WLED & ESP32: The Dynamic Duo of DIY LED Projects

[@-ColorMehJewish-]

This is one of the best video tutorials I have seen for WLED thus far. I'm glad you made this, thank you. Many tutorials don't mention the capacitor option/recommendation or go into much detail about the assembly. You made an actual guide someone can follow. I really hope this gains more traction b/c you did a great job 👍

[@MakersMashup]

Thanks for the kind words.

[@charlesbrownhog194]

agreed one of the best.

[@byrond2184]

I appreciate you showing the complete step-by-step process. Thank you for including the links to everything from the video.

[@workingclasschump]

Thanks for including so many solder and wiring tips! Great video!

[@swissfreek]

Thanks for this video, ElectroCookie is a new discovery for me, but I'll definitely be looking at getting some. Also, those barrel connectors are awful, and good on you for pointing out that they top out at about 3A at 5V. I think it's borderline criminal that if you buy a 15A power supply, it'll come with one of those connectors. I've melted more than one from going above 5A. Total fire hazard.

[@kermitinmountain6371]

It is very wise to use pin header, just in case of chip or other component like esp-32 malfunctioned. I recalled my years as a teenager, I found a car radio and it didn't work, replaced the capacitor not knowing it polarity was reversed, blew up in from of my face. Luckily, I wasn't injured. Thank you for the interesting work. Couldn't find the pcboard for ESP-32 or ESP-8266.

[@DennisL-g7w]

Great video - Very Helpful. I'm gearing up to create some interesting lighting effects on my golf cart. I already have converted the 48 volts on the cart down to 12 volts with a 30 amp convertor.

[@miguelavello7493]

Exceptional work on this tutorial! Your attention to detail, particularly in covering aspects often overlooked like the capacitor option, truly elevates this guide above others. It's rare to find such a thorough and user-friendly approach in tutorials. Your step-by-step instructions make it accessible and easy to follow, even for beginners. This video is not just informative but also inspiring for anyone interested in WLED. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise with such clarity and precision. Looking forward to more of your content! If there is a chance for you to explain on the cookie board how to make either INDEPENDENT OR DEPENDENT voltage. I believe you mentioned to connect the right and the left side with a bridge. I would love for you to explain that clearly as it is a big step to understand more on the board connections. Not sure if in comments you can add a drawing..... maybe I am asking too much here.... THANK YOU for this tutorial !!!!!!!!

[@TechGrowls]

I'm sorry but I had to replay 15:15 10xtimes , We now have confirmation. Great video🎉 it's very informative. Will be using this video as reference in an upcoming project.

[@OllieTownsendIII]

Truly appreciate the effort you went through to not only explain how to do this, but also why you did things you did. I went from not having soldered (solderless breadboards and jumper wires were my friend) to having a fully custom ESP32 controlled WLED setup. (And a nice reason to make a 3D printed design to hold the setup!) Might be time for me to create a new video.

[@李旭佳-s3p]

Thank you for sharing. The steps are very detailed and give me a lot of inspiration.

[@tprav]

This is great! Do you have a link for the header pins that you've used. Thank you!

[@hewitt10ish]

Thanks again. All is working and printed out the box. I am having a difficult time pressing the barrel connector through the hole and having it hold. Could you please elaborate on how to do this? Maybe I have a different barrel connector.

[@MakersMashup]

You could possibly have a different one but its unlikely. It is a tight fit, it was designed to be a pressure fit. If its too tight you can reprint the enclosure and adjust the X/Y Size compensation or horizontal expansion setting in your slicer to give it a bit more room. It sounds like your printer calibration may need a little adjusting. ;)

[@rongriggs4430]

Can I run 2 sets of wire connectors to the ESP32 board to run 2 separate led strips going in different areas. Yes I will be adding power injection.

[@TristynRusselo]

I wasnt sure about you until you had to bleep yourself. I like you!

[@georgejonsson4819]

You know it's real when you hear a 'bleep', there is a break, and then he comes back with a new design.

[@335iN00b]

Thank you so much for this video. You are amazing. Wishing you the very best sir.

[@TheGodOfWar1337]

Awesome! Now I need to save some cash to source the parts 😄

[@saschageier]

I have a COB Stripe which I would love to see fading out with a capacitor... strip uses 12V, draws about 5-6w at full power( which I dont use ). Will a 16V 1000uf be enough , does it matter if I hook up a 24V capacitor?

[@timpeterson2738]

Excellent video man, i like how you touch on all the tips and tricks. Thank you, subscibed.

[@couryrussell7653]

Did you install the LED as the “sacrifice” rather than putting in a level shifter?

[@JunicaviGames]

First of all, great video! Really easy to understand and follow I just want to know, what voltage are those capacitors you're using here?

[@patrickdzx1513]

Does the capacitator you installed works as a fade out for the leds when the ESP32 is unplugged from the power? Thanks.

[@MakersMashup]

Its not designed that way but you'll see that if you remove the power. The reason is the stored energy in the capacitor. Its in place to even out the voltage ripples and give a more consistent power supply. When you shut off the power it still has to drain the capacitors power, which is why it "fades out". Additionally this is why you hear never open microwaves or old TV's with large capacitors in them. The energy remains stored until the capacitor is discharged. You should always discharge a capacitor before replacing / removing it. In this case our circuit always drains the capacitor which is the fade out you see.

