@@Terandium if you think ESP32 are made in a larger scale than generic mains power cables, you're off by one or multiple orders of magnitude and in the wrong direction. Cakes are used by basically every appliance, these esp32 boards are a comparable specialty items for tinkerer's and electronic hobbyists. And by "probably bought locally" you mean Amazon, right? Cause that's where he said he got it. They should costs maybe a dollar (and only better they contain copper), rest is markup for the convenience of Amazon.
@@TheCreat ah my bad I didn't know they were bought of of Amazon's, I figured he got it at a local hardware store. Which just has a lot higher cost of operations.
Regarding flickering: The ESP does not drive the LEDs directly. It tells each pixel, via the data line, what RGBW values it should have. The pixel does the PWM in its hardware. There is no access to that. The good news is that such PWM frequencies easily are in the kHz range. I have several such strips from the same manufacturer as you and they work great with WLED.
My favorite thing about channels like yours is that you bring so much enthusiasm to something that some might deem simple. I’m sure this is well documented somewhere but I just love learning how to do things like this from people like you. And to take it a step further, the TH-cam community surrounding channels like yours never disappoints. You can always find extra nuggets of quality information in the comments. I love it!
Been using WLED for years, and love it. Seasonally for xmas lighting, and year round for controlling lighting for my deck, sidewalk and steps (under railing). For the latter I use 12v white leds and WLED to control the brightness with a mosfet (using pwm, easy to setup and only one part needed). Never had any flickering problem with any of my lights. Control the on/off using the time built in to WLED.
Just a quick think to note, for your cable coming from mains voltage, there's a couple safety things regarding it you should keep in mind, cut the ground line a little longer than the others, so that if for whatever reason they came loose and undone, the unit is still grounded, also when using those screw terminals, I'd use solid core wire, and if you have stranded like that was in your power cable, I'd crimp a fork/U connector on the end and use that, just some things to note going forward, great video though, and I think I'll probably implement this system in my own house.
Good to tell but putting an esp32 directly to main without resistor or transistor is just not a good idea for the long run. Even in the table from wled it shows a resistor. Also the cables are to thin for 100w
@@justinfelix6690 I believe you're confusing many different concepts. The ESP32 is not connected to mains. Its development board is connected to the switch mode power supply. This is correct. The development board has an on-board 3.3V linear regulator. You might put a fuse between, but not a resistor, and transistor makes no sense. You would use a transistor or resistor after the ESP32 for driving analog LEDs, and each for different reasons. Transistors isolate and control higher voltage LEDs - usually 12V strings. Resistors limit current of individual LEDs, but the ESP32 already has internal 12mA current limiting resistors inside its GPIOs. Neither apply to the digital LEDs in this video. Digital LEDs don't need transistors or resistors anywhere. You can use a transistor to shift levels between ESP32 and *6812, but 3.3V is well enough above the digital high specified by the LEDs. You can use a typically 100R resistor in the data line for impedance matching, but unless you're on the bleeding edge of transmission line speeds to an LED. Remember, conductors are rated for current, and insulators for voltage. His cable can handle 300V, but definitely not 18A. Does that mean use a heavier gauge? Absolutely not! The strip is a wire, too, and it's not rated for 18A, either. You need to run another wire from power supply to the far end of the strip.
The flicker you get in led's is not from AC power. That would fry them. It comes from the PWM Pulse width modulation of the led's being dimmed. More specifically, the frequency of the PWM. To make it look like they don't flicker, I use 10,000 hz pwm signal.
He did mention about the PWM later on which explains why it was still flickering while using DC power. I don't know why he thought it was caused by AC power to begin with.
some cheap led lights run directly on AC power, it's common for led light bulbs. No that wouldn't fry them, they are specifically made to be used like that. Of course if you run your 5V DC leds on AC 240V you fry them, he didn't say to do that...
I know this is an older video, but if you want a less messy solution there are small boxes that contain the controller board and just have a simple power in and out connections without worrying about having to bypass the controller. There is an Anthom controller that will pass through 16 Amps of 5-24V out of the box with WLED pre-installed. The controllers are more expensive but the setup is much tidier, there is also a newer manufacturer that has just turned up with similar $10 boxes that only do 10 Amps. Also, if you are worried about consistent colour output over a longer line of LEDs, 12V is better as you have less issues with voltage drop.
Having done this for Christmas lights I have to say this is one of the best any easiest videos to follow if you want to do your own light setup! Thanks!
I did this a few years back with an Ikea Vidja lamp. It's got 3 individual white shades on it as a 4 ft" cylinder. I put some PVC in between each section and ran 3 strips of 5m around them, inducting it additionally. These effects look great when they're wrapped around an object instead of a straight\curvy line.
I've used the esp32 on the inside of my pc case for years, including serving a local site to change the lighting to color/preconfigured modes. Thanks for sharing this.
Built an entire DIY custom smart home with esp32s back in 2019. Managed it from a webpage hosted on my home server. It was pretty cool. Would recommend.
GREAT video! I actually love WLED and the ESP32 board. Your circuit is wonderful. I have to admit that I just did direct. I just have a cheap DC power supply connected to the ESP and also to the light strips. They work like a champ. You mentioned that I can control through PHilips Hue?!?!?! Had no idea! I control through Home Assistant. I am totally going to get it going through PH so I can control through Alexa! Thanks for the great vid! Will look forward to more!
For the semi-open frame power supply, you might be able to actually peel off the sticker indicating the need to change the voltage and stick a test pen in to flip the switch without dismantling the power supply unit. Unless this was a true crapshoot unit that doesn't have the service port under the sticker.
I use WLED on these NODE MCU's 😁😁 Ended up using several to run main lights in my work studio, so I can control them better. I picked up a few meanwell PSU's to inject power downstream to balance output.
