Just want to take a minute to acknowledge how high you set the bar for a Smart Home RUclips videos. Always great impartial advice, regular updates (like this video), and you make watching these videos both easy to navigate and fun to watch.
I got word from Quindor that the QuinLED DigQuad V3 is available now in the international store and should be in the DrZzs US store within the next day or two. Video correction: The size heat shrink for joining LED strips should be 3/8" not 3/4", the correct product is linked in the store page.
Awesome video! It'll get even more people into this awesome hobby! 🤩And of course thank you so much for the shout out for my boards, really really appreciated! 🤯
This is a massive mainstream acknowledgement of your hard work and continuing dedication. Coming from the face of an industry that has generally ignored genius in order to sell more of the proprietary garbage controllers they've stockpiled in their garages and basements. They didn't understand the technology and your often smoking brilliance before investing everything on more popular yet incredibly inferior (and soon to be obsolete) controller hardware and software. I've seen them blatantly boycott you on almost every platform from RUclips to Reddit just to maximize profit rather than backing Intermit.Tech from the beginning like they should have. Thank you Quindor and Air cookie: for you have single handedly changed the entire game and we won't ever forget it.
@@CharlieLOL Oh wow just seeing this comment now, thank you very much for the kind words! Hand in hand (hardware and software) we're both very happy how it makes these types of installs so much easier and approachable for normal people (like we are too)! Let's see what we can do in the coming years! :D
Absolutely amazing guide and thanks for doing all the grunt work! Right now I'm trying to decide between this or paying for a permanent system. Not sure I have the energy to diy this.
I have a few friends with the pro kind. My only real issue with them is the spacing, most of the big companies limit you to 4 inch spacing or more (some as high as 12" spacing!), which looks fine for Christmas but odd during other holidays and limits animations.
@@TheHookUp That was actually my first question to them, typical length is 9" and shortest they go is 6", but I'm pretty sure that would double the price.
Thanks for another great video, I have used your and Dr Zzs videos alot as I have started playing around with the hobby. I had put up a permanent install of roof line LED's last year, adding a little at a time over the different holidays definitely spreads the costs out, and having great videos like this makes it easier to keep up with changes. Again, thanks Rob.
Where was this video last month?! I am midway through installing permanent lights on the roof line of the house. I started the project in late September to avoid the rush of trying to get it done before Thanksgiving. I scoured RUclips for bits of information, to include every video you and Dr zZz have put out on the topic. This video combines all of that into one spot. Just watched it and still pulled out some good information. Thanks!
Thank you for the update…removing the resistor solved issues I’ve been having with a long run to some arches! I tried boosters, including the one shown without totally being able to solve the problem. Removed the resistor and all is good! Wanted to mention that I did something that I haven’t seen anyone else do…I couldn’t decide between strips shining towards or away from my house, so I did both! I put strips in a diffused channel, then stuck a second strip to the back side of the channel pointed towards the house. Now the color lighting up my house can be different than the animations on my strip facing the street. 😎👍
If you have pictures I'd also like to see the difference between pointing towards the street or towards the ground. My house is brown and soffit is white, so I'm guessing for me pointing out would give a better effect. (reflecting off the white soffit)
Great video! Is there any guidance on how far away from the first strip of lights the power supply and controller can be? I want to put the power and controller in my garage and then run the power and data cables to the roofline, approx 10-15m before hitting the first lights. Will that cause issues?
So with parallel injection, I can run one continuous wire along the whole house (200ft) and just splice and solder the LEDs into that same wire every strip? I don’t have to run a separate injection wire for every strip, do I?
Wow this is absolutely fantastic! Such high production quality too! I plan to start small this year with my dig-quad v1 and 600 lights on my Christmas tree for easier power injection using those fairy LEDs. My ultimate goal is the set up that you have on the house. Thank you for such an amazing video! Your channel along with Dr.Zzs and Quindor are the best!
Thanks Rob will do! I already have it all wired up on my desk to test everything and just need to carefully transfer it to the tree in the next couple of days. Thanks for the advice.
@@TheHookUp I see what you mean about being careful. I was putting the last strand on the tree and one of the LEDs on that last strand started smoking!! I had to unplug real quick and replace the strip. Inside one of the actual LEDs was all charred and black. Geesh! It was actually about to start a fire.
I was waiting for this video! Dr. ZZzz hadn't put one out yet and I really dislike watching hour long live streams to find 5 minutes of content. Thank you so much!
Can you expand on the parallel run for power injection? Can I run a 22awg wire along the strips and use a T tap connector to inject at each strip? Is there a limit how far the 22awg can be?
OK so I've FINALLY decided after 3 years LOL I'm going to follow your guides because you have a great system for perm lights. NOW just to buy all the stuff required...... I'd like to work on this during the summer to be ready for Christmas 2022...... Thank you!
I know that you could in theory take these same steps and make a tree lighting rig; one that could be wrapped on a tree this year, taken down at the end of the season, and then used again next year. I think that would be an amazing new video. Don't you? Well if not, maybe I'll get around to it soon myself. Thanks for the updated info.
Great video!I am planning to do this with my house and I am struggling to understand how to connect each different section. Does it matter where you tie a different section into the chain of lights or does each section have to be started from the end of a section?
I'm preparing to do my house and found this very useful, but I'm struggling with where to place the power supplies and the controller. It looks like you have electrical box outside your house. Would you be able to show that in more details? What are some methods that others have used?
I really want to do this. My neighbor just had a service come out and do an install on their house. I asked what their quote was. $4k... I just put the stuff you recommended in my Amazon cart. $600-ish. It would definitely be nice to just flip a switch and the lights are on and customizable.
Cableguard CG-1000 was the standard, but it's been discontinued. This year I used one of these: amzn.to/3kLRdCe and it's very sturdy, but twice the price that the cableguard used to be.
This is seriously amazing. I've been following you for about 4 years now. Thank you for doing what you do. I don't have the particularly best home to do this because most of it isn't seen by the street. After seeing this, I feel more enticed to do a project like this. Thank you for doing what you do (again!)
Really appreciate all your videos but after showing this one to my wife she agreed to overcome her aversion and "test" some led strip lighting in an inconspicuous place outside (far away from the house) and if it goes OK then we can talk again lol! So I just ordered a dig-uno! Thanks again!
Thank you again for an awesome video! I know I’m cutting it close to this year’s season, but there are a few questions I have that don’t seem to be answered directly when research getting into this. 1) I’m a little under-knowledged on the power injection points, and specifically, where/how often they need to happen. You mention running the power line in the channel with the strip; is that the way the whole thing is done? Then the ‘how often’ is related to your strip model? Do you run the power line right on top of, but along the side of the strip? Under the strip? 2) Controllers: it’s not clear to me how, and specifically where the controllers play a roll. Obviously, they’re needed to tell the LEDs what to do, but are they like power injection points, where you need a controller mounted up on the roof every-so-often, depending on the model LEDs you chose, and therefore, how many LEDs one controller handles? Or is the one controller to rule them all, mounted down in the garage next to the power supply? Or? 3) Did I hear you correctly, 12V LEDs draw less amperage per LED? Your graphic stated 5V=.05/LED and 12V=.03/LED. I guess that makes sense, more power means less current for the same output. I think that’s it. If I have another question, I’ll comment, and I REALLY appreciate your feedback! Thank you!!