[@oldNavyJZ]

wish that project board had access to both sides for an 8266 / esp32. have you found one that does?

[@djcarroll4080]

[QUESTION] First, thanks for the amazing video!!! I'm new to electronics and just recreated this project. However, I'm hooked up to a 300 led strip, and thus, a 20 amp power supply. Ultimately, my question is, "How many amps can the electrocookie handle from a 5V 20amp power supply?" I've got the power supply connected to the electrocookie leads via wago connectors (no barrel connector), but then I've got the led strip connected to the other end of the electrocookie (just like yours in the video). So, ultimately, the 5V 20amp supply is traveling through the electrocookie and I'm worried about it not being able to handle it (although I'm really only getting ~5amps going through in reality). I've searched everywhere I can think of online for the specs on the electrocookie, but to no avail (again, I'm new to electronics, so I'm not sure if I'm looking in the right places, or if this is even something I should be worried about). Can anyone help!? Thanks!

[@fomingera65]

it’s unlikely to safely handle 5 amps, let alone 20 amps. You should consider routing the power connections directly to the LED strip with more robust wiring and only use the electrocookie for low-current control lines. If you're unsure of the specific type of "electrocookie" you're using, it's best to avoid running high current through it without checking the specifications first.

[@elieeid8865]

Thank you, thank you, I'm facing a problem, my step was working great, i disconnected the power cable, and i reconnected it, i lost it, i reconfigured it again, and my trip does not work, i can see my esp32 , and the wled was installed on it, and the strip does not light, i have change the strip for another one ws2811 and nothing is working. What i did wrong. Please need help. It's xmas lights

[@jbrondos]

Very well-done and helpful. Much appreciated.

[@vdblu77]

Should I still run this exact set up you are showing us? I am currently running LED strips along the ceiling of my office behind some crown molding. I was using the esp-8266 board and it worked great in testing, but I ended up needing to run 4 LED strips to make it around the entire room. Apparently the 8266 is not able to run more than 3 strips. Each strip has 300 LED's, so my total will be just under 1200 as I need to cut off just a couple feet for an exact length. So in my research I am told I need the esp32, which should be able to easily run up to 9 strips. I just want to copy exactly what you are doing here, capacitor and all. Also, any suggestions on an Enclosure if I don't have a 3D printer?

[@MakersMashup]

The ESP32 would work similar to ESP8266 in this application, the pin numbers are going to be different but for the most part you can use an ESP8266 or ESP32 in this application. I understand you're coming from an ESP8266 now. The big problem you're going to have is power with a run that long. You didnt go into details about the power supply for it but I personally suggest injecting power at each large segment. While you can light several hundred LED's with a smaller supply given the run you're making you'll absolutely need to inject power or the end LED's are going to be dim and likely the wrong color.

[@lorenzopalma4088]

Hello and thanks for the very easy to follow presentation. I am using a similar setup with an ESP32 and WLED which I am using to power 18 WS2812B LEDs in a company logo medallion. What I lack in my configuration are the resistor and the capacitor. And now I finally understand the reason why some of my LEDs have stopped working. what size capacitor and resistor do you recommend if I only have 18 LEDs? They are individually wired WS2812B LEDs. I will use the electrocookie as well as like the way you have everything fit well together. I neglected to mention that I have a small 5V power supply, which I realize is not even necessary given that I only have 18 LEDs. Also, do I need to worry about leveling up the 3.3v to 5v for the data connection? I look forward to your reply. Thanks, Lorenzo

[@MakersMashup]

Same size capacitor. It's function surpressing voltage spikes and smoothing it out. Same one works for any length.

[@miguelavello7493]

2 Questions: 1) Why did you add it a set of pins (the green) ? 2) Is there a rating for ElectroCookie that I need to be aware of ?

[@nickloss2377]

You obviously didn't watch the whole video. He explains the extra header pins at around 16mins. Rating for the electro cookie? You mean like power rating?? Well if you're putting more than 5 volts in it, you're going to fry your ESP32. If you're using 12 volt or 24 volt LEDs, you don't want to be powering them from a pin on the ESP32. Separate power supply for the LEDs and keep the ESP32 with its own, separate 5 volt power supply.

[@zandanshah]

Keep the good work going, Thank you!

[@HughD]

This was great. You have an excellent presentation style and the production quality made it easy to watch. Thanks so much. I just subscribed to your channel and will be looking at some of your other videos.

[@MakersMashup]

Thanks for the kind words. Thanks for subscribing!

[@simdevils]

Is a logic level shifter not recommended especially when one is already going to be doing all this? Thanks.

[@JunicaviGames]

Maybe I'm dumb, but what is the purpose of the green pins you solder at the beginning? Great video btw

[@darkhog1]

Thanks for the video! Regarding the 1000uf capacitor voltage - since we are pairing with a 5v power supply we should use a capacitor that is 2-3x the voltage, correct? So a 10v or 16v? Thank you!

[@MakersMashup]

16v are pretty common but yes, you need one larger than a 5V one to handle any ripple voltage. Either would be fine IMHO.

