I do like these videos Dr Zzs... When I see you do a live stream, I know it's going to be hours, and I know I will just wait for the 20 minute "abridged" version, haha! Don't stop doing these ones, please!!
@@DrZzs I askd on discord but I'd like to ask on this .. I have 12v ws2815 that do/di and bo/bi data lines I tried to split the data but it's not working any suggestions how it be best wired up
Great videos! You never hit the actual single WLED/NodeMCU LED limit. I'm working on a 3000+ LED system currently and the WLED software won't let you enter a value higher than 1500 but it does run 1500 LED's in series and most effects work, but not all, there is some lag. The software warns you when you go over 1000 that some effects may not work and it suggests max of 750 LEDs. Also, my signal wire goes 24' to reach the #1 LED using #16 wire and the effects work fine so my long signal wire doesn't seem to be an issue without a sacrificial LED.
What is the best actual method to split the data wire? I saw your video, but I could not figure out. Is there another connector/adapter/splitter thatI need to buy? How do you wire it on the breadboard. Can you take a picture or do a short video how to split data wire? This is my first LED project so I apologize if I asked silly question. TIA.
Thank you SO MUCH for putting out this info condensed like this. Answered all my questions. I think for my first Christmas light pixel setup I will just run 2 or 3 pixel runs off one NodeMCU along with power injection. Then my WiFi won't be taken over by NodeMCU connections haha. Your videos are the best! Do you have a name / affiliate link for that white 'tester board' you used in the video? Gotta support your channel!
Hi Doc, when injecting power every 5m, can it be one long cable running parallel to the whole run, with insulation cut outs, or must it be lots of separate lines?
It just depends on the size of the wire you use and the distance it travels. If the wire is to small then you will run into the same voltage drop issue.
Im trying to figure my ws2811 12v strip i have parallel supply for 6m with power injection at 4m and another 4m, the second 4 meter long is making flickering occasionaly. My data is around 30cm(1 ft?) ive been figuring it for few days now. No level shifter. I am assuming there is a faulty icu? Since i tryed everything else, checking connections and all, i am now at the point of adding pixel by pixel to figure where the problem is. 4m in wled is set to 40 as 3 leds are per icu. So far at 16 or 17 i noticed the flickering starts. But its hard to be sure, since it only flickers like once a minute or even less. Voltage at this point is 11.7v Any opinions? Had similar problems with bad ground connection before, but was way more consistent. Any idea? Shortly after more testing if at pixel 17 flickering continues, i will replace that segment..
I know this is an older post. But a couple noobie questions. Is it possable to break up a string of lights so that each segment is addressable? IE. i have 4 Candy canes, each with 10 LEDs. can I set up the NodeMCU as having 40 LEDS, but segment them into 4 groups of 10 for something like Xlights? The other question is on data cable length. Since the Logic voltage level on the NodeMCU is 3.3 volts, would you get longer data cable lengths if you used a logic level amplihyer? They take the 3.3 volts and convert it to 5. Thats more in the range of the LEDS
I’ve addd a sacrificial pixel like in the video. I’m 25’ from may strip 12v and only getting 5-6 leds to light. If I plug in 12” away all works great. Tried a new 25’ wire and a new pixel and still the same outcome. Help…
Can you put a PIR sensor on the MCU so lights do I certain thing when there is motion? I would like to use this setup at the front of the house and would like different themes depending if there is motion or not, but I don't want to run 2 boards when the MCU has so many unused pins.
Excellent. I know the live streams contain a lot of good info, but don't have the time to commit to them. Awesome to see a highlights reel. Thank you to you and the sponsor. Shame I'm the wrong side of the pond to buy from them.
Hey if I have a set of LED strips 32.4 ft, which you know is 2 strips that are 16.4 ft, the 2 strips meet at a connection which connects to 1 cord down to the power supply. Say I wanted to put about 12 feet in between them, but only on 1 of the strips. Could I cut 1 of the strips just above the connection point and wire in a 12 ft extension (basically so the power is towards 1 end and not in the middle) connecting the strip back with the cord near the connection point? Would that work and still be able to work off that original power supply? Appreciate all the help. Love your videos.
Have an LED related question? Be sure to ask your question in led-lighting-diy- Channel on discord! discord.gg/8gvF67h Our LED masterminds, the PixelHeads, generally hang out there and can answer your question(s) swiftly.
MQTT Discovery. So I've been digging and it very much looks like there's something fishy going on, but (at least for me) all isn't quite lost. I set up a new WLED device, and set up MQTT. I subscribed to the homeassistant/# topics on my MQTT broker and waited for messages to come through. They did. Still, nothing showed up in the MQTT integration for new devices. I dug into the logs, and found quite a few entries saying "[homeassistant.components.mqtt.discovery] Component has already been discovered: light WLED_a020a6158ee8" Restarted HA and then I saw the fateful line... "Found new component: light WLED_a020a6158ee8". Still nothing in the discovered devices, but searching for WLED2 (which was the name of the device) in the developer states tool it was there. And set up. And ready to go. TL:DR - there's apparently an issue showing new devices in the integrations tab, but they do seem to show up
I know this video is about 1 year old, I'm unsure of you'll see my comment. I've bought WS2815 which use 12v and a nodemcu. Both are powered through the same 12v PSU with a dc-dc 12-5 converter with usb. Thus, I connect + and - from LED strip and the DC-DC converter at the same source. After, I connect through USB the nodemcu and I connect the data pin with a 470ohm (a lot of place on internet they says to put a resistance, I notice you don't?). Anyway, with or without the resistance, it doesn't work. I then put a 7805 (the negative equivalent) from the LED - to the GND pin on the nodemcu and then it work. If I remove the 7805, the nodemcu get 12v - and the breadboard melt! So, I don't get how it work for you because I'm unable to reproduce it.
ok, I'll answer to my own question. I think I know what happen because I just retried without my 7805 and directly connected to the GND pin of the nodemcu and it work. I think the problem is because I had the USB connected in my computer and the power from PSU, because of that, the ground from the nodemcu and the LED strip wasn't from the same source. My 7805 would save the day, but still not a good idea
This is exactly what I needed! I've got 2 esp32 that even with 20cm data wire does the same thing as happened when you connected the +100m wire, could I be unlucky enough to get 2 bad esps or am I doing something wrong? (I'm already waiting for another esp32 to make sure, as I'll need them anyway for other stuff)
Have an LED related question? Be sure to ask your question in led-lighting-diy- Channel on discord! discord.gg/8gvF67h Our LED masterminds, the PixelHeads, generally hang out there and can answer your question(s) swiftly.
