Having issue with WS2812 Strips

Other Hardware LEDs and Multiplexing
1

Hello,

im a new member of the forum so if i type something unusual im so sorry from now..

so im having issue with my strips,

my goal is to make a ambilight setup that you can see on YT there is a lot of them..

i placed my strips around my 34 inch monitor they are 125 pixels total,

i have a Arduino nano, i made the connections;

Data from LEDs to arduino D6,

Ground and 5V pins to Arduino these are the baby steps you know :slight_smile:

and after i uploaded a basic code all the lights were working good but as you can gues from a USB 2.0 or 3.0 we can get only 100 - 150 miliamps

which made some color differences on my strip i mean if i light all the strips white, pixels at the begining were white, but at the end of the strips were like more yellowish white.. so as you can guess i need more power,

i bought a LED power supply 12V 12.5Amps, which is enough i think for 125 pixels,

BUT THIS IS THE POINT WHERE MY PROBLEMS STARTING...

ifi cutted the wiire for 5V from Arduino and connected it directly to my power supply V+ output and V- to LED's Ground, also on my strip there is another ground cable that goes to Arduino ground

so, if i turn my power supply on, nothing happens only the first pixel lights up, if i reset it by unplug it and plug it again, lights are working but without any effect something like stucked , and if i repeat that process unplug and plug again, sometimes working with effects but looking like its trying to run all effects on the code at the same time, sometimes stucking again i mean its not working correctly...

AFTER THAT,

i cut my data cable from leds to arduino and put a 470ohm resistor, and this time nothing happened only the first pixel working when my power supply is plugged...

AFTER THAT, i connected a capacitor 1000fu 10v to cables that goes from V+ V- to the strip and nothing happened again...

so guys, can you tell me where im doing something wrong ?? :(((

its working fine from usb but not working with my power supply :frowning:

2

Show us a good schematic of your circuit.
Show us a good image of your wiring.

3

maina89:
i bought a LED power supply 12V 12.5Amps,

WS2812 strips require a 5V supply. 12V will damage them.

4

PaulRB:
WS2812 strips require a 5V supply. 12V will damage them.

even with the 6.3V Capacitor ?

larryd:
Show us a good schematic of your circuit.
Show us a good image of your wiring.

this is the tutorial and my schematic

5

We need to see 'YOUR' wiring not someone else's work.

You need a 5 volt supply, a 6.3v capacitor has nothing to do with anything but may explode.

6

The ground from the power supply needs to connect to the ground to the arduino. Also, you likely need to power the led strip from each end.

If you hooked up 12v to them it is time to get new strips. The capacitor does not limit voltage. The 6.3v listed on it refers to what it’s maximum rating is, you cannot connect a power supply higher than 6.3v to the capacitor, likewise, the 5v the to strip refers to the maximum voltage the strip can take.

7

so as far as i understand i need a 5v power supply with over 10Amps ...
i also noticed something that may help with finding the mistake, when i turn on my setup its not working right?

but when i turning off all the lights flashing just 1 time, and after i second run all pixels working but not correctly

8

Means nothing

9

i also noticed something that may help with finding the mistake, when i turn on my setup its not working right?

You are waving your hands in the air and running in circles.

12v has probably damaged your LED strip and maybe even your Arduino.

When asked to provide useful information, you refuse, but show some else’s work.

Why should we spend any more of the ‘our’ time to help you?

10

larryd:
You are waving your hands in the air and running in circles.

12v has probably damaged your LED strip and maybe even your Arduino.

When asked to provide useful information, you refuse, but show some else’s work.

Why should we spend any more of the ‘our’ time to help you?

Dude, my arduino is powered by usb, will it damage via ground port ?

becouse tthere is only 1 connection from my power supply directly to arduion and its by ground cable...

anyways after your suggesstions i bought new power supply today which is

THIS: 5V 10A 50W

with this supply its started to working good but now, i have another issue... my first couple leds are dimming white but the others turning to red... this is looking like a power issue..

looking like this

thats weird becouse i dont know anymore what kind a power supply i need to buy

if my calculation is right i need 125 Leds * 60 each = 7500 / 1000 = 7.5 Amps

and i checked the box of the leds , and on the specs says: i need 18W /meter and 60 pixels /meter

so for 125 leds which is 2 meters and 5 pixels at the max brightness i need +- 40W right? so i have everything that i need except knowledge which is the most important part :(((

btw this is my setup how its looking now, once i get ready i will do better cable connections with tubing etc...

so what you see here is;

My arduino is powered from USB 2.0,

There is a GREEN cable from Arduino GND to Stip GND

Yellow is from Arduino Pin6 to Strip Data with a 470ohm resistor

Blue cable is other GND out from the strip that goes to Power Supply's V-

Red cable is From Power supply V+ to strip 5V

11

i can understand the voltage drop through the strip, if the strip was longer than 5m or something ... but its just 2m strip 125 pixels i cant understand why this is happening

12

Voltage drop is a function of current through a given capacity. 125 leds is a lot of leds and is a lot of current. Power it from both ends.

13

yeah finally i understanded yesterday, first of all all removed all the connections from each side, and shorter and cleaner connections with soldering after doing that white palette is expanded on the strip but not all the strips, and for that added another 5v 0.6a adapter at end of the strips and everything is fine...

so i have a final question for you guys,
instead of this 5v 0.6a adapter is there any way to use my other 12V supplies that i bought at the begining wih capacitor or resistor or something else ??

becouse i have another adapter that giving 12v 2A output and if i connect it at the end strips there is no color issiue or voltage drop, but leds not working correctly is there any way to fix this ?

14

No. The leds and ic chips will get damaged. It’s magical the weren’t already destroyed.

15

You can buy 12V to 5V DC-DC converters. But they will cost about the same as new 5V psu.