights? Do you have a link? So I also am someone who is amazed at how good double sided tape works and I for sure think that would be strong enough to hold. I'm not 100% sure since i've never tested it out but I would say its for sure worth trying! You could maybe rig up a different way without drilling using magnets of some sort but that would probably be a lot more money and labor intensive. I guess you would not have the strip to the diffuser depending on where you will be putting them but the closer the led strip gets to the diffuser the more noticeable the hotspots will be. If you using led strips that have 30/leds per meter then there will be hot spots no matter what. The 60 leds/meter led strips I use in this video have no hotspots as long as they are laying flat against the diffuser. Hope that helps and thanks again for the great questions!
Thanks for this. Looking for a spotless channel for my theater. I run RGB Lighting along my baseboard and was wondering if these be at least better then what I currently have. Waiting to install govee RGBic lighting I just ordered. Would this channel be better then the standard channel from Muzata?
You are very welcome! I think this is going to be the best option on amazon for a diffuser channel. However its going to be tough to get that perfect spotless look using led's that are 30 leds per meter which most Govee strips are. All that to say, I do feel like from all the searching I have done, this is going to give the best look for govee led strips and the perfect look for led strips that have 60 led's per meter. But if your in the US, you have to love Amazon returns policy. I would just order this and a couple other ones and test them out. Keep whichever one looks best and return the others! Let me know how it turns out!
Thanks so much for watching! I'm just connecting the led strips together and using WLED installed on an esp device to control the animations. WLED is awesome and comes with pretty much an unlimited number of animations you can use or customize. Here are a couple videos I made that go over how to get things set up: th-cam.com/video/TOEnFKLm9Sw/w-d-xo.html and th-cam.com/video/apSz3NXYlx8/w-d-xo.html
I would imagine on the wall would cast better light onto the pure white ceiling and look wider/brighter when sitting further from the wall. Having it on the ceiling would cast more light down the wall but most walls aren't pure white so it probably won't do much. Also unless you are under the light it will look thinner from a distance. I would personally opt for wall mounting but with this particular rounded design It probably doesn't matter too much and when you get the channels you can test one of them in both positions
Thanks for watching! They do have some channels that have the corner pieces but unfortunately the diffuser channels are not as good as this one from a diffusion standpoint at 60 leds per meter. Diffuser Channel: amzn.to/3OHBhOW Corner pieces: amzn.to/3FaLYq6
I want these as the border of a temporary plywood stage. Would this be the best option? I have to disassemble everything when the event is over and I don't want to throw anything away. Any ideas?
I think these would for sure be the best since they diffuse the led lights perfectly when using 60 leds/meter or more. All other diffuser channels I've every tried need to use at least 100 led/meter strips for that perfect look. Using the mounting brackets that they come with would be easy to snap the channels on and off. The challenging part would be coming up with an easy way to remove the led strips. Maybe you could use some 3m Velcro type material to attach to the profiles and remove it when the show is done? Sounds like a fun project to do for sure!
Hi, I’m planning on buying these diffusers because of your review, but do I need corner adapters? I looked at the muzata store on Amazon and didn’t see any for this model.
Thanks for watching and for taking the time to comment! I have also not found the corner pieces for this. Last I heard is that they are not made for this product but they were going to look into it since these channels are amazing. Hopefully they will be available soon to buy!
As someone who is super new to even electronics, is there a way to turn these things on with like a batter pack or something that can be hidden - like.. how do you plug these on...
Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! There are a lot of different options out there. Some more complex than others. I did make a video on a few basic ways you can go about powering these. th-cam.com/video/KFtjf5mD6tA/w-d-xo.html I have not yet done a video on battery packs though but I'm hoping to at some point down the road!
@@ChrisMaherDIY Hi, thanks for the response - I will check it out. I am only messaging because I have small battery packs that I use for microbits and breadboards so I was wondering if its possible to hook these up to one or if they dont produce enough voltage
@@IXxJordan I think smaller packs could for sure power some leds. How many and for how long, that i'm not sure. Definitely something I want to look into down the road!
The ones I use in the video are my favorite ones (link in the video description). They do require a little bit more work to get them going but once you've done it a few times, its pretty easy and I feel worth the extra work. Here is the setup I use to get those lights working: th-cam.com/video/l8OMi7SMpqs/w-d-xo.html
Love your passion for LEDs! I have a question about those channels. Those are the U108s and I’m trying to decide if I want those or the U116s (also sold from same company on Amazon). My goal for buying either is an exterior house installation and I would love to be able to run the power injection wire inside the channel behind the LED strip so as to completely hide it. Do you think I could do that with these U108s? And if you’re familiar with the U116s, do you think I could with those? I realize a lot of that would depend on the size of the injection wire I’m using, and I think that’s 14 gauge. Either that or 10, I can’t remember right off hand. Thoughts?
I just looked at the Muzata store and couldn't find the U116. Are you able to leave a link in the comments or does it delete anything with a link? I think you could run the injection wires inside the channel but I'm not sure if it would have the same great spotless look. I've often wondered the same thing as far as the best way of running power injection wires on big installs but have not done anything that big which would require me testing some options out. How long are the injection wires going to be?
Thanks so much for watching! I haven't tried any v-channels yet so I don't want to recommend something I have not personally tried. My advice though is at least use 60leds per meter and try finding a channel thats as deep as possible. I'll keep my eyes open to see if I can find something that works well!
Great question! I'm not sure how wide the Phillips Hue light strips are or the gradient lightstrip but as long as ther are less than 12.8mm wide it should fit in the aluminum channel. Thanks for watching and for the great question!
Thata a great question! I'll reach out to the company and see what they say. Might just have to cut them at a 45 degree with a table/miter saw and see if they will butt up nice. I'll let you know if I hear back from them.
