Testing the Specs of 12V Regulated WS2811 Pixels (Part III) - 2020 2021 Pixels

In this video, I test the specs of 2020 and 2021 standard 12V regulated WS2811 pixels with 4” spacing and 18awg wire and compare them to the specs of 2017 pixels. 4 questions I answer are:
1. How much power do they use?
2. When changing output brightness levels, does the power use change linearly?
3. When all the pixels are “off”, do they use power?
4. What is the effective copper electrical performance across the pixels?
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Timeline:
00:00 Intro
00:48 The Test Setup
01:39 Testing 2020 Pixels
03:15 Testing 2021 Pixels
04:57 Testing Effective Wire Gauge
06:11 Wire Gauge Analysis
10:37 Reviewing Results
13:52 Wrap Up
Music Credit:
Better by Anno Domini Beats
Video Link - Testing the Specs of 12V (Regulated) WS2811 Pixels (Testing of 2017 Pixels)
• Testing the Specs of 1...
Video Link - Wiring the V/A Meters is in this video at 6:47 - Testing the Specs of 12V (Regulated) WS2811 Pixels (Part II)
• Testing the Specs of 1...
Video Link - Testing the Specs of 12V Resistor Based WS2811 Pixels (Updated)
• Testing the Specs of 1...
SpikerLights Power Calculator
spikerlights.com/calcpower.aspx
Link to Calculation Spreadsheet
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Link to Volt/Ammmeter Device (red/blue color)
www.aliexpress.com/item/11552...
Alternative Volt/Ammeter Device (supports high current measurements)
amzn.to/3QaOQXz

[@douglashigley9556]

Could you tell me how many 5v ws2812b LEDs you would put on a meanwell 350watt power supply? I'm getting conflicting info on the power consumption and watts used. My lights will be at 30% maybe a bit less but 30% is my plan.

[@NiFamilyLights]

@Douglas Higley, great question. I don't use 5V pixels, but the general math should be the same. These calculations assume no voltage loss across the strings of pixels you use. But from what I've seen and experienced with a sample of 5V pixels, you'll want to power inject/power balance every 50-75 pixels to maintain power.
I'd say with a single 350W 5V power supply, you can probably power over 3,000 pixels. But, be mindful that you need to be sure you don't overload any single 5A fused output or power distro board output.
Here's some back of the napkin math. Assuming each WS2812b RGB pixel uses 0.05 to 0.06A of current, we'll use the high number and multiply it by 5V get a power usage of .3W/pixel. 30% of that would be .09W/pixel.
For the power supply, let's use no more than 80% to leave margin for safety and longevity of the power supply. That leaves you with 280W of "usable" power (350W * 0.8). Dividing 280W by .09W / pixel = 3,111 pixels that can be powered by that power supply.
More than likely you could power more, as the real world will have voltage drops across your pixels which then draw less power. But, you're safe to power >3,000 5V pixels this way.
Back to the 5A fused output...let's use 90% (leaving 10% margin for the fuse). If each pixel uses 0.018A at 30% (0.06A x 0.30), then you could safely have 250 pixels per 5A fused output (5A x 0.9 safety margin / 0.018A/pixel).
So, to power 3,000 pixels, you should plan to use at least 12 5A fused controller output and/or power distro board outputs.
Hopefully that helps. Good luck with your show!

[@douglashigley9556]

@@NiFamilyLights thank you for all this awesome info. With the math in error that I was doing showed that with 1,695 pixels I was pulling 504 watts. I am power injecting in several places and have fusses inplace. When I turned it on in test mode at 100% I only had about 30 pixels that were noticeably less white. And I am good with that. At 100% my neighbors would be mad.