Since it’s a rainy day and I’m basically playing nurse this weekend, I decided to set up some lights for our pergola. Now, I did some preordering for the occasion.
I ordered these from Ebay as they aren’t available on Amazon for some reason.
BTF for the lighting. I have to say. I wish all of my led’s were BTF. They’re beautiful.
Outdoor transformer was the most expensive, but I’m happy with it. Seems solid.
Junction box to house the controller.
Other tools and supplies:
Hot glue gun
Solder
Clear fast dry caulk
First thing I did was set up my controller by flashing it with ESPHome. I have a jig, which is overkill for this application as you can literally just use pogo pins to do this. I did this with dupont wires before. Looks cool when friends come over, though. 
I’d be happy to share the config if you’re thinking of completing a project similar. (I’m going to take on holiday lights with this type of setup)
After it was flashed I connected the components and tested all of the colors. OH are these pretty! I hope they look just as good outside!
Next I drilled the hole for the power source. Measure and use a drill bit.
I used a soldering iron to burn a thin slit for the LED wires to go through. It was a tight fit and that’s what I was looking for.
I placed the power source chord and hot glued that in place first. It’s an awkward heavy cable, so I got that placed first. Sealed with caulk. Let it sit for a bit to set up.
I threaded the LED wires through and then tinned them. Connected them to the controller and placed the controller. I also connected the power source.
Why did I tin the wires? It makes it easier and sturdier to do so. You don’t have to. But I did.
After I got everything in place I used hot glue to hold the LED wires in place and used clear caulk on the outside to waterproof. I wasn’t concerned with looks. It’s all in the inside.
Once it’s dry and I’ve tested, I’ll get it installed outside. Then it’ll be time to write the rules and wait for the sun to go down. I’ll post more as I go.