1) For 5V inject at the beginning and end of every strip, for 12V inject every 2 strips (10m). 2) One controller at the beginning of the run, it sends the data to the LEDs to tell them what color to turn on to at any given time. 3) Yes, wattage is the real metric which would be voltage * amperage. 12V is actually higher wattage, but less amperage.
Awesome video, Thanks! My plan is to install a permanent setup this spring, I can start ordering parts. I've been using WLED for a couple of years for my kitchen lighting with home assistant and some 8266 controllers, no issues at all. If it ever fails I'll need to relearn my setup because I haven't touched it in so long I don't remember the details anymore.
Great information and update. I have been dreaming about outlining my house for years. A simple question, I want my outline to simply alternate between two or three solid colors given the season. I do not want any effects or chasing. Can this be programmed in WLED? Thanks
You, Sir, are a RUclips ninja. This content is comprehensive & organized, the order and presentation are clearly well thought out, and each topic is succinctly conveyed with video that cogently illustrates the accompanying point you're conveying. I would feel confident using this 22 minute video as my singular resource to obtain, install & maintain LED holiday lighting. Amazing! Thank you! Liked & Subscribed.
Thanks for this! In the video on "joining like a pro" you mentioned 3/8" heat shrink, but in this one you said 3/4". Is one of those wrong? Or does it not matter because they shrink enough either way?
Can you recommend an enclosure to put the psu and digquad (and all the wiring) into? Does it need to have ventilation for the psu? Also, I anticipate keeping these in my garage, so keeping them weather proof isn’t too much of a concern of mine.
Any chance you have a video or diagram of how exactly everything is ran and where everything is installed? Very curious to see a real life setup/install.
Quindor has a really good video explaining why 33 ohm is the right resistor to use if you are using a 3-wire combined data/power line and 249 ohm is the right resistor if you are using a 2-wire power wire and a separate 1-wire data wire.
Thank you for all the pixel videos you have done. I’ve really learned a lot from them. They actually helped me to be able to understand pixel channels , universes. Especially when you suggested using Test tool in XLights. That really helped. I wanted to ask you. What are using to do the lights on edges of your driveway? Thank you again for all your help.
My house looks a little like yours. Can you tee off of the string on the bottom eaves (power, ground, data lines) and run wire (with no leds) up to the second floor eaves and then connect a second set of leds to that? What I mean is a strip of bare wire in the middle.
Dude, I just found your channel and browsed through a lot of your videos and ❤️ the content! I’m MAD 😡 at myself for not finding your channel earlier! New subscriber here 🤗 and super excited to binge watch your past videos.
So I’m considering doing ip67 strips without diffuser channels, just using the screw in clips, what are your thoughts on this? I’m sure it will look more tacky but I think it would save money and time, and should still be water proof. Thanks for the great content and information.
Perfect timing for this video. I have been doing a lot of research this week regarding this project. I have taken a lot of your advises from your various previous videos for my project and have decided to use 12V 5M strips with aluminum channels. Couple questions for more clarification: 1.) What size wire would you recommend using for a 12V setup? Some people have recommended 16 gauge, would 18 gauge work? 2.) My setup is originally going to be 2 lvl linear run, should I still get the DigQuad instead of DigUno, or is DigQuad a bit overkilled for me, or am I better off getting DigQuad anyways so that there’s room for expansion somewhere down the road? Thanks a lot for making these great videos!!!
I was thinking of redoing my stairs and was looking into led strip lighting. and this came up! and all I have to say is wow! I didn't know so much could be done. Definitely gonna look at your videos and learn a bit more. if my stair project comes out great. I may just want to do this for outside lighting as well!. Great video! lots of good information!
Nice job! Is it possible to have one end of an LED strip that connects to the next strip (but still same end that the power is coming from)? For example, If I’m looking at a ceiling fan, I’d want a single strip for each blade. But I would need both the incoming wire and exiting wire coming from the same end of the LED strip.
Great video and just re-watching as I now have most of the supplies and am getting ready to install. Did you use the RVV wire for the parallel injection runs? I see that stuff is 3-conductor, but for the power injection you only need 2-conductor right? Plus, the black casing probably won't look good in the track along the roofline of the house. And I noticed in your video when talking about parallel runs, your wire (you mention 22 gauge) is in a white casing...? I have 84 feet along the front of my house, is this 22 gauge wire sufficient from the power supply, up and along the run?
I use RVV for primary runs and occasionally for home run injections. I use the 24awg stuff for the parallel runs. For 84 feet I'd recommend a home run injection with thick wire near the middle (42ft), and then run the thin stuff inside the channel for parallel injections.
Thank you for the video…. My question for you is…. If I’m looking to do permanent lighting on my house should I go with a digiquad or a Kulp controller. I’m going with a Kulp controller for props and a tree. I’m just wondering if there’s a benefit to sticking with the same manufacturer?
Just starting my journey to permanent home lighting. 1st, your videos are the best I have come across so thank you! I am wondering if everything mentioned with cutting/attaching/controller etc is the same for RGBW strips? I will defiantly want a white channel for non festive year round accent lighting. If I were to follow this guide using RGBW is there anything different I would need to know/do/get? Thanks in advance!
Glad I saw this video. Years ago I looked into the systems provided by HolidayCoro, Hinks, and similar, and kind of scowled at how "closed" they seemed. Yeah, the protocols were open, but an ESP32 is a lot more OPEN than what I saw then. Was one of those projects that I wanted to do, but they looked like they were going to be a big hassle to finish. The megatrees are enticing, but everything else felt like a minefield where a single misstep leads to weeks wasted and foul language This spring, I think I've got a new project
Ok, here is my question. When power injecting.....if you are adding, lets say, 4 power injection points...do all of those wires run to the SAME exact power supply, or does each injection point have to have a separate power supply? And follow up question...If all those wires are going to the same injection power, wont it get a little too crowded for all those wires? Thank you!
Same supply, you can do power injection with multiple supplies, but you shouldn't connect the positive wires together. Here's a more in depth description: ruclips.net/video/apwQ5Jh4VyE/видео.html
Another question... is there enough room inside the channel for the led strips and the 3core wire, or does it cover the LEDs a little bit? Where did you put the wire inside the channel? Or is it outside?
Oh my! I totally appreciate all the good work you put into your videos. I started two days ago and am knee deep in WS2812B strips, wire, connectors, and a $100 soldering iron (with is very cool!). I am all ready to make this happen except for ONE THING... I am 5 hours into trying to figure out how I should make permanent waterproof wire connection between my 18 gauge Power Injection leads (coming off the LED Strips at each segment's beginning and end) and the 22 gauge parallel in-track wire. Do I cut the 22 gauge parallel wire each time I am to connect it to an LED Strip Power Injection lead? And if so, how do I connect the three wires together using a Haisstronica Solder & Seal connector? I can't find anything in RUclips showing me that it is acceptable to connect 3 wires together this way (as these connections MUST last as long as possible). Am I thinking about this correctly? I believe you are saying to run a second pair of 22 gauge power wires inside the tracks the entire run of LED Strips - and connect them to each of the Power Injection leads (which are solders at the beginning and end of every LED Strip which are connected by 3 wires. However, if I cut the 22 gauge parallel wire, I will then have three wires to connect together? Or, do I connect the lead wire to the 22 gauge wire without cutting it??!? I am SO STUCK. I must be thinking about this incorrectly... Did I mention that I am near the end of building my own house and I want/need to take the scaffolding down this coming week? The second story roof line is at 21 feet high with a 12/12 roof. I have one shot at this - AND I NEED TO GET IT RIGHT.... Can someone put me out of my misery???