First off GREAT VIDEO, Quick Question, I'm new to the WLED, and just got a New DIG QUAD (Dec 2021) and I was wondering if the Sacrificial pixel must still be used for long initial starts; by long im talking about 15 feet?
Can I use a 12v 2811 for the sacrificial pixel, or does it need to be 5v? I ordered all 12v 2811. Can anything else be used instead, or do I need to order a string of 5v? Thanks!
using 6x 5meter stripes 5 volt SK6812WWA 5 volt addressable LEDS I have achieved lighting1767 using an Arduino mega and programmed through the Arduino IDE (not WLED) after LED number 1767 it all goes haywire which is a real shame because my route around the room where I intend to install them is exactly 30mtrs.
Does this mean I can have 40M between pixels? 1 pixel + 40M another pixel, 40M. And so on. Does each pixel re buffer the signal? Wondering about using high powered 2811 as floods on trees spread out in my yard
Does the power supply amp requirement differ if we provide parallel vs sequential LED connection. e.g. Connecting 4 150LED 5V strips with power supply at 2 places from same 5V10A power supply?
I also purchased these plugs from eBay... 3pin Male And Female 22AWG LED Strip Wire JST SM Plug Connector. they are an exact fit for my ws2811 strings. they make connections so simple... and a generous dab of dialectic grease on them and they will last a good month outside.
I realize this is from a few years ago but...We now that a version of WLED that supports more than one data channel. All is now well in the world. 🙂 One other thing to watch for when using a power supply (other than through the USB port) is that a capacitor will probably be needed across the 5 vdc in and ground pins on the ESP 32. Mine ran fine via USB power but refused to stay running when I switched over to a 300 watt 5 vcd supply. A 10 uf capacitor took care of it.
@DrZzs Do you have any suggestions for finding all UL listed components (strips, controller, strips, wire, etc.)? I'm thinking of swapping cheap UL controller for dig-uno after inspection.
Can you please help me, I have been trying to figure why I’m getting a “flicker” . I have tried everything. My data wire is only 7” long *and I’m still getting it. I have tried 3 ESP8266. 3 different leds strips and pixels. I just don’t get it
Been following your videos and built amilight successfully! Curious about sacrificial pixel, can I sacrifice the good old analog LED? can the one of the RGB channel relay the DI signal? Thanks DrZzs!
Thanks Drzzs, I think i'm right in thinking by me using a computer PSU which i've done to stand alone, i can use the 5v for the esp8266 and 12v for my ws2811 :-) can wait to start going from normal grb's to addressable ones
I like the sacrificial LED, but i'm curious what - electronically - is going on under the covers, and how to achieve reasonable distances without using an LED. What electronic components can i put on the 3.3v output side of the nodemcu before connecting to my WS2812B strip? i'm sure this has been answered in a post, but there are so many! THANKS!
How do you get multiple controllers to work so there is a light run from controller to controller. IOW, If I have a 60 meter run of three strings 300 each with 3 controllers haw a light run starting at light 1 and run to 900 light run.
I have about a 24ft run to my first led with 18awg. The first ~300 pixels work flawlessly, but then only the first 3 pixels work on the next strand. The 4th pixel flickers. Not sure if this is a power or data issue. I have tried other strings with similar results. The voltage at the beginning of the line is ~7V. When I add an led before the 24ft run none of the lights work. Any help would be appreciated.
I have a 100 led string of 12V. I am using a 12V/2A adapter connected using the block you show in this video. Everything works with WLED, I can switch effects, colors, etc. with the exception of I get flashes when it goes between effects. I've tried both ways to connect the ground, separate and together, to no avail. Anyone have any idea of what might be going wrong here?
Hi DrZzs , i have just purchased some SK6812 RGBW led strip lights and connected them using WLED app,. I have one problem though when i choose a solid color other than white only one in three leds are that color the others are different when i choose white all LEDs are the same. I have changed to all the variations in the settings for color order but with no luck,Any Ideas?
Sorry, I posted a similar question in one of your other videos. What is the best actual method to split the data wire? I see in the video you use a white plastic board. This is my first LED lights experience, but I'm pretty good at figuring things out. Is that what they call a breadboard? Is there a specific type I need to get? Any recommended link for it? Also, when using a sacrificial pixel, do you end up just twisting the wires together? Do you use wire nuts? Thanks!!!!
Maybe someone can give me some advice. My display is 6 candy canes each with 1 strand of 300 pixels. Currently each strand is a home run of about 50ft back to the MCU. I have all the data pins running in parallel. Three candy canes seem to work just fine but as soon as I add a 4th i lose it all. Will a sacrificial pixel fix this do you think?
Thank you for the videos. Question I have ws2813b leds, I have three esp8262 nodemcu's. there is a data line and a "B" second data line. Where on the esp board do they go?
I've placed 2 esp8266's on a 7cmx9cm board but one keeps acting up. Is there a minimum distance that need to be between 2 esp8266's. Maybe they interfere with one other. oh btw love the channel
So I have a question what if you're not splitting the signal but running them in a series, so one big strip? How long can we run it? I'm wanting to do the roof of my house in one go. Whats the longest you can do then?