Damn, you always give me ideas and I want to spend more money on hobbies. This was such an awesome video and project! Wil share it with my friends cause I know some of them will probably find this useful! Have a great weekend!
You should consider using WS2815-based led strips or similar for 12V for the LEDs to avoid such high current and then a step-down-thingie, like those lm2596-based ones sold for $.5 on ali, for the microcontroller power. The 5-3.3V converter on the esp32 is linear, so it just burns the excess power, but if you give it 3.3V directly from the PSU, it won't. Also, those cables you used there, are quite unsufficient to allow for 18A - they'll catch fire.
@@roysigurdkarlsbakk3842 the original video. the title overpromised so much. when he claimed the flickering comes from AC mains I was screaming at the screen.
At 11:00 there's an important part of information for those building this in countries where electricity costs half a leg such as in Belgium: powerconsumtion for 5m of LED is 90 Watts. Philips LED strip of 2m consumes about 20 Watts at full brightness, so 50 Watts for 5m. That is about half of it. Since those LED strips are used at places where they are on a lot, the difference in price can be futile after one of two years. I do really like ESP and ESP Home (using it for tons of different things) but when it comes to lighting, when putting all info together when used in countries where energy is expensive, it is difficult to beat the big brands such as Philips Hue. It is expensive at time of buying, but when looking at long term use, it is reliable, easy to use and cheaper BUT: much appriciated video (subbed) as it is a clear guideline on how to build this yourself at a very small cost. I always like channels where they give a lot of info and actually show how to build things. Hats off! One thing I am curious about: what about Hue dynamic scenes? Is it also supported
2:14: you’ve provided all the reasons I went with Hue. I’m not typically a “big name” purchaser if there’s a better alternative, but a few years ago they were the best game in town. And while closed source, Hue integrates well with other systems in my home.
I spent hunders on hue. Now I'm just using their 4 button remote\wallplate and the motion sensor. The hue lights are boxed, lightbulbs\strips\hue plays, all replaced with cheaper bulbs and individually addressable led strips unfortunately.
YES! Those 0.1mm thick traces along the strip will not carry 18 amps. Run thick wires along the strip an connect to + and GND every 1 or 2 meters. You also absolutely want a properly dimensioned fuse on that power supply. This is to protect your wiring, not the power supply.
I just completed a project that had 525 WS2812, I use the BTF 5v 60A power supply with 3 outputs, one at the start of the string, and second at the end of the first string . As this was my first long string led project I had ever assembled I figured this would be enough power. I was wrong, the last 100 leds didn't have the same color as the rest of the string, meaning I needed to connect up the 3 output from the PS to the end of the string. Something else I noticed that help me make the call on the 3rd power injection was the temperature of the DC connection plugs at the led's. Very warm, enough that had me concerned, considering these would be on for 8+ hours at a time. Upon connecting up the 3rd output, the power injection connectors were now room temperature, and all 525 led's were operating properly.
@@MIdaffy502 60A is power enough, 525 leds at full brightness white color consumes max. 21.56 A, when using effects you will use about 6-10 A max. on full brightness with colors. You probably used very thin cables to power the leds or did something else wrong. Try only power injection in the middle if possible with your project, i'm sure it's enough when using awg 13-16 wire.
“Hue is closed-source” I mean, technically yes… but they also have an open API if you’re using their bridge, and they have adopted the Zigbee standard really well, so they play nice with basically any third party Zigbee controller, allowing you to completely ditch their backend and provide your own. While it’s not technically open source, I really don’t consider that “the antithesis of the DIY movement”
This is a good project, and well explained! If I had know I may have done my recent led project with these components. I used a gledopto controller to connect to hue, also does its job well. I guess this has more customization though! The board looks very similar to what is in the controller I think. Probably uses a variation of it? Not sad about it, still good result and simple. Did cost more though...
Guys be carefull with the 110V side of the circuit. It definitely can cause serious harm (or kill you) if you touch these screws while the plug is in the wall...
Might be worth a mention to those running longer wires from the controller board to the first LED on the strip that you will likely run into weird glitches or the lights not running at all. This is because the ESP32 uses 3.3V logic, whereas most LED strips expect 5V from the data line. This is normally not an issue for really short runs like you demonstrated, but for longer wires the voltage drop is too much so you get unexpected behaviour. The wiring diagram you showed mentions this, but a logic level shifter takes the 3.3V signals and converts them to 5V for you.
@@peterjackson1426 It's not power issue, it's a logic issue. The data line from the controller needs to be close to 5V, so a logic level shifter between the microcontroller and the first LED in the chain is all you need.
@@StuTubed Quick follow up question. I want to use it with 25 meters. Would that also work here? Or can I use this setup even with multiple LED strips in my room? I intend to do a ceiling surrounding LED in our living room.
@@M0nteytime You should only need to worry about signal to the first LED in the chain, each pixel repeats the signal to the next one. If you have a long stretch of wire between two strips in series, it should be fine because the last pixel on the first strip should be sending 5V to the first pixel of the next. You will need to consider power injection to the LEDs themselves though if the strips are long enough.
I have a Wiz bulb light which was given me some software issues. So I take it apart to see the insides, and I found that the light was controlled by the same ESP32 as you showed. Also I found information about other brands using the same ESP32. I will try to flash the controller board with WLED using a usb-ttl adapter and see what I can do!
Yes, the ESP8266 (look for D1 mini) is cheaper and smaller. And you do not need the pins, just solder your 3 wires to the holes on the PCB. Once flashed you can cover the ESP with hot glue, so you do not get shorts and it is more water proof.
