# Some effects only working for part of the strip, then goes to solid color

**URL:** <https://wled.discourse.group/t/some-effects-only-working-for-part-of-the-strip-then-goes-to-solid-color/6288>\
**Category:** Issues\
**Created:** [November 8, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://wled.discourse.group/t/some-effects-only-working-for-part-of-the-strip-then-goes-to-solid-color/6288 "2022-11-08T18:33:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bfortner22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@bfortner22](https://wled.discourse.group/u/bfortner22)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://wled.discourse.group/t/some-effects-only-working-for-part-of-the-strip-then-goes-to-solid-color/6288/1 "2022-11-08T18:33:13Z")

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I installed 12v ws2811 RGB strips under the eaves of my house about a year ago. These are the lights that have 3 lights per pixel, and each 5 meter strip has 60 leds/meter or 20 pixels/meter. They shine against the house for indirect lighting. It’s awesome, and totally makes my house pop with color! I am using an esp8266 controller. I have noticed that with many WLED effects, the effect will only work for the first 500-600 pixels or so, and then after that the rest of the lights just go to the solid primary color (or maybe it’s the secondary color). There is no color or brightness distortion, the lights just go solid. Furthermore, on other effects it will work for the entire length without any problems. I am assuming this is a coding problem. Maybe for some of the effects only a certain number of pixels are instructed to perform the effect? Any thoughts? For example, I know that the effect “Breathe” has this issue, but “Sweep” does not. Is it possible to go in and change the coding to span an infinite number of pixels?

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**Author:** ![tonyno](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/wled.discourse.group/tonyno/32/242_2.png) [@tonyno](https://wled.discourse.group/u/tonyno)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 8:22pm UTC](https://wled.discourse.group/t/some-effects-only-working-for-part-of-the-strip-then-goes-to-solid-color/6288/2 "2022-11-08T20:22:36Z")

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Sounds like you don’t have a level shifter. The rule of thumb is that _sometimes_ you don’t need one. Usually you do.

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**Author:** ![bfortner22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@bfortner22](https://wled.discourse.group/u/bfortner22)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 8:37pm UTC](https://wled.discourse.group/t/some-effects-only-working-for-part-of-the-strip-then-goes-to-solid-color/6288/3 "2022-11-08T20:37:17Z")

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Thanks. I’ll look into that. It sounds like it might also just be my specific brand of nodeMCU. I found this post on reddit, [https://www.reddit.com/r/WLED/comments/kvzmhd/comment/gj1fg2y/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WLED/comments/kvzmhd/comment/gj1fg2y/). Sounds like this guy had the exact same issue but once he flashed a new controller his issue went away

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**Author:** ![blazoncek](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/wled.discourse.group/blazoncek/32/1886_2.png) [@blazoncek](https://wled.discourse.group/u/blazoncek)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2022, 6:25am UTC](https://wled.discourse.group/t/some-effects-only-working-for-part-of-the-strip-then-goes-to-solid-color/6288/4 "2022-11-10T06:25:46Z")

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Your ESP is low on memory (RAM).  
Use ESP32 instead.