My last 7 LEDs have stopped responding. When power comes on, they light up a few random colors. I have adjusted the LED count to beyond the actual number of lights and it still does not work. The do not change color or even turn off. It did work before but not any more.
I have a 12v system with power injected half way down the strip. Changing the color or brightness does not fix the problem. Any idea what is going on?
2 suggestions spring to mind.
The first led of the block of 7 that have failed has gone faulty rendering all others after it faulty. Led’s don’t last forever especially if driven hard at full brightness.
A damaged pcb track caused through string movement or a dry solder joint due to poor manufacturing. Could also be heat from the led itself. Full brightness static colours, especially white are often the cause of heat related joint issues.
Sometimes a quick dab with the soldering iron is all it takes the fix the problem ,providing you can access the strip easily.
Are you using a level shifter? How long is the wire between your ESP and the strip?
Were you playing with segments?
A level shifter would only impact the first led in the chain. The leds themselves have signal correction so as long as it gets to the first led all should be good.
I did not have a level shifter. I am using a esp8211. I only have 1 segment set and it is over the max LEDs.
The LEDs are not old or run at full brightness much but I will definitely check that LED for a fault