Beginner's Guide to Using LED Strips with Arduino

[@cac2244]

I actually watch this video with my own WS2812B set-up running. As an electronics and gaming pc enthusiast, I had ARGB, arduino (elegoo uno r3), resistors / cap at home, just waiting for me to put it all together thanks to your guidance. Like always, my favorite part is soldering the JST SM 3 pin connectors to the RGB strip.

[@meinbherpieg4723]

I would love a tutorial showing how to synchronize an Arduino controlled LED with MIDI controlled DMX signals. The idea would be to take a DAW like Ableton, which can control DMX lights, synchronize the DMX signals to react to MIDI notes so the notes control the lights, and then feed those DMX packets into an Arduino script for adaptive, dynamic light shows synced to a MIDI interface/track. Doing this would allow musicians to build cheap LED light shows and even, perhaps, LED Matrix walls, which can either have preset displays or real-time MIDI display. Great work, thanks.

[@andrewt.135]

Thank you so much, I've watched countless videos on this an this made it so much easier to understand.

[@newportmeister]

This is an incredibly useful video, thanks a lot.

[@robert__]

Thank you so much, this was very informative and to-the-point. instant sub

[@kiranshashiny]

I connected the Drain of IRFZ44N to the LED strip (Red color ) and the Source to Ground (of the 12v DC power supply) and even before I connected the MOSFET Gate - the Red LED light lit up ! Double checked it - so it looks like the Drain and source is OPEN ! and the Gate has no effect. The 12v DC adapter is connected as follows: The Positive is connected to the Power Line of the LED strip, and the GND is connected to the Gate. ( It's a Barrel connector on a hobby pc board )

[@milano3829]

Can IRFZ44n be used to dim the LED's?

[@davonsden]

Is it possible to program a led list so I can change the color on the ledlist at a specific place? I want to have a ledlist around my table top tv case and be able to change the color at a players position to indicate its that players turn to act.

[@jakubnosek7097]

Thanks for this video, exactly what I needed to get started.

[@zacharybrown5367]

Tried this same circut with a 24v strip and it didn't work with the 10k resistor, removing the resistor makes it work. Do I need a different value for 24v? Is it okay to run without the resistors?

[@sajidahmedchowdhury]

why do we need MOSFETs to interface the LED strip with the Arduino?

[@gingernaut2550]

Im planning to make a leviathan axe from god of war, and I'd like to have the runes actually light up, and ideally pulse/move about

[@ChristianCristofori]

Regarding your advise at 1:16, how many could be powered via the Arduino UNO itself? And how many can Arduino manage when connected to and external power supply? Thank you, great video.

[@liveen]

I'm a full 8 months late, buuuut: A 1 meter strip of WS21812Bs with 60LEDs runs perfectly fine with only power from my Arduino. Anything more than that, you'd need to use external power / power injection (adding more power at i.e the power pad at the 1m mark) to avoid dimming, flickering, discoloration etc. If you use an external power supply, like say a 12V one if your strip requires that, then the arduino's GND port (ground) is the controlling factor, so it'd be like having something plugged into the wall, with available power, but if the other end isn't plugged in, current doesn't flow. So the arduino just needs to complete the circle / cycle / circuit to control the LEDs. This means your Arduino is only controlling, not powering, kind of. The ground of your arduino still needs to lead to the external supply's negative rail tho, like shown in the picture at the beginning of the video. I'm still pretty new to electronics, so sorry if something was wrong here, but from what I know so far, this is how it'd work. Sidenote: In case it wasn't clear, you CAN power a 12V strip with the arduino itself in some cases, but the strip will be dim and weak. It might not turn on if the threshold voltage of the LEDs is higher than 3.3V/5V. I hope I helped!

[@lustigerfalke5855]

Thank you. Very helpful for starting.

[@alemassa]

Great video. Is there a mistake in the diagram where the Arduino ground is connected to the 12V+? (black line)

[@MakeUseOf]

Ahh, I see the error. The ground from the Arduino is black and should be connectedf to the power supply ground. Unfortunately there's also a black line going into the LED strip from the power supply and it's labelled +12v - this really needs to be red. Sorry!

[@alemassa]

MakeUseOf no big deal. These videos are very useful. Keep posting!

