I bought a 30W pixel dot from AliExpress and it didn't come with any documentation. It stated that control would be identical to a WS2811 strip. I have no problem connecting my arduino Mega2560 to a ws2811 strip and controlling those LEDs. With the same power and data connections on the 30w pixel dot I am not getting any response from the light. It's clear that there is data being sent. Has anyone had experience working with these LEDs? [led dot]

You will need a power supply capable of at least 30W. The Mega will not be able to supply sufficient current. 30W at 5V is 6A (plus any LED controller is not 100% efficient).

Thanks. The power lines are not connected to the Arduino. The LED requires a 36v input so I'm using an external power supply that can support 10A. The LED will go to full brightness when I disconnect it from the data line so it's getting sufficient power.

[image] guyhundere: it didn't come with any documentation. That's the problem with AliExpress or eBay or the "no name" Amazon sellers. :frowning: Are there any part numbers on the chips?

The model number is RA-WS2811-30W-RGB-36V. There is a number printed on the LED "407050020Z" but searching with it doesn't find anything....

I just realized that since I'm not using the power off the Arduino, I no longer have a common ground. Connecting the ground from the LED to the negative terminal of the external power supply fixed my issue. [image] Common ground and why you need one General Electronics A common mistake for people new to electronics is to have 2 circuits fed from different power supplies with signals passing between the circuits, but with the grounds not connected. This leads to questions asking why the project doesn't work. You don't have to spend long reading the questions on this forum to see this is asked often. Here I attempt to explain the problem and why it matters to connect the grounds. Note that in all of the schematics that follow I have used a battery as a power sup…

Controlling 30W Pixel Dot

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guyhundere February 15, 2022, 7:38pm 6

I just realized that since I'm not using the power off the Arduino, I no longer have a common ground. Connecting the ground from the LED to the negative terminal of the external power supply fixed my issue.

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Controlling 30W Pixel Dot

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