Why another LED rack?

The lowest profile LED rack with clip on! Makes installation a breeze. Get the benefits of an aluminum LED rack for custom length and clip functionality, with a lower profile and your chosen color.

The diffuser can be installed either via clip-on or slide-on on the rack.

Printing

PLA works great. For the racks, I used both PLA Matte Dark Brown and PLA Matte Latte Brown to match the surroundings. For the diffusers, I used PLA Basic Jade White. Keep in mind that it is long thin prints, so avoid materials prone to warping.

In a hurry? Use the 25cm length and print 2.5m of racks, diffusers and clips in 3.5h!

Installation

1. Determine the total length needed.
2. For example I needed about 86cm, so I chose 30cm + 30cm + 26cm. Lengths are available at 1cm granularity between 10 cm and 30 cm. This should enable you to have a tight fit.
3. Print the rack and clips. Print 2 small clips for each end, plus a large clip for each of the middle intersections.
4. Print the diffusers.
5. Install the clips on the racks.
6. While holding the rack at the location, use a marker to note where to drill holes.
7. Drill small holes at each marked point so the wood doesn't expand when screwing the screw.
8. Screw the clips.
9. Remove the racks.
10. Cut your LED strip.
11. Mount the LED strip in the racks.
12. Put the diffusers on the racks. To get a more solid structure, mix different lengths of diffusers compared to the rack to offset them.
13. Mount the racks on the clips.
14. Plug the wire.
15. Program the microcontroller.

The ESP8266 and ESP32 microcontroller families work great with https://esphome.io/ and https://www.home-assistant.io/ for automation. This enable you to add an infrared motion detector for the light to automatically turn up!

I used 85cm of a 30 LEDs/m strip, so I got 26 LEDs. Each LED uses 60mA at maximum power, so about 1.56A per strip. This means a simple USB power supply is sufficient. Perfect for installation under a cabinet in or closets.

BOM

Here's what to buy from Adafruit (for folks in the US) or AliExpress, about 27$ in total.

• Individually addressable LED (3 wires like WS2812B or 4 wires like APA102 or SK9822), either 30 or 60 LED/m; 15$
• A controller like an ESP8266, ESP32, ESP32-C3, etc. ESP32-C3 SuperMini is 4$/each.
• A high speed 3.3V->5V converter. 74AHCT125N; 5$ for 10 or 2$ for 1.
• Flat head 3mmx10mm / 0.5in #4 wood screws
• 24 AWG solid core wires
• Power supply; one of
  • USB 5V 3A plus USB cable for installation of 30 LEDs or less; 5$ + 2$
  • 5V 10A for larger installations; 10$
  • Beware that sellers of power sources on Aliexpress tend to be lying about their maximum power, so you may need to get something larger than the actual load. If the power supply is unable to provide enough power, the LED will likely turn reddish.
• Board; one of
  • Mini breadboard SYB-170; 1$
  • Protoboard (with solder); preferable to buy in quantity
• Optional
  • Motion detection PIR, HC-SR501; 2.50$/each