EverLights were designed to embed into the gutters and flashing on existing homes. Many homes already have everything needed to install EverLights right on the house. Simply drill holes using our handy template, insert the light through the backside of the hole, and secure the light in place by screwing on the cap. If your home does not have gutters or drip edge flashing installed, it’s a simple addition. Custom moldings are available, but you can also find what you need at your local home improvement center.

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The EverLights Starter Kit comes with all the materials you need to get your lights going, but there are a few tools you will need:

• Drill – any brand or type of drill will do, but a cordless drill is best. Drill bits are included with the starter kit.
• Wire stripper/crimper/cutter – This can either be a multi tool, or three separate tools.
• Screwdriver – A small flat head is needed to secure the connections in the terminal blocks that attach to the control box
• Lighter or mini torch – most weatherproof connections (included) require heat shrinking
• Ladder – Unless you’re super tall or good at monkey-ing around

The first step to installing your system is to link your control box to your home Wi-Fi network. You can download the complete instructions below, but a few things to note:

• The Wi-Fi network you choose must be a 2.4 GHz network. 
• Pick a network that has a consistently strong signal wherever you are installing your control box.
• Make sure your mobile device is on the same network you assign to your control box anytime you want to control the lights.
• To hang the control box on the wall, place a piece of layout tape on the wall and drill two holes six inches apart with the included drill bits. Insert the drywall anchors and mount the control box.

 

Y-splits
When making a Y-split use a multiple wire step down connector heat shrink. Installation is the same as a regular butt splice heat shrink, except strip 3/8” of insulation off the two output wires and twist them together before inserting into the butt splice. Melting the heat shrink is the same, but make sure the glue provides a good seal between the two wires on the output side.

It is very important to pay attention to the direction of your lights. If you wire the lights backwards, you may cause damage to the lights or the control box. Each individual light is marked with the words "In" and "Out" on the backside of the shell. You can think of the control box sending the signal and power out to your lights. This means the first light that connects to your control box should connect on the "In" side. Each subsequent light connects in like manner, even when there's a Y-split or section of unlit wire. Always connect "Out" to "In". Never connect "Out" to "Out" or "In" to "In".

Inside each LED there are three pixels, a red, green, and blue pixel. The 16 million colors are achieved by mixing the brightness of these three pixels. White is achieved by full brightness on all three pixels. As such, white is the biggest power draw to the system.

We recommend boosting the power every 75 feet or so to keep the colors consistent. Many patterns or colors will be fine at longer distances, but if your lights are on all white at full brightness, you will start to notice the colors turning reddish around the 75 foot mark. You can boost your power at longer or shorter intervals, but 75 feet is a good rule of thumb.

There are ways to maximize the length you can go without boosting the power. You can read about these in our Tips and Tricks. However, in many cases there is no getting around boosting the power. In these situations, you have the following options to accomplish this:
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1) Use a power booster
EverLights power boosters are waterproof power supplies that can be installed in outdoor locations. Ideally, you will have an eave outlet close to where you need to boost your power, but any outlet will do. This is the ideal method for boosting power.

2) Run parallel power from the control box
If there are no exterior outlets accessible, this is a good option. Connect a second cable to the terminal block of the control box (power wires only, the middle wire will not be used) and run it to the point you need the power. You can run this wire with the lights, or take another route.

3) Run parallel power off a booster
The same idea as option 2, but run the second set of parallel power wires from a power booster instead of the control box. This essentially provides two power boosting locations from one power booster.

In all three options, connecting the wiring is the same procedure. If you are tapping the fresh power into the middle of a run, cut the two power wires but leave the data wire intact. You can also add the fresh power at any connection point, in which case you would connect the data wires as usual. Next, join all three positive wires using a multiple wire butt splice connector. If connecting the booster between two lights be sure to put the booster wire in the larger side of the connector with one of the wires from the lights. This will ensure proper spacing. Lastly, connect all three neutral wires using an additional multiple wire butt splice connector.

Tips and Tricks

Safety is very important.  Please review these two documents to properly use your ladder and stay safe.

2) Double check connections: make sure the right wires are connected to one another at all connection points. A wrong connection on one end of the house can affect the lights on the other end of the house. Make sure like wires are always connected and never crossed.

3) Double check power booster inputs: the red wire is the positive wire and connects to the light wires labeled "EverLights". The black wire connects to the other outside wire, labeled "GND".

Control box worked previously, now unresponsive
Run through the setup wizard again. It's possible the IP address assigned to your controller has changed. If the power goes out or you have unplugged your router, there's a good chance a new IP address has been assigned to the control box.

Lights fade out and start blinking
This is caused by wiring a power booster in backwards. Double check that the positive wire from the power booster is connected to the positive wires of the lights.

Only half the lights work and they are unresponsive
Likely caused by positive and ground wires coming in contact. This could either be in a connection or at the terminated wire at the end of the run.

The lights previously worked but now a section is out
Likely a malfunction of the first light that is off. Try turning the lights off and back on. If problem persists, it’s best to replace the suspect light. However, in rare cases it could also be a data issue between the last light working and the first light off. To avoid making two splices, it is typically best to just replace the last light that works and first light that is off with two of your spare lights.
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One light is the wrong color
One of the pixels inside the LED may be damaged. You can verify this by setting the lights to all red, then all green, and finally all blue. If the light in question did not light up with one of those colors, it means the corresponding pixel went out. Simply replace the affected light, no need to replace the light before it as well.