[@saftschinken2353]

How I personally like to tin my wires: lay down my soldering Iron on the workingarea or lift it in the stand so I have my two hands for the soldering lead and the wires

[@MakersMashup]

Great idea. 💡

[@danielbocelli]

I learned a ton from this video!

[@HauntedHows]

One quick question. If I unplugged the ESP32 from power would it remember the last preset it was running? Or would it default to something when powered back up?

[@MakersMashup]

It will boot back to the default preset.

[@detroitluv82]

I wish they had electronics in my high school. Seems like inner city schools are lacking the fun stuff.

[@MakersMashup]

Don't let that stop you! Plenty of tutorials on youtube and IMHO its a great thing to get into at your age. I got into electronics in high school myself and I have never regretted it. Not my main career in life but having these skills will serve you well youre entire life. I read "Getting started in electronics" by forest mimms the III (think I remembered that right) and old book from radio shack. Its still relevant of course and there is so much more out there today, but between that and some high school electronics courses I've used the info all my life. The book probably served me better than the classes :)

[@braaitongs]

I have some ESP 32 dev boards on they way. I am a beginner and using them will be my first time. This looks like an interesting project! I was planning on buying a set of LED strip lights but they are insanely expensive.

[@MakersMashup]

They aren't cheap for sure, the DIY approach saves a few bucks compared to buying proprietary controllers. You can also save big sourcing direct from china on Aliexpress, although ship times are 14-45 days in most cases. Huge savings though if you go through the effort.

[@braaitongs]

@@MakersMashup ja, my esp 32 dev boards are coming from China. So will take some time go get here. Can a 5v power source that plugs into the esp drive the led strip as well? or are they all higher voltages?

[@DaveCarvey]

What GPIO pin(s) could you use to connect a second string of lights?

[@MakersMashup]

Any one of your choice. Just add the 2nd string and update the settings in WLED. Just be sure you have enough current to support the LED's your driving.

[@radio-tropoli]

Great video. Very inspiring!

[@MakersMashup]

Glad you enjoyed it. If you have other topics or suggestions for content please let me know! Thanks for watching.

[@karelkral6812]

What about level shifter? WLed is controled by 5V, Esp32 out level is 3.3V. Do I need a level shifter?

[@MakersMashup]

In my experience with most modern LED lights a shifter is unnecessary and tends to cause more confusion/issues than anything else. I would try it without one first. If you have problems then a resistor is usually the easiest fix. 62 ohm resistor on the data line. The Cap is honestly the most important factor in the circuit and having sufficient power to run the LED's.

[@michaelc1042]

Great video, thank you for taking the time to make this. Question, I built my house over 20 years ago and "Home runned" Cat5 wire from 6 different kitchen cabinets to a central location in the basement. The maximum length of any of the runs is about 30 feet of cat5 from cabinet to basement. Could I power and control (ESP35) all 6 cabinets from the basement, or do I need to apply additional power at the cabinet? Will cat5 carry the necessary power to the under-cabinet led strips. Probably no more than 2.5 feet of led strips under each cabinet. I hope I am making sense and I greatly appreciate any suggestions on how to finally install under-cabinet lighting for my wife 🙂

[@outbakjak]

Depends if they're 5v or 12v or 24v strips, if they are ≥12v, your ESP32 dev board would need to be able to be powered by that voltage as well, there are many different ESP32 dev boards, mine can be powered by 5-25v if I recall.. but otherwise there's no issue sharing a power supply with the ESP32 at the front, it'll only take what power it needs, and if that wiring has been sufficient so far then it should continue to be. Though to me, if they are 5v strips I'd say 24awg cat5 is a little small. That said if it's been working so far, you have an ESP32 board that supports the same voltage, then you can just use the same power supply you've been using and do it exactly as he shows here.. assuming I understand you correctly :) Edit: the esp32 will use very little power, and assuming they are RGBIC light strips (they have a power and ground pin, and 1 single data pin or 2 data pins in the case of ws2813 to control the colors, and NOT the kind that have a Red pin, Green pin, Blue pin and GND pin, those won't work) then the data output from WLED is also only a tiny amount of current. If your strips are just White only and controlled via PWM controller, or not individually addressable, as in if they're not able to have multiple colors on the same strip at once, then WLED will not work to control them without additional tinkering with relay modules. If they're ws2812b or some other strip where you can control the color of each individual "pixel" then you're good to go

[@MakersMashup]

Way to much to cover in a YT comment so you might want to drop into the discord if you need help on this one. The short of it is that I don't know if cat5 could carry the current and signal that far without any issue. Personally I would just use a local power source near the cabinets. Or simply use the CAT5 for powering (Providing it can handle the current) the ESP32 and lights at the cabinet. With WLED you can "Sync" multiple devices, so you only need to control one of them to enable you to set multiple lights. So should you need say 3 different ESP32's (because the cabinets are not near eachother) you can simply have one be the master, and the slaves will update as needed. I would use this vs. Running wires from a central location with a central ESP32. The implementation is going to be quicker because you wont have to debug trying to make it work with CAT5 cabling. Just some food for thought. If you pop in the discord, glad to discuss further.

