LED wall display that doesn't catch fire again

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mmilgram
 
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LED wall display that doesn't catch fire again

Post by mmilgram »

So I just reno'd my basement with the crazy idea of making an LED wall display with LED Strips, in X and Y and stick designs, you can see the layout that has been made with channels built into the walls already and diffusers placed on top. I'm planning on using 144led/m strips, I bought LED strips and bluetooth controllers elsewhere (non adafruit) and they literally went up in smoke, they actually caught fire..... so now i'm asking for some very much needed assistance and product selection advice. I need approx 19-20m of LEDs and there are 4 design pieces (X Y shapes), not sure if I will need separate controllers and/or power sources or if it can all be linked in series??????? Ideally the wiring will run behind the baseboard to the controller(s?) and power source(s?) that will be behind the fireplace and I'm hoping to have either wifi or bluetooth connection to control the LEDs to avoid needing to make IR receivers visible as that would be unsightly. The controllers would ideally be able to be used through a phone but if a computer is needed that's also fine.

I'm not necessarily looking to make super cool and epic waving and patterned LED effects along the strips, although if possible that would be amazing and would love to, I'm currently looking to just have them light up and change to different colours and not set themselves or my house on fire.

No budget, the wall has already been set up for this project so whatever it costs it costs.

any help would be so incredibly amazing!!!!!!!
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dastels
 
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Re: LED wall display that doesn't catch fire again

Post by dastels »

Read https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide, pay attention to the best practices and powering pages.

If they caught on fire my guess is that either something was shorting or things overheated.

Dave

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: LED wall display that doesn't catch fire again

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

For a large-scale built-in installation like that you should make sure that all of your wiring is sized and fused appropriately. 144 pixel/meter strips are capable of drawing lots of current and generating lots of heat. I'd start by consulting with an electrician that is familiar with your local low-voltage wiring codes.

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mmilgram
 
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Re: LED wall display that doesn't catch fire again

Post by mmilgram »

so that's all well and good, but what can I be looking into for a controller and for linking multiple lengths of LED strips together as I've seen that most have an extra positive negative terminal built in for i'm assuming providing extra voltage for the 2nd length.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: LED wall display that doesn't catch fire again

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Any of the microcontrollers in the store are capable of driving Neopixels. The best choice will depend on what programming language/development environment you prefer (Arduino vs Python) and what other capabilities you might need (WiFi, Bluetooth etc)

High density strips like those require power feeds every meter or so due to the limited current capacity of the power and ground traces on the flexible backing . That is the purpose of the extra power & ground leads. You can power with multiple feeds from a single supply, or with multiple supplies as described in the guide: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide

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