Looking to get in to programable LEDs for my home and produce some shows. I have 5 window 2 doors and 2 roof line and looking to have some yard decorations and snowflakes. Would like to control each one separately. Have been playing with xlight. What control should I look in to. I should also add Im from Canada so we have very cold weather. So controllers may have to be in doors.
So I’m just discovering your channel now… Late comment. I know very little about electronics but wouldn’t a coil of wire like that create some sort of induction problem?
We own Sonny's Dutch Mill in Rock Hill South Carolina and our sign on the front of the building is done with shoe box letters with milky white covers with neon and each letter to light them up white I'm going to replace them with addressable 3 LED modules 30 mm can you give me some suggestions on how to wire them to get the best effect
There were some good hints I guess. But, I assume you didn't use a resistor on the data line, right? Though, I don't think it's much of an issue. Also, cable connection suffer a lot on these breadboard setups, so things may look different for some of the showcases in the video if there was a proper connection between components.
The Esp32, at least the one I have, accepts up to 15v and down scales internally to 5v eliminating the need for the conversion board. Just mentioning because it reduced complexity slightly.
Love your content! It's making me want to go deeper and deeper down the DIY rabbit hole. But it seems I need to learn about electronics (boards, amps, voltage, jumper wires, etc.) and I need to learn how to solder. Is there any resource you'd recommend to learn about those things? I haven't been able to find a good video on the subject by the DIY RUclipsrs I watch regularly. Maybe I'm missing it, but if you could point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it!!
I'd keep that "sacrificial" pixel turned on, since in my case I plan to install the board in my roof space, with no visibility of the strips, so it'll be useful to see that they're (probably) working.
What are the best addressable leds on amazon and ali express and where you get you power supplies from could you run the lec direct off mains power say uk 230v connected to step converter
Tonight I decided to take the plunge, to learn more about electricity and Watts and amperage. I had a guy booked to do my house for 2300 bucks. My wife and I were super excited, but ultimately decided we couldn't do that kind of money for something so frivolous (in these uncertain times). I then started watching your videos. Bingeing your videos (and the hook up guy). Anyway. Long story short. I ordered everything I believe I need, (dig uno, 5x5m strips of ws2811 30/m 12v, 26m of quarter round aluminum channel, 10m of 3 pin 20g wire, 30amp 12v ps, and of course an acrylic box/mount for my dig uno). And my question... What gauge of wire should I use to inject power into my 5m string, how many times should I splice in injections, and, what is the best method with which to cleanly run the wires (and not have a rope of wires to try and tuck into the channel )to said injection points? Thank you for anyone that reads this, I've been on the road working for 40 days straight, and I finally get to go home to my family in a few days, and I really want to crush this so we can enjoy them for Halloween, Christmas, all the colorful holidays!
awesome! 20g is good for power injection. with 5 strings of pixels you may not need power injection at all. If anything I'd say just splice it in at the end to keep the brightness nice and uniform. Welcome to the club!
I am also playing around with the idea of a grid wall... has anyone ever used a node with multiple universes on one pin? or am I going to have to separate one universe per pin...it seems the limit is 510.
I must be missing something crazy simple. I ordered everything thru your links. Went with the ws2811 12v strings. I'm pretty damn good at following directions but I cannot get them to turn on. I even tried connecting directly to the power supply and the best I get is a faint flash when it first touches. Possibly a bad power supply? (I don't have a voltmeter) Does this sounds familiar at all?
Aren't your pins on the NodeMCU 3.3V? Not surprising you were getting some problems on the 20ft cable. I'm thinking about using some optoisolators to use the 3.3V pins to allow 5V to pass from the step down to the data pins. No clue if it'll work but it makes sense in my head lol
Hey Doc, this is a random question - I have a single pixel in a run of 250 where the green channel does not turn off when the rest of the lights do. If the brightness is up high enough I can get any color with this pixel, but at lower brightness levels you can tell the green channel is higher than it should be, and again, when it should be off it’s just on green. I’m assuming this particular pixel is shot and needs to be replaced, but I thought I’d ask if you or anyone has run into a similar problem before? Doesn’t seem like it would be a connection issue because every pixel prior to and following this one behaves normally. Thanks!
I have a random pixel that is red when it should be some other colors. It does some colors fine, but often it is just red. I'd say it's a dead pixel. You could cut it out and splice in another one, or shorten the string by 1, or just pretend it's supposed to be that way. ;p
Can I suggest you repeat this with the LEDs programmed to full brightness white. Your video could lead people to install long runs of WS2811s and then find out the hard way that cabling considerations need to be made when running them in full brightness white where they consume their peak wattage. Even if you don't intend to run them full brightness white the installation needs to accommodate for it in case of software failure generating full brightness white. Some LED strips will go to full brightness white if they lose the data signal.
Sure. I'd be happy to. Which part would I redo? When I did the current test I did set it to full brightness and white after testing a few effects and colors. I gave the AWG chart link and a warning about using appropriate sized wires. It would probably be useful to dedicate another video just to wire sizing, but this video wasn't intending to do that. Thanks!
@@DrZzs I seemed to have missed the bit around 4mins when you did the current test. Apologies. It was later in the video when you were running 40 meters of them, I think you were trying to prove the ESP could stream data to that many, but I think to safely power them you'd need some beefy wire. Depends on what chart you use, but 12 AWG looks about right for 24 amps. In series the strips themselves might melt. I just worry that people will string 20 meters of these things around their room and try and run it in series or with thin wire and start a fire.