I’m new to all this, this is my first year and used all of your beginner videos. Learned to solder and all from you. Got a complete custom setup now, garage door, roof line and the peak roof Line. Finalizing my power injections and I hope it all works.
I had seen posting on using JChannel and Pixels, that require a lot of drilling. the UChannel is nearly the same price, less labor and better finish. Awesome. My only complaint, is using a Western Union Splice. That splice is used for mechanical stress(tension), but it not the best for conductivity. Linemans splice is a better splice.
Stunning new 'How To' and this really helped tip me into the QuinLED camp. Just given how late in the year it already is, this will be a project for Spring 2022. But my recent experience in using LED strips and aluminum channel for lighting my pergola (more thanks for flagging that awesome patio addition in your earlier video!) has made me pretty confident that this will be a successful project. Thanks for the research and the tips!
How do you run power from an outlet to the power supply? I’m using extension cords but am wondering how safe this is, leaving the extension cords plugged in, and outdoors exposed to the elements 24/7/365. Suggestions?
Do you think there is any heat that's being generated by the power injection wire? I too am planning to run the power injection wire inside the led channel. And am just wondering about heat generation. Thoughts?
Great Video as always. I have a question in regards to installing aluminum channel outside following the roof line. I would like the channel to be facing the street (Not facing down like under a cabinet) and I have an attached garage the is set back a little from the house. I have two corners to follow, one is an inside corner and the other is an outside corner, both 90 degrees. (Outside corner would be like going from the front of the house to the side of the house. My question is, how do you cut the aluminum channel for each of these types of corners so that it looks seamless and is waterproof?
Thanks for another great video! I am just getting started in automated LED holiday lighting. One thing I wasn't clear on - does the QuinLED controller replace something like the F16 board, or are they both required? It sounds like the QuinLED boards are a newer and cheaper option that many people are moving towards.
Another wonderful video! Always excited when I see you have done another one. I did have a question and I apologize if this was brought up in another video or section and I missed it. You mentioned in this video 2 options: aiming lights towards the streets, or towards the house for a more indirect effect. Ive noticed the differences on several houses I drove by, and I was wondering how they are achieving that almost shadow glow effect off the siding or stucco of the house vs seeing the LED strips head on from the street? Is it really just using J Channels or PermaTrack? Or is there a way to aim the lights so they cast more of a light shadow of color against the house? I was just wondering if in your knowledge that is achieved by putting th e J channels further back? Or maybe aiming the lights in the J channels differently or not just straight down? Any help or idea would be greatly appreciated.
Awesome video - thanks! Have you considered using the aluminum channel as the ground for your power injection runs? seems like it could carry quite a bit of current if you wanted it to.
Again - you are a fantastic resource and the quality of your videos is so much better than everyone else. I'm amazed. But sometimes you move through things pretty fast. The installation of the strips is a little confusing to me. You say you don't want to be soldering on a ladder (excellent advice!), but how do you make a 40 meter run including the soldering of the injection points, accurate placement of roof gable angles and corner bends all in one piece on the ground? It seems like this would be so likely to break or have the measurements an inch off when I hit a 90 degree bend in the roof line when I put the LED strip into the channel. If you could share some tips (possibly in a different video) I'd really appreciate it.
This might be a hard question to answer but roughly what would it cost to run LED lights around the perimeter of a average 1500 or 2000 square-foot house? Let’s say may be 300 feet of roof line. I’m just kind of asking for ballpark cost.
I’m sure you’ve got this question before. I’m doing siding on my house right now and I’d like to do some permanent LED installation, but I don’t have the knowledge even at the basic level to understand what you’re describing here. Are there companies that know how to do this in central Illinois? Or do you have the time to look at some photos of this house give me little more specific direction?
I am using 12v led strings (total 1900 leds) ,power supply meanwell 12v 30amp 350 watt .Do i need two powe supply or just one is fine .Also i have the digi quad controller. Please advise
Lots of good information / content here. I do like how he put everything into one video and it does go over many of the problems that are faced when choosing a particular type (and voltage) of LEDs.
Hi, great video! Unfortunately along one of my roof lines, the aluminum channel in the shopping list doesn’t work I don’t think as it would be pointed down. I see that hunhun has v-shaped channel. Any reason recommending hunhun over another brand? Just curious if there is a difference more or less with the diffuser. Just want to make sure I am not overlooking something. I always trust your judgement or at least thank you for helping others make the “right” judgements ;)
How do you run power to your lights along the curb line? maybe you could do a video on how you run power to lights on the ground? What lights are you using along the curb as well?
I have to apprecciate all the work you invest to explain all this man, i am completly new on this LED projects and I am learing TON with you! greeting form Mexico! if you see this, any tips for a begginner with a project of 10 strip lines of 60ft each strip? Will be able to control 5,400 leds in total with that controller you promote? I was planning to go with 2811 30Led per meter, due the lack of color drop, but looking up this, maybe ill have to go anyway with the 5v option to be safe with shortcuts and 1by1 pixel control,
How long will this setup last? Based on your video id probably spend 60-80 hours lighting up my big ass container house including some scaffolding time. Where I live the sun destroys things quickly and if im not getting at least 5-7 years of life out of this theres no way im attempting it
5-7 years with no maintenance is probably not possible. I'm on year 5 currently and while I've been pretty much maintenance free, I have a feeling I've either been lucky or just did a better job with the initial setup than most because I've read about people needing to do fixes every year.
Awesome. Thank-you so much. Next summers project. My wife and I were just talking about this. 2 of my neighbors put up permanent lights and they have them run all year in different colors. So much wonderful information. Thank you for doing all that research. Question. Can the same setup be used for under cabinet lighting?
Do you live in an HOA? If so, was it allowed or did you just put them up and no one really noticed since they are kind of stealth? I live in Florida too and there is a rule in our HOA about leaving lights up past a certain date, but I was thinking, they might not notice them.
Thank you for the video. Do you have more info on the installation? I have a 3 story home and looking to put strips around the roof line. As for the strings great idea about removable frames for the window... Any more details would be great, thank you
Thank you for these excellent videos. They have been my point of reference as I planned out my LED project. I am stringing up my roof line and it is ~20m so about 600 leds. I purchased a dig uno for this but what I am hearing is it will not be able to supply enough power. Is there any reason I can’t power inject outside of the uno? Do I have to use a quad for my setup?
Love your detailed videos - thank you! I was wondering what your thoughts are on the hunhun 20-Pack 6.6ft/ 2Meter U Shape LED Aluminum Channel System that your amazon store links to vs your "Best Overall Diffuser" from your more recent aluminum channel comparison video for outdoor permanent holiday LED strips? (I'm planning to use 12V WS2815 strips, and would like to be able to route some power-injection wires inside the channel) Thanks!
