I have four of these light bars, which I assume operate off of WS2811, or some similar LED strip that can be controlled by an ESP32. Each product comes with a 24V 1A power supply and controller but I would like to build my own single controller (to control all of the strips), and I am wondering whether I can still use the power supplies that were included.
I'm aware that the logic will need to be 5V and I have plenty of 74HCT14 on hand, but I left them out of my diagram to keep it simple. The GND from each 24V power supply would need to be connected to the ESP32 in order for the data line to work.
Establish a good GND point near the controller and connect all grounds there. **Don't ** use various GND pins on the board, making the board, to be that point.
It's fine to use several power supplies like that.
The signals from the ESP32 to the light strips need a return path. So you need to connect the grounds of the strips to the GND of the ESP32 or it will not work.
And the power for the LEDs needs a return path to the power supply.
Yes, you can use the 24V power supplies for the LED strips. Just make sure to connect the grounds from the 24V supplies to the ESP32. Use your 74HCT14 to handle the logic level conversion from 3.3V to 5V.
BTW,, Are you powering the ESP32 separately or through a buck converter from one of the 24V supplies?
It seems that a separate 5V power supply will be feasible. I'd prefer this, since a buck converter might potentially reduce the brightness of some of the LEDs. So, I'll use a separate 5V supply.
If you have added extra parts then please post a diagram of your latest circuit in a new post. Do not update existing posts. This is so we can check exactly what you latest circuit is. There are a few ways of wiring this up not all of them are correct, so we need to check it is OK.
So place the resister in line with the data input of your LED strip.