So if I order a 5w 60amp power supply, and I'm running maybe 30amps worth of power, is there a way to adjust the amps or does it matter as long as it's 5v. Sorry I am definitely not an expert at any of this but I enjoy learning
Could you please do a video on 110-120V LED's? I own a single story home with an eve at the same level all around my house, which is approx 300'. It would be much easier for me to wrap one 300' LED strip around my house @ 120 V. But I want it to be addressable/and capable of setting up a light show in the future. I just don't know the ins and outs enough to know what's best for me. Thanks
They really only have 5v and 12v, and then use some transformer/power brick to drop the voltage to 5 or 12. I run several strings of 300 lights with power on one end only, when they go above maybe 75% brightness you can see them fading on the far end
@@markmacherey4744 No, not 300 lights, 300 feet. You can't do that long a distance without injecting power in multiple locations. They actually manufacture high voltage(110-120V) LED's that go that distance with no injection needed, I'm just not sure what's best to buy, or whether they are NodeMCU compatible
Great re-cap, Dr. I have one more question, though that you didn't answer. It looks like with a sacrificial pixel that you can have about 40 meters between your controller and the beginning of the strip - but what's the total length of strips and/or pixels that you can have in series after that? Is 20 meters of continuous LEDs (assuming 60 pixels/meter) OK? Will the voltage on the data line drop after that far? I assume that I will have to inject power in parallel every 2-3 meters. By injecting power, does the data line get "re-boosted", too at every injection point?
How many leds? You probably aren't really using the full 30amps. If you were then you would need like 12 or 14g wire, but that's not usually necessary. I use 20g most of the time, but 18g would be easy to work with and still probably handle the load fine. Technically there are ratings for wire, but they are really conservative: www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm There's probably a better summary of current rating for wiring for LED lighting, but I haven't found it yet. Hope that helps
Cool! That board must put out 5v data instead of 3v like the nodeMCU. Just had a peak on google. The teensy3.2 is $20? It's probably better than a nodeMCU in many ways at that price. Thanks!
I may have to give this a try. I have 3 nodemcu's for 3 different strings and can't seem to get enough voltage to run all three strings off of one nodemcu. I'm even using a logic level converter but it doesn't seem strong enough to get the data signal all the way to the the led's
Thank you, thank you, thank you. This answered a ton of questions I had! One more question for ya (and then I think I'm set for the holiday season) ;) ...I got my NodeMCU all set up and can access it from any wifi enabled device as long it the NodeMCU is still connected to the usb... once I disconnect it and connect it directly to my power source, it shows "offline." I checked power with a multimeter and it reads 5V so it seems to be an issue with it re-connecting to the home wifi once initially disconnected. Any thoughts?
I figured it out... I had to change my router to static IP and set the static IP of the NodeMCU to the "Client IP address" and set the gateway to the router IP address. Any other method was not working. Thank you again for all the videos. These are amazing!
Brian, I had the same issued, my solution was re-flash the nodemcu with the older version WLED version 0.8.5 and it's worked great for me. I'll might update the the latest version and will see what happen. Hope this help.
I’m getting a strange effect when the wled app is switched to “off”. I have the sacrificial led set to off. The main string begins to light beginning at the start of the string, one led at a time, and progressing over several hours. If I turn the set on through wled it resets the string and starts over again. Any thoughts to the cause of this?
That is quite strange. There must be some voltage seeping through into the LEDs. Maybe swap to a different power supply and see if that changes anything.
DrZzs...Not sure what fixed it but I think you are right. I went back and unplugged and plugged the jumpers back in, checked the other connections and now no problems. My guess is a short somewhere in there. Thanks for the tutorials!
I do like these videos Dr Zzs... When I see you do a live stream, I know it's going to be hours, and I know I will just wait for the 20 minute "abridged" version, haha! Don't stop doing these ones, please!!
This is a great condensed version of the live stream! Thanks for putting it together!
You are welcome!
I'd like to do this more. I just need to remember to hit "record" a couple times during the live streams :)
@@DrZzs I askd on discord but I'd like to ask on this .. I have 12v ws2815 that do/di and bo/bi data lines I tried to split the data but it's not working any suggestions how it be best wired up
The data distance tests were very helpful. Thank you.
Great videos!
You never hit the actual single WLED/NodeMCU LED limit. I'm working on a 3000+ LED system currently and the WLED software won't let you enter a value higher than 1500 but it does run 1500 LED's in series and most effects work, but not all, there is some lag. The software warns you when you go over 1000 that some effects may not work and it suggests max of 750 LEDs.
Also, my signal wire goes 24' to reach the #1 LED using #16 wire and the effects work fine so my long signal wire doesn't seem to be an issue without a sacrificial LED.
Did you ever resolve the issue about running over the light limit? If so, please share. Thanks!
What is the best actual method to split the data wire? I saw your video, but I could not figure out. Is there another connector/adapter/splitter thatI need to buy? How do you wire it on the breadboard. Can you take a picture or do a short video how to split data wire? This is my first LED project so I apologize if I asked silly question. TIA.
Thank you SO MUCH for putting out this info condensed like this. Answered all my questions. I think for my first Christmas light pixel setup I will just run 2 or 3 pixel runs off one NodeMCU along with power injection. Then my WiFi won't be taken over by NodeMCU connections haha. Your videos are the best!
Do you have a name / affiliate link for that white 'tester board' you used in the video? Gotta support your channel!
@drZzS is there a drawn diagram of wiring for skipping first pixel to add longer wire?
The value for the current is 16bit integer. The max bound would be 65535 anything after that would overflow, thus "Unknown"
Hi Doc, when injecting power every 5m, can it be one long cable running parallel to the whole run, with insulation cut outs, or must it be lots of separate lines?
any answer?
@@michaele4468 I believe there's a limit, just not sure. I've got one wire running to power inject four 15 meter strips and so far, so good.
It just depends on the size of the wire you use and the distance it travels. If the wire is to small then you will run into the same voltage drop issue.