I’m totally new to LED lighting and I wanted to do something similar to this where I have a bunch of diffused LED strips literally lined up like you have in your example. I have no idea how to connect them though since I assume you have to cut and reconnect so it wouldn’t create one continuous loop. It looks like yours are individually cut at the bottom and the LEDs aren’t connected but rather attached to the power source? I assume that’s how you keep them in sync when doing an animation so it knows which strip to go to next. Any resources that you can point me to on how to accomplish that? Thanks.
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Spotless Corner Diffuser 1m Amazon: amzn.to/3DFhRpf
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Install WLED/ESP8266 setup video: th-cam.com/video/l8OMi7SMpqs/w-d-xo.html
Install WLED/ESP32 setup video: th-cam.com/video/TOEnFKLm9Sw/w-d-xo.html
Projects I have made using these diffuser channels:
RGB Board and Batten Accent Wall: th-cam.com/video/b13VLiK7AOU/w-d-xo.html
DIY Music Visualizer: th-cam.com/video/K4EzLI1fFnQ/w-d-xo.html
DIY LED Art: th-cam.com/video/NNAdbsINh-w/w-d-xo.html
Links to a few of my other complete how-to projects:
RGB Baseboard Trim: th-cam.com/video/Ik8HnGxfQq0/w-d-xo.html
DIY Customizable Images: th-cam.com/video/2q_zrEcbXHE/w-d-xo.html
RGB LIGHT PROJECT: th-cam.com/video/rIbTzUD2E4k/w-d-xo.html
LED Strip Diffuser Ideas: th-cam.com/video/09-fiWjP42Y/w-d-xo.html
DIY Hexagon Project: th-cam.com/video/t9xGyB4ahyY/w-d-xo.html
DIY Corner Project: th-cam.com/video/ZB5HqWhMXNo/w-d-xo.html
DIY Edge Lit Designs: th-cam.com/video/0_TtHkBB3vA/w-d-xo.html
DIY Govee Glide: th-cam.com/video/n9LsiQARFas/w-d-xo.html
DIY Black Acrylic Floating Shelves: th-cam.com/video/6csSMtV_op0/w-d-xo.html
The best way to help support my channel is to like, comment, make sure your subscribed and share my videos with as many people as you can. The other way is to use my links above as I get a small % at no extra cost to you if you buy something. Thank you all for the support!
omg absolutely dead-on Steven Wright impression
Thanks so much for watching! Lol Its taken me years to perfect. lol jk. I just have a very boring voice lol.
This is the same diffuser I've used as well, and it lit up my entire apartment using the Hue light strips. They're excellent
Glad you agree that this product is great! I'm still blown away at how amazing it looks using strips that have 60/leds per meter. Thanks for watching!
I found your channel on accident trying to see if Govee lights were good. Your channel is amazing!
Thanks so much buddy! Glad you are liking the videos! Appreciate the love!
I just found you 2 weeks ago, thanks for my new addiction lol spent almost 200 on Amazon already. The best lighting out. I wish there was a mic so wled could do music mode. thanks!!
I did the same after watching this channel. 😆
Lol sounds like me about a year ago when I first started! There are ways to incorporate a mic into wled but ive yet to look into it. Its definitly on my to do list! Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment!
lol my bad! Hopefully your having fun though!
I'm definitely having fun. I have an idea for a video. I recently purchased form amazon the 16×16 256 pixel Ws2812b eco led panel. It's a total game changer when it comes to the effects. Check it out.
@@Hdogg-ey5mr I'll for sure check it out! There are so many cool things out there its hard to not just jump around from one thing to another lol. Love to see the video if you end up making one!
I nearly gave up on this too! I am trying to create DYI lighting FX for my music videos. Found some polycarbonate tubes but was stuck on how to connect the led's inside. This idea now makes the tubes redundant but offers the perfect setup in a size restricted space. cheers!
Seeing these on Amazon is actually what lead me to your channel, somehow, a few days ago lol I’ve watched every video
Lol what a coincidence! Thanks buddy! Appreciate it and thanks for watching!
The LEDs themselves have a significant bearing on the light diffusion. Both the quantity per linear metre and the angle the LEDs emit the light are a major factor. In my professional experience using LEDs for many years, having a deep channel and frosted convex diffuser will always help diffusion. The proof of a good diffuser is when you have to use a shallow channel due to the design constraints in your application.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment! Sounds like you already knew what it took me a long time to figure out lol. In your experience, is it even possible to have a shallow channel and have it look great while using only 30/led per meter?
@@ChrisMaherDIY Hi Chris. Appreciate your reply. Unfortunately not. They are simply too far apart to achieve this. There will always be spotting with 30 LEDs/metre in a shallow channel. A ‘milky’ diffuser rather then a frosted one is better but only fractionally. You’ll need at least 120 per metre for best results. Good luck 🤞🏼
@@myaquascapingjourney1255 wow thanks for the information, It will help me a lot preparing everything 😄
Thank youuuu I was about to spend $180+ just to get that “neon light” effect.
Thank you thank you thank you.
You are welcome!! It definitely blew my expectations away with how perfect it looks! Thanks for watching!
You read my mind. I've had these in my cart for about a week and a half, and them getting an endorsement from you is enough for me to spend on them. I'm going to use the channel along with some mirror film and acrylic mirror to create an infinity effect inside my O11 dynamic pc case.
Thats crazy! Definitly make a video of how it turns out. I love stuff like that!
LED KING BACK WITH THE GREAT CONTENT
Thanks as always buddy!!
Dude thank you I was going crazy tryin to find that perfect "neon" diffuser, im gonna pick up a stack of these
You are very welcome and thanks so much for watching! I've used these diffusers in so many projects now and still love them! Thanks!
Thank you so much for this video. I have been looking a good diffuser for a while now. Can’t wait to see how you use them.
You are very welcome and thanks so much for watching! I have so many ideas on what I can do with these lol. But i'll at least do a couple projects with them. Hopefully have one to release in a couple weeks.
