Build your WLED Mood Lamp

A little puck of light that can be anything you want it to be: warm reading light, flickering candle, slow ocean fade or full rainbow party. You'll solder three wires, clip three printed parts together, and install WLED, one of the most-loved open-source lighting firmwares, straight from your browser. You'll likely be done within an hour.

Which version do you have? - DIY kit: follow every step. - Assembled: the ring is soldered, the board is fitted and WLED is installed. Place the diffuser (Step 6) and go to Connect to Wi-Fi. - Fully built: plug it in and go to Connect to Wi-Fi.

What's in the box

| Item | Qty | |---|---| | Printed base, LED ring holder, frosted diffuser | 3 | | ESP32 D1 Mini board | 1 | | WS2812 12-LED RGB ring (50 mm) | 1 | | 5 V USB adapter with micro-USB cable | 1 | | Hook-up wire | 1 |

Tools you'll need

• Soldering iron, solder, stand and damp sponge
• Wire stripper and side cutters
• A computer with Chrome or Edge (for the WLED web installer)
• A smartphone with the free WLED app (optional, as any browser works)

Safety notes

• The soldering iron is very hot (around 330 °C). Use its stand, work in a ventilated space and wash your hands after soldering.
• Don't look straight into the LEDs at full white brightness. Always use the diffuser.
• Use the supplied adapter. Don't cover the lamp with fabric or leave it inside a closed cupboard while it's on.
• Children should solder only with an adult.

Step-by-step build

1. Three wires onto the ring

Cut three wires about 4 cm long and strip 3 mm from each end. On the back of the LED ring, solder one wire to each of 5V (VCC), GND and DI (data in). Leave DO empty. Point the wires toward the centre of the ring.

2. Ring into its holder

Press the LED ring into the ring holder, LEDs facing up, feeding the three wires down through the centre hole.

3. Solder to the ESP32

Solder the three wires to the board. The wires should come through from the back of the ring holder.

• Ring GND → ESP32 GND
• Ring 5V → ESP32 5V (sometimes labelled VBUS or VCC)
• Ring DI → ESP32 IO16

Don't solder the board's header pins. The board must stay flat to fit the base.

4. Board into the base

Slide the board into the base USB connector first, lining it up with the side opening. Then gently push the other end down past the retaining clips. If you ever need it out, push it from below through the access hole; a pen works well.

5. Clip on the ring

Clip the ring holder onto the top of the base.

6. Add the diffuser

Install WLED first (next section) and check the LEDs light. Then place the diffuser over the ring, and it sits snugly on the base.

Wiring

| LED ring pad | ESP32 D1 Mini pin | |---|---| | 5V / VCC | 5V | | GND | GND | | DI (data in) | IO16 |

Firmware flashing (WLED)

WLED is open-source (EUPL-1.2): <https://github.com/wled/WLED>.

1. Connect the ESP32 to your computer with the micro-USB cable.

- No port? Install the CH340 or CP210x USB driver, depending on the chip on your board.

1. Open <https://install.wled.me> in Chrome or Edge. Choose the latest stable release and click Install, then pick the board's serial port.
2. When it finishes, the installer can connect the lamp to your Wi-Fi straight away. Enter your 2.4 GHz network and password. If you skip this, see the next section.

Connect to Wi-Fi

1. Plug the lamp into the USB adapter.
2. If it isn't on your Wi-Fi yet, it creates a hotspot called WLED-AP (password wled1234). Join it from your phone, and a setup page opens (or go to 4.3.2.1).
3. Choose your home Wi-Fi and save. The lamp restarts and joins your network.
4. Open the WLED app. It discovers the lamp automatically. Or browse to the lamp's IP address.

Set up the LEDs (one-time)

In WLED go to Config → LED Preferences and set:

• LED type: WS281x · Colour order: GRB
• Length: 12 · Data GPIO: 16
• Maximum current: leave the automatic limiter on at 850 mA

Save. Now try Effects: Candle, Breathe, Colorloop and Rainbow are great starting points. Save your favourites as Presets.

Testing

• Pick solid red, green, blue and white in turn. All 12 LEDs should show the same colour.
• Run Rainbow. Colours should flow smoothly around the ring.
• Set a Timer / Schedule (Config → Time & Macros), for example warm white at sunset and off at 11 pm.

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Try this | |---|---| | LEDs don't light at all | Check the data wire is on DI, not DO, and on IO16. Check the LED settings above (length 12, GPIO 16). | | Colours wrong (red shows green) | Set colour order to GRB. | | First LED flickers or colours glitch | Reflow the DI joint; keep the data wire short. | | Only some LEDs light | Length is set below 12. | | Lamp resets at full white | Keep the current limiter on and use the supplied adapter. | | Can't find the lamp | Join WLED-AP again and redo Wi-Fi; make sure your router is 2.4 GHz. | | Board won't sit in the base | The headers must not be soldered. Check the USB end goes in first. |

Make it yours

Choose your base colour, add initials on the base, make a synced set of three, add a sound-reactive microphone, or set a sunrise wake-up preset. Ask us about custom ideation and consulting for bigger lighting ideas.

Credits

• Lamp design and photos by Rauks: "LED Ambient Lamp (WLED / ESP32 D1 Mini USB-C)" (<https://www.printables.com/model/1467547-led-ambient-lamp-wled-esp32-d1-mini-usb-c>), CC BY 4.0. We exported the three parts to STL from the designer's project file and include the designer's STEP files.
• Firmware: WLED by Aircoookie (Christian Schwinne) and contributors (<https://github.com/wled/WLED>), EUPL-1.2.
• This guide, the wiring diagram and the renders are original MyPartLab material.