Alright, I got on the roof, measured the lines I want to put strips on, and am ready to start pricing things out. Couple small things I'm not sure of is; a) do you recommend one channel over another? and b) of the channels I've seen, I haven't noticed any mounted on gutters. Any tips for this?
Great Videos! thanks for keeping it updated. I have a question but it's more about installation with strips. What do the connections at the peak look like, and how did you install them? How did you run wires to each zone? I know every house will be different but I'm looking for suggestions. I have a house with 4 Peaks and 4 separate runs. I'm getting stuck on the running wires.
Up 'til now I have made a number of LED projects using Arduino and ESP8266. I am starting to rebuild everything and for the 2022 season I want to make something that will work across everything I want to do. If you were going to use 1 system that included things like a mega tree, with home made house lights (bow and swag) and other items (home made candy canes, etc. for the yard, poinsettia's for the house, maybe some window and door outlining, etc.) would you still use a digiquad? or something like a Falcon or HinksPix with xlights?
What is the best way to set up a house display and then a yard display? I’m planning on having a dig uno in my attic for my house lights. Would that then communicate with a dig quad for my yard lights in my garage somehow? Thanks!
Do you have another 18ga 3 core wire that you recommend? The RVV is currently out of stock and I would prefer to buy through your affiliate link than sourcing it myself.
Should I run the power leads from the power supply directly to the strip? Bypassing the digquad? I’ll be running a few injection points too - should they all come from the digquad? Or should I have them come right from the power supply?
On your parallel power wires for power injection. I've been looking at LED strip calculators and they're saying I need to use 8 AWG wires to prevent significant voltage drop. And that's just for a strip that is about 20' or 6-7m away. How far did you run those 22 AWG wires and have you experienced any issues with it since you made this video?
The 5v fire test you performed is fascinating to me. I need to look more into the details because I have had solid core 22 gauge wire almost instantly heat up enough to burn my fingers and start melting the plastic from a short. I have also had a USB-C cable in my car scorch and melt part of the floor matt because it was plugged in and came to rest in a small puddle of salty water on the floor.
@@PoisonWaffle3 For some variants with the right power supply this is true. But in my case it was plugged into my 2016 Tacoma USB port which outputs 2.1A at 5v.
Great video, I installed and had working til about a week ago your LED driving software... now not sure what's not working. I guess the question would be since I have 3 house zones how do I get the data to each zone as each one is on a pin out from the logic level shifter. To my knowledge WLED doesn't use three data out pins or have the option... I believe... any and all help appreciated. Like the others thanks for all you do. :)
So do you need to have an 18/3 or 18/2 ran inside the channel for power injection? I have just under 4 strips with 30led/m, so just under 600leds. Also, do I inject just power on the beginning and furthest point, or does it need the data also?
I know this video is a year old, but hopefully you still check the comments. Was your 22 gauge power injection wire still sufficient a year later? I am running 12v 60LEDs/m and was wondering if I needed to step up to 18 gauge.
I installed my LED strips Christmas of 2017: ruclips.net/video/q_-Iw4VRTtI/видео.html They have been basically maintenance free and the 22awg has worked perfectly but I don't run them at 100% brightness.
@@TheHookUp I just noticed your amazon shopping list has 18 gauge wire and not 22 gauge wire. So I was wondering if you had to switch it out and do not recommend 22 gauge anymore.
Regarding the 5v vs 12v, it isn't actually output (watts) that matter? It's the amount of electricity that causes the heat up right? If i need 100 watts for my lights I can either do 5v * 20A for 12v * 8A. Using 12v means I can use smaller wire gauge.
Sure, but 5V will never push enough amps to get to a problematic amount of heat, internal resistance and voltage drop acts as its own regulator. In a 12V system bad pixels and/or shorts can pull significant amperage which can cause fires. I've been on light show facebook groups a long time and I've seen plenty of pixel fires, but I've never seen one caused by 5v pixels.
As aways another awesome video. I had one question... For longer pulls (like the top roof line. (which will be about 25' from the power supply and control to the first pixel). can I use 12 or 14 gauge wire for the run from the control or do need to have the power supply and controller closer to the end points. Ideally I would like to have my controllers and power supplies mounted in my garage.
Started to use lights this year for my hanukka menorah (about 8' tall on the front wall of my house). Every day a new "candle" would be lit. I am using digiuno and quads. Worked out great. The only thing I was missing on each of my "tube" candles was a flame. Is there something you may have published on how to do the flame/fire circle you have in this video?
This is great, and so easy for me. I found some older videos from you and it got me to this one. But... Out of stock on all the controllers... I've been wanting to do this. Was going to do it with cheap Amazon kits. Hopefully the quinled gets back soon.
First of all I'd like to say that I love your videos! They're awesome! I'd like to ask you a question: What's the Led count recommendation for that spotless effect inside the led channel? Is 30leds/m enough or I must get 60leds/m? Thank you very much!
So for some reason I can’t re comment I bought all the stuff you recommended in the video of your website and links I just couldn’t get the Ethernet chip I had to get the external Wifi which hopefully works good and then my other question is you have those boxs that you use to store your mother board and power supply what are they called and where would I get those? That’s one thing I don’t see listed
Just want to take a minute to acknowledge how high you set the bar for a Smart Home RUclips videos. Always great impartial advice, regular updates (like this video), and you make watching these videos both easy to navigate and fun to watch.
Thanks man. This is a great community to be a part of.
I got word from Quindor that the QuinLED DigQuad V3 is available now in the international store and should be in the DrZzs US store within the next day or two.
Video correction: The size heat shrink for joining LED strips should be 3/8" not 3/4", the correct product is linked in the store page.
Any idea when the permatrack will be available again?
The digquad with Ethernet is out of stock at the moment, but the external antenna is in stock.
@@williamcunningham5805 try the
international store. I got a few there when Dr.Zzzs was out of stock here locally.
And those are good for the ip67?
Awesome video! It'll get even more people into this awesome hobby! 🤩And of course thank you so much for the shout out for my boards, really really appreciated! 🤯
This is a massive mainstream acknowledgement of your hard work and continuing dedication. Coming from the face of an industry that has generally ignored genius in order to sell more of the proprietary garbage controllers they've stockpiled in their garages and basements. They didn't understand the technology and your often smoking brilliance before investing everything on more popular yet incredibly inferior (and soon to be obsolete) controller hardware and software. I've seen them blatantly boycott you on almost every platform from RUclips to Reddit just to maximize profit rather than backing Intermit.Tech from the beginning like they should have. Thank you Quindor and Air cookie: for you have single handedly changed the entire game and we won't ever forget it.
@@CharlieLOL Oh wow just seeing this comment now, thank you very much for the kind words! Hand in hand (hardware and software) we're both very happy how it makes these types of installs so much easier and approachable for normal people (like we are too)! Let's see what we can do in the coming years! :D
Absolutely amazing guide and thanks for doing all the grunt work! Right now I'm trying to decide between this or paying for a permanent system. Not sure I have the energy to diy this.
I have a few friends with the pro kind. My only real issue with them is the spacing, most of the big companies limit you to 4 inch spacing or more (some as high as 12" spacing!), which looks fine for Christmas but odd during other holidays and limits animations.