Ackchyually, AC power "flickers on and off" 120 times per second on a 60Hz system; 60 times positive voltage, and 60 times negative voltage, (120 times no voltage). Cheapie LED drivers will just draw power from one half of the sine wave causing a more prominent flicker, other drivers (using full bridge rectification) draw from both halves of each cycle making the flicker less apparent.
the video i wish i'd had when i first started with WLED. solid intro to WLED on an ESP device. also, there are USB-C versions of the ESP32 for not much more. i got mine for $5.66 each on amazon
If you are into DIY that’s good, just go for it. In the end, I went with govee, and I’m glad. The DIY is difficult, for me, the power supply is way too big, you need to spend hours and hours to find all the right components. Those 5$ controllers are always slightly different from each other, so the power supply, if you don’t know how to use them, where to connect the cables, how to program the software very complicated , then it’s a nightmare. Hours and hours lost, my experience. With Govee I found what I wanted, it’s expensive but half the price of Philips, the led strip is fantastic, and the App is fairly easy and very customizable, and everything works right away, very quickly. That’s my experience.
Have to agree, if it was insanely cheaper AND very reliable, I would definitely go DIY... But it seems that all these DIY don't go with an impressive length. Govee here, and everything is just so simple. I'm PERSONALLY willing to pay more for simplicity and reliability.
@@L1Z1O Take a look at the Athom WLED controller ($20), it has all the messy wiring inside so you have power in and a connector on the other end for the LEDs. This will work with 5-24V 16A so you can get whatever type of LED strip you like. There is also a similar controller from Gledopto which is about half the price but will only do 10A.
Loved seeing this in action. Cannot wait to see the new home studio and your studio lights. Are you using these for accent/practicals or the actual key, fill, hair lights? I'd be curious how color accurate these are as a custom-made studio light with some diffusion fabric.
That's a good question and I'm not quite sure yet. I think I might actually use them as a key light. I havent tested the CRI yet, but just by eye it appears to be quite good. It'd be fun to make some sort of flexible panel.
@@ZacBuilds Nice! Have fun with the printer, you will love it. I would like to get a bambu lab x1 but can't justify the price, for now I will stick with my heavily modified ender 3v2 😂
on your home network comment, that you cant trust it, what most people do, is have a separate vlan on your router, and then make your iot connect to it, then apply some policy so that vlans cant connect to one another. Great video !
You may want to add a line level converter to your final version as 3.3v on the sign wire can cause issues on longer lengths of leds. Fairly easy to add. Hope this helps
@ZacBuilds Doing some research online, the green data wire should always be 5V. Do you think that this setup would work with 12v or 24v LED strips if you use a Step Up Converter (For LED Lights) or Step Down Converter (For the ESP)?
For higher voltages probably better to just use the Athom WLED controller for simplicity, just plug the power supply in one side and the same voltage LEDs on the other side. I have a 10m 12V string of LEDs and there is no colour shift along the length of the lights.
Great video! Recently found your channel and I am digging the content. I'd be curious to know how you ended up "finalizing" the wiring and PS setup on this DIY LED strip.
Good video. You need to invest in a ferrule kit and crimper tool. You should be binding terminals to ferrules when possible. It helps with wire strain, better electrical connection, and more. Also power supplies should never be run over 80%. Personally, I aim for 60% for a margin of safety but also still close to their most efficient power conversion.
Those wires probably aren't rated for carrying 20 amps, luckily your strip wouldn't run that much nearly ever, but if it did you'd want to run your DC power supply to the other side of the strip as well, to mitigate voltage drop, wire heating and even internal breakdown on the strip itself (since it is it's own conductor) The flickering is caused by a low frequency PWM modulation for dimming, not AC power. Otherwise great tutorial and really love that people are moving away from proprietary garbage.
FWIW, to avoid overheating your power supply, you should use the 80% rule. 5v x 20a = 100W x 80% = 80W maximum output. Choose the wattage of the LED strip(s) appropriately.
I got a Govee tv light set up and it threw me down this led rabbit hole. I just ordered 6m of ws2812B for a display cabinet project I’m starting. Got the Domestic Automation controller board and a 15a 5v power supply. Wled app has maximum milliamp settings, so I can tune them to not exceed what my power supply can produce. The controller I got also has outputs to inject power at the end of the strip. Since it’s a display case I won’t need these at max brightness.
You should have a power supply of at least 22.5A output We build LED signage and an LED power supply is deemed to be overloaded if it exceeds 80% of full load current and 18A is 90% Especially an Ali Express power supply
WLED and ESP32 is worth it if you care about details, specific run lengths, number of LEDs per meter, specific RGB scenes. If you’re just Joe blow looking to have some lights underneath the bed or behind the couch, and an IR remote is good enough to change colors for you. Stay generic, it’s not that expensive and it’s a ton less time, and there is zero chance of burning your house down. It ain’t worth learning about power injection and soldering and using a multimeter just for that.
This was a lot more information than I anticipated, and thus went right over my head. Still though, great video. Will definitely help someone who isn't lazy like myself.
If I wanted to hardwire this set up can I connect a 14 wire to the driver (power supply) directly from power in the wall and then wire that to a switch in the wall?
Very nice and very helpful video zac thanks so much. This will definitely come in handy. Can't wait to see more videos soon. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Keep Making. God Bless.
I'm one of those who doesn't like overhead lighting for general everyday use. I find it glaring, makes everything look flat and has no dimensionality. It gets even worse on those ceiling fans with integral LED lights: they just feel tiring to my eyes. All the work goes into the fan design, but as to the LED circuit, flicker city. I have LED in nearly every fixture to save money, but the lights I really use intensely are the Philips Sceneswitch (as it cycles between a 60, 45 and 20w equiv light level, it becomes warmer like an incandescent on a dimmer), a pair of DC powered IKEA gooseneck lights with theatrical gels to warm them up. Then there is the dimmed incandescent frosted white Christmas light string wrapped around a sisal rope: it's the main lighting, no flicker and a balm for the eyes.