Im trying to figure my ws2811 12v strip i have parallel supply for 6m with power injection at 4m and another 4m, the second 4 meter long is making flickering occasionaly. My data is around 30cm(1 ft?) ive been figuring it for few days now. No level shifter. I am assuming there is a faulty icu? Since i tryed everything else, checking connections and all, i am now at the point of adding pixel by pixel to figure where the problem is. 4m in wled is set to 40 as 3 leds are per icu. So far at 16 or 17 i noticed the flickering starts. But its hard to be sure, since it only flickers like once a minute or even less. Voltage at this point is 11.7v
Any opinions? Had similar problems with bad ground connection before, but was way more consistent. Any idea? Shortly after more testing if at pixel 17 flickering continues, i will replace that segment..
Great vid, presumably if you had a second sacrificial pixel.. you'd be good for another 40m?!
Mistake: Using copper clad aluminum wire for power injection, made my lights blink uncontrollably.
I know this is an older post. But a couple noobie questions. Is it possable to break up a string of lights so that each segment is addressable? IE. i have 4 Candy canes, each with 10 LEDs. can I set up the NodeMCU as having 40 LEDS, but segment them into 4 groups of 10 for something like Xlights? The other question is on data cable length. Since the Logic voltage level on the NodeMCU is 3.3 volts, would you get longer data cable lengths if you used a logic level amplihyer? They take the 3.3 volts and convert it to 5. Thats more in the range of the LEDS
I’ve addd a sacrificial pixel like in the video. I’m 25’ from may strip 12v and only getting 5-6 leds to light. If I plug in 12” away all works great. Tried a new 25’ wire and a new pixel and still the same outcome. Help…
Why wont LED fans stay a solid color? they just blink random colors for no reason....
I'm just starting a few LED projects. I have a feeling you just saved me hours of troubleshooting.
I need help I have 12v RGBW 5 pin
How do you inject power in to the second strand? The black + but where to solder the neg?
Male to female servo extensions work well for daisy-chaining addressable LEDs, and they're fairly cheap from the usual sources.
Good job condensing the stream. Just remember that the limit of splits is when the strings draw 20mA from the data pin in total.
Can you put a PIR sensor on the MCU so lights do I certain thing when there is motion? I would like to use this setup at the front of the house and would like different themes depending if there is motion or not, but I don't want to run 2 boards when the MCU has so many unused pins.
Excellent. I know the live streams contain a lot of good info, but don't have the time to commit to them. Awesome to see a highlights reel. Thank you to you and the sponsor. Shame I'm the wrong side of the pond to buy from them.
Hey if I have a set of LED strips 32.4 ft, which you know is 2 strips that are 16.4 ft, the 2 strips meet at a connection which connects to 1 cord down to the power supply. Say I wanted to put about 12 feet in between them, but only on 1 of the strips. Could I cut 1 of the strips just above the connection point and wire in a 12 ft extension (basically so the power is towards 1 end and not in the middle) connecting the strip back with the cord near the connection point? Would that work and still be able to work off that original power supply? Appreciate all the help. Love your videos.
Have an LED related question? Be sure to ask your question in led-lighting-diy- Channel on discord! discord.gg/8gvF67h Our LED masterminds, the PixelHeads, generally hang out there and can answer your question(s) swiftly.
What could be the problem for my ws2812b led light strip won't turn on?
MQTT Discovery. So I've been digging and it very much looks like there's something fishy going on, but (at least for me) all isn't quite lost.
I set up a new WLED device, and set up MQTT. I subscribed to the homeassistant/# topics on my MQTT broker and waited for messages to come through. They did.
Still, nothing showed up in the MQTT integration for new devices.
I dug into the logs, and found quite a few entries saying "[homeassistant.components.mqtt.discovery] Component has already been discovered: light WLED_a020a6158ee8"
Restarted HA and then I saw the fateful line...
"Found new component: light WLED_a020a6158ee8". Still nothing in the discovered devices, but searching for WLED2 (which was the name of the device) in the developer states tool it was there. And set up. And ready to go.
TL:DR - there's apparently an issue showing new devices in the integrations tab, but they do seem to show up
Thanks for helping spread the info!
@@DrZzs "Blogged" it at marcjenningsuk.github.io/Home-AssistantConfiguration/
I know this video is about 1 year old, I'm unsure of you'll see my comment. I've bought WS2815 which use 12v and a nodemcu. Both are powered through the same 12v PSU with a dc-dc 12-5 converter with usb. Thus, I connect + and - from LED strip and the DC-DC converter at the same source. After, I connect through USB the nodemcu and I connect the data pin with a 470ohm (a lot of place on internet they says to put a resistance, I notice you don't?). Anyway, with or without the resistance, it doesn't work. I then put a 7805 (the negative equivalent) from the LED - to the GND pin on the nodemcu and then it work.
If I remove the 7805, the nodemcu get 12v - and the breadboard melt!
So, I don't get how it work for you because I'm unable to reproduce it.
ok, I'll answer to my own question. I think I know what happen because I just retried without my 7805 and directly connected to the GND pin of the nodemcu and it work. I think the problem is because I had the USB connected in my computer and the power from PSU, because of that, the ground from the nodemcu and the LED strip wasn't from the same source. My 7805 would save the day, but still not a good idea
6:45 have the same setup, the first es32 went flickering and things and stoped sending signal, the second one the same
This is exactly what I needed! I've got 2 esp32 that even with 20cm data wire does the same thing as happened when you connected the +100m wire, could I be unlucky enough to get 2 bad esps or am I doing something wrong? (I'm already waiting for another esp32 to make sure, as I'll need them anyway for other stuff)
Have an LED related question? Be sure to ask your question in led-lighting-diy- Channel on discord! discord.gg/8gvF67h Our LED masterminds, the PixelHeads, generally hang out there and can answer your question(s) swiftly.