@@TheHookUp That was actually my first question to them, typical length is 9" and shortest they go is 6", but I'm pretty sure that would double the price.
I watch ur channel to lol ... man it's super easy and u got this ... once done u will love it
I just got Jellyfish Lighting installed and they’re magical. No regrets here.
@@ScarpaProperties Exactly what I got a quote on. Good to hear!
I love the fantastic tip about adding electrical tape inside aluminum channel to avoid problems with freezing condensation. Bravo!
Love the consolidation of all your outdoor lighting in one video! Definitely not a replacement for your more in-depth videos but a fantastic overview!
Thanks for another great video, I have used your and Dr Zzs videos alot as I have started playing around with the hobby. I had put up a permanent install of roof line LED's last year, adding a little at a time over the different holidays definitely spreads the costs out, and having great videos like this makes it easier to keep up with changes. Again, thanks Rob.
Where was this video last month?! I am midway through installing permanent lights on the roof line of the house. I started the project in late September to avoid the rush of trying to get it done before Thanksgiving. I scoured RUclips for bits of information, to include every video you and Dr zZz have put out on the topic. This video combines all of that into one spot. Just watched it and still pulled out some good information. Thanks!
Thank you for the update…removing the resistor solved issues I’ve been having with a long run to some arches! I tried boosters, including the one shown without totally being able to solve the problem. Removed the resistor and all is good!
Wanted to mention that I did something that I haven’t seen anyone else do…I couldn’t decide between strips shining towards or away from my house, so I did both! I put strips in a diffused channel, then stuck a second strip to the back side of the channel pointed towards the house. Now the color lighting up my house can be different than the animations on my strip facing the street. 😎👍
Epic, are you in the facebook group? I'd love to see some pictures.
If you have pictures I'd also like to see the difference between pointing towards the street or towards the ground. My house is brown and soffit is white, so I'm guessing for me pointing out would give a better effect. (reflecting off the white soffit)
Great video! Is there any guidance on how far away from the first strip of lights the power supply and controller can be? I want to put the power and controller in my garage and then run the power and data cables to the roofline, approx 10-15m before hitting the first lights. Will that cause issues?
So with parallel injection, I can run one continuous wire along the whole house (200ft) and just splice and solder the LEDs into that same wire every strip?
I don’t have to run a separate injection wire for every strip, do I?
Wow this is absolutely fantastic! Such high production quality too! I plan to start small this year with my dig-quad v1 and 600 lights on my Christmas tree for easier power injection using those fairy LEDs. My ultimate goal is the set up that you have on the house. Thank you for such an amazing video! Your channel along with Dr.Zzs and Quindor are the best!
Careful with those fairy lights, they are easy to short out since the wires are just enameled, also not for use outside.
Thanks Rob will do! I already have it all wired up on my desk to test everything and just need to carefully transfer it to the tree in the next couple of days. Thanks for the advice.
@@TheHookUp I see what you mean about being careful. I was putting the last strand on the tree and one of the LEDs on that last strand started smoking!! I had to unplug real quick and replace the strip. Inside one of the actual LEDs was all charred and black. Geesh! It was actually about to start a fire.
Hi, in your video you mention basic maintenance for your lights. What kind of basic maintenance is required?
I was waiting for this video! Dr. ZZzz hadn't put one out yet and I really dislike watching hour long live streams to find 5 minutes of content. Thank you so much!
Can you expand on the parallel run for power injection? Can I run a 22awg wire along the strips and use a T tap connector to inject at each strip? Is there a limit how far the 22awg can be?
Yes this question 🙋🏻♀️
OK so I've FINALLY decided after 3 years LOL I'm going to follow your guides because you have a great system for perm lights. NOW just to buy all the stuff required...... I'd like to work on this during the summer to be ready for Christmas 2022...... Thank you!
I know that you could in theory take these same steps and make a tree lighting rig; one that could be wrapped on a tree this year, taken down at the end of the season, and then used again next year. I think that would be an amazing new video. Don't you? Well if not, maybe I'll get around to it soon myself. Thanks for the updated info.
Great video!I am planning to do this with my house and I am struggling to understand how to connect each different section. Does it matter where you tie a different section into the chain of lights or does each section have to be started from the end of a section?
I'm preparing to do my house and found this very useful, but I'm struggling with where to place the power supplies and the controller. It looks like you have electrical box outside your house. Would you be able to show that in more details? What are some methods that others have used?
I keep my year round power supplies in the garage, the outdoor ones are for seasonal props.
I really want to do this. My neighbor just had a service come out and do an install on their house. I asked what their quote was. $4k... I just put the stuff you recommended in my Amazon cart. $600-ish. It would definitely be nice to just flip a switch and the lights are on and customizable.
Rob, thanks for another great video. Any recommendations on outdoor power supply housing? or are they all pretty much the same?
Cableguard CG-1000 was the standard, but it's been discontinued. This year I used one of these: amzn.to/3kLRdCe and it's very sturdy, but twice the price that the cableguard used to be.
Thanks for the update Rob! Still the internet's most succinct teacher for tech. 😀
This is seriously amazing. I've been following you for about 4 years now. Thank you for doing what you do. I don't have the particularly best home to do this because most of it isn't seen by the street. After seeing this, I feel more enticed to do a project like this. Thank you for doing what you do (again!)
Good luck!
Really appreciate all your videos but after showing this one to my wife she agreed to overcome her aversion and "test" some led strip lighting in an inconspicuous place outside (far away from the house) and if it goes OK then we can talk again lol! So I just ordered a dig-uno! Thanks again!
Thank you again for an awesome video! I know I’m cutting it close to this year’s season, but there are a few questions I have that don’t seem to be answered directly when research getting into this.
1) I’m a little under-knowledged on the power injection points, and specifically, where/how often they need to happen. You mention running the power line in the channel with the strip; is that the way the whole thing is done? Then the ‘how often’ is related to your strip model? Do you run the power line right on top of, but along the side of the strip? Under the strip?
2) Controllers: it’s not clear to me how, and specifically where the controllers play a roll. Obviously, they’re needed to tell the LEDs what to do, but are they like power injection points, where you need a controller mounted up on the roof every-so-often, depending on the model LEDs you chose, and therefore, how many LEDs one controller handles? Or is the one controller to rule them all, mounted down in the garage next to the power supply? Or?
3) Did I hear you correctly, 12V LEDs draw less amperage per LED? Your graphic stated 5V=.05/LED and 12V=.03/LED. I guess that makes sense, more power means less current for the same output.
I think that’s it. If I have another question, I’ll comment, and I REALLY appreciate your feedback! Thank you!!
1) For 5V inject at the beginning and end of every strip, for 12V inject every 2 strips (10m).
2) One controller at the beginning of the run, it sends the data to the LEDs to tell them what color to turn on to at any given time.
3) Yes, wattage is the real metric which would be voltage * amperage. 12V is actually higher wattage, but less amperage.
Awesome video, Thanks! My plan is to install a permanent setup this spring, I can start ordering parts. I've been using WLED for a couple of years for my kitchen lighting with home assistant and some 8266 controllers, no issues at all. If it ever fails I'll need to relearn my setup because I haven't touched it in so long I don't remember the details anymore.
