Control and power analog 5v RGB LEDs with Circuit Playground

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Kiwiboyus
 
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Control and power analog 5v RGB LEDs with Circuit Playground

Post by Kiwiboyus »

I have a short strip of analog RBG LEDs (9 LEDs total), and since it's the 5v version I am wondering if I can connect it directly to my Circuit Playground Express? So far all of the guides I have found are for the 12v versions that need a separate power supply and transistors etc.

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Control and power analog 5v RGB LEDs with Circuit Playgr

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

You'll need to use the same kind of circuit as for higher-voltage strips. A microcontroller's pins can't handle the amount of current necessary to run 9 LEDs.

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Kiwiboyus
 
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Re: Control and power analog 5v RGB LEDs with Circuit Playgr

Post by Kiwiboyus »

Gotcha, that is what I will do then. Thanks for the reply :)

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Kiwiboyus
 
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Re: Control and power analog 5v RGB LEDs with Circuit Playgr

Post by Kiwiboyus »

Finally had time to get back to this. I followed this guide https://learn.adafruit.com/rgb-led-strips/usage and wired up the short strip of LEDs to an Arduino UNO I have and have had mixed results. Since it's a 5v strip I've been powering it directly from the Arduino UNO and it basically lit up white but did not change color or fade like the example code. I discovered that disconnecting the ground wire coming from the UNO to the bread board resulted in the colors changing about 50% and the fade in and out worked. I'm thinking now that I need to power the 5v to the strip separately from the UNO like the 12v examples I have seen.

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Control and power analog 5v RGB LEDs with Circuit Playgr

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

Yeah, you'll probably need separate power supplies.

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