ESP8266 or arduino nano Send serial data and external power for RGB led.

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi, my question it´s the following

I Need external power for a RGB led strip of WS2812B, but also I need to have my board conected to usb to send serial data for leds controll.

I have and esp8266 + 3.3to 5V logic converter.
And 5V output arduino nano.

How can I connect the RGB strip to power suply and arduino to usb without problems?

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In this case if I connect the usb at same time I can burn my PC USB I understand, so what I need to change in order to have both usb and power at same time.

Thanks!

2

Remove the red wire between the Arduino and the LED power supply. Leave the ground (black) wire connected.

forum led power.jpg
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The 5V ano is a better choice for this.

3

Thanks!!!

4

I can't speak for the esp8266, mostly because there are a lot of different boards.

But connecting 5V to the 5V/Vcc pin of a Nano is fine. On a Uno it's unfortunately not... There you need >7V on the Vin for it to work. Safest option on a Uno is to:

  • or make a USB cable connected to the external 5V as well. Swap between USB to computer (when you need a computer) and USB from external PSU (when you want to run it without computer). Don't forget to do have a fixed connection between Arduino GND and external power GND.
  • or make a dedicated USB cable for the computer with the 5V wire cut. But don't forget to never use a normal USB cable
  • or find the trace of the 5V USB on the Arduino and cut it.