[@trashstrologian]

15:04 - i spat out my coffee XD

[@Tex1961]

This is a very nice wled tutorial. Thank you!

[@afonsolopes2944]

Excellent job!!👏👏 f you want to use 8 pinout for the WLED using a 30A power supply, which capacitor would you use and which pins would you choose? Thanks from Portugal!

[@afonsolopes2944]

?

[@MakersMashup]

I can't really advise without knowing your wiring diagram. You'll need to hop into discord for help on this.

[@accordance73]

Question.... if I want to do 2 strips of leds but need them to run parallel to each other doing the same theme at the same time like a mech bay launch rail diorama.... do I need 2 separate controllers or can one controller run this task? I don't need them to "chase" each other. I need them to perform the same pattern at the same time...

[@MakersMashup]

Yeah, just add another pin assignment. Use that as the signal pin. Voltage in parallel. Then in wled just create a 2nd strip in led preferences with the 2nd pin. Then just setup your lights.

[@markbrookes5715]

I decided to go with the ws2813 rather than ws2812, for resilience. Then realised that there are four wires instead of three. Red green blue white. Do I need to go to using WS2812B? Or is there a quick bit of advice to sort my predicament?

[@markbrookes5715]

I take it that unless I am working with more than one strip, daisy chained after the first strip, I can ignore the fourth wire, in my case the blue one I believe it is because there are red/white/green as in ws2812. Do I understand this correctly?

[@MakersMashup]

They are supported but I have not wired them personally. kno.wled.ge/basics/compatible-led-strips/ shows they are compatible. I'm guessing you just have to see where to wire the additional wire.

[@lemurdreamur9257]

Would you possibly be able to explain what would be involved in adding physical buttons in order to change presets without the need for external devices(phones/computers)? Is it as simple as adding momentarily buttons to the gpio pins and assigning them in wled? Soory if this is basic. I just want to make sure this can do what i need before buying everything...

[@creativelive-cto]

Yes, just wire up a momentary switch, between ground and one of the GPIO pins. You can then select the pin you used in the LED section, and then under macros, set Button 0 to up to 3 macros for short, long, and double press. I haven't tried the other options yet, but you can also wire up analog buttons or other sensors with a threshold.

[@apostolosn5536]

Can you store an effect to the esp so that is plays it the next time you power the controller up?

[@MakersMashup]

Yes, it's under led config. It should have a preset at startup setting. Set that to preset 1, 2 , 3 , etc. on boot will set to that preset. Good luck.

[@apostolosn5536]

@@MakersMashup Thanks very much, that did the trick.

[@ruhlmcu]

Quick question. Can I use any ground pin on the ESP8266 to ground the power or does it have to be the pin paired with the VIN? My poor soldering skills make it difficult for me to solder on both the VIN and Ground pins next to each other. I am using a perf board not the cookie you are using in the video Thanks for the great video.

[@MakersMashup]

Any ground works. Generally speaking you can always use any ground in almost all cases. Earth ground is a little different but not applicable here.

[@ruhlmcu]

@@MakersMashup Thank you

[@Photoshopuzr]

Great video, is it possible to buy that box from you. I dont have the time to do any 3d printing at all. Boxes I see on amazon are either to big or to small. if not that's ok will stick some thin wood to make a box that fits but this is definitely the way to go.

[@MakersMashup]

I don't but a friend of mine does. Just let him know what you need and he will ship it right to ya. www.layerbylayerprints.com/

[@mikeoliver8668]

I've installed my esp32 and all goes well BUT I don't get the configure wifi screen, any ideas please?

[@MakersMashup]

Double check it flashed properly. IIRC there is a view logs or similar option on the web flasher that gets you back to the config page for wifi. Otherwise it should be broadcasting an SSID to connect to it directly with Wi-Fi and can configure from there

[@AllTheNamesWereInUse]

You blocked your SSID from setup but not from wled config page.

[@hewitt10ish]

First off, thanks for the video. I followed all the way through; but, can't get the led's to be controlled by WLED. I can program the ESP32 and connect to it; but I am unable to change any of the lights. The default is not all on and I get about 10 lights on and they stay on all the time. Someone suggested a level-shifter on the data line. Thoughts?

[@MakersMashup]

10 lights on sounds like the default few lights on. Check you've set the string pin and length of the string in wled. That would be first to check. How long is the string of LEDs you're using?

[@hewitt10ish]

The string length is 9.8 feet@@MakersMashup

[@hewitt10ish]

Which menu do I set the string pin and length? @@MakersMashup

[@MakersMashup]

This is all covered in the video in the WLED LED Setup section kzbin.info/www/bejne/lai9dn2GiM2po6ssi=RRzhvi1dhz0h9kTJ&t=1173 the section you need to confirm is the length, and gpio pins.

