LED Infinity Mirror

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: LED Infinity Mirror

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Sorry, I was not more specific about the ground connection.

You should run both power and ground directly to the strip. The pixels draw a LOT of current, so this connection should be direct.

Then you should run a ground wire from the strip back to the Arduino. This is the voltage reference for your signal wire, so you don't want a lot of pixel current running through that wire.

But I would expect you would at least see something light up. Make sure that you are connected to the input end of the strip. There should be arrows on the strip the point away from your connections. Also please post a closer view of your soldering. It looks like a possible solder-bridge between the signal and ground connection.

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vivianshock
 
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Re: LED Infinity Mirror

Post by vivianshock »

I was toying around with this more before I got your message and it lit up!!! But since you mentioned some connections should be direct, is this circuit still ok? Photo attached. I'm confused as to why I don't need resistors with a shorter signal wire (and would that make the following true: resistors are needed with a longer signal wire?).

Also, I plan on mounting the LED strip along the inside of a frame with a mirror and one-way mirror–do you have any suggestions as what to do with:
- Hiding and securing everything else (power switch, Arduino, wires, capacitor, terminal block adapter) outside of the frame to make everything clean?
- Keeping the code running after disconnecting the USB cable from the computer? (It stops when I unplug the cable)

Thank you for your help thus far!!
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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: LED Infinity Mirror

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

That looks good. With a long signal wire, it can act like an antenna and pick up electrical noise. You can also get an 'echo' of the signal bouncing back and forth. The resistors are to suppress that noise and are not really needed for a shorter wire.

Not sure how your frame is constructed or how you plan to mount it when done. But the easiest way to hide the wiring @ connections would be to put them behind the mirror. A shallow box or frame behind the mirror itself would give you a cavity for the electrical parts and shield them from view from the side.

To keep things running when you disconnect the USB, you need to apply power to the Arduino. Simply run another jumper from the positive terminal of your power supply to the 5v pin on the Arduino.

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vivianshock
 
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Re: LED Infinity Mirror

Post by vivianshock »

Got it, thanks!

Now I'm trying to extend the LED strip. I've updated the numpixels value in the code accordingly, but why is this connection not working?
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Re: LED Infinity Mirror

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

It looks like you have only connected the GND and signal wires. You need to connect the 5v wires too to provide power to the second strip.

Please read the section here on making connections. This is important to avoid damage to the strips.
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neop ... -practices
Avoid connecting NeoPixels to a live circuit. If you simply must, always connect ground first, then +5V, then data. Disconnect in the reverse order.

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