XMAS NEON LED abstract modular XMAS tree

XMAS NEON LED abstract modular XMAS tree.

This is my interpretation of a NEON LED XMAS TREE in 2024. =)

Note: This thing can be huge for a 3D print! Up to 115cm or 45,3 inches. The pictures and video just show an example of an 36cm or 14 inches tall lamp / tree - so around 1/3 of the possible height…

I wanted to build it as a lamp to be used throughout the year which can be set as a digital XMAS tree during the holidays by changing the color scheme of the LEDs with software.

This is why I printed all parts in black instead of the expected green color. In the dark and when the light of all 4 NEON LED channels are on you will not focus on the body color anymore anyway.

The parts are modular and if you use all parts the lamp will be around 115cm tall or even taller if you would add more than the 5 provided extension sections… Keep in mind to raise the power supply output then too!

You are free to use less extension parts to make the lamp smaller. You just need the base and top part as bare minimum. All extensions are optional.

I used 1 of the 5 available extensions only to keep the lamp/tree smaller, because I wanted to put it into a window or a shelf and did not have so much of the NEON LEDs left. Each extension adds 19.5cm / 7.7 inches in height. The pieces are screwed together with 4 M3x10 screws in each section. This makes it super strong and hides the gapes between the sections. The screws are hidden inside the parts.

Parts used:

• 12V/5A power supply with barrel jack (Don‘t use a small one for the power hungry LEDs!)
• 1x NodeMCU ESP32 USB-C (Use this one. The case is made to fit to it only!)
• Several meters of an 12V WS2811 neon LED strip 5m (6mm width, 10mm height) depending on the amount of extensions used
• 1x On/Off switch Ø13x19mm (fits exactly in front of the base)
• 1x Barrel jack for power input Ø12mm (11mm hole cutout in the back of the base)
• 1x Step-Down module (12V > 5V)
• 3x WAGO 5 wire clamps
• 3x Jumper Wire 40x 20cm, Male-Female
• Up to 28x M3x10 screws
• About 1kg of PLA of your color choice 
• USB-C to USB-C cable to program the ESP32

Printing instructions:

• 0.2 speed profile
• Infill: 10% (I tried 5% infill on the top part which worked fine too)
• No supports needed (All parts tested and printed with the Prusa MK4S) 
• No brim needed
• Note: If i would print this again, I think I would activate “Fuzzy skin on the outside“ 

Software:

• The code can be found in my GitHub repository. 
• When you switch the power on the software does an RGBW test, so all LEDs are set to red, green, blue and white to test the RGB setting for your NEON LED strip.
• After the test you can choose in the code if you just want a static white lamp or if the animation mode is activated the yellow top is shown as an abstract star and randomly 5 LEDs will be set to red (default) to simulate ornaments in the tree shown on the reset of the LEDs in green. The animation can be set on or off in the settings section on top of the Arduino sketch.
• You can also set the speed how fast the animation is done. In default it is set to 15.000ms so 15 seconds and that results that every 3 seconds the LEDs randomly switch to white and then to green again.
• Check for details in the code. It should be really easy to follow and change.

Wiring:

• The LED NEON strip is feed into all 4 channels as separate strings used in parallel.
• After you press the neon LED strip onto the printed tree to the end of the 4 channels you simply need to cut the strip on one of its markers shown on the side of the neon LED strip. 
• IMPORTANT: You will need to add the above listed Step-Down module to power the ESP32 with 5V instead of the 12V delivered by the power supply. The 12V is needed for the NEON LED strip itself. You will need to measure the output voltage of the module with a volt meter and set it to 5V to avoid damage to the ESP32. Don’t forget this step to not grill the ESP32 board to death. ;-)

Happy printing =)