Candle-Flicker LED Strip
This circuit is live in Circuit Canvas. Open it to explore every part and wire, or make your own copy to change values, swap parts and build your own version. Free, right in your browser.
This project uses a flickering LED (one of those that you only need to connect to power and it will flicker light a flame).
By using a resistor and an N-channel MOSFET, you get a 12 V LED strip to flicker the same way.
Candle-Flicker LED Strip Schematic
A flicker LED’s built-in chip varies the current through it in a candle-like pattern. R1 turns that changing current into a changing voltage, which drives the gate of an N-channel MOSFET. The MOSFET copies the flicker onto a 12V LED strip, many times brighter than the LED alone.
R1 also limits the flicker LED’s current (about 10 mA) and pulls the gate to ground when the LED is dark, so the MOSFET switches off cleanly. A logic-level MOSFET (such as the 055N03L) is recommended so it turns fully on even during the dimmer flickers. Flicker LEDs vary between brands, so test yours on a breadboard first.
Candle-Flicker LED Strip Parts List
How to Build the Candle-Flicker LED Strip
Make it your own
Every circuit here is a live project in Circuit Canvas, not just a picture. Copy this one and change a value, swap a part or move it to a stripboard: the schematic and the breadboard layout are linked, so a part added to one appears in the other.
Or start from a blank canvas and draw your own circuit, with thousands of ready-made parts.