Introduction: How to Make RGB LED Bars

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Build simple and affordable RGB LED Bars for your room! If you love gaming, it's a fun and easy project perfect for your streaming setup.

Watch My 1-Minute Video Tutorial:

Step 1: Materials

You only need 5 things!

  • Remote RGB LED Kit
  • White Shower Curtain
  • Plywood/ Cardboard
  • Double Sided Tape
  • Glue Gun

Step 2: Ready Your Frame Material

In making the bar/ enclosure, I decided to use some scrap ply-wood. I have tons of them since I use them to cover our garage floor when I weld metals. You can use cardboard if you want.

Step 3: Marking Your Wood

To make things fast and simple, I just used my ruler's width as a stencil for my cutout marks.

Step 4: Saw/ Cutting

Use your saw, jigsaw, circular saw or whatever tool is available to you for cutting your wood.

Step 5: U-Shape

Hold your wooden panels like this to form a U-shape. You can make a makeshift jig if you want to make it precise.

Step 6: Glue

I wanted to use wood glue but it takes too long to dry. I just used hot glue on the edges since it sets fast.

Step 7: Glue the End Plates

Cut some rectangular wood and glue them to the ends of your U-shaped wooden enclosure.

Step 8: Hole for Header Connectors (Wires)

Drill a hole on one of the ends and file it to make a tiny rectangular cutout for your wire connectors to fit through.

Step 9: Cut the RGB Strips

If this is your first time dealing with RGB LED kits, your kit contains a roll of RGB LED strip. You can cut them to pieces along the cutout line using a pair of scissors.

Step 10: Solder Solder to the Connector

I'm using a female header as a 4 pin connector to make the bars modular.

Step 11: Apply Double Sided Tape

Apply strips of double sided tape on the back from end to end, then peel them.

Step 12: Wrap With Shower Curtains

LED strips look ugly since they're bright segmented dots of lights. To make them look smoother to the eyes, I'm using some white (translucent) shower curtains as a low cost diffuser. Wrap it around the enclosure and make sure it's stretched and free from creases. The tape from the back should be enough to hold the sheet in place. For excess sheets, use a cutter if you must.

Step 13: Connect and Mount

RGB LED strip kits are easy to use. Just connect your AC-DC adapter to the DC jack of your controller box and connect your RGB LED strips to your controller box. When you're done, you can now mount your RGB LED Bars to your wall. It's really light, you can use foam tape if you prefer not to drill on your wall.

Step 14: Enjoy!