[@hewitt10ish]

I did confirm both the length and gpio pin. I noticed on my DevKit board (DevKit V4) by Expressif that GPIO16 is labeled "OD/IE": Output Disabled (After Reset) and Input Enabled (After Reset). Does WLED enable the output on GPIO16 after reset?@@MakersMashup

[@DeliberateGeek]

Thanks for a great video tutorial. I was somewhat familiar with WLED, but it's been years since I've done any real hardware stuff, so this really helped with the wiring, in particular. I like the simple case that you created for this project. However, I am using a different barrel connector for my project, so it doesn't friction fit in the hole you've designed. I could obviously try and design my own or import the STL files into Fusion360 (or whatever), but those are both a bit of a pain. Do you have the original design files available for modification?

[@MakersMashup]

Yeah, ping me in the discord and I can send over the files. Its designed in Fusion but I can get you a step file if you're using something else.

[@DeliberateGeek]

@@MakersMashup - I'm still learning in general and I'm using Fusion as well. I joined the Discord. Should I ping a specific channel or DM you? It wasn't immediately obvious which user was you (@rwmech?)

[@MakersMashup]

@@DeliberateGeek just Just @ mention me in one of the help channels.

[@DeliberateGeek]

@@MakersMashup - Thanks. Not sure if I was just having a senior moment there or what, but I wasn't seeing a MakersMashup user in the Discord channel. Tried again, and to nobody's surprise, there it was. Thanks again!

[@MakersMashup]

@@DeliberateGeek No sweat glad you got what you needed there. If you run into any problems modding it please let me know. I encourage you to post your remix for others when you're done. Good luck on the build!

[@TheBoyMechanic]

Just getting the hang of WLED for lighting effects on a model railroad. It's... pretty good, but I'm finding there is a lot of flickering in some of the animations. I'm also fuzzy on the toolchain required to create my own sequences. Learning as I go...

[@MakersMashup]

You can do a few things to address that. First, check to see you don't need that 62 ohm resistor I spoke about in the video. Sometimes that alone can help. Keep your data line short. If you have LED's spaced very far apart you might be better with multiple controllers synced together vs. running wires to each LED. You can also control the FPS on the LED's as well. Thats in the config. Another great tip is use a faster controller. ESP32's can control things faster than an ESP8266 and the like. There are also SPI LED's out there. Those I understand are super fast but I havent used them personally. Drop into the discord and post some photos of your work if you have some free time. I'd love to see it. It sounds fascinating.

[@yardmull3t273]

@@MakersMashup I would recommend you use a "sacrificial LED" to drive your data line. This is a very simple change that a lot of people miss or over-think. The controller (ESP32 or ESP8266) outputs a 3.3v signal on the data line, but the 5v LED strips expect 5v. If you put one LED from your strip close to the output of your controller, you will be driving a 3.3v data line a very short distance and a 5v data line on the output of the first LED will drive a lot longer to the LED strip. This is cleaner, simpler, and cheaper than using "level adjuster" logic on your controller board. Search "sacrificial LED" for more details. I am running over 1000 LEDs around the eaves of my house without using any resistors or capacitors. I also recommend the capacitor for a power filter, but I didn't use one and have no ill effects for LED runs of greater that 24 feet. Power injection is required along the LED strips though. Driving a 3.3 data line for anything but very short distances will cause flickering.

[@yardmull3t273]

I should add - you can also configure WLED to ignore the sacrificial LED: Config => LED Preferences => Skip first LEDs: 1 This will cause the first LED to not light, but instead will just boost the data line signal to 5v. There's no point lighting the LED in the 3D printed box, so you can keep it out of your animations, etc.

[@meguinness1116]

Hi...Can the board store the chosen colour combination and start it as soon the power to the board is ON without tapping the power up button on the app? Does the board work with a 12v power input ? Thank you

[@MakersMashup]

Sure does, just set a default inside WLED and when it powers on, you get that effect. Most ESP32 boards can take a 12v input. Check the datasheet for the board to be 100% sure. Otherwise a cheap 12->5v regular can be put inline for the ESP32. Which I suggest you do vs. supplying the board with 12v. While you save on a component that costs maybe 1 or 2 dollars, any power spikes are handled by a proper regulator vs. the very cheap one on the ESP boards. Ounce of prevention...

[@meguinness1116]

@@MakersMashup Thank you for the information I would like to use it to power some led strips inside the car only when the headlights are on... about 30 to 40 leds

[@MakersMashup]

I don't know your skill level but I would not suggest altering the car wiring. Many times lights carry high current loads and creating a splice can create a fire hazard. I would suggest using a switch to turn on separately, an optical sensor or a hall effect sensor/relay to turn on WLED. Its an interesting idea and should work fine, just be cautious about modding high current hardware unless you're familiar with it.

[@milwaukeeautoworx]

just a suggestion. an easy and cheap way to power 5v leds on 12v DC is to pick up a couple 2.1 amp usb lighter chargers, pull the boards and wire right near the lights. that way you have a good strong 12 to 14v going right to the lights and then a step down right before the leds. i like pulling the boards, get rid of the rest. after they are wired i put them back into the housing and heat shrink over that. for $5 you can get a solid 5 amps of power with headroom.@@meguinness1116

[@PeterPan-fl1lp]

Do you have a link for your 3d printed box for the STL file?

[@markbrookes5715]

The Capacitor. The link takes you to a 1000 uF, 50V variant. Help me understand this. Shouldn't this be 5V, or does it not matter what V is used, I see there are 25V and 50V variants online.

