Hi Community!
I connected 3x34 Leds with 22AWG = 0.22mm2 (plus, minus and data) in a row. Total length 1.8 meter of all LED strips, data line in total 2 meters.
Short overview:
1.7m data line
34 LEDs
15cm data line
34 LEDs
15cm data line
Plus and minus are only 15cm each strip.
Power supply, 8A max / 5V —> more as needed for this config.
First of all - it works as expected but their is one issue - it flickers. Not always, from time to time their are some „ticks“. It doesn‘t matter if it‘s only one color (solid) or a template (rainbow).
Could it be that the cable is too small (diameter)?
What‘s the official recommendation? 24AWG and more?
Electrical wire sizes run in reverse. 24 gauge is a thinner wire than 22 and so on. I use 18 gauge for my projects. 22 may be fine for a small run of LEDs. Feel the wire – is it hot when the lights are running? A thinner wire will run hotter and cause more voltage drop than a thicker one, all other things being equal. That is a dangerous scenario if you are pushing too much amperage than the wire can handle. If the wire is hot, that is a telltale sign.
Flickering points more to a data issue than a power issue, at least in my view. If your LEDs were undersupplied with power, the ones at the end of the line will be at a lower colour intensity than the ones at the start but they shouldn’t flicker – unless they are drastically undersupplied.
Are your LEDs, your controller, and your power supply connected to a ground or neutral circuit? I have experienced buggy LED strips if the GND line from the ESP32 gets separated from the rest.
That’s what I wanted to say (AWG24 is thinner than AWG22)
I re-checked my cable. For power supply, I used 0.22mm2 which should be AWG24?!. Same as for the data line (there is nothing written on the cable but similar to the power supply).
Power supply shouldn’t be an issue (8Amps max).
All strips and the ESP32 are connected on the same plus/minus on the power supply.
One more remark: It’s not the first WLED I installed, but the first one with thinner cables. I also installed behind my TV 1 meter with slightly thicker cables and with a only 2Amps power supply which works fine.
Next steps:
I’ll reduce the strips form 3 to 1 or 2 and check if the behavior is still the same.
That’s pretty minimal for power wiring.
Your data wiring (Data and Ground) can stay that size, but your power lines should be at least a size larger (if not 2 sizes).
Better to be oversized on power wiring.
