China Cabinet Lighting Upgrade With RGBW LEDs

A simple project to improve a cabinet/hutch that was saved from the trash and restored. Its going to store fancy things, so why not add some fancy lights. Both for display of the items and for ambient lighting. This project is quite basic, each shelf has a length of RGB+W 12 volt LED strip, all 3 strips connect to a 4-channel LED controller. The NLED 16-Bit RGBW Lamp Controller, it features 4 outputs with 16-bit PWM resolution, USB connectivity, powerful customizable stand-alone color sequences using the software NLED Aurora Control, and a multi-use rotary encoder for controlling speeds, custom colors, and changing the color sequence. Perfect for stand-alone applications like this.

Northern Lights Electronic Design, LLC has a wide range of products for personal and professional projects. Featuring constant voltage controllers for 12 volt LED strip and a selection of pixel controllers for addressable pixel strips. The in house NLED Aurora Control software can be used to create stand-alone color sequences, or utilize one of the many data methods such as USB, DMX-512, TTL Serial, Bluetooth, or WiFi.

See the current product offerings at: www.northernlightselectronicdesign.com/products/

Step 1: Parts and Supplies

Parts:

NLED 16-Bit RGBW Lamp Controller - Model A, 12" Encoder Option.
RGB+W LED Strip, 60/LEDs/M, 12 volts
4 Conductor 22AWG Ribbon Cable, 22 AWG
12 volt @ 3A Power Supply with panel mount barrel jack
Black Split Loom, 3/8"
Aluminum Duct Tape
Wire staples

Tools:

Electronics Tools(Soldering Iron, solder, wire stripper etc)
7/8" Drill Bit

Step 2: Planning and LED Strands

Planned for one length of LED strip per shelf. Placed it near to the back so the light would be less direct outwards. Wires were ran up one side of the cabinet inside black split loom.

LED Strands:

Cut 3 lengths of LED strip to fit the shelves.
Estimated the lengths of the 3 sets of wires.
Used 4-strand ribbon cable for the colors RGBW, and a red stranded wire for the +12v
Prepared the strands and taped them up neatly.
Test fit and cut the split loom to length.

Shelves:

Marked and drilled 7/8" hole out of the back right corner of each of the 2 shelves that were removable.
Drilled a hole in the back right corner of the bottom shelf into the base of the cabinet.

Step 3: Installation

LED strip Installation:

Starting with the removable shelves, the correct LED strand was attached 4" away from the back of the shelf.
Used the permanent aluminum tape to secure the wires down neatly. Positioned towards the hole for the split loom.
The LED strand for the top of the cabinet was then installed, and taped neatly.
Ran the split loom from the top to the bottom of the cabinet. Inserting the LED strand wires neatly into it.

Controller and Power Supply: The controller will be mounted behind a drawer in the base of the cabinet. The power supply is external. There is no on/off switch for now.

A 5/8" hole was drilled through the back panel of the cabinet on the left side for the power supply cord.
The controller was wired up to the LED strands as described on the datasheet.