[@MakersMashup]

You just need the capacitance. Voltage should be close to your application. Think of it as a max safe value. So a 25v is fine.

[@lasersandsaws]

Super helpful video. Thanks for posting.

[@frankcohen8662]

Is there a problem driving WS2812B at 3.3v (the voltage of the ESP32 dev module)? -Frank

[@MakersMashup]

Zero problems. You can always throw a level shifter in or use one of the onboard level shifters on the board if your concerned.

[@frankcohen8662]

@@MakersMashup Great, I'll give it a try and post the results here. Thanks. -Frank

[@3dFirefly]

which ESP32 has onboard level shifters?@@MakersMashup

[@Tech-Cooking]

you dont need a volt shifter for the data line?

[@reinthiemen558]

Do you know what the max current(A) on 5v is for a power rail of an electrocookie or similar perfboard? I'd like to power two led strips with this setup that requires around 60 Watts at peak, but I don't know if the power rail of my electrocookie can handle such power requirements.. Look forward to your answer, thanks!

[@MakersMashup]

Great question! 60w at 5v is around 12A of current. I wouldn't push more than 3 or 4a through the PCB itself. I was not able to find a data sheet for it. Some back of napkin calculations (if they used 2oz copper in the PCB Manufacturing) is a 3-4mm trace width which would support about 5 amps. So I wouldn't recommend using the PCB for high current applications. You can get a fairly inexpensive bus bar/terminal block that can easily handle the 12A for your project amzn.to/3n7xFwp - Just use this for the power itself, you can have a positive and negative one if you need multiple outputs. If you need a 3D Enclosure for this, PM me in the discord I can cook one up in about 5 minutes to enclose these. In my higher current applications I usually wire power outside of the PCB with the exception of the power going to it. Have your power come into the terminal block/bus bar, then just send power to the board's power rail. Then send the raw power from the block to your LED Strips. Thanks for the really great question I may do an another video on high current applications using these devices.

[@MakersMashup]

Oh, one more thing. If youre using a high power supply, you have a bus bar built in! amzn.to/421j3NR as an example. Just run one of the 5v lines to the electrocookie, and the rest to your LEDs in the run. No need for another bus bar as these basically have them built in! There are also many many 3D printed enclosures for these supplies.

[@MajorKie]

​@Makers Mashup Thank you so much for your video and comments. I would really appreciate a video on a higher current application, I want to do a 15m run with 3 strips and I'm struggling to find a good video

[@MakersMashup]

What voltage or haven't you sourced parts yet? A run that long I'd prob go 12v vs 5v. I got you though glad to do a high voltage one. Just let me know a little more details of your plan.

[@greggithens9671]

I am also interested in doing a longer run. Like around the edges of a ceiling in a room. Total length would be about 18 meters of 30 LEDs per meter so about 540 total LEDs. I could inject power at each corner of the room. Could this controller handle that many LEDs?

[@Grillaaja]

Is that capacitor 16 volts? The Amazon link shows a 50 volt capacitor. Do volts matter? (8:25)

[@MakersMashup]

50v is fine, the main concern is not having enough volts, 16v is the minimum, the 50v will work just fine.

[@Mgiusto]

@MakersMashup I built the same identical board as shown here and for some reason when I power the board/ESP32 with same 5V power adapter you have the WLED app will not locate the ESP32 or if it does it takes a very long time and you can't get into the settings to do anything. BUT if I use a USB cable to the ESP32 while it is still attached to the ElectroCookie everything works perfectly! I can't figure out why. I've now built 3 boards and all of them have the same issue. Do you have any ideas as to why this would be? Using USB wire it's 4.52V on the board, with 5V adapter it's a little over 5v.

[@Mgiusto]

I found a way to get mine to work. I only have the green data wire coming off the electro cookie to the LEDs and power to the LEDs straight from the supply. I don't know why it won't work with power off the electro cookie, it just doesn't.

[@MakersMashup]

Drop into the discord and I can help you, will likely need a screen shot of the wiring. My initial thought if you're not getting power is that you didnt solder the join points at the middle of the electrocookie? If you used the side rails for power like the video you may not be connecting them properly to the vin and gnd on the esp32. Check the voltage at the pins on the ESP32 with your meter. If you dont see 5v there with your meter than you don't have voltage going to the ESP32. The USB would obviously solve this problem which is why its working with the USB. Sounds like something is not connected from the electro cookie to the right VIN and GND pins. Check those with a meter and go from there.

[@Mgiusto]

@@MakersMashup Thanks for the reply. I'm going to join the discord because now the issues are that the ESP32 isn't being found in the WLED app, I think I've really improved the build on my electrocookies with every version so this is really stumping me. So I'm going to need to send pics or vids on discord to get some help.

[@darkhog1]

What do you think about using a raspberry pi 5v 3A micro usb power supply directly to the esp32 dev board?

[@MakersMashup]

Will 100% work but the regulator on the board wont support long strings of LED's. I actually have a 3D Model that fits the common ESP32 Board. I'll upload it to Thangs.com today for you. Works exactly the same as this enclosure. You'll just have to be sure that you're feeding the power direct if you're using more than about 10 LED's that dev board regulator will just fry if you apply a long string.

