Everything works exactly like it should. I can the individual LEDs and nothing have blown up, but i want to power the LEDs from an external power source (i'm thinking 5 or 12V, depending on how much i need, as i have that easily available) to give them some more power, but i can't quite figure out how to do it because of how the breakout does the wiring of the LEDs.
Can anyone guide towards how i might achieve this?
so, Pins 6,7,8 are output, they provide power for LED and GND ist 21,22,24,25.
pin 1 is power for switch and goes thru buttons to pins 17,18,19,20. they no need to be changed.
GPIO26, GPIO27, GPIO32 and GPIO33 are output for the LEDs.
GPIO16, GPIO17 and GPIO18 are also output. These are the 3 R, G and B pins that are shared between all of the LEDs.
GPIO34, GPIO35, GPIO36 and GPIO39 are input for the switches.
Use the vin pin, read the data sheet for the max allowed voltage rating.
Why do you need more power? The leds are being driven as designed by the breakout board. All you want to do is plug it into the wall. Right? If so, use the vin pin and gnd
You can use transistors or, 4n35 optoisolators, that are controlled by the output signals. Im not too sure if you can change the resistors or anything else
If you can change the resistors, then you should be able to make those pretty bright
That seems to be exactly what i was looking for. Thank you so much for the help so far!
I'm not quite done struggling yet, though. I can't wrap my head around how to control the transistors (2N3903 that i had lying around) using the 3.3V on the output pins. Am i better of using something else? Is there an easy solution?
Circled circuit will not work due to the voltage drop across the LED.
If the Blue LED drops 3.4V then the base of the BJT will need to be at 3V4 + 0V7 = 4V1
ESP32 can only output near 3V3.
You will also need to check the series resistor value.
@kostecki Sorry but we need a complete diagram including the switch AND LED wiring.
Which is why i figured i should supply the LEDs with a higher voltage to give them some power power. Keep the current at 20mA, but raise the voltage above what the ESP32 can deliver on it's GPIO pins.
