Making a Jchannel jig to drill pixels for house outline xlights

[@leftyleft8424]

Love this idea! I had numerous questions but they were answered in the comments. Thanks for posting! Subscribed & 👍

[@Bigrob444]

Glad it was helpful!

[@SilentGloves]

I've been sitting here racking my brain for like a week, thinking of all sorts of unnecessarily complex solutions... trying to figure out how to mount these stupid pixels without being obtrusive to my soffits and while also allowing me to easily access the strands if any pixels go out. Given that all of the materials I was looking at (mainly wire raceways/ducts) are either PVC or ABS, and that my soffits are aluminum, not once did the thought of magnets cross my mind. I didn't even know they made pre-countersunk magnets. Paint the magnets white, and just leave them in place if I ever sell my house. I doubt anyone would even notice! It's brilliant in its simplicity. Cheers!

[@Bigrob444]

It’s often very easy to over complicate things. Glad you’ve got ideas now. Good luck. Let me know if you have any questions.

[@SilentGloves]

@@Bigrob444 I actually do have a question. You wouldn't happen to have an unexpired invite to the xlights discord, would you?

[@SilentGloves]

@@Bigrob444 Oh, nevermind. It worked like the 6th time I tried it. 😀

[@Bigrob444]

@@SilentGloves discord.gg/QkGN7rx9E4

[@ronm6585]

Thank you.

[@stevengomez5081]

I noticed there are different sizes (depth) of J channel. I’ve seen anywhere from 1/2 inch to 2 inches. Do you recall which one you have? I’m just trying to see how depth I might need without affecting the space

[@Bigrob444]

Are you measuring the big side or the small side? I can measure once I know which side you're comparing.

[@Bigrob444]

Sorry didn't see this comment!

[@TheOoze777]

This will be my first year working with pixels, and I'm looking for the best way to mount them. I like your method of using metal J-Channel and magnets. How has that worked out for you, and can you provide links to where you got them?

[@Bigrob444]

Hey Ronald - The J channel has been great. Setup and take down are only a few minutes now as the magnets stay up on the house all year long. The J channel I got from Home Depot The magnets from amazon - smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DGTT52D

[@TALott1977]

is there a reason you didn't put the pin and the hole in the middle of the jig to have support on both sides at the drill press?

[@Bigrob444]

Having the pin in the middle required lifting the piece higher up to clear the pin, which hit the drill bit.

[@jeffnjenniferauvenshine3132]

Thanks for the video, this is the best setup I've seen. Do you have a link to the magnets you used? How many of them per 10 ft section did you use?

[@Bigrob444]

www.amazon.com/dp/B07DGTT52D I used these. 3 of them per 10’ strip

[@JohnDrach]

when you hang the Jchannel is there a way to hide the wires? Ill have this across the roof line on the porch as we walk out of our house and we dont want to see all the wires

[@Bigrob444]

I hang my J channel with the thin part up. This allows the thick part down and I zip tie any power injection lines to the pixels so they aren’t visible from below.

[@bryan34wable]

Great video. Anything you would do different since making the video? I’m in the planning stage of setting so thing up now. Maybe this spring time.

[@Bigrob444]

Great question. Honestly I wouldn’t change anything. I’m using three magnets per 10’ stuck and it works great super happy. Going to post this years setup in a few days. Just took video and everything came out amazing.

[@bryan34wable]

@@Bigrob444 sounds good. Only difference I might do would be to rotate J 90deg to face pixels down with tall side inside of fascia. Would be nice to find something to go above open part of J so it’s about all enclosed but probably not necessary.

[@Bigrob444]

@@bryan34wable so you want your lights pointing down not out? I like the way they look pointing to the streets better.

[@bryan34wable]

@@Bigrob444 ok. I’ll give it a try then maybe do a side by side. You probably right though with them facing outward looking better.

[@Bigrob444]

@@bryan34wable not sure if you subscribe to me or whatever. You don’t have to. Check back next week. I’m working on the 4k video of this years show. You can see how the jchannel looks at night pointing towards the street.

[@hd2kill]

Looks great , I may consider this option

[@anupsaha]

Hello Rob, very nice video. I'm totally new in this. I'm thinking of getting started. You mentioned about buying pixels from Revue (I hope I'm getting the spelling right) and another seller. Would you mind sharing their links please. Thanks in advance

[@Bigrob444]

Hello, "Ray Wu" is one seller and "Daniel Zhang" is the other. If you google their name with 'pixels' at the end of your search it should lead you to their alibaba stores or facebook profiles.

[@anupsaha]

@@Bigrob444 Found their site... Thank you so much!!

[@dailyDIYdude]

So glad I seen this video before going with your pvc route. Do you think if I paint the magnets white to match my trim they’ll still stick good?

[@Bigrob444]

All of the magnets we have on the house are painted and blend in really good. No loss of magnetism. Go for it.

[@perotross]

Does shining the LED's outward make them too bright? I see some mounting downward and some mounting outward like yours. I just don't want to blind people, nor do I want them to seem too dim by shining down. Is outward the way to go?

[@Bigrob444]

This is my third build and every time I point them outwards. If you run a controller you can always decrease the brightness if you need to. In my opinion, outward is the way to go.

[@Musclecarlvr]

How do the pixels “click” into the steel j channel? It looks like don’t sit in there very well as they slightly point different directions. Maybe I’m too detail oriented? When I’ve tried pushing in the pixels, it seems to break the tabs on the pixels themselves. Did you run into this?

[@Bigrob444]

They sit there fine. No issues

[@Alphasig336]

in my test 15/32" bit provides enough tension and allows the locking tab to slide through.

[@saliston]

any links to your pixel suppliers?

[@Bigrob444]

discord.gg/S7wPXsC2Dz

[@pedrohenriques9149]

Can the magnets affect the pixels performance? I used magnets on my setup and Im having pixels go bad every single day, not sure what's the issue.

[@Bigrob444]

Nope zero issues with magnets.

[@claysledpixels-holidayligh9858]

What are you going to do for the shingle sides?

[@Bigrob444]

Nothing goes on the roof this year

[@Kev7274]

What size is the j channel? Is it 3/4? Thanks

[@Bigrob444]

Yes it's ¾ steel J channel from Home Depot

[@Kev7274]

@@Bigrob444 Thanks. I've looked but don't see anything similar to what you're using on the HD site. MY local HD may not have it.

[@dougfrevele2987]

Where did you get the J channel

[@Bigrob444]

DugE fresh my local Home Depot has vinyl and steel.

[@Brandon-youtube]

Do you know about how much you paid for the channel? Anything ferrous is looking pretty pricey

[@Bigrob444]

I paid $12.32 per stick at home depot for a 10' 6" length It doesn't show up on homedepot.com but it is in the store with all the vinyl channel. It's 29G painted steel. Item # 716702526112

[@Brandon-youtube]

@@Bigrob444 is that 10’? Thanks for the info appreciate it

[@Bigrob444]

@@Brandon-youtube yes 10’6” stick

[@Brandon-youtube]

@@Bigrob444 thanks again

[@mourisyounan9998]

Where did you buy those ?

[@Bigrob444]

My local Home Depot had them in stock

[@Alphasig336]

If your existing soffit is metal, why not epoxy the magnets to the J channel ever 2 foot (or on both the house and Jchannel to be stronger) and put the whole 12' metal J channel. Cutting it down into such small pieces I think would make it harder to install not easier.

[@Bigrob444]

The magnets are screwed to the wood soffits. I use the whole 12’ length of j channel on the house. I cut a smaller piece for this video.