[@darkhog1]

Good point - the automatic brightness limiter keeps it under 1A, which is what is recommended if powering from 5v pin. I will get an external 3A with the barrel plug, as you show.

[@SKELETON_FN]

Great video thank you so much. Keep up the good work!

[@tukituki9537]

Is it real to power up led from ESP32, like on 8266? Only powering esp32 with usb cable and led jumpers directly to esp?

[@MakersMashup]

You could do that if your entire string of LED's is less than 500ma of current. Its really not recommended. It does work however.

[@johnconley4118]

Thanks for the video. Do you have a link to the stl file for the case that you made?

[@MakersMashup]

All the details for the build (including the STL's) are in the description.

[@scotprice8553]

what guage wire are you using for the ground and voltage (red/black)

[@MakersMashup]

I generally use 22 or 20. Most led wires are 22.

[@johnrichardson1949]

I was looking for the link for the led strip connectors that they “never give you enough of”- I don’t think they made it to the material list

[@MakersMashup]

Apologies for the late reply amzn.to/45w6z2B is the connectors I spoke about. I'll also update the description now. Thanks for that!

[@dromeosaur1031]

Thank you for the video!

[@lml1501]

Can this be integrated with multiple strips to create pixels for a screen?

[@MakersMashup]

It can but there are better solutions. Wled matrix display is still a developing feature.

[@gamaximilian]

Is there any start effect that allows to turn on LEDs starting from buttom to top and when all LEDs are ON it stay ON?

[@MakersMashup]

Solid effect should do what you're asking. Then just set that as the default effect.

[@shroomy7199]

What an excellent video thank you

[@braaitongs]

What soldiering iron do you use?

[@MakersMashup]

Hakko irons, I have a few. amzn.to/3UaECtb is my bench iron and I've also got a pencil style for mobile applications.

[@feintnate]

Trying to build this but with a lithium battery and less LEDs in the strip. Using a D1 and a battery shield. Never done it before. Thanks for your video, helped me.

[@fomingera65]

What AWG wires do you use? Thanjs ub advabce

[@MakersMashup]

It really varies by application. My suggestion is to simply use any of the AWG current calculators out there and see what works best for your application. Generally though, LED's don't need more than 20awg for short runs, sometimes 18awg for higher power applications but always consult a calculator before choosing for you project.

[@SianaGearz]

Standard 2.1mm/5.5mm connectors have a 2A rating. While stretching them to 3A is perhaps just a little iffy (probably fine at first, could degrade substantially in the long run depending on luck, don't sell products like that, don't bet your house on it), 5A rated PSU or terminal block adapter for these connectors plain shouldn't exist, just entirely out of question, no point even trying. A technique is to connect ground at the digital input end of the line and voltage at the free far end of the LED chain. Then the voltage loss is distributed across the whole string evenly and the digital retransmission between the LEDs re-adjusts the signal just right.

[@mylesdb]

Yes those 2.1mm DC barrel screw terminal connectors are terrible, we've had them melt and create fire hazards. Don't recommend using them for LED power applications.

[@MakersMashup]

Except for very short runs, 100% agree. The barrel jacks are terrible. I've seen 5A supplies come with them. I really wish they would switch them to something like an XT30 or something capable of far more current.

[@budibahdarsyah242]

Terima kasih atas ilmunya...

[@jeffschroeder4805]

I don't think that you made clear when you mentioned injecting power further into the string of leds that you shouldn't be mixing power supplies. If necessary, the power to the ESP32 should be from one power supply and that supplied to the LEDs from another. That is important for any project, the grounds can be common but the power inputs should not.

[@MakersMashup]

Great feedback and a good call out. I'll make that clearer in future videos.

[@harrybouch7907]

Having your LEDs and ESP32 share a 5v power supply shouldn't be an issue at all so long as you have them in parallel not series.

[@harrybouch7907]

Am I misunderstanding? Why would you need your LED strip on a separate power supply to your ESP32?

[@JunicaviGames]

Can you explain the reason behind using two different power supplies? I have an ESP32 connected to my led strip (SK6812 around 100 LEDs) and my 5V power supply using Wago connectors and everything works fine. Not to be rude, genuinely curious

[@developer-juice-Khailenno]

Depends on how much LED you are using, but it should be made clear that above a certain threshold you will need separate supply

[@shah1832]

Can i give 5V supply directly to esp32 ?

[@MakersMashup]

Yes. Vin on the esp32 handles up to 12v safely.

[@dubOZ]

I personally am having issues where my esp32 can only connect to wifi while it's getting power from my PC. External power can turn on the board and wled runs, but I can't configure it.

[@MakersMashup]

If it's connecting to wifi when it's plugged into the PC, you can check the logs from the web programmer. Also check the settings in wled and visit device when connected. Then you have the Ip address.

[@maniex36]

Hello. What kind of mass are you using for soldering?

[@MakersMashup]

amzn.to/419viI4 is my jam usually for solder. I do have a few roll of some more generic and even a few old rolls of raido shack solder but usually the Kester solder is what I use. I also favor Kester rosin.

[@maniex36]

@@MakersMashup White mass holding the elements to be soldered?