Welp, you just helped me figure out some things for a new home. Thanks for these videos! Appreciate them bro!
Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! Glad you like the videos. Appreciate the support buddy!
Looks so smooth! Can't wait to see what you do with those!
Thanks Chris! Its very smooth!! Yeah i'm working on a few fun ones with these. Hopefully out in a week or two! Thanks!
Super cool find. I actually just bought material for a new project putting LED lights under a table I built for my theater room. Will check these channels out.
They are definitly amazing especially using the 60leds/meter! How did the table turn out!?
@@ChrisMaherDIY Turned out great. It was a weekend project, and it felt very accomplished.
I was just checking these out last week. I want to line the perimeter of my ceiling with these and hook the light up to prismatik so when I game my entire room will light up according to whats on screen instead of just the back wall behind the TV. Now thats immersion!
That sounds epic!!! I've wanted to do something like that but its always just seemed a little over my head with my limited knowledge of programming etc. These channels are amazing though. Best I have ever used.
thank you!! I've been on this same quest, these look amazing and do exactly what I was looking for
You are welcome and glad I could help! Hopefully you love them as much as I do! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!
Thank you for this review! Ordering some today.
You are very welcome! Glad you enjoyed and thanks for the support!
Faving this for the future, very useful
Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! Appreciate it!
Thanks for the vid man. About to order some strips but just learned about diffusers. Stuff was giving me a headache. You made it a lot easier to understand, about to order now. Been watching your DIY vids too
Hey thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! Appreciate the support my friend and I'm glad you are liking some of the videos!
Thank you for this review! Was looking for something like this for a long time.
You are very welcome! Glad to help. Thanks for watching buddy!
Love your channel Chris.
Thanks so much buddy! Glad you are liking the videos. Appreciate the support!
Nice! 👌🏼
The right diffusion material is so important for led lighting. I'm working on a 12"x18" led key light and picked up Hobby Lobby's tracing blank sheets based on your recommendation in a previous video. Next I want to make a flapjack/pancake style key light, but I want it to be 24" in diameter, so I'm on the hunt for inexpensive but excellent diffusion material for that.
Thanks again for sharing your builds!
You are very welcome and thanks for watching! Diffusion is very tricky for sure!! Let me know if you find stuff that works! I'm always curious what others find that I could potentially use in projects! Thanks as always!!
Wow! Perfect! I’m going to use this Forney golf simulator! Thanks you just got a new sub!!!
That would look great!! Thanks for watching and for the support. Appreciate it buddy!
Great video Chris. I have a set of 6 of these for a outdoor project and I must admit they are great quality. Hopefully I'll have time to finish installing them this week. Thanks again for another well informed vid. 👍
I'm glad you think so too! I was also blown away at how bright get even at a low brightness level. Thanks for watching and hope your project goes well buddy!
Great work, next project here we go
Thanks so much buddy!! Lol I know how you feel!
In my Amazon cart!! Thanks Chris !!
Niiiice!!! Let me know what you think when you get them!
I do something similar but, I buy a set that has white leds already in them. It has a shallower channel but leaves space in the bottom for the controllers. I use different leds with more close pixels and this makes up for the shallow channel. I also have to do a lot more work to make mine work like cutting the diffusion, which is a pain. But doing this way gives me room for the controller and makes each individual bar it’s own separate thing. Also I get the extra white leds to play with.
Thats a great idea! What channel with the whites in them do you get? I've also wanted to play around with those led strips where the pixels are even closer than the 60/meter but i've never talked myself into spending the money. At some point I will and like you said, that would allow to use more shallow diffuser and have it more flush with a wall or wherever you want to put them. Thanks for watching and taking the time to share!
Link to the lights you recommend??
Fantastic thanks for the help !
Great video! It ended too soon! Looking forward to your next project with these diffusers!
Thanks buddy!! Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching as always!
I’m glad I found your channel! Lots of great stuff. I’d be interested in seeing something like this installed under a car. I bet you could do awesome things with that! Thanks for all you do!
Maybe I can do something down the road on a car! My dodge grand caravan would look pretty sweet with some fast and furious type under lighting! Might have to be a summer video! Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment!
Most diffusers are the same material but like you mentioned , the further away the diffuser is from the light source the better the effect will be.
The only drawback is when you are after a slim or shallow recessed type , then you are back to the diffuser being very close to the light source potentially seeing the individual led chips.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment! Thats exactly what i've discovered. Although with so many of the ones i've tried before the diffuser material was the exact same thickness everywhere. This product, the diffuser is slightly curved and thicker in the middle and gets more thin towards the edges which i think takes this from good to great. The shallow ones do work but I think the only way to get good results with those are to have 120/led's per meter which takes a lot more power and are a lot more expensive.
I have the Govee outdoor lights which I believe are 24 per meter. So from what I am reading, those would not look good with a diffuser??
Hi Chris thank you for the video!! Question do you have a video to explain how to conect all ?? Thank you
Thanks so much for watching! I actually did just make a video about how to get something like this connected. Here it is! th-cam.com/video/TOEnFKLm9Sw/w-d-xo.html Let me know if you have any questions!
So glad I watch this video. I was going to buy the wrong item 😅
Hey Chris, this Video is exactly what I was looking for. In a few months I will become a new kitchen and for the lighting I want to use the same setup you used in the video, thanks man :)
Thats awesome! I'm also eventually going to put some led lights up under my kitchen cabinets but have not found the time yet. Let me know how things turn out for you and if you have any tips for me when I do it!
@@ChrisMaherDIY the only problem is that I can't buy them here in Germany :(
@@gigelz7091 that's a bummer! Whatever you end up buying, I would say for sure try finding one that is at least 17mm deep but preferably 20mm deep to have the best look!
the normal corner defusers work too but you nees 100leds/m density. I built some projects with it and it super smooth
Thanks so much for watching! What led strip do you recomend that is 100 led/m? I'm for sure wanting to eventually try using led strips that are more dense to give more flexibility on the diffuser material. Thanks buddy!
