Project #6 - LED accent lighting
Posted 04-29-2013 at 11:43 AM by outofcontrol
I bought 4 reels of RGB LED waterproof strips. A bunch of connectors, wire, and Music controller to make the lights dance with the music!
Also fabricated a press brake to bend sheet metal... Should have just bought the one at HF for $60. Oh well.
I played with these, and I don't like some of the "press" connectors I bought. These are awesomely engineered little strips. They're RGB (red/green/blue) so they can make any color, and every 3 LEDs is all self contained with little microchips. It's easy enough to solder to the tabs every 3 lights, so you can basically cut them to length and use them wherever you want.
More to come. I had to order more 4 pin connectors, and I'm basically making a wiring harness to connect the 5 light boxes I built and 3 other runs on the ceiling.
-Kevin
Also fabricated a press brake to bend sheet metal... Should have just bought the one at HF for $60. Oh well.
I played with these, and I don't like some of the "press" connectors I bought. These are awesomely engineered little strips. They're RGB (red/green/blue) so they can make any color, and every 3 LEDs is all self contained with little microchips. It's easy enough to solder to the tabs every 3 lights, so you can basically cut them to length and use them wherever you want.
More to come. I had to order more 4 pin connectors, and I'm basically making a wiring harness to connect the 5 light boxes I built and 3 other runs on the ceiling.
-Kevin
Total Comments 2
Comments
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More pics and troubleshooting
I decided to make each light box it's own plug-in type of appliance. In case I wanted to change things around I don't want the whole thing all wired together in one big mess. I found out the hard way that not all the connectors' color maps are the same. You'd think Red wire would go to red circuit. I don't think there's a standard "pin code". The strips are +GRB, the 4-pin connectors are +RGB, and the power supply is +BRG. So you have to pick one, and then test each connector to make sure you have them right.
Next: The power supply I bought was 60w. I thought that would be plenty since LEDs use so little power, right? Well, each 16ft. roll is 37watts, and I used just a hair over 2 rolls, which is well over 60watts.
I ordered even more stuff that I'm waiting on to be delivered on Monday, but I found a $10 Signal Amplifier, which is cool. I'll just unplug some of the strips until it arrives.
Should be all done and wired up next week.
My next post should be a killer light show!
-Kevin
Posted 05-02-2013 at 10:48 AM by outofcontrol 
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OK. I have all the connections done. New stereo, new speakers, new re-purposed home theater sub woofer.
And a light show!! My 5yr old daughter loves it, I love it, and my brother-in-law thinks it's cool. The wives are not impressed.
Click link for light show and my dumb commentary. -->>Airstream accent lighting RBG LED music controller - YouTube
-KevinPosted 05-15-2013 at 01:59 PM by outofcontrol
