How to Install a Dimmer Switch for LED Strip Lights - My Desk Lighting Project Update!

This is an update to my original LED Strip Light video "How to Install LED Strip Lights in Your Desk." In this video I add a dimmer switch to that setup.

The original video can be found here:

Products used -- note that I am not affiliated with the manufacturers or sellers in any way and this is not an endorsement of these products. This is just a list of the things I bought to complete my project, added after requests from viewers:

Video Transcript:

PREVIOUSLY ON MIKEY MAKEY:

Mikey installed LED Strip Lights onto the desk in his home office. He soldered, taped, and hot glued until finally - the task was done. He plugged it in, and: it worked! He had task light! He could see!

But there was no on/off switch. He had to plug it in to turn it on and unplug it to turn it off. And what if he wanted to control the brightness of the LEDs? What would he do? WHAT WOULD HE DO?

Find out - coming up next on Mikey Makey!

If you’re watching this, you might have seen my original LED strip light video. This video is an update to that project. I’ll add a link to that original video in the description below.

I bought this LED dimmer switch on eBay for $5.80 and free shipping. It arrived in about a week. It’s pretty simple - there’s a knob to control the brightness, and 4 wiring terminals - a positive and a negative connection for the power input, and the same for power output. I cut the wires I needed to connect this to my LED setup and screwed them into the wiring terminals.

As a sidenote, when I upgrade my camera at some point, I’m definitely getting one where the LCD can flip all the way around so that I can see what I’m filming. I keep getting myself in the way of the shot and I don’t realize I’ve done that util it’s too late. It’s tough to be your own cameraman sometimes. But I digress.

I held the switch up to the bottom of my desk where I wanted to mount it and used a black marker to mark where the screws would go. Then I used a drill bit with a stop collar installed to predrill the screw holes. The stop collar keeps you from drilling too deep. I didn’t want to drill through the top of the desk. You could also just wrap a piece of masking tape around the drill bit to mark the depth.

Then I added four short screws that I had lying around to mount the switch under my desk.

This is the connector that originally attached my LED lights to the 12V DC adapter. I removed the connector and then spliced the wires from the OUT section of the dimmer switch. In other words, electricity will come out from the dimmer switch to power the lights.

Then I connected the wires from the IN section of the switch to that same connector. Electricity will come IN to the dimmer switch from the same 12V DC power supply that I was already using.

I soldered the spliced wires to make the connection more permanent. And I covered the exposed ends with electrical tape.

I used hot glue to tack the new wires to the under side of the desk, just like I did in the original installation video.

And here’s how the final product works. The switch is located under the left edge of my desk and offers pretty precise control over the amount of light, from fully off to fully on, and anywhere in between. This will be useful to me when I’m recording video at my desk with my camera or webcam.

Thanks for watching! My original LED video has gotten more views than any of my other videos by far, and I appreciate everyone who watched that and left kind comments. I have more LED projects on the horizon and I hope that if you’re new to my channel that you’ll subscribe to see the future videos.

See you next time.

[TheXenoMaster]

I have no words for how good of a video of this is. not to mention your voice is incredibly calming

[onthesoulside]

Great Video, There is obviously a heap of editing that went into creating this very polished super easy to watch video. In a sea of abrasive, loud, crude video it is an absolute pleasure to watch video that is gentle spacious and relaxing . its got a very apple mac aesthetic that feels like its didnt happen by accident. keep up the good work mate

[hani_issa]

even i subscribed directly after the original LED video, but didn't had the chance to tell you that i liked it
but here i go, thanks for the video it was awesome this one is awesome too :)
i was thinking to do the same thing for my desk but with RGB LED strip :D

[yordancarreno]

great job Mikey ! i would have done the same, i used a toggle switch from a car project to power a various led strips that i also had left over and instead of tossing them i soldered them and spread them underneath my desk, also powered by a 12v dc power supply

[FireBroke]

Thanks! I was looking to install RGB LEDs to my tv/computer setup. But just seeing the easiest way to connect the IR Receiver conveniently, etc. Thanks man!! :D

[AlishErman]

wont 24 volts (dimmer at max) burn out the 12v LEDs?

[michalispindarou]

Hi thanks for the video. I have LED 7.2v 36w X 2 =72w 10 meters and my transformer is 100w X 12V. I want to dim down because are too bright what can I use?

[mickwolf]

i use those dimmers to control the mr16 3W leds in my rooms, they work great. Did you know that green plug comes out and is interchangeable with other dimmers and touch switches? nice vid BTW

[Hardtailcartel]

The desk looks great, very informative, love the colour and layout of your page btw. Maybe a little less reverb on your voice at the start?

[FireBroke]

Hey me again! Another great job! I just was wondering two things....

1. Where could I buy the dimmer?
2. If anytime in the future RGB led videos would come out.

Keep up the great work man!!! :-)

[russ]

very straight forward ... now I have a project

[OneManEditor]

Nice one! Very professional videos, keep them up :D

[ultimategamer]

dude we need more people like you on youtube  but can you tell how you edit your videos

[MikeyMakey]

Ultimate Gamer, thanks! I use the Adobe Creative Suite CS6.  For the video editing, I use Premiere Pro, and for the audio I use Audition.  I appreciate the comments!

[GouthamSaranZone]

Thanks Mikey Makey! Way to Go
Both LED videos were useful for me now. Let me check other videos too!
:)

[Zigzagminecraft]

does the plug heat up even when its turned on 24/7 when the dimmer is completly on off mode?

[Zigzagminecraft]

so I can keep the dimmer off while the dc power plug is still in the wall and switched on, is there any electricity flow going on when dimmer switch is off and also does the dc plug heat up even though it will be on 24/7 ? thanks :) Great video by the way mate :)

[kevinbruyne]

How would i do this with RGB+12v leds?

[Quantum-cl]

Can I connect 12 volt 150 ah battery with this dimmer and a load of 100 watt

[MichaelDijkstraX]

It's such a shame my teacher of my classes technology were so bad. If I'd just had found out earlier how much I loved it, I'd have learned soldering etc earlier.