[@MakersMashup]

Sticky tack. Link is in the description. It's good for tons of stuff not just soldering.

[@maniex36]

@@MakersMashup Thank you

[@ranasingh5544]

How many volts is the capacitor? cheers

[@MakersMashup]

It was 12v or 16v , anything over 12v is generally sufficient

[@ranasingh5544]

@@MakersMashup cheers

[@byrond2184]

Did anyone catch where he soldered the "ground" and the "voltage"? Where they soldered into column "C" ? Thanks in advance.

[@MakersMashup]

Just look at the pin out of the esp32. It should marked gnd and vin those are ground and 5v in respectively

[@byrond2184]

@@MakersMashup Thank you!!!

[@tex24]

Great video! Subscribe... check. What 3D printer do you recommend for smaller projects like printing the enclosure you used here?

[@MakersMashup]

Thanks for subscribing! Really depends on your budget but here are my usual go tos.. I personally love Bambu's. They work well, easy to use and I can send a print without thinking about it. I own 3, I love them and use them daily. Multicolor is awesome. They are a bit pricey though. The A1 is a bit more budget friendly and you can get it for under $500. The A1 Build volume is a little small but could easily print cases and things like that. If you're new to printing the Bambu's will give you a short learning curve to the hobby. shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=2354729&u=3946301&m=138211&urllink=&afftrack= #ComissionsEarned My budget favorite is the Kingroon KP3S. These work good out of the box, are cheap and get the job done. Need to know how to use a 3D printer and all the little tuning tricks but if you're a techy guy you'll get along just fine with one amzn.to/47MHH7C. No frills here though, this prints single color and take a bit more fiddling to get right. Let me know if you have any other questions. I earn commissions from the links which help support the channel.

[@tex24]

@@MakersMashupThank you for taking time to respond! This is the second time I'm coming back to this video. I finished my ESP32/WLED LED strip project for under my La Marzocco Mini espresso machine brew head. It was way too dark and the LED lights (9 LEDs on either side) really has made it so much more fun to brew my own coffee. Unfortunately, the ElectroCookie is currently sitting in a smaller card board box. Not ideal.

[@Evermysticdesigns]

Hello , do you sell those already pre-made ?

[@MakersMashup]

I don't. If you pop into the discord you might find someone willing to make one for you.

[@HazardFBA]

Could anyone link me where I can get those headers from 4:12

[@MakersMashup]

amzn.to/3QKzYAg standard header pins. 2.54mm

[@g.s.3389]

can you do the same with 12V led?

[@MakersMashup]

Yes, the only change is that you'll need to power the ESP32 from a buck converter to get the voltage down to 5v. for the microcontroller and sound reactive module since those pull off the vin on the board. WLED has a diagram that shows how to wire in the buck at kno.wled.ge/basics/getting-started/

[@Michael-ot3zw]

I have a similar question.sound reactive wled. I'm using 12v rgbw (5 wire leds(R,G,B,W,+). How does the 1000uf capacitor come into play ? I'm using 12v supply to power inject the leds and a buck converter to power esp32.

[@blackdave8525]

My question is how many ws2811 can this run ? .

[@MakersMashup]

I'd check the WLED website. They should have a good idea of the upper limit.

[@randybobandy9828]

They are only $6 a module, the cost to add as many leds shouldn't cost much additional cost.

[@shrimpinpat]

little hot glue can help hold things in place. its what I do

[@dnzrobotics]

👍👍

[@trevorbelmont4633]

Can you program this board to sync with MIDI input?

[@MakersMashup]

Sort of, but not directly. There are a few options though depending on your need. If you're looking for Lighting controls, WLED does support DMX which is used for lighting controls for DJ's, events, etc. If you're just looking to sync this with Music without the sound reactive piece you can use LedFX which allows your PC audio to create a sound reactive effects on 1 or more WLED instances. So if you have 5 of these, they will all sync together. Finally if you truly need MIDI support directly, then check out any number of the MIDI to DMX apps out there. Lightjams being one of them. That would take your midi and then convert it to DMX which WLED natively uses. Would loved to know what you have planned, it sounds exciting.

[@trevorbelmont4633]

@@MakersMashup I will connect it to my edrums so each hit will light up the corresponding drum pad the Led strip is installed in. I have seen a few of them in KZbin each have their own way of doing it but I would like it to be that it wont need to be plugged to a pc anymore maybe just one controller between the edrum module and the Led lights if that is possible. Having and browser based app would be nice too but I think his controller is on the expensive side.

[@MeewoshB]

I dont know why I have problem. My LEDs live own life. Its blinking random colors

[@MakersMashup]

Check your wiring and also in weld you may need to change from RGB pixel order to like GRB or a different variation.

[@MeewoshB]

@@MakersMashup that strip was working under arduino. Yes, its grb. I will check but its on two different ESP. Strange

[@MeewoshB]

@@MakersMashup problem resolved kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnKsnpKroM6Cd80si=pVweGrYWIpZD-ZbK

[@T3chWarrior]

@14:48 ...

[@ExplainingMathematics]

Way too much time spent on PS😃.

[@MakersMashup]

Thanks for the feedback.

[@BBMando69]

First