Help with Addressable LED Light Strips

[Steve Altemeier]

I have run into a problem using the addressable LED light strips that were donated to the makerspace.  Specifically, I can get the strips (120 lights, 2 meters) to work fine, but when I cut one of the strips down to 37 lights, I could no longer get it to work.  The lights blinked on and off seemingly randomly.  I read that some strips can only be cut at every third light, so I trimmed it down to 36 lights, but it made no difference.

I was wondering if anyone had ever had a similar issue or knew how to tell where a strip can be cut.  Unfortunately. I do not know the brand on the strips - they are 5v with 3 wires; Vcc, GND, and signal.  They are WS2812/SK6812 neopixels.

Any suggestions would be welcome, and I'l have them at the meeting tomorrow as well.

Thanks!

[Ian Baillie]

Many strips have break points, where they are marked to cut down. All of the strips that I have used can be cut in threes, but that may not be the standard. Look at the circuit boards, and see if there is any pattern every few leds. Good luck!

          Ian

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From: Steve Altemeier
Sent: ‎1/‎16/‎2017 3:51 PM
To: ashevil...@googlegroups.com
Subject: {Asheville Makers} Help with Addressable LED Light Strips

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[Avi Silverman]

Not sure about the threes thing, as I've used a strip of 74 WS2812 LEDs with no problems, but they weren't neopixels, nor was I using the neopixel library, so I don't know. I wonder if it's software related.

On Jan 16, 2017 3:56 PM, "Ian Baillie" <mountain...@gmail.com> wrote:

Many strips have break points, where they are marked to cut down. All of the strips that I have used can be cut in threes, but that may not be the standard. Look at the circuit boards, and see if there is any pattern every few leds. Good luck!

          Ian

---

From: Steve Altemeier
Sent: ‎1/‎16/‎2017 3:51 PM

To: ashevillemakers@googlegroups.com

Subject: {Asheville Makers} Help with Addressable LED Light Strips

I have run into a problem using the addressable LED light strips that were donated to the makerspace.  Specifically, I can get the strips (120 lights, 2 meters) to work fine, but when I cut one of the strips down to 37 lights, I could no longer get it to work.  The lights blinked on and off seemingly randomly.  I read that some strips can only be cut at every third light, so I trimmed it down to 36 lights, but it made no difference.

I was wondering if anyone had ever had a similar issue or knew how to tell where a strip can be cut.  Unfortunately. I do not know the brand on the strips - they are 5v with 3 wires; Vcc, GND, and signal.  They are WS2812/SK6812 neopixels.

Any suggestions would be welcome, and I'l have them at the meeting tomorrow as well.

Thanks!

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[Bob Sinclair]

I worked with some neopixel strips that had solder pads between each light (so can join various lengths as needed). If that is the case you might try reassembling the strip you cut and see if it restores function.

[Diego Medina]

I have had that pattern in two cases:

1. I forgot to connect the ground going to the strip with the ground from the arduino

2. the strip was about to go bad and after running at random patterns they eventually stopped working.

and I assume this was already done but, make sure to update the arduino program with the correct total number of LEDs you have on the shorter strip.

Hope it helps.

Diego

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Diego Medina
Lift/Scala Consultant
di...@fmpwizard.com
https://blog.fmpwizard.com/