Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

EL Wire/Tape/Panels, LEDs, pixels and strips, LCDs and TFTs, etc products from Adafruit

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happyinmotion
 
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Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by happyinmotion »

I've the 144 pixel strip without the pads between the LEDs. My design uses 1.4 metre lengths of strips, so I'm attempting to join the strips.

And I'm failing.

The uberguide suggests soldering directly to the LED pins:
Joining 144 Neopixel strips.png
Joining 144 Neopixel strips.png (166.29 KiB) Viewed 919 times
I'm not bad at soldering, I'm happy doing surface mount components and I've even managed to dead-bug a DFN chip with 0.5 mm spacing (once). Still, I've yet to manage a single good splice. I'm holding the backs of the strips in place with some kapton tape and trying to hold down jumper leads with superglue, but it's just damn fiddly.

So, can anyone who has managed to join the 144 LED strips offer any hints or tricks on how to get a good joint? Or should I just suck up the cost and splash out on four more metres of the 144 strip, with pads this time?

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

I've only done this once, but here's the basic technique that worked for me:
  • Put a fine-tip on your iron.
    Pre-cut & strip the 4 jumper wires.
    Solder one end of each to the first chip so you have 4 wires sticking out.
    Tin each free end with a drop of solder so there is a blob of solder just big enough to make the final joint
    Position them one at a time using tweezers and heat until the solder melts and fuses to pin of the second chip.

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happyinmotion
 
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Re: Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by happyinmotion »

With some more attempts... nope, still can't do it.

The connections look good to me, but I can't get data across the joint.

Is it possible instead to order more of the black 144 LED strips where the strips have the solder pads between the LEDs?

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Not sure what style we have in stock. I'll check...

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adafruit2
 
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Re: Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by adafruit2 »

Yep current stock has spice points, we've also harassed the factory to make sure they never send us non-cuttable strips anymore

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happyinmotion
 
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Re: Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by happyinmotion »

Great, cheers.

I'll send in an order today.

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happyinmotion
 
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Re: Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by happyinmotion »

After much more playing around, I think I've come up with a better way to make joints in Neopixel and DotStar strips - sew the joints with wire before soldering.

I've a detailed write-up with pics at A easier and more reliable way to join 144 LED per metre strips.

Image
Last edited by happyinmotion on Sun May 24, 2015 3:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Thanks for posting your results.

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HeroicNate
 
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Re: Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by HeroicNate »

I noticed in this post that adafruit says their current stock of 144 density has the pads for cutting. That was an older post but the images on the store page still show the padless strip. If I order the 144 strip is it still possible that I will end up with the no pad strips?

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adafruit2
 
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Re: Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by adafruit2 »

all strips in stock now have the cut lines (we yelled and hollered at the factory :)

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HeroicNate
 
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Re: Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by HeroicNate »

Thanks!

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HeroicNate
 
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Re: Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by HeroicNate »

adafruit2 wrote:all strips in stock now have the cut lines (we yelled and hollered at the factory :)

Speaking of the "factory", did adafruit design/manufacture these strips or only resells them? I've seen a variety of sellers with addressable LED strips that look identical to what is being sold on adafruit, but often at near 50% of the price. I want to support US manufacturing but I can't tell who's manufacturing things, who's reselling at a price mark-up, or who's ripping other people's designs off. Is there a difference between "neopixel" and other addressable LED's?
Last edited by HeroicNate on Mon Jun 15, 2015 11:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Splicing 144 LED Neopixel strips

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

These strips are manufactured to our specifications and are guaranteed and supported by Adafruit. Similar looking products may or may not be compatible and may or may not be backed up by the seller.

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