@@ChrisMaherDIYNo Problem! Most of the strips I use are BTF - Lighting W2812B strips from amazon. they have a bunch of densities and even different strip widths. Def look them up.
@@L0ck0nStr4t0s Thanks! I am familiar with the 60/leds per meter but I have not ventured past that. I'll for sure have to take a look!
Hey man! Thanks for this, literally doing a cabinet job and was really going crazy trying to find the perfect channels. My friend uses lifex lights already which have very vivid, saturated colors and beautiful diffusion without any additional diffusion. So I had a mission, to try and too those lights with my setup. Thanks to you I should be able to impress him 👏🏻
Thanks so much for watching and you are very welcome! Hopefully it turns out great! What lifex lights did your friend use that already has diffusion?!
@@ChrisMaherDIY he uses the led strips from them, I think whatever coating they put on it helps with diffusion it’s not truly per say actual diffusion. But he just stuck them to the back of his tv and there was no hot spots on the wall behind when he was showing me.
@@currentlylive_ec5768 Gotcha! That makes sense. As far as hotspots, distance is your friend. If led lights are even about 2 inches away from the wall, you can probably get away with 30/led per meter with no diffuser materials. Also the texture and reflectivness of the wall will make a difference in hotspots.
Awesome video, I’m glad I found your channel. I love the things you come up with revolving around leds and how it’s super easy to do. I’ve struggled with finding good led diffusers on Amazon so this videos a great help! It sucks to hear they don’t look so good with govee lights since that’s why I currently use but it’s not hard to find good leds that are 60leds per meter. Looking forward to future content, keep up the great work!
Thanks so much and appreciate the comment! Yeah, I think for a perfect spotless neon look using govee or any 30 led/meter strips you just cant do it without having a little more space between the diffuser and light. I'm going to keep looking though to see if I can find something, but for now I think this is your best bet. Thanks again for watching!
@@ChrisMaherDIY have you tried putting a strip of Govee lights in there and seeing what they look like? I just bought a strip of Govee lights and would like to avoid getting their light bars if I could make something similar to this in your video.
@@jstriker90 I have not tried them yet with Govee lights but this diffuser will give them the best chance of looking good. Still might not look perfect but you can always return them if they don't have the look you want. If only Govee made light strips with the LEDs a little closer together!
Alright you got me lmao This channel is all quality I’m impressed and bought some stuff already. Found a new passion lmao
What can I do to connect these on corners, should I cut them or is there a piece that I can buy to connect them , that way the corners look like a smooth white bar.
I dont think they have corners for these yet which is unfortunate. Do you have any good ideas on how to make a nice looking corner? It might be as easy as cutting them at a 45 degree angle but part of me thinks the curved diffuser would not make a perfect angle and there would be a little seem. I'll have to try it one of these days and see if it works!
@@ChrisMaherDIY Exactly my thoughts , I’ll give it a try and see how it goes ,Thank you Chris!
How do you sequence the LED's to run a pattern where they "run off" onto the next row of LED's?
Love your content bro 👌 Let's hope we can continue such luxurious hobbies into the future.
For sure! Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment!
can you tell me how to do rectangle shape with these single strip please>.
Wow.... cool.....I wanna try this in a D-shape translucent shower seal installed as a rubber front bumper rail on my W123 Mercedes
How would you recommend running power injection wires in these?
I accidentally opened TH-cam a minute ago and your thumbnail caught my eye! Incredibly serendipitous!!! I've been struggling for months with my ambient lighting using Govee products and I'm finally at a breaking point. You've given me hope!!! You have a new subscriber for life!!! I'm gonna go order those LED's and channels now!!
I have a question. That control board you listed in the description. Does that need to run on a Raspberry Pi or similar SBC?
Thats awesome!! Glad it caught your eye! Thanks for watching and for the support buddy! For most of my projects, i use a very simple and pretty cheap method of a free program called WLED installed on an esp8266 wifi board. No programming required. Here is a video i made a while back showing how you can get it up and running! Thanks again! th-cam.com/video/l8OMi7SMpqs/w-d-xo.html
How about a comparison of this vs “conventional” quarter-round and straight/thin channel?
Thats a great idea for a video! I'll definitly add that to my list. Thanks for watching!!
I'll second this request. I've got a few corners where I'll be running LEDs, and am in the market for a good corner/ quarter-round aluminum channel. There are a few other places where I want to do a larger diffuser channel like you did on either side of your TV as well, but I'm aiming for the 'low profile' look in some rooms. Thanks! I dig your LED work, yo!
Woah! Nice! Thank you! I'm more curious about the pegboard in the background. I am working on a pegboard for displaying my hot wheel collection and trying to figure out ways to light them up w/LED's. I'm putting LEDs on the back for background lighting but can't figure out how to light them from the front. I was searching for LED channel diffusers and found you. Thinking channels facing the sides to light them up but not sure.
I wonder if you could perhaps use a design somewhat like these th-cam.com/video/FNDikt7VfRw/w-d-xo.html to use as the shelves that the cars would sit on and incorporate that into the project? Maybe see if you could do a diy version of them. Just a thought! Otherwise I'll let you know If I think of any other good ideas on how to potentially light things up in the front.
@@ChrisMaherDIY thanks! Yes when I saw that video I though of that option too but we will see! Will be sure to tag you
Hi thanks. And i want to point that in the description is a typo esp2866 instead of esp8266
Good catch!! Thanks! Just changed it. Hope you have a great day!