First off GREAT VIDEO, Quick Question, I'm new to the WLED, and just got a New DIG QUAD (Dec 2021) and I was wondering if the Sacrificial pixel must still be used for long initial starts; by long im talking about 15 feet?
Can I use a 12v 2811 for the sacrificial pixel, or does it need to be 5v? I ordered all 12v 2811. Can anything else be used instead, or do I need to order a string of 5v? Thanks!
It needs to match the voltage of the lights you are using. So if your pixels are 12v, do a 12v sacrificial pix. If 5v, do a 5v sac. pix.
Thank you so much for condensing your livestream! All very good information for beginners and those more experienced also!
Super helpful. I had no idea that thin gauge wire and a longer run for data would cause such severe flicker. Saved me hours of troubleshooting!
Glad it helped!
Great vid's doc.. As always. You have anything on 5 wire RGBWW +Nodemcu w/ WLED? I have a strip and looking for some suggestions. Cheers for KY
Thanks for the splitting informations :)
using 6x 5meter stripes 5 volt SK6812WWA 5 volt addressable LEDS I have achieved lighting1767 using an Arduino mega and programmed through the Arduino IDE (not WLED) after LED number 1767 it all goes haywire which is a real shame because my route around the room where I intend to install them is exactly 30mtrs.
Just to be clear = 1 led in your show is R+G+B ?
Does this mean I can have 40M between pixels? 1 pixel + 40M another pixel, 40M.
And so on. Does each pixel re buffer the signal?
Wondering about using high powered 2811 as floods on trees spread out in my yard
Does the power supply amp requirement differ if we provide parallel vs sequential LED connection. e.g. Connecting 4 150LED 5V strips with power supply at 2 places from same 5V10A power supply?
I also purchased these plugs from eBay... 3pin Male And Female 22AWG LED Strip Wire JST SM Plug Connector. they are an exact fit for my ws2811 strings. they make connections so simple... and a generous dab of dialectic grease on them and they will last a good month outside.
I realize this is from a few years ago but...We now that a version of WLED that supports more than one data channel. All is now well in the world. 🙂
One other thing to watch for when using a power supply (other than through the USB port) is that a capacitor will probably be needed across the 5 vdc in and ground pins on the ESP 32. Mine ran fine via USB power but refused to stay running when I switched over to a 300 watt 5 vcd supply. A 10 uf capacitor took care of it.
@DrZzs
Do you have any suggestions for finding all UL listed components (strips, controller, strips, wire, etc.)? I'm thinking of swapping cheap UL controller for dig-uno after inspection.
Can you please help me, I have been trying to figure why I’m getting a “flicker” . I have tried everything. My data wire is only 7” long *and I’m still getting it. I have tried 3 ESP8266. 3 different leds strips and pixels. I just don’t get it
Been following your videos and built amilight successfully! Curious about sacrificial pixel, can I sacrifice the good old analog LED? can the one of the RGB channel relay the DI signal? Thanks DrZzs!
Thanks Drzzs, I think i'm right in thinking by me using a computer PSU which i've done to stand alone, i can use the 5v for the esp8266 and 12v for my ws2811 :-) can wait to start going from normal grb's to addressable ones
I like the sacrificial LED, but i'm curious what - electronically - is going on under the covers, and how to achieve reasonable distances without using an LED. What electronic components can i put on the 3.3v output side of the nodemcu before connecting to my WS2812B strip? i'm sure this has been answered in a post, but there are so many! THANKS!
How do you get multiple controllers to work so there is a light run from controller to controller. IOW, If I have a 60 meter run of three strings 300 each with 3 controllers haw a light run starting at light 1 and run to 900 light run.
I have about a 24ft run to my first led with 18awg. The first ~300 pixels work flawlessly, but then only the first 3 pixels work on the next strand. The 4th pixel flickers. Not sure if this is a power or data issue. I have tried other strings with similar results. The voltage at the beginning of the line is ~7V. When I add an led before the 24ft run none of the lights work. Any help would be appreciated.
I have a 100 led string of 12V. I am using a 12V/2A adapter connected using the block you show in this video. Everything works with WLED, I can switch effects, colors, etc. with the exception of I get flashes when it goes between effects. I've tried both ways to connect the ground, separate and together, to no avail. Anyone have any idea of what might be going wrong here?
Hi DrZzs , i have just purchased some SK6812 RGBW led strip lights and connected them using WLED app,. I have one problem though when i choose a solid color other than white only one in three leds are that color the others are different when i choose white all LEDs are the same. I have changed to all the variations in the settings for color order but with no luck,Any Ideas?
Sorry, I posted a similar question in one of your other videos. What is the best actual method to split the data wire? I see in the video you use a white plastic board. This is my first LED lights experience, but I'm pretty good at figuring things out. Is that what they call a breadboard? Is there a specific type I need to get? Any recommended link for it? Also, when using a sacrificial pixel, do you end up just twisting the wires together? Do you use wire nuts? Thanks!!!!
Maybe someone can give me some advice. My display is 6 candy canes each with 1 strand of 300 pixels. Currently each strand is a home run of about 50ft back to the MCU. I have all the data pins running in parallel. Three candy canes seem to work just fine but as soon as I add a 4th i lose it all. Will a sacrificial pixel fix this do you think?
Can you use a WS2811 SPI Signal Amplifier Repeater instead of a sacrificial pixel and is there any benefit? Thanks!
Thank you for the videos. Question I have ws2813b leds, I have three esp8262 nodemcu's. there is a data line and a "B" second data line. Where on the esp board do they go?
Ok. I'm a noob. Can anyone please tell me if the sacrificial pixel has to be 5v or can it be 12v? I'm using 12v strings. Thanks!
What is that connecting block called at 8:47 in the video? I didnt see a link to that.
