Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

power supply question:

I have a single run of 3 full and a partial WS2812B 16.5 ft 5 volt strips on my house. approx 50-55 feet.

DRzzzs general current cal rule is 'number of lights divided by 5' to get a rough current requirement. mine above would be 11 amps.

I'm using a Meanwell EPS-15-5 which is rated at 5V 15W. I have 14 gauge landscape light stranded wire feeding each strip.

This works fine at my normal brightness of 15%. Even at 50% they look and operate fine. but when I try to crank it to full 100% brightness, it goes weird. it even locked up and started flashing at one point, requiring me to remove power from the nodeMCU.

Any opinions on my situation? Not that I plan or need to run at full brightness, but is 15amps not sufficient?

How often do you inject power into the strips. It sounds like there is too much voltage drop.

How often do you inject power into the strips. It sounds like there is too much voltage drop.

currently only at one end of my two runs. i can inject at several other points, i'll try that.

Looks like you have a 3A power supply. 5 volts x 3 amps = 15 watts.


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Looks like you have a 3A power supply. 5 volts x 3 amps = 15 watts.


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Well dang. You are correct and that answers my own question.

Sorry and than you !

My 20A supply is driving 2 x 150 led strips with a 8m mains cable between the psu and one of the strips and all leds are fully bright.

So I’m there. I now have four sets around four windows all working great.

Don’t want to spoil the big reveal on December 1st for the neighbours so need to setup a set inside for me to play with and choose the effects I like best lol

3M sticky hooks are working awesomely, little project boxes are great for keeping things tidy and got a major bonus when I realised that with sash windows I could do all the high stuff from inside so didn’t need any ladder action!

Now to start playing with the plugin

Most important thing is to set them to all come on when I get home if for any reason it’s dark and ahead of the turning on time lol

Any other suggestions for cool uses of indigo and christmas lights??





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Looks like you have a 3A power supply. 5 volts x 3 amps = 15 watts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well dang. You are correct and that answers my own question.

Sorry and than you !

i pulled out an old slimline ATX PC supply that lists 15A for the 5v. hooked it up and it works perfectly. full brightness and no issues with any effects!

i pulled out an old slimline ATX PC supply that lists 15A for the 5v. hooked it up and it works perfectly. full brightness and no issues with any effects!

Good to hear - you could have been having a different type of light show if the power supply went up in flames

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I had some success 3D printing cases for the NodeMCU from https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2786523 the version that allows the headers to poke through a small slit in the case.

The printing is a little rough, but they hold the controller really well and lock together nicely.

The beta version of the plugin posted earlier this evening, so now I move onto my physical install with parts arriving this week.

box.jpg

boxopen.jpg

I had some success 3D printing cases for the NodeMCU from https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2786523 the version that allows the headers to poke through a small slit in the case.

The printing is a little rough, but they hold the controller really well and lock together nicely.

The beta version of the plugin posted earlier this evening, so now I move onto my physical install with parts arriving this week.

Looks cool, assuming that’s for indoor installs?!

Yes indeed, or in a waterproof box to keep things neat with the PSU if mounted outside.

Okay- maybe a dumb question: My 2811b led strips terminate like this:



Using the video guide from this thread, my NodeMCU gets it’s power from the red and black wires from the group of three wires, and i connect my power supply to the 4th and 5th wires that are sorta separate.

Q: Are these 4th and 5th wires serving as a running injector line? Maybe to mitigate voltage drop?
Q: Do I need to run an additional pair of dc current wires with these for multiple strip-leds in series?

Many thanks. Aluminum tracks arrived- they seem pretty sturdy

Okay- maybe a dumb question: My 2811b led strips terminate like this:



Using the video guide from this thread, my NodeMCU gets it’s power from the red and black wires from the group of three wires, and i connect my power supply to the 4th and 5th wires that are sorta separate.

Q: Are these 4th and 5th wires serving as a running injector line? Maybe to mitigate voltage drop?
Q: Do I need to run an additional pair of dc current wires with these for multiple strip-leds in series?

Many thanks. Aluminum tracks arrived- they seem pretty sturdy

Q: Are these 4th and 5th wires serving as a running injector line? Maybe to mitigate voltage drop?
Yes, they are just soldered to the ground and voltage pads.

Q: Do I need to run an additional pair of dc current wires with these for multiple strip-leds in series?
That depends on the length and the quality of the strip. Most manufacturers suggest injecting voltage every 5 meters. But your mileage may vary.

Okay- maybe a dumb question: My 2811b led strips terminate like this:



Using the video guide from this thread, my NodeMCU gets it’s power from the red and black wires from the group of three wires, and i connect my power supply to the 4th and 5th wires that are sorta separate.

Q: Are these 4th and 5th wires serving as a running injector line? Maybe to mitigate voltage drop?
Q: Do I need to run an additional pair of dc current wires with these for multiple strip-leds in series?

Many thanks. Aluminum tracks arrived- they seem pretty sturdy

Q: Are these 4th and 5th wires serving as a running injector line? Maybe to mitigate voltage drop?
Yes, they are just soldered to the ground and voltage pads.

Q: Do I need to run an additional pair of dc current wires with these for multiple strip-leds in series?
That depends on the length and the quality of the strip. Most manufacturers suggest injecting voltage every 5 meters. But your mileage may vary.

I guess I am confused- the 4th and 5th line supply the led strip- can THOSE serve as the injector wires? I cannot find a wiring diagram with all 5 of these wires- or at least- I can’t tell if theoretically I need an additional pair.

I haven’t had a moment to just wire ip 4 strips and watch what happens.

The 2 red wires connect to the same 5v/12v(depending on your strip) in pad on the strip. The 2 white wires connect to the same ground pad. They are just there so that if you running multiple stripes you can easily inject more power. If not or if it's the original strip you can use just the JST connector for power and data.

The strip itself just has Vin, Din, Gnd. (Voltage, Data, Ground).