Chris, Hello my name is Danny and also hopefully addicted to making the world a more lit and colorful way. Kudos to you for finding this disfusser package. I'm a very DIY guy and been searching for something as well and found that parchment paper works great as long as there's something to make the paper more rigid. Still searching. But I've been using WLED and SR-WLED for over a year now and made some downright killer displays. I even outlined the three main windows of a radio station and it stands out from far out. I'm writing cuz I've advance into the 2d and 3d matrix world and WLED is still trying to catch up to Madrix and their amazing control systems that I've seen and used in nightclubs since around 2011. They are def the leader and innovator in the pixel mapping world. I digress, but have you made or invested in 144/m pixel strips? 60/m is enuff to fill the diffuser and put light out, but the first time I put the appropiate power to a strip I made that was 5m long (and injected) of 144/m was the first time I blew my own mind. Words are hard to come by trying to explain what it looks like. Like I could say lkajdsflkjadfdfak lkjdf la'kdjflkdfakj but that is not understandable....get it? lol What board are you using? I recently found out the esp32S has many features that quadruple the power of a D1 mini. Lemme upload my clips for you to see.
Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! I love your enthusiasm and feel the same way! It sounds like you are doing what I want to eventually start doing. I've never used anything more than 60 led/meter but I for sure want to try the 144/meter as well as the new cob led strip lights! What power source did you use on your setup that blew your mind?! I would love to try it out! Do you have a link to the esp32s that you use? I'm still using the old esp8266 because they are so cheap! Thanks again!
Hey there. I've been watching your LED projects and they all look amazing. Related to this video, is it impossible to eliminate the hotspots in 30 led/meter? My strip has 30 leds/meter and I'm having a hard time finding a video on how to diffuse such type of an LED strip. Can you suggest any tips?
Thanks so much and great quesiton! Its not impossible to eliminate hotspots with 30 led/meter but its not as easy as using led strips with a higher density led count. The biggest thing that your going to need is distance between the diffuser and led lights with the 30 led/meter strips. In this video that I made a while back: th-cam.com/video/09-fiWjP42Y/w-d-xo.html i used a led strip that has 30led/meter and there were zero hot spots in the first design and very very slight hotspots in the second design. Now the desing can be completely different than what I did in the video but what you'll notice is that the light source is further away from the diffuser than a traditional led channel that you might find on amazon. So my recomendation is to just do some fun experiments using different materials and different distances until you find a combination that looks good and then try building something based on your findings. I am still trying to find something on Amazon that diffuses 30 led/meter leds perfectly and I'll let you know if I ever come across something! Thanks again for watching!
It's amazing that the video you just sent was the first video I watched from you :D. I didn't know that the strip has 30led/meter though. Thank you for the suggestions. I like the second design because the design is somewhat not bulky and I think will fit my room perfectly. As suggested by you, I'll try to experiment with different materials and different configurations. Will also try stacking thin layers of different diffusers, maybe that could help. Thank you again for that wonderful tips.
@@donjosedelrosario4866 You are very welcome! Good luck and hope you have fun!
Looks really good, thanks for the tip! I made a mistake by looking for a channel as flat as possible , and was thinking: so this is it? Should I buy more leds/m ? But now I see that it is about diffuser ánd somewhat higher channels...(obviously). Unfortunately those are not for sale at Amazon Netherlands :-(
Thats a bummer! I wonder if they are only available in the US? I'll have to try finding something else that is more available in different parts of the world! Thanks so much for watching!
@@ChrisMaherDIY I wasn't able to find this in the Netherlands or Germany. Then you will get different vendors and I don't know if they are pretty much the same... Would be aswesome if you can find something comparable! Also looking at the silicon channels, they look amazing and flexible. I want to have something in like 35 degrees on my desk, around the corner until the floor and don't know yet what I should do with that.
@@ChrisMaherDIY Found anything please? I see those diffusers in a lot of topics, but that is al coming from the US.
Thank you for the great video. What led would you use to hardwire to a 120V switch and use this diffuser?
Thats a great questions and something that I am going to have to look into for an upcoming project! Let me know if you find any good resources on how to do it and I'll do the same!
Thank you. That was the most informative product review edited with great style. I spent all day researching this and you've answered all my questions in 2:35 minutes. How do you think equivalent V style would diffuse with that same light strip you used? Would I see the dots?
I think you would see the dots a little bit but I have not personally tested them out. I think over on the Hook Up he tests those out on a video he made very recently. Give that a watch as he is very informative. th-cam.com/video/DKOWeuV1FWE/w-d-xo.html
What’s up Chris, so informative I’m glad I’ve found your channel. Do you think these channels will be fine for the gouvee phantasy outdoor light strips. I don’t want to see any type of dots at all I hate them, also curious if you think it’ll take away from the brightness…thanks in advance
Thanks so much for watching! Do you have a link to those lights your talking about? Unless they have 60 leds per meter its going to be hard to get rid of the dots using a diffuser channel. It is possible to get a perfect diffused look with a strip that has 30 leds per meter but you need a good amount of distance between the leds and the diffuser!
Just wondering if you know which diffuser would be best for outdoor usage, like putting in the garden and not rust.
That's a great questions and I'm not sure what would be the best! I'll have to look into that and see If i can find something that people recommend for outdoor use.
Thanks want to buy this for my celing
This would looke great on the ceiling! Thanks for watching!
Do you think this would work well for landscape lighting/placed behind foliage/bushes? I am wondering if it will provide enough light for uplighting as well as out
Thanks so much for watching! I personally think it would provide more than enough lighting for that situation but might just have to try it to know for sure! Everything I link to I believe has free returns!
Love it man! I was looking into these as well. Its tough to find a good aluminum channel that diffuses light well and these really look great!
Thanks buddy!! They for sure are the best I've ever used so far. You have any new videos dropping soon?!
Any idea if the phillips hue lightstrip will look good on this diffuser? And great video btw they look amazing
Do you know how many LED's the Phillips hue lightstrip has per meter? I've never used them so I'm not sure myself. However if they are 30 led's per meter it will still look better than anything else you will find on amazon but it will not look as good as the 60 led's/meter that I used in the video. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!
