WLED build. With level shifter, buck converter & 24v FCOB LEDs (UK)

[@Fuxy22]

I've done something similar myself... took me a few weeks and a bit of trial and error before I learnt everything I needed for a custom DIY led setup like this. I also found off the shelf alternatives with fuses and capacitors later on but you live and you learn. I still enjoyed the tinkering.

[@jsouto77]

Can I ask where did you find your off the shelf boards or what name to look for... All the ones ive found or the better ones are for QUinLed but are expensive and not readily/easy available in the UK.

[@Fuxy22]

@@jsouto77 quinled doesn't look cheap but I'll tell you in comparison with doing everything on your own it's a bargain. I probably spent 2k fiddling with different LEDs strips, boards, soldering my own or buying voltage regulators etc. Sure i am happy with what I have but could have done it much cheaper by just using quinled. (power supplies ain't cheap and neither are thick wires that won't do to much voltage drop) Good news is I have LEDs all over my house now and I can control them with home assistant so not much of a loss there...

[@kosielemmer]

Very nice. Clear and concise and informative

[@magichew]

Great video. Really well put together. Simple and easy to follow and understand. I've found this video in pursuit of making my 12v addressable led strip work correctly with ESP32 running WLED. I searched for level shifter which no one else seems to mention in their videos but things work fine. In my current non-working set up I've got a voltage converter to power the ESP32 from the 12v power supply and I've wired everything up correctly yet I get unresponsive or random colour changes from the 5m strip. Doing further research WLED spec suggest a level shifter (yet there a few videos which reference this) so I'm going to give it a try since watching your video.

[@pharkieB]

Thanks for watching! I finally got the SN74AHCT125 delivered but haven't had chance to replace it on my boards. I have found the Athom pre-built controllers to be good, easier than building your own and cheaper than importing QuinLED to UK. The WLED Discord is good for troubleshooting. Best wishes for your project!

[@tho4318]

Hey mate, great video, I've followed your set up exactly and is running into an issue where any time you power the WLED on/off, switch colours, it'll randomly cycle through a few colours before settling on the right colour, then once in a while it'll also randomly switch colours and come back as well. Is this the same issue you've had initially? Did you end up fixing the problem? I'm also using 24v, with buck converter to ESP32, then to the bi directional logic level shifter data out to LED with power and ground straight from power supply to LED, pretty much exactly as your diagram.

[@fns58]

Thanks for the video. Even with experience with these kind of projects, the wiring of the level shifter without breadboards and such was a bit of a mess, but got it working. Quite underhwhelmed by the low brightness of the 12V FCOB from BTF Lighting. Does this happen on the 24V strip too?

[@PharkieDoesElectronics-tv1vh]

Yes. I would definitely use the SN74AHCT125 as a level shifter if I was doing it again, but you do see the one in the video in other people's builds. I have the 24v FCOB from BTF and it is SUPER bright, far brighter at 100% than anyone would possibly want. So that's likely to be down to either the amperage of your power supply, or the WLED settings (e.g. turn off the current limiter?), I would suggest?

[@micisbig]

Thanks for the video, been something i've been struggling to get to grips with recently. I've just seen your comment in the description about the flashing, has this been sorted now?

[@PharkieDoesElectronics-tv1vh]

Yes, the flickering was, I suspect, down to the level shifter being too slow, in the end. Other WLED controllers can have the same length wire without the flickering. Either have a shorter wire between the controller and the first LED, or use a recommended level shifter. Best wishes for your project!

[@zedtrek]

What is the level filter for?

[@twicestan4life]

Can we do this without the electrocookie board? It's not available where I live

[@PharkieDoesElectronics-tv1vh]

Sure: use any perfboardor even just wires without the board

[@twicestan4life]

​@@PharkieDoesElectronics-tv1vh I have another rather silly doubt, I saw other circuit pictures having a capacitor near the LED strip, I have a 1000uf capacitor at home.. if I were to add it how can I with this setup?

[@PharkieDoesElectronics-tv1vh]

@@twicestan4life A capacitor goes between the positive and negative lines close to the start of the LED strip: kno.wled.ge/basics/getting-started/. I don't show it because it isn't required in my setup. But if you need it in your setup, just add it after the circuit board and before the LED strip?

[@twicestan4life]

@@PharkieDoesElectronics-tv1vh as in directly to the +5v and gnd wires coming from the led strip? Would that be okay?

[@PharkieDoesElectronics-tv1vh]

@@twicestan4life Yep! That's my understanding from the diagrams. As I say though, all my installs work fine without it. It's just there to even out the ups and downs of voltage spikes, I believe.