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[on:]

Hi , i have a couple of questions , firstly im a newbie so please be gentle.

1. I purchase the a 60 LED 1m SMD 5050 light strip thing and controller which is great but i want to take and cut down the strip into sections of 3 lights and control/change each.
Im realistically looking to have several of these maybe changing colours over the day i dont even really need to connect them to the arduino mega i have , just want to light several small areas.

2. Do you know if i can power one of these from a PC power supply , (to illuminate the case) by modifining a molex hdd/fan power point? and just plug it in or do i need to limit the power?


Please advise if you can?
Also does anyone know of any good sites/online electronic basics to help me learn more about this all?

Thanks in advance

[Reply #1 on:]

It would help if you posted a link to what you have then we can see what exactly it is. Don't assume that people know everything about everything.
Normally these things have built in current limiting circuits but without the data sheet you can't tell.

[Reply #2 on:]

Sorry
http://www.ukledsdirect.com/12v-5050-rgb-smd-led-strip-60-leds-per-meter-150-p.asp

this is what i have purchased.

Thanks

[Reply #3 on:]

OK thanks.
Yes that product has the current limiting built in so you only need to switch 12V to it.
To do that from an arduino you will need to use a FET to drive each colour of the LED strip from each arduino output.

[Reply #4 on:]

yes you can use the 12v supply from your computer (the strip can use up to about 1.2 amps of power or 15 watts witch should be no trouble for your computer power supply)

if you want to control each section by it's self you may want to save your self some trouble and get a digital strip with the 6803 chips then you can use 2 pins on the Arduino and send it a SIP signal to adjust the color and brightness

if you would rather use the strip you got you may want to look into doing a matrix to save on pins but it will depend on how many sections you want to control?

[Reply #5 on:]

Hi , i have a couple of questions , firstly im a newbie so please be gentle.

1. I purchase the a 60 LED 1m SMD 5050 light strip thing and controller which is great but i want to take and cut down the strip into sections of 3 lights and control/change each.
Im realistically looking to have several of these maybe changing colours over the day i dont even really need to connect them to the arduino mega i have , just want to light several small areas.

If you don't connect them to a microcontroller (like an arduino) you can't have them change colors over the day, unless you did some nifty wiring with traditional ICs. I'd suggest getting a cheaper arduino if you want to do a permanent mount (or a bare atmega328). Good luck though.

[Reply #6 on:]

So say i just want to power it from the PC , i can use a spare molex power cable and grab the 12v and ground and wire it to a power connector to attach to the colour changing box without doing anything else?
Is it really that simple?

I was worried that the power from the computers psu or should i say current would be too much.

Thanks for your help.

I also wondered if anyone has played with these before , even taking one of the leds and connected it to the arduino single led at a time?

[Reply #7 on:]

Is it really that simple?

Yes  
It is the voltage that is important, the current capability of a power supply is just that, a capability, what it can supply if called to do so not what it will supply.

[Reply #8 on:]

Thanks for your help.

Do you or anyone know the best places to find teaching electronics stuff , i want to learn more but cant seem to find any decent basic's guides etc explaining this sort of stuff.