Worth mentioning, but you don't need to open the PSU to flip the switch, a small screwdriver can reach in and flip it. You can also spend a slight bit more and get one that auto switches and thus nothing to manually switch it over.
... or simply get one that is right for the country where you live... most people do not move amongst countires on a regular basis, so switchable power supplies are simply not necessary.
@@arnovanwingerde8589That would double the number of SKUs a bare PSU manufacturer would have to make, validate, pass certification on, and manufacturer, then store and deal with the sale of. The BOM cost for the switch and duplicated parts to handle 110/220 switching is far cheaper than making two copies of many products. That said, I wish the auto switching ones had replaced it, more efficient apparently, but that costs more, so cheap companies keep demanding the cheaper PSUs, keeping the option on the market rather than killing it off for the better one.
The flicker rate can be seen by a small percentage of people that have a higher refresh rate for their eyes. Most also get headaches from florescent lights for the same reasons.
i wonder, is it possible to connect zigbee, lsc or other led lights to connect to this pcb so i dont have to use a lot different apps, because lsc doesn't have E14 anymore here in the netherlands....
13:21 what!??? Finding the colour temperature using my camera? I was blown away and tried it and yup, there it is. Is it accurate? Thanks for that top tip.
@@arnovanwingerde8589Not sure why everyone thinks open sourced is safe. By definition its code isn't locked down, making it potentially the most unsafe option.
What’s the best way to use multiple led strips if I want a long run or multiple strips throughout the room? A board and power supply full setup for each or is there a way to combine them?
Zac-I am completely overwhelmed by the LED world but want to learn more about it; this video was really clear and helpful. Thanks! Any recommendations of best places to learn about LEDs for a beginner…something like an LED 101 course? Thanks!
If you are just wanting to integrate led strips to Philips hue software there are some controllers that allows you to do that, but can be pretty hard to find. But this is pretty nice if you want to switch to an all open source project. Now what would be interesting is if you can control your Philips hue lights with the open source software.
Yeah that would be nice. (edit: talking about controlling hue with WLED) Phillips uses ZigBee 3.0 now, or rather the bridge supports it. It is an open source standard. You can hook up pretty much any light to a Bridge. This is what you're talking about. My point is, it's no longer closed source only. Of course any extra features they add to their products that aren't handled via the ZigBee protocol are not open source.
What actually amazed me was that you got the ESP32 for 5$, but you paid 8$ for a power cable for some reason. That aside, great introduction
Came here to say this
The esp32 is made on massive scale, the power cable is made on smaller scale and prob bought locally. But still insane difference haha
@@Terandium if you think ESP32 are made in a larger scale than generic mains power cables, you're off by one or multiple orders of magnitude and in the wrong direction. Cakes are used by basically every appliance, these esp32 boards are a comparable specialty items for tinkerer's and electronic hobbyists.
And by "probably bought locally" you mean Amazon, right? Cause that's where he said he got it. They should costs maybe a dollar (and only better they contain copper), rest is markup for the convenience of Amazon.
@@TheCreat ah my bad I didn't know they were bought of of Amazon's, I figured he got it at a local hardware store. Which just has a lot higher cost of operations.
And the LED strip is $50 and the power supply is $18. What’s your point?
Regarding flickering: The ESP does not drive the LEDs directly. It tells each pixel, via the data line, what RGBW values it should have. The pixel does the PWM in its hardware. There is no access to that. The good news is that such PWM frequencies easily are in the kHz range. I have several such strips from the same manufacturer as you and they work great with WLED.
Delay starts to get noticeable over 1600 pixels on the strip I use.
You seem very knowledgeable in this field. Any experience with Li-fi applications? Data transfer through high speed LED strobing?
yeah this video contains some shokcing technical inaccuracies and a total lackluster of saftey advices
“There is no access to that….” Except for the boards where there is. Boards with CLED allow you to adjust pwm frequency easily
@@threepe0 Does that work with the individually addressable pixels like the WS2813, SK6812 strips?
My favorite thing about channels like yours is that you bring so much enthusiasm to something that some might deem simple. I’m sure this is well documented somewhere but I just love learning how to do things like this from people like you. And to take it a step further, the TH-cam community surrounding channels like yours never disappoints. You can always find extra nuggets of quality information in the comments. I love it!
Not only do I appreciate the introduction to using an esp32, but also going through the build process. Well done!
Been using WLED for years, and love it. Seasonally for xmas lighting, and year round for controlling lighting for my deck, sidewalk and steps (under railing). For the latter I use 12v white leds and WLED to control the brightness with a mosfet (using pwm, easy to setup and only one part needed). Never had any flickering problem with any of my lights. Control the on/off using the time built in to WLED.
Just a quick think to note, for your cable coming from mains voltage, there's a couple safety things regarding it you should keep in mind, cut the ground line a little longer than the others, so that if for whatever reason they came loose and undone, the unit is still grounded, also when using those screw terminals, I'd use solid core wire, and if you have stranded like that was in your power cable, I'd crimp a fork/U connector on the end and use that, just some things to note going forward, great video though, and I think I'll probably implement this system in my own house.
Good to tell but putting an esp32 directly to main without resistor or transistor is just not a good idea for the long run. Even in the table from wled it shows a resistor. Also the cables are to thin for 100w
@@justinfelix6690 I believe you're confusing many different concepts.
The ESP32 is not connected to mains. Its development board is connected to the switch mode power supply. This is correct. The development board has an on-board 3.3V linear regulator. You might put a fuse between, but not a resistor, and transistor makes no sense.
