safely powering sixteen Ultra Bright 3 Watt Chainable Neopixel LEDs

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tebfm
 
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safely powering sixteen Ultra Bright 3 Watt Chainable Neopixel LEDs

Post by tebfm »

I am constructing a backlight sign using at string of 16 Ultra Bright 3 Watt Chainable NeoPixel LED - WS2811 which is controlled by a Metro M4 express. As I understand it, the Ultra Bright 3 Watt NeoPixels will need a 1/2 amp each to power them (8A total), so I was planning to use a 5V 10A switching power supply. With a 10A power supply, do I need to remove the existing wires with JST 3 SM connectors installed on the NeoPixels and replace them with 16 gauge wire in this scenario? I was hoping to just use 3-pin JST SM Plug + Receptacle Cable Sets to chain them together on the sign, but these wires seem to be 22 AWG. Any advice would be most appreciated -- I still have a lot to learn! Thank you!

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: safely powering sixteen Ultra Bright 3 Watt Chainable Neopixel LEDs

Post by mikeysklar »

5v @ 10A supply sounds good.

Are you sure that the wire gauge is not 16 AWG? That is what was used on the 3W Pixie model. There are some helpful notes from that guide about supply noise and chaining.

https://learn.adafruit.com/pixie-3-watt ... se-1474473

Heat will be an issue so if you have a metal sign hopefully that can act as a heat sink for these boards.

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