So from my understanding, I should first choose an LED strip to use then build from there?
If so, any tips on that?
To re state what I know so far, is non addressable.
And I suspect a IP65 for rain proofing?
65'
After those details. I am clueless. Such as 12v vs 24v
I am adding a pic of the whole building at night, as you can see I only have one light to compete with, so they dont have to be insanely bright. So I'm assuming I could go for a lower LED count?
In all honesty if it would simplify and drastically make it cheaper, I would consider doing a dedicated 45m only set up for this building.
Then pick something else for home use once I learn this.
Careful of creating another thread on the same topic... it may be frowned upon.
I’d suggest you add a cross link in both threads, so people can see where you’ve already been.
Is that able to be done via mobile? I cant find a link on it.
just go to the thread, (right click), or long press, ‘copy url’, then paste that page ‘link’ into the ‘other’ thread.
Use the url tag in the toolbar.
MikeWells:
So from my understanding, I should first choose an LED strip to use then build from there?
Pretty much.
Well, step zero is to get your specifications complete. How long a strip, what colours and patterns, what brightness. The first two you have mentioned, the third not. You're probably best off with an RGB or RGBW strip (the latter has better whites but of course costs more).
For evening decoration of a home, a 30 LED/m strip will do just fine, but it won't be very visible in the daytime. If you need that, get a higher LED density for more brightness - you can always tone it down in the evening.
Will it be exposed to the weather? If so, waterproofing is needed.
Strips come in 12V and 24V - of course that makes a difference. A 24V strip has half the current of a 12V strip so thinner wires needed, especially a concern when the strip becomes long. Lower currents are easier to handle, but higher voltages less so, and faults like short circuits are more damaging at higher voltage.
So now you have your strips - that tells you the voltage and current you have to control, and how many channels of this. The next step is figuring out how to control them: most likely a MOSFET circuit for each strip will do fine. Most likely a regular logic level MOSFET like the IRLZ44N or IRL540 will do just fine for this. Those can be controlled easily by an Arduino.
For power, maybe easiest is two power supplies. A 12V or 24V for the LED strips (make sure it can supply sufficient current), a 5V one (mobile phone charger, USB adapter) for the Arduino. Do share grounds, or it won't work. Just a single ground connection between the two.
As you now have your hardware design, it's time to think the software. For a strip that's just fading one colour into another and back again that will be pretty simple.
I am having a hard time finding the length that I need. Should I be looking at buying two separate reels?
Those that I have bought so far were 5m per reel, so you have to get 3-4 of them.
Remember to get extra wires as well - flexible 1.5mm2 (or thicker) mains wiring will do great for this. You need to feed the power to the strips at regular intervals, at least every 4-5m for 30 LED/m; every 2-3m for 60 LED/m; plus of course at the beginning and end of the strips. The strips themselves can't carry more than about 1A of current. Mind, that's one core per colour plus one for ground+12/24V, so RGB would require four wires running in parallel of your strip.
Depends on whether the strips are wired as ‘common cathode’ or ‘common anode’.
Both are fine, but it may be a little easier to control with common anode, as you supply +V on one wire, then switch the 3/4 colours to 0V through the FETs.
If you can find the strip you really want, go with what’s available, but you need ’high-side’ switching to control the +V pins. (P-FETs), otherwise N-channel FETS are usually easier to find when switching the ’low side’.
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Bob.
wvmarle:
Those that I have bought so far were 5m per reel, so you have to get 3-4 of them.Remember to get extra wires as well - flexible 1.5mm2 (or thicker) mains wiring will do great for this. You need to feed the power to the strips at regular intervals, at least every 4-5m for 30 LED/m; every 2-3m for 60 LED/m; plus of course at the beginning and end of the strips. The strips themselves can't carry more than about 1A of current. Mind, that's one core per colour plus one for ground, so RGB would require four wires running in parallel of your strip.
This doesn't make any sense.
I see premade kits of 10 meters that do not appear to have any extra wires being run other than the initial 5 going in?
Ever heard of the concept of "cost cutting"?
Really, those thin strips can NOT carry the full current by themselves. LEDs further down the line will be dimmer than those at the beginning.
So am i basically going to need multiple power supplies?
One 12V power supply that can supply all the current for your strip (check specifications of the one you intend to buy to know how much that would be); one set of big wires that connect at several points to your LED strip.
Plus a separate 5V supply for the Arduino - or a buck converter to step down 12V to 5V.