Length: 5 meter
Working voltage is 12 VDC
Working Current/meter: 0.35 - 0.4 A
First of all, do all those LED strips on the market have their own resistor ? So, do I need to add a current limiting resistor ?
If I decide to use 1 meter, then I will still be applying 12 VDC. However, this time I need to limit the current to 0.35 - 0.4 A with a resistor, am I correct ? Or can I drop the voltage and do not use any resistor ?
I am kinda confused. Appreciate if you clarify it.
For Dumb LED strips: Every 3 LEDs will have its own current limit resistor; power & gnd are passed along in parallel to the next group of 3. Each group of 3 will draw ~20mA from 12V supply. A shorter length will thus draw less current. PWM/transistor can be used to control brightness.
For Smart LED strips, a control chip will control each LED/group of LEDs. Current draw will be similar. Software controls the brightness.
CrossRoads:
For Dumb LED strips: Every 3 LEDs will have its own current limit resistor; power & gnd are passed along in parallel to the next group of 3. Each group of 3 will draw ~20mA from 12V supply. A shorter length will thus draw less current. PWM/transistor can be used to control brightness.
For Smart LED strips, a control chip will control each LED/group of LEDs. Current draw will be similar. Software controls the brightness.
CrossRoads:
For Dumb LED strips: Every 3 LEDs will have its own current limit resistor; power & gnd are passed along in parallel to the next group of 3. Each group of 3 will draw ~20mA from 12V supply. A shorter length will thus draw less current. PWM/transistor can be used to control brightness.
For Smart LED strips, a control chip will control each LED/group of LEDs. Current draw will be similar. Software controls the brightness.
To drive one of these LED strips, I need to use a NPN transistor. However, I am not sure which transistor to choose and the resistor to connect its base.
I reckon the resistor should be something like that for 5 Meters;
5* Hfe / (1.3 * 2)
where 5 is the switching voltage from digitalOutput and 2 is the load current drawn by LED strip
Use an N-channel MOSFET, AOI518, 55 cents from digikey.com
The board at my youtube link above has 32 of them, turned on/off by 74HC595, so '328P output will not have any issue driving them either.
Use 10K resistor from gate to Gnd to keep it off when the IO pin is not being driven (i.e. during reset conditions).
CrossRoads:
For Dumb LED strips: Every 3 LEDs will have its own current limit resistor;
If it's a 12V strip then it will have resistors.
zoom:
One more question if you don't mind;
To drive one of these LED strips, I need to use a NPN transistor. However, I am not sure which transistor to choose and the resistor to connect its base.
5M of LEDs needs about 2A so you should really use MOSFETs for this.
zoom:
I reckon the resistor should be something like that for 5 Meters;
5* Hfe / (1.3 * 2)
where 5 is the switching voltage from digitalOutput and 2 is the load current drawn by LED strip
There's no need to mess around with Hfe calculations if all you want is to switch stuff on/off with a BJT. Just use 220 or 330 Ohms, whatever's handy. That will fully turn on just about anything.
