BTF Fairy Lights and esp8266

Issues
1

I am having an issue using together:
ESP8266 ESP-12 ESP-12F NodeMcu Mini D1 Module WeMos
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081PX9YFV?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

BTF-LIGHTING Chasing Dream Full Color Twinkle Decorative Light 5Pack 16.4ft Total 100LED Addressable WS2812B IC Fairy String
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVZKGYHH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

When I put the string on gpio 2 (D4), gpio1, and gpio3 the device either dosnt boot or shuts off Wifi. I added a level shifter but I still cant get this running.

If I change the gpio I also noticed the light on the esp8266 the shows when wled is “on” is no longer activated when on different gpios(I tried 4, 5, 16)

not sure what to do about this, I have used a regular esp8266 dev board without and issue before(different hardware), maybe the string lights have some setting I am not aware of? They are 5v and that seems to be the default.

2

Hi!
Leider kann ich dir nicht bei deinem Problem helfen, aber vllt du mir :wink:

Ich habe selbiges Equipment gekauft, allerdings nur in 1x10m String.
Nach gut 10Stunden kapituliere ich komplett, ich finde keinen weg, den String überhaupt ans Leuchten zu bringen…
Vllt magst du mir sagen wie du die Verdrahtet hast, und ob sie bei dir auf Anhieb nach WLED installation leuchteten.
Vielen Dank
GrĂĽĂźe

3

I also have used ESP8266 without logic shifter on WS-2811 lights, and had no difficulty. With the WS2812b fairy lights I could not get the ESP8266 to perform reliably. I finally gave up (despite sporadic success) and used an ESP32. I did some other changes too:

  1. The main power splits to one +/- pair going directly to the lights and one going to the ESP32. The only wire leaving the ESP32 is the data line.

  2. I added a 1000 micro-farad capacitor across the +/- to the ESP32.

  3. Added (like you have done) logic level shifter.

  4. My fairy lights came with the data inlet end in the middle of the reel. I made sure to connect the data line to this end (probably don’t need to tell you, but it took ME a while to figure that out even though the website diagrams are pretty clear).

4

Glad you got it running.

One thing to watch out for - if your data input is in the middle of a reel/strip, there’s a fair chance you’re dealing with hard coded LED addresses. That means LED#10 is always #10, no matter if you cut it off and reconnect to the end of the string.

One easy way to tell -
Measure the data line resistance from start to end of the string.
For normal addressable LEDs if should be at least some 30K and possibly infinite.
For hard coded LEDs it will be very low, close to 0 ohms.

1 Like
5

Aha! Thanks for the tip - I did not know about the hard coded LED addresses.