Running Analog LED Tape From Nano ESP32 sACN

Other Hardware LEDs and Multiplexing
1

Hi, I am new to Arduino architecture. I've been trying for days to get my Nano ESP32 to run a simple analog RGBW strand from ETC Eos via sACN over Wifi. I've followed the instructions I've been able to find online for wiring and I tried to use ChatGPT and other sources to figure out the code. The WiFi portion seems to work. I can get the device to ping, but I can't get it to output anything to the tape. The code compiles just fine. I'll Copy/paste the code below, so if anyone can help me figure out what I'm doing wrong, that would be great.

#include <WiFi.h>
#include <ESPAsyncE131.h>

const char* ssid     = "NETGEAR";
const char* password = "";

// --- Universe settings ---
#define E131_UNIVERSE 1
#define CHANNEL_R 1
#define CHANNEL_G 2
#define CHANNEL_B 3
#define CHANNEL_W 4

// --- GPIO pins ---
#define PIN_R 6
#define PIN_G 8
#define PIN_B 7
#define PIN_W 18

// Onboard LED pin (Nano ESP32 built-in LED)
#define LED_PIN LED_BUILTIN

// --- E1.31 receiver ---
ESPAsyncE131 e131(1);

void blinkFast() {
  digitalWrite(LED_PIN, !digitalRead(LED_PIN));
  delay(100);
}

void blinkSlow() {
  digitalWrite(LED_PIN, !digitalRead(LED_PIN));
  delay(500);
}

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  delay(2000);  
  pinMode(LED_PIN, OUTPUT);

  Serial.println("Booting...");

  // --- PWM setup ---
  ledcAttachPin(PIN_R, 1);
  ledcAttachPin(PIN_G, 2);
  ledcAttachPin(PIN_B, 3);
  ledcAttachPin(PIN_W, 4);

  ledcSetup(1, 5000, 8);
  ledcSetup(2, 5000, 8);
  ledcSetup(3, 5000, 8);
  ledcSetup(4, 5000, 8);

  // --- WiFi connect ---
  Serial.print("Connecting to WiFi: ");
  Serial.println(ssid);
  WiFi.begin(ssid, password);

  unsigned long start = millis();
  
  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED && (millis() - start < 10000)) {
    Serial.print("WiFi Status: ");
    Serial.println(WiFi.status());  

    blinkSlow();  // slow blink = trying to connect
  }

  if (WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECTED) {
    Serial.println("\nWiFi Connected!");
    Serial.print("IP Address: ");
    Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());
    digitalWrite(LED_PIN, HIGH); // solid ON = connected
  } else {
    Serial.println("\nWiFi FAILED to connect!");
    // continue blinking slowly
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) blinkSlow();
  }

  // --- Start E1.31 ---
  if (e131.begin(E131_UNICAST)) {
    Serial.println("E1.31 receiver started.");
  } else {
    Serial.println("E1.31 start failed!");
  }
}

void loop() {
  // If WiFi drops, show LED off
  if (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW);
  }

  e131_packet_t packet;

  if (!e131.isEmpty()) {
    e131.pull(&packet);

    uint8_t r = packet.property_values[CHANNEL_R + 1];
    uint8_t g = packet.property_values[CHANNEL_G + 1];
    uint8_t b = packet.property_values[CHANNEL_B + 1];
    uint8_t w = packet.property_values[CHANNEL_W + 1];

    ledcWrite(1, r);
    ledcWrite(2, g);
    ledcWrite(3, b);
    ledcWrite(4, w);

    Serial.printf("RGBW: %d, %d, %d, %d\n", r, g, b, w);
  }
}
2

Post your schematic showing how you connected everything. Be sure to include all power sources and other hardware such as resistors. Also post links to the hardware parts as many things although different have the same name.

3

I'm using 4 N-channel Logic level MOSFETs (IRLZ44N). Here is the description of the schematic I'm using.

Connected Grounds of the 12.6v 1A (3000mAh) power supply to the GND pin on the Nano and the Source on the MOSFETs using Wago clips.
Connected the power supply V+ to the VIN pin on the Nano and and the V+ wire of the LED tape
Connected the separate color MOSFET gates to pins D3, D5, D6, and D9 on the Nano.
Connected the separate MOSFET drains to the corresponding color wire on the LED tape.

Notes: The Ground is shared between the power supply, all MOSFET sources.
The 12V+ is connected to the LED V+ and the Arduino VIN.
At this point, I am only using a short piece of LED tape that is well below a 1A draw.
I have not used any extra resistors because the LED tape has them built in.

MOSFET Gate: Digital Pins
Source: Common Ground
Drain: LED color

4

Lots of words that a simple schematic would explain and be a lot easier to understand.

5

Arduino Diagram
Arduino Diagram565×478 12.2 KB

6

That looks fair. But will give you problems. Key is you connected the grounds together. On the MOSFET this is how I suggest you wire it as it appears you are directly driving the LEDs. Note the 10K resistor from the port pin to ground, it can be any reasonable value, many use 10K. What that resistor does it keeps the MOSFETs off during reset or from power on until the processor gets control. The LED strips I use have the resistors built in.

image
image474×273 10.1 KB