Permanent pixel mounting - gable end with no overhang

A

aaknitt

New member
Working on putting permanently mounted pixels around the roofline. Using J-channel under the eaves with good success on most of the house:
eaves.jpg

However, I have one section over the garage that's a gable end with no overhang:
gable.jpg

Wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to attack this. Since it's permanent I want to keep the wiring hidden. Ideally I'd also like to avoid punching holes in the facia trim but I'm not sure there's any way around that. I currently have only bullet pixels. Right now I'm thinking about the J-channel method shown here, but that would require square pixels.

Any other ideas out there?

Thanks in advance,

Andy
 
Did you ever figure it out? I have this exact problem and I have 2 gables going up to about 30' above the ground. I want a permanent solution since repairs would be a nightmare.
 
JonEQuest said:
Did you ever figure it out? I have this exact problem and I have 2 gables going up to about 30' above the ground. I want a permanent solution since repairs would be a nightmare.
Click to expand...

This may not work for you, but here's what I ended up doing. The key for my setup was to use rectangular style pixels instead of the bullet style. In hindsight I should have used rectangular pixels for all of my J-channel eaves but it was especially important for the gable end because it allowed the pixel and wire to all fit within the depth of the J-channel. It's a little hard to explain in words how it works, so here are a handful of pictures. Hopefully it makes sense.
 

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I am in a somewhat similar situation. I don't quite like the look of those pixels sticking out in a visible way. Did you consider or try thin LED strips that point downwards just behind the facia? They would be much less visible but obviously also less bright as they don't shine right into the viewer's eyes. On the other hand, they would put some glow on the wall below if the wall is bright.
 
Thanks for the photos. I am new to all this. The lights I see in your photos look round. Are they square? Also what LED strings did you go with. I was originally thinking of LED strips in aluminum channels with diffusers so they would be practically invisible when off, and the channels may offer some protection. But it seems that everyone deep into this uses the bullet looking lights like you have. Are strips a bad idea? It also seems that 12v is the way to go for less voltage drop. But maybe that is for LED strips? I did graduate electronics school so I get the theory but gathering info to build a system now.
 
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aaknitt said:
This may not work for you, but here's what I ended up doing. The key for my setup was to use rectangular style pixels instead of the bullet style. In hindsight I should have used rectangular pixels for all of my J-channel eaves but it was especially important for the gable end because it allowed the pixel and wire to all fit within the depth of the J-channel. It's a little hard to explain in words how it works, so here are a handful of pictures. Hopefully it makes sense.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the photos. I am new to all this. The lights I see in your photos look round. Are they square? Also what LED strings did you go with. I was originally thinking of LED strips in aluminum channels with diffusers so they would be practically invisible when off, and the channels may offer some protection. But it seems that everyone deep into this uses the bullet looking lights like you have. Are strips a bad idea? It also seems that 12v is the way to go for less voltage drop. But maybe that is for LED strips? I did graduate electronics school so I get the theory but gathering info to build a system now.
 
MikeKrebs said:
Square pixels refer to the package they come in. The "bulbs" themselves are usually round but how the circuit board is connected differs and the container the board is housed in. Just an example pulled from first hit on google tonight

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800205173776.html
Click to expand...

OK, so these seems to come in lengths with different style connectors. I guess depending on what style connector you are using for your system. I guess that can make it easier to assemble and replace sections if they go bad. I am new to this so I am still figuring it all out. I am doing about 120-130' total broken up into at least 6 sections. I am still unsure if I have to connect all 6 sections with a continuous data wire in a series circuit? Or if I can have them separated and assign string 1 to be pixels 001-100, then string 2 to be pixels 101-200, etc. and WLED would command say 6 different little LED string controllers to do a single coordinated "show"? I see these little tiny circuit board controllers, then some that are larger boxes that control multiple strings, etc. Can you give me a run down on what you use so I can get an idea of how these pieces all work together? Power injection is the one part I can easily get. I just need to add power in several places to avoid voltage drop. It also seems that 12v is the preferred way to go.
 
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