Getting Started with WLED in 2021

you've probably already seen some of the cool things you can do with wled from awesome effects to automations so this video should help get you started with running your own wled lights i also have another video on some of the more advanced features of wled if you find this one too basic or if you want to learn more after watching this video so with that out of the way let's get started setting up our lights the first thing you'll need is your wled controller there are two popular options the easiest being a node the advantage of a node mcu is that you don't have to solder any wires however it is going to be a bit more expensive than our other option a d1 mini but not by much the biggest advantage of a d1 mini is how small it is both the node mcu and the d1 mini use what's called an esp8266 so the procedure is pretty much the same but i'll show you both options so you can decide for yourself first take your controller and connect it to your computer with a micro usb cable then we will download esp home flasher i recommend installing the 1.2 version since that's the one i had the most success with also anyone using the m1 base max i wish you the best of luck since i wasn't able to get any version working on mine but it works fine on my intel mac and my windows based computer next we will download the newest wled release i'm gonna download the esp8266 underscore 1m version because this works with both the node mcu and the d1 mini and allows for over-the-air updates rather than having to connect the controller back to the computer anytime i want to install the newest update then open esp home flasher you may have to allow it in your security settings [Music] then make sure it is seeing your controller you should see a blue light on your controller if it is connected properly if it isn't you may need to press the reset button on your controller or you may need a different micro usb cable locate your wled download and press flash esp it may take about two minutes and you'll know it's done when you see flashing is complete then connect your computer to the wi-fi network wled ap the password is wled 1234 a window will then pop up if not open your browser and go to wled dot m e now we're going to the wi-fi settings we're going to add in our wi-fi name and wi-fi password i recommend changing the mdns address this is where you will go if you want to control your wled from your web browser so i'm going to change mine to wled kitchen dash right dot local i also recommend changing the ap name to something you can remember because if your wled controller can't connect to the wi-fi network it will broadcast its own wifi network and if you have 10 networks all named wled ap it may be hard to figure out which one is which i also select disable sleep but this is totally optional and honestly not recommended when you press save your wled controller will then connect to your wifi network from here on out i recommend using the wled app to make any further changes on your device but you can also connect to the wled through your web browser press the plus icon it will then search for your new wled controller once it finds it press the check mark next let's prep our leds on these leds the red wire is the positive wire the white wire is the ground wire and the green wire is for data data is what your controller will send to your leds to tell them what to do so let's connect our data wire to the d4 pin of our micro controller next we need a power supply for my setup i'm going to use two of these led strips off of one power supply and these leds use 5 volts 90 watts each so i'm going to use a 5 volt 300 watt power supply remember to always match your voltage and try to go over on watts i have a more simple setup using one strip so i'll show you that one in a second start by connecting the ground from your leds and your microcontroller to the ground of the power supply they have to share a common ground or they won't work properly even if you aren't powering your controller from the same power supply then connect your power cable from your led to the power supply now if you're using a smaller setup you can use a power supply like this this one is rated for 75 watts so i can either cut my lights to a shorter length or i can actually set up a power limit in the wled app this power supply has a barrel type connector i also soldered a short cable for the 5 volt input the ground and the d4 pin on the d1 mini and then i'll connect the 5 volt wire for the controller and the positive end for the leds to the positive end of the power connector and then i'll connect the ground for the controller and the negative end for the leds to the negative end of the power supply once you connect your power supply to an outlet only a few leds should turn on let's go back to the wled app and go to the config section let's change the led count to 300. i also disable brightness limiter because i am powering my leds from a power supply that i know can handle these lights at full brightness but for my smaller power supply i'm going to keep the brightness limiter checked to make sure i don't draw too much power and since my leds are rgbw leds i'm gonna select the four channel leds and i know these also work best when i select accurate you can double check your leds by turning the brightness down low and making sure when you are on white light that only the white light led is on now this next step is really important and may take some playing around with for you to figure out which works for your leds but we need to make sure our color order is correct i'm going to select bgr just to show you what happens when it's wrong press save and i'll go back to this light when i press red it is now blue and when i press blue it is now green i already know for this light the color order is supposed to be grb and when i select that now my lights are the proper color when selected we'll come back to these settings later to talk about your different options but first i recommend unspooling all of your lights and testing them with white light as bright as you will want them for about 30 minutes and just check to make sure that your power supply and your controller don't get too hot for my setup i'm going to remove these two extra cables since i don't need them [Music] and since i'm installing mine under my cabinets i'm going to use this aluminum channel this helps to angle the lights at 45 degrees rather than straight down and it also has a diffuser to help spread the light once your leds are installed connect your power supply and your controller now i recommend connecting your controller as close as you can to your leds if not you may need to add a single led to act as a signal booster and in the wled app you can select skip first pixel but that's all a bit too advanced for this video so we're going to go ahead and skip that part i also like to put my controller in a project box and this is where the d1 mini is easier because you can use a smaller project box but you can always leave it out in the open or put in a tupperware container or something like that and now through the wled app you should be able to turn on all your lights and turn on all sorts of effects but if you're like me you don't always want to turn your lights on through your phone so i'm going to show you how to connect your lights to a light switch in another video as well as go over some of the advanced features of wled so be sure to check out that video if you want more information or check out the written guide that this video went too fast but with that said i'll see you in the next one foreign

Channel: Welcome To The Future

Views: 31,198

Keywords: wled, led, smart led, diy led, diy smart led, wled getting started, wled 2021, welcome to the future, wled air cookie, wled aircookie

Id: pZimCBA2G1s

Length: 8min 53sec (533 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 01 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/kulps]

Great video, I think it's great to have intro and advanced vids v by the same channel as your more likely to get a complete overview. I use QuinLED boards for my wled stuff but I still appreciate the video.

[u/zepoid]

Good video! I’m looking forward to giving this a try. Thanks for the effort in putting it together.

[u/Cacapoopoo80]

I really liked this video! You did a great job of sticking to the steps for getting from point A to point B. The pace was a bit fast. Maybe put stop points in the video. That would help the viewer know when it might be a good time to pause. Also, I’m glad there are so many DIY videos but there always room for one more!

[u/thinkmatt]

my wife's pregnant, so the title and picture made me think it had something to do with "getting started" with parenting via automation. kinda disappointed :)

[u/stevieo81]

Awesome video, I'm pretty new to this stuff but I want to avoid over saturating my wifi network. Do they offer boards with zigbee or zwave protocols? I'm guessing no at least for the zwave since I think that protocol is closed.

[u/throwawayornot_]

Do you have the link to the led channel you use?

[u/rahul4122]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QG7HCZG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glc_fabc_4777M613QGTZMV0PW9N3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Get one of these..way simpler no flashing needed

[u/safrax]

Decided to give this a try using the 100W power supply kit. Where do you get the mains power plug?

[u/Kris_hne]

If I do my math correct 5v @180W will spit anywhere near 40A are those wirres strong enough to carry 40A or am I missing something?