Wiring red, white and TWO black leads on Neopixel LED strip

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macewmi
 
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Joined: Sat Feb 08, 2020 10:26 am

Wiring red, white and TWO black leads on Neopixel LED strip

Post by macewmi »

I have two Neopixel strips.
  • 2836 Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGBW LED Strip White PCB 30 LED/m 1m
  • 2968 Adafruit Mini Skinny NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip 1m
Each strip comes with a red (power), black (ground), white/black (data and ground in a JST connector). I've searched the forum for "black lead" and see that others before me have also been confused about how to wire these. Answers/articles advice vary from "trim off the loose black lead and ignore it" to "cut off the JST and connect the blacks together".

One of the answers linked to an Adafruit article with a photo that showed the loose red and black connected to the screws of a barrel connector adapter and the JST white and black to the microcontroller - via an opposite gender JST connector. THAT makes some sense to me. I hope I'm understanding it correctly.

The function of the black wire on the JST connector is to provide common ground between the power supply and the microcontroller. Do I have that right?
  • red lead to external power V+
  • loose black lead to power GND
  • white JST lead to microcontroller data pin
  • black JST lead to microcontroller GND

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dastels
 
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Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2015 3:22 pm

Re: Wiring red, white and TWO black leads on Neopixel LED st

Post by dastels »

This is a convenience for powering using an external supply. the red & black are power and ground as you realize. The while is data and it's coupled with another ground connection. The idea is that you use red/black for the power supply, and white/black for the controller. Grounds MUST be common which is why the two ground/black wires. The two black wired are connected at the strip.

If you aren't using an external supply (do the research before you decide. See https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neo ... -neopixels) just use red for power, a black for ground, and white for data.

Dave

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