New to WLED, have a number of questions : )

Questions
1

Hi everyone,

I’m completely new to WLED/Controllers/LED strips, you name it lol.

I’m looking to run 20/21 metres of WS2812B (60 LEDs per metre) along the inside of my converted shed. The overall goal is to have this controlled by an:

“SP-Cow ESP32S ESP32 Development Board”

with a microphone attached:

“AZDelivery Max9814 Microphone AGC Amplifier Board 2.7V - 5.5V Auto Gain Control Amplifier”

and using the sound reactive version of WLED to make the LEDs reactive.

First question is, is this possible via a single controller and power supply? it will work out as 1200/1260 LEDs in total. The power supply I have purchased is an:

“AC 110V/230V to DC 5V 60A 300W Switching Power Supply AC-DC Power Adapter Transformer”

I have a feeling its not possible and I may need 2 controllers, if so will I also need 2 Power supplies or will the one above be able to handle both 10m runs?

If I need 2 controllers, I was thinking about running 10m on each, connecting the mic to one of the controllers, making it the master, making the other controller the slave and then using the sync functionality to make them both sound reactive.

Just not 100% sure if I need multiple power supplies etc.

Then there’s the whole power injection side of things, I have watched every YouTube video I can find on this but no-one seems to have a simple how-to video on the subject and I don’t want to cause a fire lol.

It kind of seems like for e.g. a 10m run of LEDs, i would run an additional 10m power injection cable from the same power supply and then strip back the wire at points and “T” off an additional cable to the LEDs where the injection is needed?

I plan to put the entire 20m of LEDs inside diffuser channels.

To get me started I have purchased the PSU, 1 Controller, Microphone and just 1 metre WS2812B so I can prove I’m capable of doing this before buying 20 metres lol.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!!

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2

As far as power goes, my rule of thumb (without looking up manufacturer’s specs or actually measuring) is to go with 0.3W/LED.
For 1200 LEDs that means 360W total power in worst case - 100% bright White on every LED.
For a 5V power supply you should be thinking about 80A/400W to allow for line losses.

You haven’t mentioned to rough shape of the final layout, but I’d guess it will be roughly a square/rectangle or perhaps a “U”. That kind of layout lends itself to using 2 separate power supplies of 40A each that can be placed closer to the middle of each side. That reduces the injection distances you have to run and the load on each supply not to mention the cost of the supplies.

You’ll have to get someone from the WLED SR camp to chime in on your mic/setup selection, but in general, 600 LED’s on two separate GPIOs of an ESP32 is not a huge load. You might have to think about arranging the strips so they meet at a middle point (where the MCU will be placed) and split “left” and “right” from there to minimize data length. That will also keep things down to one controller.

Getting a small test setup is a good idea and will let you measure actual current draws for your LEDs so you have real numbers going forward.

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3

Hi,

So the room is basically a rectangle. The order for the single 60amp power supply got cancelled so I went with your suggestion of 2 40 amp supplies.

Haven’t ordered any 5m strips yet as the room is not ready.

I did receive the 1m strip, controller and microphone and managed to get it all working using a phone charger for power, even got the sound reactive working.

I’ve been reading online about adding inline fuses for safety, anyone got any experience/recommendations for these?

4

Normally 5A per injection as strips can’t pass more than that.

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5

Am I correct in thinking that I can power the esp32 board with a phone charger but then power the strips directly from one of my seperate 5v 40a power supply, so only the data line from the esp32 would connect to the strips?

Also could I then run a single 5/10 metre positive and negative cable from the psu and then T off small cables to inject power?

Im using “Fermerry 18 AWG Electrical Wire 0.75mm² Flexible Silicone Tinned Copper Wire”, is that suitable?

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6

Sounds right, except you need to hook the ground from the esp to the ground of the other psu/ LED strip. All DC grounds must be common.

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7

Is it correct that the esp32 board will only output 3.5v and I shouldn’t use it to power my led strips directly? I’m looking to power 600leds in total off a single controller and PSU.

If so, I have a 5v 40amp psu with 3 outputs, can I use:

Output 1 to power the esp32.
Output 2 to power at the start of the strip.
Output 3 for power injection at the middle and end.

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8

Correct. You can not power 600 LEDs from the controller. You need to power them from an external power supply. Just because that power supply has 3 sets of screw terminals does not mean it has 3 sperate outputs. It is likely that they are tied together aka 1 true output of 40A. It does not matter what terminals you connect to. With 5v LEDs you will likely need to add power every 150 LEDs or so. I doubt power at the beg/end of 600 LEDs would be enough for all effects.

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9

hi just had the same sort of issue have a 60a power supply and a esp32 board im trying to power a 25m length around a room around 1400 leds i can only get the first 700 to work i have two power injections any ideas or am i going to have to get two power supply’s? and how does that all work with on espboard thanks

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10

Did you either turn off or increase the mA on the brightness limiter in LED Preferences?

To use 2 power supplies you need common negative (ground) between the 2 but isolated positives, so you would need to cut the positive 1/2 way down the strip and power the 2nd half of your LEDs from the 2nd power supply. You need to leave the data connected and can also leave the negative connected thus giving you the common ground.

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