Watch this before buying LEDs

Don’t buy or install LED strips without watching this video! There are so many things you need to know and look out for including RGB 5050 LED strips vs Smart RGB LED strips like the WS2812B, LED controllers, power supplies and how to cut and connect LED strips.

🎥 What to Watch Next:

➤Tools/Supplies Used (Amazon affiliate links):

🔴 Easy White LED Setup

🟢 Easy Smart RGB LED Setup

🔵 Advanced Controllers

🟡 Other LED items

➤Plans from this build:

More content, early access, FREE plans, video credits

➤Support the FTBT Channel:

➤Thank you to these partners for supporting our channel. Go check them out!

➤FOLLOW FTBT on Social Media:

➤Referenced people/videos:

0:00 Don't buy junk
1:14 RGB or not to RGB
3:00 White isn't always white
5:09 Are you dense?
6:47 Splish splashyness
8:29 Warning high voltage
11:07 Need more power!
13:01 Get in control
15:05 Cut and connect
17:18 Mount diffusion

[kairimarshall]

His smile at 19:18 is the exact reason I watch his videos. His nerdiness and enthusiasm is golden!

[reaganharder]

Something to note about the whiteness of LEDs. The reason why dedicated white LEDs make a better white than RGB LEDs is because LEDs by default emit a very narrow range of wavelengths of light, so a red LED emits a very pure red, blue LED emits very pure blue, and green LED emits a very pure green. This can trick your eyes because the photoreceptors in your eyes mainly come in three types that respond most strongly to those three colors and your brain translates the colors by how much each different type of photoreceptor is responding to it. But when it comes to bouncing light off of items (which is how we see those items) a material that bounces purple light is not necessarily going to bounce red and blue light terribly well, so if illuminated under an RGB imitation of white light, that purple item will appear a lot closer to black than it actually is. White LEDs get around this by using a coating (I believe of phosphorus) that absorbs the energy of the very narrow band light of the LED and re-emits it as full-spectrum white light. So if you want to use your LEDs to illuminate something without ruining the apparent colors of any non red, green, or blue items in that area, you need dedicated white LEDs. If you want to do that while also having the option to add color to the light, you need RGBW

[BMSculptures]

This video could not have come at a better time. Currently installing some LED's into a pedestal. Very helpful Brad!

[adamb]

This is so good—thank you! I haven’t done any LED projects because I’ve been paralyzed by all the options. This is so helpful ❤

[andersenzheng]

For the sticky tapes to mount the LEDs, I have been using VHB(Very High Bond) tapes for all my LED projects. Specifically from 3M. I have tried both the clear version and the black one, both works wonders. I have LED in the back of my truck and mounted LEDs to the roof of my canopy for 2 years now, it only fell saggy once over the whole 5m length, and it was 44 degrees in the dead of summer, so ill cut it some slack.

If you find the sticky tape that comes with the LED underwhelming, give VHB a shot. Just remember to peel off the existing sticky tape first, because often times the VHB will firmly grab on to the original sticky tape, but the original sticky tape fails to grab onto the LED.

[DonaldZiems]

For tip #7, a bigger supply at the start really isn't going to help you much if the color is shifting from the start to the end of the strip. Especially with cheaper strips, the resistance in the strip itself starts to dominate and no amount of extra power supply current can help you with that. Power injection or migrating to a higher voltage are the only way out of that pitfall.

[sgsax]

Thank you for this rundown. Shopping for LEDs is confusing if you don't know what you're looking at. Your information here is extremely helpful. Thanks for sharing!

[pauljarrell]

I’m not mad. But sometimes I wish someone would just say “this is the best one to get this “

[michaelcesa]

This was probably one of the very best LED discussions I’ve ever seen. You’re right, this should be seen by everyone who is thinking about working on an LED project.

[Nifty-Stuff]

I've watched HUNDREDS of led strip videos. THIS IS THE BEST! All the important info in one video!!!

[vishu_]

I was just looking for some LED strips for a project I'm going to be doing and this video was exactly in time! I've learned quite alot from my own research on LED Strips and its amazing that this video compiles them all for a quick and convenient reference whenever needed. Although I've to say, this video also covered some of the things that I didn't know and also cleared out some of the doubts I had.

[TikkaQrow]

The issue with the silicone coating, is they tend to Yellow and grow cloudy over a few years, ruining the color accuracy and overall brightness. All soft silicones are prone to oxidation after being cured.
If you KNOW your strip is going to stay dry, it might be better for longevity to get the IP 30 ones.

[emcsquare]

I ran across this over a year after you created it. Great information! We have some dark areas in our kitchen and need some additional accent lighting to aide in pin pointing the light. This will definitely help. Thank you so much for putting together the research.

[richardsandwell]

My advice would be, fit them to cooling surfaces like Aluminium strips, use the dimmer switch to dim it by 10% and it will repay you by lasting years longer, keeping them cool is key. If you are running from a 12 volt offgrid supply, try dropping the supply voltage to 10 volts and under run them.

[williammiller]

I’ve been lobbying with these for a few years and I’ve watched a lot of videos. This is the best beginner video I have seen. Good work.

[mattsully]

Love it, thank you for sharing with us all! I've got several projects where I want to incorporate LEDs, but have been extremely hesitant about getting into them because I don't feel like I know enough about it to do it well, and they're expensive enough that I don't want to have to "waste" some on starter projects. This helps a lot!

[chriskairys]

Thanks, Brad. Excellent lesson on LEDs. Just ordered about $80 worth of stuff from your Amazon links on behalf of my client. Hope you get a respectable cut. You were worth every penny. Chris

[nzhook]

Thanks, I've watched sooo many videos on RBG lighting and they normally skip a critical bit of detail in power and this is the first that covered it. So great video, now I can stop buying the premade ones.

[ohmisskaimi]

Definitely appreciate the time and effort put into the making of this video...but it was an overwhelming amount of information to take in. Please make a condensed version!

[rsawycky]

Be careful when using more than one power supply when powering the same strip. The positive of one supply should never have a path to the positive on another supply. Keep a common ground and data line though the strip but have the positive be separated. For example, if using two power supplies, one at the beginning and one at the end, half way though the strip you can cut out one of the positive copper pads at a cut point. Much more information and good examples available when you google multiple power supply power injection as well. Be safe.