This is a little off topic, but what LED strip light could you recommend for a shower. I have Stage four glaucoma and I just want to be a little safer...
Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! You would for sure need some waterproof led lights. I'd recomend these: amzn.to/3GRrUqj but make sure to select the ip67 option before ordering. Ip67 is the waterproof strip that they sell!
@@ChrisMaherDIY
Thank you for the kind response...
Hello , is it possible to modify it to light up by reacting to a music beat or sound? If you know can you try it ,
It is possible but I have not taken the time yet to look into it so i'm not much help right now. Its definitly on my to do list for a project and at some point I will see how its done! Thanks for watching!
so how would I make this into a baseboard thing? I have 50ft of govee rgbic (in 2 rolls of 25) and want it to wrap around my living room but wouldn't know what to do where the corners meet. Thanks for inspiring me!
I would try doing something like it did at the bottom in this video I made: th-cam.com/video/b13VLiK7AOU/w-d-xo.html As far as the corners I would just have them pushed together with a little overlap. Kinda hard to explain without showing but if you just play around with different ideas, you should find something that works well! Govee led strips can be cut and soldered together so you can always keep that in mind if that will help get around angles!
I am literally in the market for diffusers right now! PERFECT!
Also I wanted to mention that I have a band that I feel like fits your style on your channel. Check out the band "Hurtwave". They have 4-5 really good vibe songs that I feel like you'd like to add to your videos. Small band so I doubt there are any copywrite issues. Let me know what you think!
lol great timing! Also love the music suggestion! I'm always on the lookout for good music and I'll for sure check them out! Edit, just listened to one of their songs and Its amazing! Good looking out buddy!
So quick question. I'm very new to this and I'm looking to do a wall project. if i want 90 degree turns will i need to chop with 45's or is the a 90 degree adapter?
I dont think they have L connectors (at least I have not found any yet) so will probably just have to do a 45 degree cut and see how that looks. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out! Thanks for watching!
Hi Chris - Great video! Any chance you can add a link for matching corners for the Muzata U108 that you linked above? I can’t find them on Amazon… the only versions I see don’t match…
Thanks for watching and that's a great question! Unfortunately last I checked they did not have corner pieces for this channel. I have not tried cutting them at a 45 degree angle to see if that would work but its something I will probably be trying here soon. Hopefully they will come out with corner pieces soon as there would be a lot of people wanting them!
@@ChrisMaherDIY thanks so much for responding! Amazing :)
What about the corners, did you find any L-shaped corner connectors for the Muzata LN1?...
No, unfortunately I don't think they sell the corner pieces for this product. However, I'm going to try cutting them at a 45 degree angle on my miter saw and see if they line up nicely!
How would I be able to run this set up all along the perimeter of the ceiling of my room? Would help a lot thanks in advance
You could for sure use the mounting brackets they came with and I would for sure recommend led's that at least have 60/leds per meter like I used in this video. Powering that many LEDs would be the part that would probably present the biggest challenge depending on how much power injection would be needed and how to somewhat hide the wires! But that for sure sounds like a fun project!
That's freaking bad ass. What do use for a driver? Also can these be scaled up to grow plants?
It looks even better in person! I'm using WLED installed on an esp8266 board. th-cam.com/video/l8OMi7SMpqs/w-d-xo.html As far as power, i'm using a 5v 10am supply unit. Power only going in on one end. Thats a great question but I have zero experience with growing plants or the lights needed for that. However if you need the light to get bright, whats great about this diffuser is that they are very bright and let a ton of light through so i would imagine they would work perfect for growing plants. Thanks for watching!
@@ChrisMaherDIY par ranges for growing plants would be anywhere frome 150-300par for starts, 300-600par for veg and to flower 600+ more the better. Thank you for getting back to me
is there a option für only the Plexiglass. Dont really need the Alu profile
Thanks again! I'm not sure where you could just get the diffuser covers. At least I cant find any options on Amazon in the US.
Hey man, I was wondering can u stick these on the sides of your ceiling like how do u stick them?
Thanks so much for watching! You can for sure do that. They come with mounting clips you could use but i've also used 3m sticky tape on these for some projects and that also works great.
will the plastic diffuser fit onto the shallower more common channels and if so, does it improve diffusion against the stock diffusers that the shallow channels normally come with?
I don't think this is universal to other channels. The diffuser fits perfectly into a small groove in the aluminum and I doubt it would fit in anything else. Great question!
Hey. Old vid I know but these don’t seem to be available anymore. What’s the best current diffuser going?
But can it get bright enough to actually usefully illuminate an area, or is it just for decoration?
Thanks so much for watching and great question. They actually get really bright! For sure you could use them to illuminate an area. At night, I mostly have them set to about 20% brightness as anything above that is just too much at least with the led strips that I'm using.
@@ChrisMaherDIY Good to know. Thanks
Excellent
Hi Chris, I have a question for you, could you please tell me how you deal with LED light recording and you don't get overexposure at the same time.
Maybe you have a way ?
Thanks for watching and the great question! I've found that certain colors look better on camera than others for whatever reason. I'm definitly no expert and I dont have fancy equipment. I'm using an old samsung note 6 i believe for all the recording and pictures. The only thing I will adjust is the amount of light that the lense takes in. Generally I have to reduce the amount of light by just a little bit so that you can actually see what color is being shown vs just a crazy bright white looking auro since the camera has a hard time automatically making those adjustment. Thanks!!
Hi so dont they have the inner corner conectora and out corner conetors ? Going in and out off corners bends ??
Thanks for watching! Last I checked they unfortunately do not have the corner connector pieces for this product yet. I'm hoping they will come out with one soon! I'll let you know if I see them.
Cool !
Thanks buddy!
What is the difference between these LED lights and the Govee lights as far as what they can do? Is there any other LED lights like the Govee lights that can segment out color and use an IC chip or whatever?
