Hello,
i have built a giant Wall with over 320 LEDs and tested it with a laboratory Power Supply, so that i know the exact current i need for the main power supply.
I have now bought 2 power Supplies and none of them works properly, they both have the same issues. I already put in some capacitors but this hasn´t fixed the issue. I don´t know what to do, i have no voltage drops before the LED Strips and all 3 to 4 meters i have soldered on another + and - to provide enough electricity. If i put on the laboratory Power Supply it works perfectly fine. As the main Power Supply i used the Mean Well APV-16E-5.
What other hardware are you using? I’d guess no level shifter.
no level shifter, thats right. I just built it with the Power Supply, D1 Mini ESP 8266, Led stripes and cables. I added
one 1000 µF Capacitors for each + and - cable that goes towards the LED Strip (3 capacitors) a few Weeks ago, but nothing changed.
I measured the voltage output from the Mean Well power supply and it is 5v.
i use the D1 mini ESP 8266 and it can work with 5v (there is a Pin for 5v input,s o i guess it works with 5v). Everything works with the laboraty Power Supply, but not with the Mean Well Power Supply.
Well if it works properly with one power supply but not the other, that would tend to point to a power supply problem.
You can try using a dedicated 5V supply just for the D1 to try and isolate out any power supply noise at the MCU, just make sure you have a common Ground for both power supplies and the data line. Do NOT connect the MCU and LED 5V lines together in this scenario.
The other thing to definitely try is a level shifter, that works for many people. How far is the D1 from the strip, ie how long is the data wire?
You can also try with greatly decreased brightness (25%) to reduce the load on the supply and see the effects.
´What do you mean by “a common ground for both power supplies and the data line”? should i do it like i have drawn it in picture 2?
the length of the data cable is around 60cm, but it works with the laboratory power supply, so this cant be the problem.
The LED Strip only uses about 1A (The max Current Output is 1000 mA via WLED app) and i use a 3A power Supply, the load should not be a problem.
That diagram looks fine, the only thing I would do is remove the capacitors, they are not needed at all.
as far as:
the length of the data cable is around 60cm, but it works with the laboratory power supply, so this cant be the problem
Well there is a difference when you use one power supply or the other so you’ve got to start eliminating variables. A data line of 60cm without a levelshifter is definitely stretching the limits for your data stream.
You can add a levelshifter or try temporarily moving the D1 much closer to the strip (say 5cm) or do both.
And as I said earlier, try dropping the brightness to 25% and see if that makes any difference. It’s possible your 3A PS is much less capable than advertised.
Thank you guys,
i recently built in the level shifter and it worked, without even trying to put in the second PS.
The Data Line is just a little to long. For everyone with same issues or just a data line with over 50cm, just put in a level shifter to avoid any issues, maybe also after the final install, it costs around 1,20€.
The other option to consider is a TxRx differential pair (check previous posts for details). That will replace the level shifter and give you reliable data distances of 100m or more. Costs are almost the same as a level shifter.
Glad you got it up and running.