If you have LED lights or have researched them, chances are you’ve already seen videos online of LED strips that constantly change colors into all the shades of the rainbow.
You may think that your LED strips can’t do that, but it might just be possible.
As long as your LED strip has changeable color options, there are multiple ways you can make it constantly change into the colors of the rainbow.
Now understand that these ways aren’t exactly convenient or easy, but unless you want to buy a completely new LED strip that can change colors on its own, these are your only options.
Is It Possible To Make Your LED Rainbow?
The question that comes before knowing how to make your LED lights rainbow is whether it is even possible to make them rainbow. Well the answer is yes.
LED light strips that can display multiple colors usually follow the same process for changing colors.
Even though you may think that the LED bulbs are changing colors, that’s not the case. LED bulbs can’t actually change colors.
What happens is that every LED bulb in a multi-color LED light strips is actually comprised of three smaller bulbs inside of them. The bulbs are of the primary colors red, blue and green.
The strip is able to change colors by varying the current passing through these smaller bulbs. With varying currents, the brightness of the bulbs can be changed, which gives the impression of different colors.
Now if you can find a way to vary the amount of current passing through these bulbs constantly, you can make these lights rainbow.
9 Easy Method To Make Your LED Lights Rainbow
Method 1: Use Color Changer
When thinking about how to make your LED lights rainbow, a color changer would be one of the easier options to consider.
The difference between a color changer and a controller is that a color changer doesn’t directly influence the LED strip, instead it influences the power supply in terms of how much current is being provided.
By varying the current, the colors can be changed.
Method 2: Use RGB LED Light
Another easy option to choose when considering how to make rainbow on your LED lights is just plainly using an RGB LED light.
RGB LED light strips are able to change colors smoothly using a remote control. What’s even better is that you don’t have to manually change colors as the remote will usually have a default rainbow pattern setup.
Method 3: Use Color Wheel
The color wheel is used to display all possible colors. It is one of the ways to interpret how to gradually change from one color to another.
Unfortunately, in this case you will have to manually change the colors, which is not ideal.
Method 4: Use Digital LED Controller
Controllers are one of the most commonly sought-after options when thinking about how to make your LED lights rainbow.
These controllers can be attached in between or strips or even in between your power supply and LED strips.
What the controller does is identify exactly how much current is being provided to generate a certain color. Afterwards, the controller keeps varying the current based on your preferred color changing options, including a rainbow pattern.
Method 5: Use Different Cellophane
This is one of the ways where you can change the color of your LED lights strips without having to worry about messing with the electronics.
Cellophane is basically transparent sheets made from cellulose. The texture of cellophane is close to that of a plastic sheet.
What you can do is tint multiple sections of the cellophane with multiple colors and then wrap your LED strips with it. This way even when displaying a plain white light, you will get an array of colors from your LED strips.
Method 6: Use Acrylic Cylinder
When thinking about how to make your LED lights rainbow, acrylic cylinders are also a very easy option. Similar to cellophane, you can just tint the transparent acrylic cylinder with multiple colors.
Then simply insert your LED strip in the cylinder and you will be able to generate the colors of the rainbow.
Method 7: Use A Arduino
An Arduino is basically a circuit or a micro-controller that you can program into performing a lot of functions. If programmed correctly, an Arduino can also be used as a controller.
Even though programming an Arduino seems confusing, there are a lot of tutorials online to help you.
Method 8: Use LED Light Diffuser
A light diffuser is basically used to scatter the light in order to increase its ambient properties. You can generate the effects of a rainbow by scattering the light from the strip.
Method 9: Use LED Cover
LED covers are basically translucent plastic surfaces that are placed above LED’s to soften the light. Similar to cellophane, you can tint the covers with various colors to generate a rainbow effect.
How Do You Make Rainbow Lights?
You can DIY your LED light strips into making a rainbow effect. Just use the following directions:
Required Materials
- LED light strips
- Translucent/transparent lenses
- Screws or glue or double sided tape
- Cardboard
- Soldering gun or glue gun
- Wire
- Transparent plastic cups
Step by Step Guide: How To Make Your LED Lights Rainbow?