You would use a transistor or resistor after the ESP32 for driving analog LEDs, and each for different reasons. Transistors isolate and control higher voltage LEDs - usually 12V strings. Resistors limit current of individual LEDs, but the ESP32 already has internal 12mA current limiting resistors inside its GPIOs. Neither apply to the digital LEDs in this video.
Digital LEDs don't need transistors or resistors anywhere. You can use a transistor to shift levels between ESP32 and *6812, but 3.3V is well enough above the digital high specified by the LEDs. You can use a typically 100R resistor in the data line for impedance matching, but unless you're on the bleeding edge of transmission line speeds to an LED.
Remember, conductors are rated for current, and insulators for voltage. His cable can handle 300V, but definitely not 18A. Does that mean use a heavier gauge? Absolutely not! The strip is a wire, too, and it's not rated for 18A, either. You need to run another wire from power supply to the far end of the strip.
Totally agree he should use a fork terminal or similar - the wires will just fatigue or corrode and break off after a while otherwise
@@jackleerush2 he literally says "this is temporary because I'm moving house soon, don't do this" in the video. Do you people even pay attention?
The flicker you get in led's is not from AC power. That would fry them. It comes from the PWM Pulse width modulation of the led's being dimmed. More specifically, the frequency of the PWM. To make it look like they don't flicker, I use 10,000 hz pwm signal.
And he seemed so confident about his theory 😂
@@MaximilianBecker87 yes, this was a _shockingly_ horribly wrong explanation
He did mention about the PWM later on which explains why it was still flickering while using DC power. I don't know why he thought it was caused by AC power to begin with.
some cheap led lights run directly on AC power, it's common for led light bulbs. No that wouldn't fry them, they are specifically made to be used like that. Of course if you run your 5V DC leds on AC 240V you fry them, he didn't say to do that...
Not sure but I think LEDs NEVER run on AC. Pretty sure
not even a minute in and the editing on the light is such a nice touch
Haha thanks man. I spent more time than I care to admit trying to get that to work seamlessly 😂
We’ve all been there my man
Another great video, dude! You always break things down into consumable bite-size pieces at a great pace.
I know this is an older video, but if you want a less messy solution there are small boxes that contain the controller board and just have a simple power in and out connections without worrying about having to bypass the controller. There is an Anthom controller that will pass through 16 Amps of 5-24V out of the box with WLED pre-installed. The controllers are more expensive but the setup is much tidier, there is also a newer manufacturer that has just turned up with similar $10 boxes that only do 10 Amps.
Also, if you are worried about consistent colour output over a longer line of LEDs, 12V is better as you have less issues with voltage drop.
You could look into the esp32 s3. Usually same prices but has native usb protocol and usb c ports!
Having done this for Christmas lights I have to say this is one of the best any easiest videos to follow if you want to do your own light setup! Thanks!
I did this a few years back with an Ikea Vidja lamp. It's got 3 individual white shades on it as a 4 ft" cylinder. I put some PVC in between each section and ran 3 strips of 5m around them, inducting it additionally.
These effects look great when they're wrapped around an object instead of a straight\curvy line.
Can't wait for new place tour and maaaaany more future home projects!
So many new projects to be done here! I'm a bit overwhelmed but very excited
I've used the esp32 on the inside of my pc case for years, including serving a local site to change the lighting to color/preconfigured modes. Thanks for sharing this.
Did you flash the esp32 with WLED firmware or did you build your own custom local site?
What an awesome project. Actually something I’d feel comfortable cobbling it together
I was waiting for this video, thanks for making it
because I heard you saying for making this video in your last video
My pleasure Sameer! I hope you found it useful
great project and video! 👏😎
Thank you 😀
Nice video! I really appreciate how you explain the process.
Thanks for the connection explanation 👍
Built an entire DIY custom smart home with esp32s back in 2019. Managed it from a webpage hosted on my home server. It was pretty cool. Would recommend.
GREAT video! I actually love WLED and the ESP32 board. Your circuit is wonderful. I have to admit that I just did direct. I just have a cheap DC power supply connected to the ESP and also to the light strips. They work like a champ. You mentioned that I can control through PHilips Hue?!?!?! Had no idea! I control through Home Assistant. I am totally going to get it going through PH so I can control through Alexa! Thanks for the great vid! Will look forward to more!
For the semi-open frame power supply, you might be able to actually peel off the sticker indicating the need to change the voltage and stick a test pen in to flip the switch without dismantling the power supply unit. Unless this was a true crapshoot unit that doesn't have the service port under the sticker.
I use WLED on these NODE MCU's 😁😁 Ended up using several to run main lights in my work studio, so I can control them better. I picked up a few meanwell PSU's to inject power downstream to balance output.
Damn, you always give me ideas and I want to spend more money on hobbies. This was such an awesome video and project! Wil share it with my friends cause I know some of them will probably find this useful! Have a great weekend!
WLED+ESP32 very nicely integrates with Home Assistant 🎉❤️
You should consider using WS2815-based led strips or similar for 12V for the LEDs to avoid such high current and then a step-down-thingie, like those lm2596-based ones sold for $.5 on ali, for the microcontroller power. The 5-3.3V converter on the esp32 is linear, so it just burns the excess power, but if you give it 3.3V directly from the PSU, it won't. Also, those cables you used there, are quite unsufficient to allow for 18A - they'll catch fire.
as an electrical engineer, almost everything here screams Horror.
@@RandomUser2401 what - my suggestions or the original video?
@@roysigurdkarlsbakk3842 the original video. the title overpromised so much. when he claimed the flickering comes from AC mains I was screaming at the screen.
@@RandomUser2401 good scream. but still, 18 amps through those wires, they would look like lightbulb filaments
@@roysigurdkarlsbakk3842 ... so you get even more light out of it! If only for a little while...