Great stuff! What did you use to do your driveway edge/pathway lights? I can't figure a good solution. Thanks for all of the help
Great information and update. I have been dreaming about outlining my house for years. A simple question, I want my outline to simply alternate between two or three solid colors given the season. I do not want any effects or chasing. Can this be programmed in WLED? Thanks
You, Sir, are a RUclips ninja. This content is comprehensive & organized, the order and presentation are clearly well thought out, and each topic is succinctly conveyed with video that cogently illustrates the accompanying point you're conveying. I would feel confident using this 22 minute video as my singular resource to obtain, install & maintain LED holiday lighting. Amazing! Thank you! Liked & Subscribed.
Will you add the 22 AWG wire you use for power injection to your Amazon list?
You are the master of a Merry Christmas!
Thanks for this! In the video on "joining like a pro" you mentioned 3/8" heat shrink, but in this one you said 3/4". Is one of those wrong? Or does it not matter because they shrink enough either way?
Uh oh, 3/8 is definitely the right size. I’ll need to make a note in the sticky comment about that.
Thanks
@@TheHookUp Thanks! (I think your Amazon US store link goes to 3/4" too)
Fixed that too, thanks again.
Can you recommend an enclosure to put the psu and digquad (and all the wiring) into? Does it need to have ventilation for the psu? Also, I anticipate keeping these in my garage, so keeping them weather proof isn’t too much of a concern of mine.
Any chance you have a video or diagram of how exactly everything is ran and where everything is installed? Very curious to see a real life setup/install.
Quindor has a really good video explaining why 33 ohm is the right resistor to use if you are using a 3-wire combined data/power line and 249 ohm is the right resistor if you are using a 2-wire power wire and a separate 1-wire data wire.
I saw it, I'm skeptical :P
I currently have 120v lights, Can you suggest if I can convert that to your 12v solution, or have different solution for that application.
Thank you for all the pixel videos you have done. I’ve really learned a lot from them. They actually helped me to be able to understand pixel channels , universes. Especially when you suggested using Test tool in XLights. That really helped. I wanted to ask you. What are using to do the lights on edges of your driveway?
Thank you again for all your help.
My house looks a little like yours. Can you tee off of the string on the bottom eaves (power, ground, data lines) and run wire (with no leds) up to the second floor eaves and then connect a second set of leds to that? What I mean is a strip of bare wire in the middle.
Dude, I just found your channel and browsed through a lot of your videos and ❤️ the content! I’m MAD 😡 at myself for not finding your channel earlier! New subscriber here 🤗 and super excited to binge watch your past videos.
Welcome aboard!
So I’m considering doing ip67 strips without diffuser channels, just using the screw in clips, what are your thoughts on this? I’m sure it will look more tacky but I think it would save money and time, and should still be water proof. Thanks for the great content and information.
The IP67 strips are much harder to work with and I've experienced a much higher failure rate with them than with IP65 strips.
Perfect timing for this video. I have been doing a lot of research this week regarding this project. I have taken a lot of your advises from your various previous videos for my project and have decided to use 12V 5M strips with aluminum channels. Couple questions for more clarification: 1.) What size wire would you recommend using for a 12V setup? Some people have recommended 16 gauge, would 18 gauge work? 2.) My setup is originally going to be 2 lvl linear run, should I still get the DigQuad instead of DigUno, or is DigQuad a bit overkilled for me, or am I better off getting DigQuad anyways so that there’s room for expansion somewhere down the road? Thanks a lot for making these great videos!!!
18 awg is fine. If your budget allows I'd get a quad, it's not that much more and you get a lot more for your few extra dollars.
@@TheHookUp Just bought two Quads with external antenna as those were to only one in stock for now.
I was thinking of redoing my stairs and was looking into led strip lighting. and this came up! and all I have to say is wow! I didn't know so much could be done. Definitely gonna look at your videos and learn a bit more. if my stair project comes out great. I may just want to do this for outside lighting as well!. Great video! lots of good information!
Nice job! Is it possible to have one end of an LED strip that connects to the next strip (but still same end that the power is coming from)? For example, If I’m looking at a ceiling fan, I’d want a single strip for each blade. But I would need both the incoming wire and exiting wire coming from the same end of the LED strip.
Great video and just re-watching as I now have most of the supplies and am getting ready to install.
Did you use the RVV wire for the parallel injection runs? I see that stuff is 3-conductor, but for the power injection you only need 2-conductor right? Plus, the black casing probably won't look good in the track along the roofline of the house.
And I noticed in your video when talking about parallel runs, your wire (you mention 22 gauge) is in a white casing...?
I have 84 feet along the front of my house, is this 22 gauge wire sufficient from the power supply, up and along the run?
I use RVV for primary runs and occasionally for home run injections. I use the 24awg stuff for the parallel runs. For 84 feet I'd recommend a home run injection with thick wire near the middle (42ft), and then run the thin stuff inside the channel for parallel injections.
Thank you for the video…. My question for you is…. If I’m looking to do permanent lighting on my house should I go with a digiquad or a Kulp controller. I’m going with a Kulp controller for props and a tree. I’m just wondering if there’s a benefit to sticking with the same manufacturer?
I have a mix of a ton of different controllers, no issues.
Thanks for this video for us newbies that are figuring this out.
Just starting my journey to permanent home lighting. 1st, your videos are the best I have come across so thank you! I am wondering if everything mentioned with cutting/attaching/controller etc is the same for RGBW strips? I will defiantly want a white channel for non festive year round accent lighting. If I were to follow this guide using RGBW is there anything different I would need to know/do/get? Thanks in advance!
Glad I saw this video. Years ago I looked into the systems provided by HolidayCoro, Hinks, and similar, and kind of scowled at how "closed" they seemed. Yeah, the protocols were open, but an ESP32 is a lot more OPEN than what I saw then. Was one of those projects that I wanted to do, but they looked like they were going to be a big hassle to finish. The megatrees are enticing, but everything else felt like a minefield where a single misstep leads to weeks wasted and foul language
This spring, I think I've got a new project
Ok, here is my question. When power injecting.....if you are adding, lets say, 4 power injection points...do all of those wires run to the SAME exact power supply, or does each injection point have to have a separate power supply? And follow up question...If all those wires are going to the same injection power, wont it get a little too crowded for all those wires?
Thank you!
Same supply, you can do power injection with multiple supplies, but you shouldn't connect the positive wires together. Here's a more in depth description: ruclips.net/video/apwQ5Jh4VyE/видео.html
Another question... is there enough room inside the channel for the led strips and the 3core wire, or does it cover the LEDs a little bit? Where did you put the wire inside the channel? Or is it outside?
Any major changes for 2023? This is a great guide, thanks for all of the info!
I'll be doing an update to this around the middle of November, but no major changes.
Oh my! I totally appreciate all the good work you put into your videos. I started two days ago and am knee deep in WS2812B strips, wire, connectors, and a $100 soldering iron (with is very cool!). I am all ready to make this happen except for ONE THING... I am 5 hours into trying to figure out how I should make permanent waterproof wire connection between my 18 gauge Power Injection leads (coming off the LED Strips at each segment's beginning and end) and the 22 gauge parallel in-track wire. Do I cut the 22 gauge parallel wire each time I am to connect it to an LED Strip Power Injection lead? And if so, how do I connect the three wires together using a Haisstronica Solder & Seal connector? I can't find anything in RUclips showing me that it is acceptable to connect 3 wires together this way (as these connections MUST last as long as possible).