Step 1: Place the LED light strip at the bottom of the cups. Make sure they’re facing upwards. Use a glue to keep the light facing up if necessary.
Step 2: Make a hole at the bottom of the cup in order for the wires to get out.
Step 3: Place the lens on the LED lights inside the cup.
Step 4: Glue the cup onto a piece of cardboard. This will help you keep the cup upright and keep the wires organized.
Step 5: Glue or stick the lens in its place to make sure that it doesn’t move.
Step 6: Plugin the LED lights.
The lens inside the cup will allow you to scatter the LED lights into the colors of the rainbow. This is how to make your LED strip lights rainbow.
How To Make Your Govee Led Lights Rainbow
If you’ve purchased a Govee LED light and want to know how to make your Govee LED lights rainbow, it’s actually very easy.
Most Govee lighting products can be controlled by the Govee app, and chances are the app already has a rainbow lighting function set up. Simply search in the app’s Effects Lab section to find the option.
If you don’t like the templates that are already there, Govee also allows you to make your own effect using the DIY option. Just click on the DIY option and choose the pattern of color changing you want.
For an even more specific pattern, you can actually draw the pattern on the app, and your lights will replicate that pattern exactly.
What Is the Best Way to Make Led Rainbows Fade?
You can use a controller or the other options mentioned above to make the LED colors fade into darkness or fade into one another.
We should mention that some LED lights come with the fading option already built in. Although these lights are relatively a bit more costly, they are much better at fading compared to if it was done manually.
The same solutions we provided for how to make your LED lights rainbow can be used to make them fade as well. However, these solutions won’t always provide a smooth transition.
This means that instead of the color change or fading being smooth, you can actually notice the change happening in steps. Visually this can be a little less appealing.
Difference Between A Led Rainbow Controller And An IC Or Driver?
Even though both LED controllers and IC drivers can be used to change the color of your LED strip, their functionality and design is very different.
An LED rainbow controller has to be connected separately to your LED strips. However, an IC chip is generally built within the LED strip. RGB and RGBIC LED strips are different from each other, as RGBIC strips have IC chips built in.
The main difference is that using a controller, you can only control the entirety of the strip. An LED rainbow controller will not give you separate control of every individual light of your strip.
However, an IC chip controls separate sections of an LED strip, meaning that a strip with IC chips can display multiple colors on the same strip at the same time.
Read also: How to make led lights look warmer
FAQ: How To Make Your LED Lights Rainbow
How do you make LED lights change colors?
LED lights can change colors through RGB (Red, Green, Blue) technology, which involves mixing these primary colors in varying intensities to produce a broad spectrum of hues. By altering the voltage applied to each color component, you can achieve a wide range of colors and create dynamic color-changing effects using a compatible controller or remote.
How to do rainbow lighting?
Creating rainbow lighting with LEDs involves programming the light source to cycle through a sequence of colors in the order of the rainbow, typically red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. This effect can be achieved using RGB LEDs and a controller that allows you to set the sequence and speed of color changes.
How do you make LED lights purple?
To make LED lights produce a purple color, you need to activate the red and blue diodes while keeping the green diode off. By varying the intensity of the red and blue diodes, you can achieve different shades of purple, from lavender to deep violet, using an RGB LED controller or software.
How do you make a smart light rainbow?
Creating a smart light that produces a rainbow effect involves programming the smart lighting system to transition through the colors of the rainbow in a smooth sequence. Smart lights like Philips Hue or LIFX often have dedicated apps or settings that allow you to set the rainbow effect, specifying the colors, transition speed, and brightness levels to achieve the desired rainbow lighting display.
Read Also: How To Make DIY LED Light Colors
Conclusion
Now that you know how to make your LED lights rainbow, you’ll no longer have to worry about purchasing an entirely new light strip.
Read through all the options carefully, and decide which alternative works best for you.
When handling electrical components, be extremely careful. Make sure everything is unplugged and secure.
Read Also: How to Change White LED Light to Yellow
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