At 11:00 there's an important part of information for those building this in countries where electricity costs half a leg such as in Belgium: powerconsumtion for 5m of LED is 90 Watts. Philips LED strip of 2m consumes about 20 Watts at full brightness, so 50 Watts for 5m. That is about half of it. Since those LED strips are used at places where they are on a lot, the difference in price can be futile after one of two years. I do really like ESP and ESP Home (using it for tons of different things) but when it comes to lighting, when putting all info together when used in countries where energy is expensive, it is difficult to beat the big brands such as Philips Hue. It is expensive at time of buying, but when looking at long term use, it is reliable, easy to use and cheaper
BUT: much appriciated video (subbed) as it is a clear guideline on how to build this yourself at a very small cost. I always like channels where they give a lot of info and actually show how to build things. Hats off!
One thing I am curious about: what about Hue dynamic scenes? Is it also supported
This is so cool!! Way to go man on this one.
I fully recommend using ferrule connectors on wires connecting to the power supply.
Very informative, I learned a bunch
2:14: you’ve provided all the reasons I went with Hue. I’m not typically a “big name” purchaser if there’s a better alternative, but a few years ago they were the best game in town. And while closed source, Hue integrates well with other systems in my home.
I spent hunders on hue. Now I'm just using their 4 button remote\wallplate and the motion sensor. The hue lights are boxed, lightbulbs\strips\hue plays, all replaced with cheaper bulbs and individually addressable led strips unfortunately.
@@mcg9573 Why’s that?
With long strings of LEDs you may need to inject power part way down to stop the end ones being dimmer
YES! Those 0.1mm thick traces along the strip will not carry 18 amps. Run thick wires along the strip an connect to + and GND every 1 or 2 meters. You also absolutely want a properly dimensioned fuse on that power supply. This is to protect your wiring, not the power supply.
Yes next time i will buy 12 volt leds less resistance more length without
Injecting.
And to keep color correct
I just completed a project that had 525 WS2812, I use the BTF 5v 60A power supply with 3 outputs, one at the start of the string, and second at the end of the first string . As this was my first long string led project I had ever assembled I figured this would be enough power.
I was wrong, the last 100 leds didn't have the same color as the rest of the string, meaning I needed to connect up the 3 output from the PS to the end of the string. Something else I noticed that help me make the call on the 3rd power injection was the temperature of the DC connection plugs at the led's. Very warm, enough that had me concerned, considering these would be on for 8+ hours at a time. Upon connecting up the 3rd output, the power injection connectors were now room temperature, and all 525 led's were operating properly.
@@MIdaffy502 60A is power enough, 525 leds at full brightness white color consumes max. 21.56 A, when using effects you will use about 6-10 A max. on full brightness with colors. You probably used very thin cables to power the leds or did something else wrong. Try only power injection in the middle if possible with your project, i'm sure it's enough when using awg 13-16 wire.
“Hue is closed-source”
I mean, technically yes… but they also have an open API if you’re using their bridge, and they have adopted the Zigbee standard really well, so they play nice with basically any third party Zigbee controller, allowing you to completely ditch their backend and provide your own. While it’s not technically open source, I really don’t consider that “the antithesis of the DIY movement”
This is a good project, and well explained! If I had know I may have done my recent led project with these components. I used a gledopto controller to connect to hue, also does its job well. I guess this has more customization though! The board looks very similar to what is in the controller I think. Probably uses a variation of it? Not sad about it, still good result and simple. Did cost more though...
Please make more LED content - I love this video and always come back to it as a reference! I purchased a USBC PD board so I can power mine with USBC!
Great video Zac, always learning from you man. Got me a bit nervous when you where slicing the cable with the knife.
Guys be carefull with the 110V side of the circuit. It definitely can cause serious harm (or kill you) if you touch these screws while the plug is in the wall...
ESP32 has been a great little board for a long time now, the real win here is that OS for it! Great work, devs!!
Might be worth a mention to those running longer wires from the controller board to the first LED on the strip that you will likely run into weird glitches or the lights not running at all. This is because the ESP32 uses 3.3V logic, whereas most LED strips expect 5V from the data line. This is normally not an issue for really short runs like you demonstrated, but for longer wires the voltage drop is too much so you get unexpected behaviour. The wiring diagram you showed mentions this, but a logic level shifter takes the 3.3V signals and converts them to 5V for you.
Level shifter SN74HCT245N or a sacrificial pixel with a voltage divider is a solution :)
Injecting voltage every 40 leds should stop this
@@peterjackson1426 It's not power issue, it's a logic issue. The data line from the controller needs to be close to 5V, so a logic level shifter between the microcontroller and the first LED in the chain is all you need.
@@StuTubed Quick follow up question. I want to use it with 25 meters. Would that also work here? Or can I use this setup even with multiple LED strips in my room? I intend to do a ceiling surrounding LED in our living room.
@@M0nteytime You should only need to worry about signal to the first LED in the chain, each pixel repeats the signal to the next one. If you have a long stretch of wire between two strips in series, it should be fine because the last pixel on the first strip should be sending 5V to the first pixel of the next. You will need to consider power injection to the LEDs themselves though if the strips are long enough.
I have a Wiz bulb light which was given me some software issues. So I take it apart to see the insides, and I found that the light was controlled by the same ESP32 as you showed. Also I found information about other brands using the same ESP32.
I will try to flash the controller board with WLED using a usb-ttl adapter and see what I can do!
Nice video, cool led controller software. Thanks for showing it to us!
My pleasure! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for you invent the warm water
I got a bulk order of the smaller ESP8266 controllers, for just over a dollar a board, and can confirm WLED works on these as well.
Yes, the ESP8266 (look for D1 mini) is cheaper and smaller.