Am I thinking about this correctly? I believe you are saying to run a second pair of 22 gauge power wires inside the tracks the entire run of LED Strips - and connect them to each of the Power Injection leads (which are solders at the beginning and end of every LED Strip which are connected by 3 wires. However, if I cut the 22 gauge parallel wire, I will then have three wires to connect together? Or, do I connect the lead wire to the 22 gauge wire without cutting it??!? I am SO STUCK. I must be thinking about this incorrectly... Did I mention that I am near the end of building my own house and I want/need to take the scaffolding down this coming week? The second story roof line is at 21 feet high with a 12/12 roof. I have one shot at this - AND I NEED TO GET IT RIGHT.... Can someone put me out of my misery???
Please post what you figured out. In the same fix
@@luv14lyf did you figure it out. I'm in the same predicament.
Well geez, I’ve already started with your other videos lol. Man you added so much more, dang it.
I’m new to all this, this is my first year and used all of your beginner videos. Learned to solder and all from you. Got a complete custom setup now, garage door, roof line and the peak roof
Line. Finalizing my power injections and I hope it all works.
I had seen posting on using JChannel and Pixels, that require a lot of drilling. the UChannel is nearly the same price, less labor and better finish. Awesome. My only complaint, is using a Western Union Splice. That splice is used for mechanical stress(tension), but it not the best for conductivity. Linemans splice is a better splice.
Stunning new 'How To' and this really helped tip me into the QuinLED camp. Just given how late in the year it already is, this will be a project for Spring 2022.
But my recent experience in using LED strips and aluminum channel for lighting my pergola (more thanks for flagging that awesome patio addition in your earlier video!) has made me pretty confident that this will be a successful project. Thanks for the research and the tips!
How do you run power from an outlet to the power supply? I’m using extension cords but am wondering how safe this is, leaving the extension cords plugged in, and outdoors exposed to the elements 24/7/365.
Suggestions?
Do you think there is any heat that's being generated by the power injection wire? I too am planning to run the power injection wire inside the led channel. And am just wondering about heat generation. Thoughts?
Great Video as always. I have a question in regards to installing aluminum channel outside following the roof line. I would like the channel to be facing the street (Not facing down like under a cabinet) and I have an attached garage the is set back a little from the house. I have two corners to follow, one is an inside corner and the other is an outside corner, both 90 degrees. (Outside corner would be like going from the front of the house to the side of the house. My question is, how do you cut the aluminum channel for each of these types of corners so that it looks seamless and is waterproof?
Thanks for another great video! I am just getting started in automated LED holiday lighting. One thing I wasn't clear on - does the QuinLED controller replace something like the F16 board, or are they both required? It sounds like the QuinLED boards are a newer and cheaper option that many people are moving towards.
Another wonderful video! Always excited when I see you have done another one. I did have a question and I apologize if this was brought up in another video or section and I missed it. You mentioned in this video 2 options: aiming lights towards the streets, or towards the house for a more indirect effect. Ive noticed the differences on several houses I drove by, and I was wondering how they are achieving that almost shadow glow effect off the siding or stucco of the house vs seeing the LED strips head on from the street? Is it really just using J Channels or PermaTrack? Or is there a way to aim the lights so they cast more of a light shadow of color against the house? I was just wondering if in your knowledge that is achieved by putting th e J channels further back? Or maybe aiming the lights in the J channels differently or not just straight down? Any help or idea would be greatly appreciated.
Awesome video - thanks!
Have you considered using the aluminum channel as the ground for your power injection runs? seems like it could carry quite a bit of current if you wanted it to.
Again - you are a fantastic resource and the quality of your videos is so much better than everyone else. I'm amazed. But sometimes you move through things pretty fast. The installation of the strips is a little confusing to me. You say you don't want to be soldering on a ladder (excellent advice!), but how do you make a 40 meter run including the soldering of the injection points, accurate placement of roof gable angles and corner bends all in one piece on the ground? It seems like this would be so likely to break or have the measurements an inch off when I hit a 90 degree bend in the roof line when I put the LED strip into the channel. If you could share some tips (possibly in a different video) I'd really appreciate it.
This might be a hard question to answer but roughly what would it cost to run LED lights around the perimeter of a average 1500 or 2000 square-foot house? Let’s say may be 300 feet of roof line. I’m just kind of asking for ballpark cost.
I’m sure you’ve got this question before. I’m doing siding on my house right now and I’d like to do some permanent LED installation, but I don’t have the knowledge even at the basic level to understand what you’re describing here. Are there companies that know how to do this in central Illinois? Or do you have the time to look at some photos of this house give me little more specific direction?
I am using 12v led strings (total 1900 leds) ,power supply meanwell 12v 30amp 350 watt .Do i need two powe supply or just one is fine .Also i have the digi quad controller.
Please advise
Lots of good information / content here. I do like how he put everything into one video and it does go over many of the problems that are faced when choosing a particular type (and voltage) of LEDs.
Hi, great video! Unfortunately along one of my roof lines, the aluminum channel in the shopping list doesn’t work I don’t think as it would be pointed down. I see that hunhun has v-shaped channel. Any reason recommending hunhun over another brand? Just curious if there is a difference more or less with the diffuser. Just want to make sure I am not overlooking something. I always trust your judgement or at least thank you for helping others make the “right” judgements ;)
How do you run power to your lights along the curb line? maybe you could do a video on how you run power to lights on the ground? What lights are you using along the curb as well?
I have to apprecciate all the work you invest to explain all this man, i am completly new on this LED projects and I am learing TON with you! greeting form Mexico!
if you see this, any tips for a begginner with a project of 10 strip lines of 60ft each strip? Will be able to control 5,400 leds in total with that controller you promote?
I was planning to go with 2811 30Led per meter, due the lack of color drop, but looking up this, maybe ill have to go anyway with the 5v option to be safe with shortcuts and 1by1 pixel control,
How long will this setup last? Based on your video id probably spend 60-80 hours lighting up my big ass container house including some scaffolding time. Where I live the sun destroys things quickly and if im not getting at least 5-7 years of life out of this theres no way im attempting it
5-7 years with no maintenance is probably not possible. I'm on year 5 currently and while I've been pretty much maintenance free, I have a feeling I've either been lucky or just did a better job with the initial setup than most because I've read about people needing to do fixes every year.
@@TheHookUp fair enough man. I still enjoyed your video either way.
Awesome. Thank-you so much. Next summers project. My wife and I were just talking about this. 2 of my neighbors put up permanent lights and they have them run all year in different colors. So much wonderful information. Thank you for doing all that research. Question. Can the same setup be used for under cabinet lighting?
You mean WLED for under cabinet? Sure. I'd recommend SK6812 RGBW strips for under cabinet lights.
Do you live in an HOA? If so, was it allowed or did you just put them up and no one really noticed since they are kind of stealth? I live in Florida too and there is a rule in our HOA about leaving lights up past a certain date, but I was thinking, they might not notice them.
Thank you for the video. Do you have more info on the installation? I have a 3 story home and looking to put strips around the roof line. As for the strings great idea about removable frames for the window... Any more details would be great, thank you
thank you for this! i'm going to start planning for next year!!