I've placed 2 esp8266's on a 7cmx9cm board but one keeps acting up. Is there a minimum distance that need to be between 2 esp8266's. Maybe they interfere with one other. oh btw love the channel
Hi there, what is the max Amps for Nodemcu it can take? Can I connect to my 5v 10A power supply? Thanks 👍
So I have a question what if you're not splitting the signal but running them in a series, so one big strip? How long can we run it? I'm wanting to do the roof of my house in one go. Whats the longest you can do then?
Looking to get in to programable LEDs for my home and produce some shows. I have 5 window 2 doors and 2 roof line and looking to have some yard decorations and snowflakes. Would like to control each one separately. Have been playing with xlight. What control should I look in to. I should also add Im from Canada so we have very cold weather. So controllers may have to be in doors.
Thank you for showing the sacrificial pixel! That helped fix the lights flickering the wrong color on my house! Keep up the great videos!
So I’m just discovering your channel now… Late comment. I know very little about electronics but wouldn’t a coil of wire like that create some sort of induction problem?
We own Sonny's Dutch Mill in Rock Hill South Carolina and our sign on the front of the building is done with shoe box letters with milky white covers with neon and each letter to light them up white I'm going to replace them with addressable 3 LED modules 30 mm can you give me some suggestions on how to wire them to get the best effect
So many questions answered in one video, and answered well. Sir Zzs, you are the MAN!
There were some good hints I guess. But, I assume you didn't use a resistor on the data line, right? Though, I don't think it's much of an issue. Also, cable connection suffer a lot on these breadboard setups, so things may look different for some of the showcases in the video if there was a proper connection between components.
can you use regular 4 wire 12 v led
I just tested my 12v string LEDs with a multimeter to figure out why I'm killing boards and I'm getting 5v out of the data line. Is this normal?
The Esp32, at least the one I have, accepts up to 15v and down scales internally to 5v eliminating the need for the conversion board. Just mentioning because it reduced complexity slightly.
Love your content! It's making me want to go deeper and deeper down the DIY rabbit hole. But it seems I need to learn about electronics (boards, amps, voltage, jumper wires, etc.) and I need to learn how to solder. Is there any resource you'd recommend to learn about those things? I haven't been able to find a good video on the subject by the DIY RUclipsrs I watch regularly. Maybe I'm missing it, but if you could point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it!!
I'd keep that "sacrificial" pixel turned on, since in my case I plan to install the board in my roof space, with no visibility of the strips, so it'll be useful to see that they're (probably) working.
What are the best addressable leds on amazon and ali express and where you get you power supplies from could you run the lec direct off mains power say uk 230v connected to step converter
So whats is the advantage of adding the node mcu to xlights more effects?
Tonight I decided to take the plunge, to learn more about electricity and Watts and amperage. I had a guy booked to do my house for 2300 bucks. My wife and I were super excited, but ultimately decided we couldn't do that kind of money for something so frivolous (in these uncertain times).
I then started watching your videos. Bingeing your videos (and the hook up guy).
Anyway. Long story short. I ordered everything I believe I need, (dig uno, 5x5m strips of ws2811 30/m 12v, 26m of quarter round aluminum channel, 10m of 3 pin 20g wire, 30amp 12v ps, and of course an acrylic box/mount for my dig uno).
And my question... What gauge of wire should I use to inject power into my 5m string, how many times should I splice in injections, and, what is the best method with which to cleanly run the wires (and not have a rope of wires to try and tuck into the channel )to said injection points?
Thank you for anyone that reads this, I've been on the road working for 40 days straight, and I finally get to go home to my family in a few days, and I really want to crush this so we can enjoy them for Halloween, Christmas, all the colorful holidays!
awesome!
20g is good for power injection. with 5 strings of pixels you may not need power injection at all. If anything I'd say just splice it in at the end to keep the brightness nice and uniform.
Welcome to the club!
I wonder how the numbers might change using a shielded cable for data, or unshielded twisted pair cable.
I am also playing around with the idea of a grid wall... has anyone ever used a node with multiple universes on one pin? or am I going to have to separate one universe per pin...it seems the limit is 510.
I must be missing something crazy simple. I ordered everything thru your links. Went with the ws2811 12v strings. I'm pretty damn good at following directions but I cannot get them to turn on. I even tried connecting directly to the power supply and the best I get is a faint flash when it first touches.
Possibly a bad power supply? (I don't have a voltmeter)
Does this sounds familiar at all?
Make sure ur data cable is Connected or they don't turn on.
This the question that needed answering running strings of leds in parallel thanks Drzzs
Aren't your pins on the NodeMCU 3.3V? Not surprising you were getting some problems on the 20ft cable. I'm thinking about using some optoisolators to use the 3.3V pins to allow 5V to pass from the step down to the data pins. No clue if it'll work but it makes sense in my head lol
Look into a logic level shifter. If I understand what you're saying that might be your best bet
Hey Doc, this is a random question - I have a single pixel in a run of 250 where the green channel does not turn off when the rest of the lights do. If the brightness is up high enough I can get any color with this pixel, but at lower brightness levels you can tell the green channel is higher than it should be, and again, when it should be off it’s just on green. I’m assuming this particular pixel is shot and needs to be replaced, but I thought I’d ask if you or anyone has run into a similar problem before? Doesn’t seem like it would be a connection issue because every pixel prior to and following this one behaves normally. Thanks!
I have a random pixel that is red when it should be some other colors. It does some colors fine, but often it is just red. I'd say it's a dead pixel. You could cut it out and splice in another one, or shorten the string by 1, or just pretend it's supposed to be that way. ;p
Can I suggest you repeat this with the LEDs programmed to full brightness white. Your video could lead people to install long runs of WS2811s and then find out the hard way that cabling considerations need to be made when running them in full brightness white where they consume their peak wattage. Even if you don't intend to run them full brightness white the installation needs to accommodate for it in case of software failure generating full brightness white. Some LED strips will go to full brightness white if they lose the data signal.
