Can this be done? I thinking that because these strips maybe wired in parallel, I would NOT be able to control each LED, but maybe I could control each strip. The reason I want to use these strips is because they are super cheap!! And...I need a strip of LEDS. 24 on each strip x6 strips exactly. 24x6 Can each strip be controlled by the arduino? If so how? I need a good start or some direction. Never used one of these suckers before, and Im afraid Im in over my head. But I like to run before I can walk, and trip...lol
Here's the best specs I could find on the LED strips:
Hope that helps. I just want them to be able to flash and maybe each strip light up individually.
I actually just made interior lights for a friends car using RGB leds and 3 pots to mix the colors to make any color of her pleasing .. But i will be changing to LED strips , hopefully i could find RGB strips , but definitely can be done, only thing is I am not sure how much current the cigarette plug thing can give me...
But yeah its all feasible
Once you know how much current each of your (combined?) LED strips draws, we can help you select an appropriate transistor that will handle that load, and once the transistor and the load are knows, the value of the resistor can be selected. These are all jelly-bean parts that cost only pennies, much less than your LED strips. But in order to select the right ones, we need to know how much current your loads are, and that depends on the LEDS, and how many of them, etc. Easiest would be to use a meter and just measure how much current each LED strip draws when operating from your vehicle 12V power.
KE7GKP, Thank you!
Well at least I know it can be done!! Horrah.
On a side note, I wanted to power all 6 of these strips in an 8 AA battery in a holder. I think the batteries be powerful enough to do this.
each strip is rated at a charging current of 600-800mA. So according to your diagram what would the value of the resistor need to be? I don't know what the total current would be, but 600mA is very small for 1 strip, so I'm guessing a 1k Ohm resistor or smaller would be fine, I could be mistaken. I actually calculated 15 Ohms based on there being 24 LEDs per strip.
Can someone please help me figure out total current, as I don't have these parts, would total load current be 600mA times 6 strips = 3600mA? I'm just not sure. Can someone help me wire this up using fritzing or a similar software with the right values? Also what would be the best transistor be to use? And how do I wire this to an ardunio. All help is welcome. Thank you very much.
AA cells are in no way suitable for a 3.6 amp load. Unless you want a battery lifespan measured in seconds.
Do you want to control all the LED strips TOGETHER or SEPARATELY? That will help select what kind of transistor(s) you need.
Where are you? Please complete your user profile to at least reveal what country you are in.
Depending on where you are, what sources of transistors and what transistors are available to you?
Once we know how much load (how many amps) each transistor must switch (question #2) we can help you select appropriate transistors.
Once we know what transistors you will use, we can do a simple calculation to determine the base resistor.
The rating of the LED strips as "Charging Current" is completely inappropriate. You aren't "charging" anything here. What we want is the "load current". It makes us think that whomever wrote that web page doesn't know the first thing about what they are writing about. I suppose we must just assume the number is correct even if it was written by someone with no apparent knowledge of the subject. And the wide range (600-800 mA) is also quite questionable. They should be able to state a much more accurate number than that range. It would be better to connect them to the proposed power source and just measure the current yourself. It's never clear whether something is lost in translation, or whether the sellers just don't care about publishing accurate information. Perhaps at that price you can't expect much.
1.) Really? Well I need this to be portable is the reason I wanted to use AA batteries. Is there an alternative solution?
2.) I really wanted to do each strip separately, if possible, maybe scan through each one, that kind of thing.
3.) Ill get on it I'm in the United States of Immigrants who butchered Native Americans for gold and glory. (and guts)
Again I wanted to use the strips because they are flexible. Im thinking they are 120mA each! Hope that helps.