The biggest difference is 2 things. The led strips i'm using in the video have 60 lights per meter. Govee will generally have 30 lights per menter. Having more lights per meter mean the leds will be closer together which will help achieve the neon effect with no hotspots. The other difference is with the lights i'm using in the video, each led can be its own color and brightness. With Govee, the led lights are able to be controlled but in groups of 3. This means that the animations will not be as smooth or fluid. Hope that helps!
What is the difference between the white and black diffusers? I feel like black would create a more subdued texture?
Thanks so much for watching! They are the same size and shape and even though the black ones still work great, I think the bare aluminum color does a little better job and are a little brighter. Cant go wrong with either one but I personally prefer the bare aluminum ones.
@ChrisMaherDIY are the black channels with the m1 spotless too but with a little less brightness. I have dark walls and the black would blend better.
These look amazing, thank you! I've been looking for something that seems promising. Not being able to buy all kinds to test, this helps a lot.
Do you think these would defuse Philips Hue strips as nicely? I have some I got as a gift, and I know I can connect Philips Hue to Razer's software which can change lights depending on what happens in games that support it, but I don't know of other types of light strips/LED controllers that can be controlled by Razer.
Thanks for watching and great question! Do you know how many led's the phillips hue has? If your pointing the led strips towards the wall and want the light to then bounce off the wall, you probably don't need any diffuser for that as long as the strips are more than a couple inches from the wall. If you will be looking directly at the led strip lights then you would for sure want a diffuser. This one will do better than anything else I have seen on Amazon but if the phillips hue light strip is only 30/leds per meter its not going to look as good as this video because I was using 60led's per meter. Also you would want to make sure the phillips hue lights trips would fit in the channel as I'm not sure how wide their lights trips are.
@@ChrisMaherDIY I will do some tests with them and check their size. Thanks again.
what brand do led strip do you recommend that includes everything you need like power supply controller and the leds themselves
I'm really enjoying ws2812b led lights from BTF Lighting. They have yet to dissapoint me yet. Here is a video where I go over different ways I have powered these led strips in the past and I have all the links to what I use in that videos description: th-cam.com/video/KFtjf5mD6tA/w-d-xo.html Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to comment!
Can you fit connectors inside these channels? Or would everything need to be soldered??? How would you connect multiple strips of your addressable RGB's together? I need like 55 feet for a basement. So much information to consume lol but love all your videos, been very helpful to start understanding
lol i just checked and the answer is yes and no. If you get these connectors, amzn.to/3IFqUaI i was able to rip the white top piece off and it fits like a glove without that attached. I think there is enough pressure that would be put on the strip with just those silver things pressing down on the pads that you should be ok. With that being said, I would still probably solder if its an option as the connection would be a little bit better. Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment!
@@ChrisMaherDIY thank you for the reply!! If soldering these BTF strips together, do I need to add inline power with each 5m I add? or can they can be soldered one strip directly into the next so there's no gaps? Or can I just add a bigger power source at the head end to power the whole thing? sorry for so many questions or if theres a video that might address this
@@iananderson8920 great questions! You can definitely solder them all together in 1 long strip. You may need to add power injection depending on how they perform with the power source your using compared to your expectations. For example, if I wanted to run a very long strip of lights at full brightness and full white, I would need many power injections. However if I was just mostly going to be running animations or different colors and if running them at half brightness still achieved the look I was going for, then you might not need any power injection or maybe just a few. My approach is I will set everything up on the floor and test it out and then make adjustments based on how it looks!
@@ChrisMaherDIY wow thanks for taking the time to respond in such detail, very much appreciated
in another video, can you show what the govee light strips would look like in them?
Thats a good idea! I'll put that on my to do list! Thanks for watching!
New subscriber here! Just getting into this stuff. I have some govee phantom pro lights coming in that i want to mount to the roof line on my home. First question being, can I mount these diffusers without any drilling? Would 3m body double sided tape work? I know from auto work on how strong this stuff is to withstand the different climates we have in that northeast. Second question is do I need to attach the govee strips with the double sided tape onto the diffusers or can I just place them in like you did in the video? Thank you a ton!
Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! I appreciate the support! What are govee phantom pro lights? Do you have a link? So I also am someone who is amazed at how good double sided tape works and I for sure think that would be strong enough to hold. I'm not 100% sure since i've never tested it out but I would say its for sure worth trying! You could maybe rig up a different way without drilling using magnets of some sort but that would probably be a lot more money and labor intensive. I guess you would not have the strip to the diffuser depending on where you will be putting them but the closer the led strip gets to the diffuser the more noticeable the hotspots will be. If you using led strips that have 30/leds per meter then there will be hot spots no matter what. The 60 leds/meter led strips I use in this video have no hotspots as long as they are laying flat against the diffuser. Hope that helps and thanks again for the great questions!
Do they make any that are less than 1” deep, that still provide spotless diffusion?
You'd have to have a material that's more dense (but loose some lumens) or use some kind of lens to send the focal point further back.
Thanks for this. Looking for a spotless channel for my theater. I run RGB Lighting along my baseboard and was wondering if these be at least better then what I currently have. Waiting to install govee RGBic lighting I just ordered. Would this channel be better then the standard channel from Muzata?
You are very welcome! I think this is going to be the best option on amazon for a diffuser channel. However its going to be tough to get that perfect spotless look using led's that are 30 leds per meter which most Govee strips are. All that to say, I do feel like from all the searching I have done, this is going to give the best look for govee led strips and the perfect look for led strips that have 60 led's per meter. But if your in the US, you have to love Amazon returns policy. I would just order this and a couple other ones and test them out. Keep whichever one looks best and return the others! Let me know how it turns out!
I will for sure.
how do you plug all those things to create this moving light effect please?