Sure. I'd be happy to.
Which part would I redo?
When I did the current test I did set it to full brightness and white after testing a few effects and colors. I gave the AWG chart link and a warning about using appropriate sized wires.
It would probably be useful to dedicate another video just to wire sizing, but this video wasn't intending to do that.
Thanks!
@@DrZzs I seemed to have missed the bit around 4mins when you did the current test. Apologies. It was later in the video when you were running 40 meters of them, I think you were trying to prove the ESP could stream data to that many, but I think to safely power them you'd need some beefy wire. Depends on what chart you use, but 12 AWG looks about right for 24 amps. In series the strips themselves might melt.
I just worry that people will string 20 meters of these things around their room and try and run it in series or with thin wire and start a fire.
So if I order a 5w 60amp power supply, and I'm running maybe 30amps worth of power, is there a way to adjust the amps or does it matter as long as it's 5v. Sorry I am definitely not an expert at any of this but I enjoy learning
Mando Rodriguez amps won’t hurt it. Just make sure it’s not over 5v
Hai sir
Can you use CAT5 cable for both the chip/circuit and power? Anyone try this ?
I use a cat6 cable, 1 pair for the positive, 1 pair for the negative and 2 pairs for the data. works for at least 5 meters..
What is the white circuit board you are using?
thanks very helpful, more videos like this please
Could you please do a video on 110-120V LED's?
I own a single story home with an eve at the same level all around my house, which is approx 300'. It would be much easier for me to wrap one 300' LED strip around my house @ 120 V. But I want it to be addressable/and capable of setting up a light show in the future.
I just don't know the ins and outs enough to know what's best for me. Thanks
They really only have 5v and 12v, and then use some transformer/power brick to drop the voltage to 5 or 12. I run several strings of 300 lights with power on one end only, when they go above maybe 75% brightness you can see them fading on the far end
@@markmacherey4744
No, not 300 lights, 300 feet. You can't do that long a distance without injecting power in multiple locations. They actually manufacture high voltage(110-120V) LED's that go that distance with no injection needed, I'm just not sure what's best to buy, or whether they are NodeMCU compatible
Great re-cap, Dr. I have one more question, though that you didn't answer. It looks like with a sacrificial pixel that you can have about 40 meters between your controller and the beginning of the strip - but what's the total length of strips and/or pixels that you can have in series after that? Is 20 meters of continuous LEDs (assuming 60 pixels/meter) OK? Will the voltage on the data line drop after that far? I assume that I will have to inject power in parallel every 2-3 meters. By injecting power, does the data line get "re-boosted", too at every injection point?
Did you ever figure it out? I'm in the middle of an install right now.
@@thebruhhh I actually used a small logic level shifter instead of a sacrificial pixel. I ran almost 20 meters of LEDS past that with no problem.
I LOVE YOUR INTRO MUSIC.
Thanks!
What AWG would you recommend for 5V 30Amps? I'm having issues finding the right wires for this. I need to run this cable for 10-20 meters.
How many leds? You probably aren't really using the full 30amps. If you were then you would need like 12 or 14g wire, but that's not usually necessary. I use 20g most of the time, but 18g would be easy to work with and still probably handle the load fine.
Technically there are ratings for wire, but they are really conservative: www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
There's probably a better summary of current rating for wiring for LED lighting, but I haven't found it yet.
Hope that helps
@@DrZzs I do have ~400 LEDs at 60mili amps per LED, so I'm not using exactly 30amps, but this may change in the future. Thanks a lot for the help!
This was uber helpful! Thank you!
FYI with a teensy3.2 I'm doing 30 meters to my first led of 1200 with no problem and no sacraficial led
Cool! That board must put out 5v data instead of 3v like the nodeMCU. Just had a peak on google. The teensy3.2 is $20? It's probably better than a nodeMCU in many ways at that price.
Thanks!
I may have to give this a try. I have 3 nodemcu's for 3 different strings and can't seem to get enough voltage to run all three strings off of one nodemcu. I'm even using a logic level converter but it doesn't seem strong enough to get the data signal all the way to the the led's
Does the wattage on the step down adapter matter?
Thank you, thank you, thank you. This answered a ton of questions I had!
One more question for ya (and then I think I'm set for the holiday season) ;) ...I got my NodeMCU all set up and can access it from any wifi enabled device as long it the NodeMCU is still connected to the usb... once I disconnect it and connect it directly to my power source, it shows "offline." I checked power with a multimeter and it reads 5V so it seems to be an issue with it re-connecting to the home wifi once initially disconnected. Any thoughts?
I figured it out... I had to change my router to static IP and set the static IP of the NodeMCU to the "Client IP address" and set the gateway to the router IP address. Any other method was not working. Thank you again for all the videos. These are amazing!
Brian, I had the same issued, my solution was re-flash the nodemcu with the older version WLED version 0.8.5 and it's worked great for me. I'll might update the the latest version and will see what happen. Hope this help.
What software were you using?
Thank you doc for this. Much appreciated
Thansk very mutch
Lol, I watched the entire stream yet I watched this as well :)
awesome an age old question has been answered!
Good stuff
I’m getting a strange effect when the wled app is switched to “off”. I have the sacrificial led set to off. The main string begins to light beginning at the start of the string, one led at a time, and progressing over several hours. If I turn the set on through wled it resets the string and starts over again. Any thoughts to the cause of this?
That is quite strange. There must be some voltage seeping through into the LEDs. Maybe swap to a different power supply and see if that changes anything.
DrZzs...Not sure what fixed it but I think you are right. I went back and unplugged and plugged the jumpers back in, checked the other connections and now no problems. My guess is a short somewhere in there. Thanks for the tutorials!
lot of good info, thanks doc! Adios :)
Stop the fricken flickerin!!!
frick the flipin frackin flickering!