Splitting the Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights - Walkthrough 

Yeah I agree! Their first version (which is the one i'm using in the video) for sure lacked the customizing out of the box. However they for sure improved this on their new model they released last month which comes with a lot more options. Nice to see them take the feedback / criticism from last years model and make changed to the new Pro version.

But the price and lack of availability kinda sucks. That's a huge jump in price.

Same here! Warm day. Might be watching this from a ladder.

Agreed with eufy being a trusted brand and this a new product all the options beyond what eufy recommends would be awesome

Thanks for watching! Yes, fingersketch would be interesting lol!

Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! Appreciate the support! I also would like to get to another video on those. I've really enjoyed them and would also be curious how easy or difficult it would be to customize them a little more!

@@ChrisMaherDIY hey chris, thanks for all the helpful vids. In your experiments have you ever figured out the max extension length?

Thanks so much for watching! I have not tried injecting any power with these kits but its certainly worth trying to see if it makes a difference!

You are very welcome! Thankfully the Pro version does come in black. amzn.to/3uF9ed7

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment! Thats a good question! No reason at least in all my experimenting should there be any issues with what you described. I would probalby just go back and double check all the wires are connected to the right ones and that all the lights are going in the correct direction. LED strips make it easy since there is an arrow on them indicating what direction the data is flowing (always needs to be going away from the controller) but the govee lights you have to be very careful as there is no indication and you just have to look at the back of the wires and line things up that way since one of the wires has that black line on them. I would also try going backwards and see if you can cut out the soldered part and re connect them again (wago clips would be easier) to see if you can get them to work and once successful, then try soldering again. No for sure answer but usually some trial and error. Also if you did cut the lights with them still plugged in, maybe something shorted out or if you did connect the voltage and ground to the wrong wires that maybe could have done something as well. But tough to say. I've never had any issues so fortunately I have not had to do any troubleshooting myself.

Question, I tried cutting short one strand and reconnected it, but now only 8 lights turn on and the 8th one is red. I tried switching to different patters and they don't switch, same thing only 8 lights working...

Thanks for watching and great question! I've never tried doing exactly what your doing but the first thing I would double check is to make sure all the lights are in the correct direction. It might not be as obvious when they are all in short cut off sections and I know i could see myself very easy connecting one the wrong way. Not much else to try though in terms of troubleshooting. But might be a perfect excuse to try getting them set up with WLED to see if they work through that program! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0-M5c2VUl5A.html

@@ChrisMaherDIY Thank you very much for your response! Essentially what I'm trying to create is one super long segment with about 35 lights all from lose strands. I'll make sure everything is in the correct direction. If not, I'll try the WLED suggestion. Thanks again!

I’m pretty sure you can extend up to 150’ including blank extension.

Thanks for watching! So would there be about a 22 foot gap (10 feet of wire + the 12 foot connector) If so, i think that would be too long and would probably see some flickering of lights. Certainly give it a try and see what happens but my guess is you would have issues.

@@ChrisMaherDIY thanks for the response, but was thinking of cutting at the end of one strand and adding about 14 feet of wire and at the end of my 14 feet, reattaching the original Govee end so it easily plugs in to the next string set. Does that make sense?

Hopefully I can get around to it! I am a little burnt out from all the outdoor light videos I've been doing lol but I'll see what I can do! However the pro's should all pretty much work the same as the non pro version in terms of all the videos I've done with the only exception being that the Pro version I have not been able to get to work with WLED.

Thanks for watching! Great question! So my experience is that the actual length is not so much the issue (although there is a point where voltage drop will be too much and lights will not work properly) but its more the number of lights. The controllers are pre programmed to only allow a max number of lights and adding lights to a strip more than that pre set max number will result in nothing happening if that makes sense. So I think you could for sure split at the beginning of the last segment but my guess is any additional lights past the 12 that are on each segment of the non pro version would not work.

Very cool! Everything worked out well it sounds like! Man thats a lot of custom work on the 60 nodes in 10 different batches/props. I would say just a lot of trial and error would be what I would start with. But also when you need things that custom, might be a good time to look at the ws2811 pixels. Those are the ones people use in those crazy music synced light shows you see all over the place.

Thanks for watching! So installing them backwards is not really an issue when it comes to voltage and gnd since you can figure out the correct wires and those dont matter what end of the strip they are connect to. The issue is with the data. The data has to flow in one direction (away from the controller) Its easy to see what direction that is on led strips since they have have arrows indicating this but on the govee lights, there is no arrow. So if you have one strip installed backwards, it wouldn't plug in correctly using the govee connectors and if you spliced them together where one is backwards, the backwards strip and all the strips after I'm would not work or not work correctly. I would first figure out how to install the backwards one correctly before trying any splicing .

I also installed mine backwards (had the male end of the PSU against the male end of the first string of lights). I tried cutting off the male end from the first string of lights and replacing it by splicing in the female end from the extension cord. This did not work. At all. I ended up having to reroute my PSU to meet up with the female end of the string lights. Thankfully the lights still worked but now I'm having trouble getting any power after resplicing the extension cable and going from PSU to extension cable to string lights. Anyways, all that to say, don't try swapping a male end for a female connector - it won't work due to the directionality of the data cable.

That's a good question! I have not seen anything but I'll keep looking and let you know if something pops up.