Thank you for these excellent videos. They have been my point of reference as I planned out my LED project. I am stringing up my roof line and it is ~20m so about 600 leds. I purchased a dig uno for this but what I am hearing is it will not be able to supply enough power. Is there any reason I can’t power inject outside of the uno? Do I have to use a quad for my setup?
5v or 12v leds?
@@TheHookUp 5v 2812b
Love your detailed videos - thank you! I was wondering what your thoughts are on the hunhun 20-Pack 6.6ft/ 2Meter U Shape LED Aluminum Channel System that your amazon store links to vs your "Best Overall Diffuser" from your more recent aluminum channel comparison video for outdoor permanent holiday LED strips? (I'm planning to use 12V WS2815 strips, and would like to be able to route some power-injection wires inside the channel) Thanks!
Alright, I got on the roof, measured the lines I want to put strips on, and am ready to start pricing things out. Couple small things I'm not sure of is; a) do you recommend one channel over another? and b) of the channels I've seen, I haven't noticed any mounted on gutters. Any tips for this?
Great Videos! thanks for keeping it updated. I have a question but it's more about installation with strips. What do the connections at the peak look like, and how did you install them? How did you run wires to each zone? I know every house will be different but I'm looking for suggestions. I have a house with 4 Peaks and 4 separate runs. I'm getting stuck on the running wires.
Up 'til now I have made a number of LED projects using Arduino and ESP8266. I am starting to rebuild everything and for the 2022 season I want to make something that will work across everything I want to do. If you were going to use 1 system that included things like a mega tree, with home made house lights (bow and swag) and other items (home made candy canes, etc. for the yard, poinsettia's for the house, maybe some window and door outlining, etc.) would you still use a digiquad? or something like a Falcon or HinksPix with xlights?
What is the best way to set up a house display and then a yard display? I’m planning on having a dig uno in my attic for my house lights. Would that then communicate with a dig quad for my yard lights in my garage somehow? Thanks!
Do you have another 18ga 3 core wire that you recommend? The RVV is currently out of stock and I would prefer to buy through your affiliate link than sourcing it myself.
Should I run the power leads from the power supply directly to the strip? Bypassing the digquad? I’ll be running a few injection points too - should they all come from the digquad? Or should I have them come right from the power supply?
As long as it’s under 30A total you should run through the quad, that will give you fuse protection.
On your parallel power wires for power injection. I've been looking at LED strip calculators and they're saying I need to use 8 AWG wires to prevent significant voltage drop. And that's just for a strip that is about 20' or 6-7m away. How far did you run those 22 AWG wires and have you experienced any issues with it since you made this video?
The 5v fire test you performed is fascinating to me. I need to look more into the details because I have had solid core 22 gauge wire almost instantly heat up enough to burn my fingers and start melting the plastic from a short. I have also had a USB-C cable in my car scorch and melt part of the floor matt because it was plugged in and came to rest in a small puddle of salty water on the floor.
I haven't looked into the 5v tests, so I can't verify myself, but I wanted to point out that USB C tends to run at higher voltages than 5v
@@PoisonWaffle3 For some variants with the right power supply this is true. But in my case it was plugged into my 2016 Tacoma USB port which outputs 2.1A at 5v.
Great video, I installed and had working til about a week ago your LED driving software... now not sure what's not working. I guess the question would be since I have 3 house zones how do I get the data to each zone as each one is on a pin out from the logic level shifter. To my knowledge WLED doesn't use three data out pins or have the option... I believe... any and all help appreciated. Like the others thanks for all you do. :)
Had to pause around 12:00 to take a break and think about life. Great video.
So do you need to have an 18/3 or 18/2 ran inside the channel for power injection? I have just under 4 strips with 30led/m, so just under 600leds. Also, do I inject just power on the beginning and furthest point, or does it need the data also?
I know this video is a year old, but hopefully you still check the comments. Was your 22 gauge power injection wire still sufficient a year later? I am running 12v 60LEDs/m and was wondering if I needed to step up to 18 gauge.
Problem is, I can't fit 18 guage in the aluminum channel
I installed my LED strips Christmas of 2017: ruclips.net/video/q_-Iw4VRTtI/видео.html
They have been basically maintenance free and the 22awg has worked perfectly but I don't run them at 100% brightness.
@@TheHookUp I just noticed your amazon shopping list has 18 gauge wire and not 22 gauge wire. So I was wondering if you had to switch it out and do not recommend 22 gauge anymore.
Oh, gotcha. That's what I use for my power injection home runs. I use this for the parallel runs: amzn.to/3SAsDSB
Regarding the 5v vs 12v, it isn't actually output (watts) that matter? It's the amount of electricity that causes the heat up right? If i need 100 watts for my lights I can either do 5v * 20A for 12v * 8A. Using 12v means I can use smaller wire gauge.
Sure, but 5V will never push enough amps to get to a problematic amount of heat, internal resistance and voltage drop acts as its own regulator.
In a 12V system bad pixels and/or shorts can pull significant amperage which can cause fires. I've been on light show facebook groups a long time and I've seen plenty of pixel fires, but I've never seen one caused by 5v pixels.
Thanks for these great videos. Quick question - what was they brand/type of soldering iron you used. I'm in the market for a new one.
TS80, I absolutely love it: amzn.to/3rhkqJh
Awesome video. On your large tree in your video are those strips or strands and how many leds and length are each string?
16 strands 50 pixels each.
@@TheHookUpwere those strands strings or strips?
In your video you say 3/4 inch heat shrink but in your list on amazon you have 3/8's. Which is the correct size?
As aways another awesome video. I had one question... For longer pulls (like the top roof line. (which will be about 25' from the power supply and control to the first pixel). can I use 12 or 14 gauge wire for the run from the control or do need to have the power supply and controller closer to the end points. Ideally I would like to have my controllers and power supplies mounted in my garage.
Amazing video. I'll be building them now for next year.
Started to use lights this year for my hanukka menorah (about 8' tall on the front wall of my house). Every day a new "candle" would be lit. I am using digiuno and quads. Worked out great. The only thing I was missing on each of my "tube" candles was a flame. Is there something you may have published on how to do the flame/fire circle you have in this video?
This is great, and so easy for me. I found some older videos from you and it got me to this one. But... Out of stock on all the controllers... I've been wanting to do this. Was going to do it with cheap Amazon kits. Hopefully the quinled gets back soon.
First of all I'd like to say that I love your videos! They're awesome!
I'd like to ask you a question:
What's the Led count recommendation for that spotless effect inside the led channel?
Is 30leds/m enough or I must get 60leds/m?
Thank you very much!
General rule for "spotless" LEDs is the diffuser should be the same distance away from the LED strip as the spacing between the LEDs.
So for some reason I can’t re comment I bought all the stuff you recommended in the video of your website and links I just couldn’t get the Ethernet chip I had to get the external Wifi which hopefully works good and then my other question is you have those boxs that you use to store your mother board and power supply what are they called and where would I get those? That’s one thing I don’t see listed
Great information!! Instructions are detailed and concise without a long drawn out 1 hour video. ;)
That was super informational, thanks! Very interested in doing this to my home.