Thanks so much for watching! I'm just connecting the led strips together and using WLED installed on an esp device to control the animations. WLED is awesome and comes with pretty much an unlimited number of animations you can use or customize. Here are a couple videos I made that go over how to get things set up: th-cam.com/video/TOEnFKLm9Sw/w-d-xo.html and th-cam.com/video/apSz3NXYlx8/w-d-xo.html
@@ChrisMaherDIY thanks a lot for your answer! your channel is a masterpiece! keep up the amazing work!
Have you done a comparison between mounting on the wall near the ceiling vs mounting on the ceiling near the wall?
I would imagine on the wall would cast better light onto the pure white ceiling and look wider/brighter when sitting further from the wall.
Having it on the ceiling would cast more light down the wall but most walls aren't pure white so it probably won't do much. Also unless you are under the light it will look thinner from a distance.
I would personally opt for wall mounting but with this particular rounded design It probably doesn't matter too much and when you get the channels you can test one of them in both positions
Are there any channels that have 90 right and left turn pieces to create squares or rectangles?...
Thanks for watching! They do have some channels that have the corner pieces but unfortunately the diffuser channels are not as good as this one from a diffusion standpoint at 60 leds per meter.
Diffuser Channel: amzn.to/3OHBhOW
Corner pieces: amzn.to/3FaLYq6
I want these as the border of a temporary plywood stage. Would this be the best option? I have to disassemble everything when the event is over and I don't want to throw anything away. Any ideas?
I think these would for sure be the best since they diffuse the led lights perfectly when using 60 leds/meter or more. All other diffuser channels I've every tried need to use at least 100 led/meter strips for that perfect look. Using the mounting brackets that they come with would be easy to snap the channels on and off. The challenging part would be coming up with an easy way to remove the led strips. Maybe you could use some 3m Velcro type material to attach to the profiles and remove it when the show is done? Sounds like a fun project to do for sure!
@@ChrisMaherDIY what do you think about the govee neon ropes? I just saw those and they look pretty easy to install and I like that they bend.
@@coloradoretreats I really do like those as well! I have not personally tested them out yet but they look very nice from what I've seen!
Hi, I’m planning on buying these diffusers because of your review, but do I need corner adapters? I looked at the muzata store on Amazon and didn’t see any for this model.
Thanks for watching and for taking the time to comment! I have also not found the corner pieces for this. Last I heard is that they are not made for this product but they were going to look into it since these channels are amazing. Hopefully they will be available soon to buy!
As someone who is super new to even electronics, is there a way to turn these things on with like a batter pack or something that can be hidden - like.. how do you plug these on...
Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! There are a lot of different options out there. Some more complex than others. I did make a video on a few basic ways you can go about powering these. th-cam.com/video/KFtjf5mD6tA/w-d-xo.html I have not yet done a video on battery packs though but I'm hoping to at some point down the road!
@@ChrisMaherDIY Hi, thanks for the response - I will check it out. I am only messaging because I have small battery packs that I use for microbits and breadboards so I was wondering if its possible to hook these up to one or if they dont produce enough voltage
@@IXxJordan I think smaller packs could for sure power some leds. How many and for how long, that i'm not sure. Definitely something I want to look into down the road!
What led strips would you recommend them? I was thinking about those govee ones. I’m open to new options.
The ones I use in the video are my favorite ones (link in the video description). They do require a little bit more work to get them going but once you've done it a few times, its pretty easy and I feel worth the extra work. Here is the setup I use to get those lights working: th-cam.com/video/l8OMi7SMpqs/w-d-xo.html
@@ChrisMaherDIY Thanks!
Love your passion for LEDs! I have a question about those channels. Those are the U108s and I’m trying to decide if I want those or the U116s (also sold from same company on Amazon). My goal for buying either is an exterior house installation and I would love to be able to run the power injection wire inside the channel behind the LED strip so as to completely hide it. Do you think I could do that with these U108s? And if you’re familiar with the U116s, do you think I could with those? I realize a lot of that would depend on the size of the injection wire I’m using, and I think that’s 14 gauge. Either that or 10, I can’t remember right off hand. Thoughts?
I just looked at the Muzata store and couldn't find the U116. Are you able to leave a link in the comments or does it delete anything with a link? I think you could run the injection wires inside the channel but I'm not sure if it would have the same great spotless look. I've often wondered the same thing as far as the best way of running power injection wires on big installs but have not done anything that big which would require me testing some options out. How long are the injection wires going to be?
Do you have a recommendation for a V-channel? It doesn't look like Muzata has these, only the U-channels.
Thanks so much for watching! I haven't tried any v-channels yet so I don't want to recommend something I have not personally tried. My advice though is at least use 60leds per meter and try finding a channel thats as deep as possible. I'll keep my eyes open to see if I can find something that works well!
Are they wide enough for Philips Hue light strip or the gradient lightstrip? So hard to find a good deep and wide enough channel for those
Great question! I'm not sure how wide the Phillips Hue light strips are or the gradient lightstrip but as long as ther are less than 12.8mm wide it should fit in the aluminum channel. Thanks for watching and for the great question!
Do they sell 90 degree bends for this channel? I cant seem to find out if they make them or not
Thata a great question! I'll reach out to the company and see what they say. Might just have to cut them at a 45 degree with a table/miter saw and see if they will butt up nice. I'll let you know if I hear back from them.
I’m totally new to LED lighting and I wanted to do something similar to this where I have a bunch of diffused LED strips literally lined up like you have in your example. I have no idea how to connect them though since I assume you have to cut and reconnect so it wouldn’t create one continuous loop. It looks like yours are individually cut at the bottom and the LEDs aren’t connected but rather attached to the power source? I assume that’s how you keep them in sync when doing an animation so it knows which strip to go to next. Any resources that you can point me to on how to accomplish that? Thanks.
Thanks so much! I actually did a project which sounds similar to what you are wanting to do. Here it is: th-cam.com/video/NNAdbsINh-w/w-d-xo.html
Can you test Thames these with some govee light strips
I have that on my to do list for videos. Hopefully I can get to it sometime soon! Thanks for watching and for the great suggestion!