And you do not need the pins, just solder your 3 wires to the holes on the PCB. Once flashed you can cover the ESP with hot glue, so you do not get shorts and it is more water proof.
Ackchyually, AC power "flickers on and off" 120 times per second on a 60Hz system; 60 times positive voltage, and 60 times negative voltage, (120 times no voltage). Cheapie LED drivers will just draw power from one half of the sine wave causing a more prominent flicker, other drivers (using full bridge rectification) draw from both halves of each cycle making the flicker less apparent.
the video i wish i'd had when i first started with WLED. solid intro to WLED on an ESP device.
also, there are USB-C versions of the ESP32 for not much more. i got mine for $5.66 each on amazon
If you are into DIY that’s good, just go for it. In the end, I went with govee, and I’m glad. The DIY is difficult, for me, the power supply is way too big, you need to spend hours and hours to find all the right components. Those 5$ controllers are always slightly different from each other, so the power supply, if you don’t know how to use them, where to connect the cables, how to program the software very complicated , then it’s a nightmare. Hours and hours lost, my experience. With Govee I found what I wanted, it’s expensive but half the price of Philips, the led strip is fantastic, and the App is fairly easy and very customizable, and everything works right away, very quickly. That’s my experience.
Have to agree, if it was insanely cheaper AND very reliable, I would definitely go DIY... But it seems that all these DIY don't go with an impressive length. Govee here, and everything is just so simple. I'm PERSONALLY willing to pay more for simplicity and reliability.
@@L1Z1O Take a look at the Athom WLED controller ($20), it has all the messy wiring inside so you have power in and a connector on the other end for the LEDs. This will work with 5-24V 16A so you can get whatever type of LED strip you like.
There is also a similar controller from Gledopto which is about half the price but will only do 10A.
Loved seeing this in action. Cannot wait to see the new home studio and your studio lights. Are you using these for accent/practicals or the actual key, fill, hair lights? I'd be curious how color accurate these are as a custom-made studio light with some diffusion fabric.
That's a good question and I'm not quite sure yet. I think I might actually use them as a key light. I havent tested the CRI yet, but just by eye it appears to be quite good. It'd be fun to make some sort of flexible panel.
@@ZacBuilds Do it and I'll watch via TH-cam Premium 5 times 😆
Just found your channel, great topic! Curious if you've dove into Home Assistant to replace your Hue cloud stuff?
For my Wled set up, I 3d printed and designed a case for my ESP8266 board to hide the wires and the board itself
Nice, my bambu labs x1 just showed up in the mail today! Maybe I'll do the same
@@ZacBuilds Nice! Have fun with the printer, you will love it. I would like to get a bambu lab x1 but can't justify the price, for now I will stick with my heavily modified ender 3v2 😂
on your home network comment, that you cant trust it, what most people do, is have a separate vlan on your router, and then make your iot connect to it, then apply some policy so that vlans cant connect to one another. Great video !
Thanks for this project. The ESP32 link is unavailable, can you please share another one?
I recently got a heltec wifi kit 32(just an esp32) , and also installed homeassistant on a small Dell optiplex 3050
You may want to add a line level converter to your final version as 3.3v on the sign wire can cause issues on longer lengths of leds. Fairly easy to add. Hope this helps
@ZacBuilds Doing some research online, the green data wire should always be 5V. Do you think that this setup would work with 12v or 24v LED strips if you use a Step Up Converter (For LED Lights) or Step Down Converter (For the ESP)?
For higher voltages probably better to just use the Athom WLED controller for simplicity, just plug the power supply in one side and the same voltage LEDs on the other side. I have a 10m 12V string of LEDs and there is no colour shift along the length of the lights.
Great video! Recently found your channel and I am digging the content. I'd be curious to know how you ended up "finalizing" the wiring and PS setup on this DIY LED strip.
Good video. You need to invest in a ferrule kit and crimper tool. You should be binding terminals to ferrules when possible. It helps with wire strain, better electrical connection, and more.
Also power supplies should never be run over 80%. Personally, I aim for 60% for a margin of safety but also still close to their most efficient power conversion.
Those wires probably aren't rated for carrying 20 amps, luckily your strip wouldn't run that much nearly ever, but if it did you'd want to run your DC power supply to the other side of the strip as well, to mitigate voltage drop, wire heating and even internal breakdown on the strip itself (since it is it's own conductor)
The flickering is caused by a low frequency PWM modulation for dimming, not AC power.
Otherwise great tutorial and really love that people are moving away from proprietary garbage.
I love how you installed them right on top of the desk. Makes the project doable for the rest of us
what? how?
FWIW, to avoid overheating your power supply, you should use the 80% rule. 5v x 20a = 100W x 80% = 80W maximum output. Choose the wattage of the LED strip(s) appropriately.
I got a Govee tv light set up and it threw me down this led rabbit hole. I just ordered 6m of ws2812B for a display cabinet project I’m starting. Got the Domestic Automation controller board and a 15a 5v power supply. Wled app has maximum milliamp settings, so I can tune them to not exceed what my power supply can produce. The controller I got also has outputs to inject power at the end of the strip. Since it’s a display case I won’t need these at max brightness.
You should have a power supply of at least 22.5A output
We build LED signage and an LED power supply is deemed to be overloaded if it exceeds 80% of full load current and 18A is 90%
Especially an Ali Express power supply
Amazing video Zac!!! Just curious if you can control multiple LED strips from one app?
WLED and ESP32 is worth it if you care about details, specific run lengths, number of LEDs per meter, specific RGB scenes.
If you’re just Joe blow looking to have some lights underneath the bed or behind the couch, and an IR remote is good enough to change colors for you. Stay generic, it’s not that expensive and it’s a ton less time, and there is zero chance of burning your house down.
It ain’t worth learning about power injection and soldering and using a multimeter just for that.