Thanks so much for watching and great question! So when you splice in light, the app looks the exact same and doesn't know that data is being split. So on the first example in the video where I splice in the 8 lights, those 8 lights will do the exact same thing as the 8 lights on the main run after the splice. If the splice had 12 lights, then those 12 lights would do the exact same thing as the 12 lights on the main run after the splice. If you split the lights right at the begging, then both strips will do the same thing at the same time. IF one segment is longer than the other, the shorter segment will do the same thing as the longer one up until the point where it was cut. Hope that makes sense!

@@ChrisMaherDIY Got it, that makes sense. I appreciate the response!

Thanks so much for watching and great question! So when you splice in light, the app looks the exact same and doesn't know that data is being split. So on the first example in the video where I splice in the 8 lights, those 8 lights will do the exact same thing as the 8 lights on the main run after the splice. If the splice had 12 lights, then those 12 lights would do the exact same thing as the 12 lights on the main run after the splice.

@@ChrisMaherDIYPerfect!! I have an Eve 10’ above my ground floor eve and need to run an extension up there… Now that I now I can do this I’m excited to set it up! Thank you again for this and replying so quickly!

@@ChrisMaherDIY so are you saying that you can't control the individual led ? That instead, for example, LED #4 on the split will always be the same color as LED #4 on the main?

Thanks for watching! So installing them backwards is not really an issue when it comes to voltage and gnd since you can figure out the correct wires and those dont matter what end of the strip they are connect to. The issue is with the data. The data has to flow in one direction (away from the controller) Its easy to see what direction that is on led strips since they have have arrows indicating this but on the govee lights, there is no arrow. So if you have one strip installed backwards, it wouldn't plug in correctly using the govee connectors and if you spliced them together where one is backwards, the backwards strip and all the strips after I'm would not work or not work correctly.

I read your reply again and now I understand the data has to go in One Direction so I’m pulling off my garage. If you have a second is there any place I can get new 3 AM adhesive?

Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! Is this what you are looking for? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0-M5c2VUl5A.html

@@ChrisMaherDIY close, there you used the Govee power supply. I already used the one that came with mine, so I was curious if a third party one would work, And then try and connect to Wled controller?

@@Danjr704 ahh gotcha! Yeah any power supply should work as long as the volts are the same. I believe you need a 36v power supply which is what came with the Govee kit.

@@ChrisMaherDIY 👍 thank you

Thanks so much for watching and great question! I just used the regular power supply that the lights came with. When you split a segment, they mirror the same animation/color/effect that is happening on the longer of the segments. So on the first example in the video where I splice in the 8 lights, those 8 lights will do the exact same thing as the 8 lights on the main run after the splice. If the splice had 12 lights, then those 12 lights would do the exact same thing as the 12 lights on the main run after the splice. If you split the lights right at the begging, then both strips will do the same thing at the same time. IF one segment is longer than the other, the shorter segment will do the same thing as the longer one up until the point where it was cut. Hope that makes sense and hope they don't delay the delivery for the 3rd time!

@@ChrisMaherDIY Yes, that makes perfect sense. Thanks for the detailed explanation! Much appreciated...

I just received mine yesterday and will be installing them tomorrow. So glad I found your video! I’d like to splice at the beginning and then run wiring approximately 20-30 feet to the 2nd story eve before installing another strip of lights. Is there wiring (and gauge) you recommend for that?

I bought 18 gauge for my install. When you use smaller gauge you increase resistance so that could lead to flickering

I just ordered one using the link Chris provided. Good tool for that price…!!

18 gauge wire

Thanks for watching! Lol yeah the wire stripper is for sure a time saver! Works on pretty much all sizes of wires. I've had good luck with these for extension wires: amzn.to/3R2Q3RW or if you want to color coordinate them better this: amzn.to/417QNd5

@@ChrisMaherDIY Thanks for the links…!!

Thanks so much for watching! So when you splice in light, the app looks the exact same and doesn't know that data is being split. So on the first example in the video where I splice in the 8 lights, those 8 lights will do the exact same thing as the 8 lights on the main run after the splice. If the splice had 12 lights, then those 12 lights would do the exact same thing as the 12 lights on the main run after the splice.

Makes sense!

Thanks as always for watching! Yes I still do plan on it! It should be pretty similar to the govee one but not 100% sure until I actually try it! I know Rob over at the hook up had some information on this thats for sure worth checking out! But yes I do want to still do a complete walkthrough of getting them set up to wled. Wled will allow you to add more strands beyond 100 ft. and the Eufy power supply should still work for that!

In preparation, I purchased a 36V 3A Power Supply Adapter AC 100V~240V to DC 36 Volt Converter 108W on Amazon. (This is similar to the 200ft Govee kit). Not sure if this would work or not.

Ok thanks so much! Your walk throughs are amazing and give me the confidence to try something new and create something awesome!

Thanks so much for watching and great question! I never tried extending the power cord but should be as simple as cutting and adding additional length as needed. Maybe a slight loss in voltage but tough to say what effect if any that would have on the lights without trying it out!

Is that a new update? I thought only the pro versions did that.

@@Irpilot no, it’s the same one in this video.

@@mybigbackyard741 cool! I still need to put mine up. Just finished painting them to match my eaves today. Can't wait!

@@Irpilot good luck. I put mine up back in October. I laid it out over and over temporarily using duct tape until I got them perfectly under my soffit and I have 2 story house. Wasn’t an easy process but better than regretting lol.

@@mybigbackyard741 thank you! I have some tall peaks so I have to rent a 34 ft ladder to get up there. 😅. Good idea on the duck tape!

Lol appreciate the love! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!

I found it! Hope that gives you a few things to try!