LEDs flash every few seconds

Issues
1

I had this issue before on a breadboard, but when I separated the power/ground to the ESP8266 and to the level shifter + LEDs then the issue didn’t seem to occur.

Now I have soldered everything like that, but it seems like the flashing is back again.

Here is a rough schematic of the connections:

schematic
schematic852×569 66.2 KB

I am using WS2812B LED strip with ESP8266.

The level shifter is a “4 Channel IIC I2C Logic Level Converter Bi-Directional Module 5V to 3.3V”.

Black wires on the schematic are ground.
Red wires are power (5V or 3.3V in one case).
Yellow wires are the data wires.

Here you can see the actual connections. Bear with me, I am new to soldering. This is a hobby project :slight_smile: I have tested all connections using my multimeter for continuity and everything should only be connected where expected.

– Edit: looks like I’m not allowed to add more photos right now –

Here you can see the issue where the lights flash/flicker every few seconds:

It’s not easy to see on the video. But right at the start of the video you can see it briefly flash. It flashes a few more times during the video, but it’s not very clear from the video.

Thank you for your help.

2

So here are the photos of the actual connections: (top side)

image
image1260×945 145 KB

3

So here are the photos of the actual connections: (bottom side)

image
image1260×945 127 KB

4

These level shifters don’t work for anything but the shortest data runs unless you modify them.

https://kno.wled.ge/basics/compatible-hardware/#levelshifters

5

Thank you very much. So I removed the level shifter completely, and now it works perfectly.

But do I have to add a resistor now between the data line and the LED strip? Or should I buy another level shifter?

6

Get a proper levelshifter as per the KB.
Your best best is something based on the 74AHCTxxx chips.

That will save you grief in the long run.
Make sure you don’t leave any floating inputs and don’t forget the 100nF ceramic bypass cap.
Just follow the wiring diagram(s) in the KB.

7

Good practice would be to use a proper shifter, personally… if it works it works, just keep the shifter in mind if it suddenly stops working.

1 Like
8

yea that’s what I’ll be doing for now… my play time to work on this is over and I have to get back to actual work… so I’m leaving it like it is…

if it ends up breaking along the way, then I’ll create something better next time… :slight_smile:

it is part of my ceiling light for my desk and works great so far… just finished hanging it up

image
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Well, it looks great as long as I set lowest brightness on the big ceiling light, because otherwise the LEDs are barely visible… the ceiling light gives off a lot of light… but for mood lighting, it works great.

Thanks for the advice.