Great video! Id love to know how you got it synced to philleps hue, and also if its possible to controll the wled from the hue app ?
Nice video, question:
Does it work with Google Home or HomeKit?
another factor when buying light strips is how close the LEDs are packed, makes them a lot easier to diffuse smoothly
This was a lot more information than I anticipated, and thus went right over my head. Still though, great video. Will definitely help someone who isn't lazy like myself.
great video going to do this and use this board
but you say you brought it all from aliexpress and then give links to amazon?
If I wanted to hardwire this set up can I connect a 14 wire to the driver (power supply) directly from power in the wall and then wire that to a switch in the wall?
Execellent work
Any updates on this project? Very cool results, would love to see how you implement studio lighting with this
9:04 - No one has been saying that since 5 years ago. Most small companies prefer social media instead of websites.
very cool, but 1 question, can we controll multiple esp32 modules with the app or browser independed or all together.
Very nice and very helpful video zac thanks so much. This will definitely come in handy. Can't wait to see more videos soon. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Keep Making. God Bless.
Open source, full access to personal network, and might not be constantly auditted due to popularity, can leave you vulnerable
@random acc perhaps you've not read my comment or just doesnt understand the content
So being that you have multiple different lighting projects, do you just have a power supply plugged into every single outlet?
I'm one of those who doesn't like overhead lighting for general everyday use. I find it glaring, makes everything look flat and has no dimensionality. It gets even worse on those ceiling fans with integral LED lights: they just feel tiring to my eyes. All the work goes into the fan design, but as to the LED circuit, flicker city. I have LED in nearly every fixture to save money, but the lights I really use intensely are the Philips Sceneswitch (as it cycles between a 60, 45 and 20w equiv light level, it becomes warmer like an incandescent on a dimmer), a pair of DC powered IKEA gooseneck lights with theatrical gels to warm them up. Then there is the dimmed incandescent frosted white Christmas light string wrapped around a sisal rope: it's the main lighting, no flicker and a balm for the eyes.
GREAT VIDEO!! Is there an update on this setup?
Worth mentioning, but you don't need to open the PSU to flip the switch, a small screwdriver can reach in and flip it. You can also spend a slight bit more and get one that auto switches and thus nothing to manually switch it over.
... or simply get one that is right for the country where you live... most people do not move amongst countires on a regular basis, so switchable power supplies are simply not necessary.
@@arnovanwingerde8589That would double the number of SKUs a bare PSU manufacturer would have to make, validate, pass certification on, and manufacturer, then store and deal with the sale of. The BOM cost for the switch and duplicated parts to handle 110/220 switching is far cheaper than making two copies of many products. That said, I wish the auto switching ones had replaced it, more efficient apparently, but that costs more, so cheap companies keep demanding the cheaper PSUs, keeping the option on the market rather than killing it off for the better one.
The flicker rate can be seen by a small percentage of people that have a higher refresh rate for their eyes. Most also get headaches from florescent lights for the same reasons.
custom light awesome. I would like to see about covering my light with a salt stone to keep things rocky
Great video :) Question: Does the power supply have to be this big?
No definitely not. It depends on how many LEDs you want to run in the chain. If you do a short run you can use a much smaller power supply.
i wonder, is it possible to connect zigbee, lsc or other led lights to connect to this pcb
so i dont have to use a lot different apps, because lsc doesn't have E14 anymore here in the netherlands....
🤔 this may be a noob question but do the ESP32's also have a z-wave version? Trying to get all my automation in home assistant.
Hi Zac, great video! Did you use IP67 Led Strip in this recording?
Is there anyway i can use this board to use strips and sync with the media im playing in my monitor?
13:21 what!??? Finding the colour temperature using my camera?
I was blown away and tried it and yup, there it is.
Is it accurate?
Thanks for that top tip.
Lol, recommends not trusting an Ali Express smart light on our home networks but proceeds to connect an Ali Express board to the network.
... open open source software, which does make a bit of difference, even though not a completely guaranteed safe one either.
@@arnovanwingerde8589Not sure why everyone thinks open sourced is safe. By definition its code isn't locked down, making it potentially the most unsafe option.
how do you secure the BT or Wifi on this module - are we saying stock standard wireless security (et passwords etc?)
What’s the best way to use multiple led strips if I want a long run or multiple strips throughout the room? A board and power supply full setup for each or is there a way to combine them?
can this help save money setting up ambient lights (like Ambilight) behind the monitor or TV?
Zac-I am completely overwhelmed by the LED world but want to learn more about it; this video was really clear and helpful. Thanks! Any recommendations of best places to learn about LEDs for a beginner…something like an LED 101 course? Thanks!
In Case you are still looking for an answer: the wled knowledge base is a great start.
Nice!! I’ll have to check it out!
Thanks Arpad! Hope you're doing well man!
The lamp you turned around to explain the flickering. Is that one you bought or built?
Hi Zac, can you tell me what make and model that monitor you’re using is? Thanks!
If you are just wanting to integrate led strips to Philips hue software there are some controllers that allows you to do that, but can be pretty hard to find. But this is pretty nice if you want to switch to an all open source project. Now what would be interesting is if you can control your Philips hue lights with the open source software.
Yeah that would be nice. (edit: talking about controlling hue with WLED)
Phillips uses ZigBee 3.0 now, or rather the bridge supports it. It is an open source standard. You can hook up pretty much any light to a Bridge. This is what you're talking about. My point is, it's no longer closed source only.
Of course any extra features they add to their products that aren't handled via the ZigBee protocol are not open source.
Can you link the board in description?
Can you get the lights to react to music. Do you need a sound sensor or how does that work?
Hey Zac , can you use these LEDs with DMX software like QLC+ and if so can you make a short video about how to set them up ? please