[@milano3829]

but how to interface R G B 12v type LED strip with arduino how to connect them?

[@LegoMasterFive]

Thanks a bunch! Works excellent!

[@mujtaba2617]

That's a really great video.

[@kingofgames2660]

1 word, thanks

[@aurorafrestadius]

Thank you!!! Very informative and clear video, just the one I needed :)

[@VideoGamesNYC]

I cannot figure out how to program my Kaimana mini. i wish there was a software of a GUI webkit available. Jensen Khameleon webkit site is down. I’m looking for an alternative

[@makeitathome1327]

Nice video! I'm actually trying to build an arduino project that can control an individually addreseble led strip that has 24 leds using an ir remote. I've got the code and components ready, but I'm worried about the current being an issue. Do you know how much power would approximately be needed, and if so, what gauge/ AWG wire would I need to handle that much current. Also, do you know how to connect a separate power supply to the circuit because I don't think the arduino can handle plugging a power supply into the Power Jack connector.

[@UnOrthodox_Christian]

I can’t get the code to compile. It’s mad at delay(delay(fade speed); it said invalid use of void expression

[@WEARETHEJAARMY]

Is it possible to use a Arduino board to detect when a variable of 1 - 12v is present to turn on/dim a Led Light? For example I own a limousine and I'm wanting to redo the lighting but still be able to use some of the controls inside the Limo. There are knobs in the back seat for bar Lights, Interior Lights, Mood Lights and Halo Lights. I want to upgrade from fiber optic to Led strips but I am having a rough time Finding something that will work for my application, I want these lights to be able to sync up with Each other. I plan on getting a diffuser for the led lights Aswell to give them that neon look, but right now I am just trying to get a idea of how I could go about this and get everything setup.

[@seamusimport1037]

I have a 12v strip with only 3 connections. Does this need a MOSFET onthe data line? Can't find any data on this strip bought from eBay some time ago! It comes on white when no data is sent to it!

[@jonathanm9436]

Ian - I REALLY like your teaching method. Where can I find some of your other content please. J.

[@IanBuckley42]

Thank you! I have a few other tutorials on the MakeUseOf channel, and I'm planning many more in the coming months! Is there anything in particular you are interested in learning about?

[@jonathanm9436]

​@@IanBuckley42 Oh hey Ian, thanks for replying! Something to learn about? He's a funny thing - thirty five years ago the RAAF taught me a bit about electronics and trusted me to fix their jets. I'm returning to this as a hobby and dabbling in Arduino - about an inch deep and a mile wide. 😁 Despite that background, the thing I have never really ever got a grip on is something pretty basic. I'd love a great explanation about how to know what currents and voltages a circuit/components will require. It's all very well for instructions to say, connect ABC components to XYZ power, but why? eg If I connect a car battery to a 12v circuit how do I know whether I will blow it up? Do components draw only the current they require, or can they be easily over loaded by a source that is too large? It's basic I know, but I've never understood it from this point of view. I feel as though there is a kernal of explanation that will suddenly flip the switch for me. Thanks for your kind offer. I do have other questions that are more technical, of course - How to convert a leading edge clip wave to PWM, and how to properly power and connect a long (10m+) LED ribbon, but perhaps they can wait. Fantastic. Good day to you Ian. Cheers, Jonathan

[@quemeese]

is there a way to set up a LED strip that each light would singly light up one by one in sequence until all are lit, then stay on until power is disconnected? preferably in all white?

[@MakeUseOf]

You'd need a pixel LED strip - that's one that has a control chip for each LED and is addressable, like the WS2801B. But yes, it would be trivial to do that in code, just use a counter, activate the first on full white, wait a bit, do the next one, until you reach the end. These kind of dumb RGB strips only have three variables to output - the R, G, and B value, so you can't talk to each individual LED along the chain - it's all one single light.

[@scoopiezz]

Percent Just what I need. Everything I need to know Thank u sooooo much! 😀😃😄😁😆

[@aghnajitpal2165]

If i have 5v led strip is it necessary to put mosfet and external power supply or i can directly power it via my arduino ?

[@hamnakashif3343]

Hi! This is a great video to make me understand easily. I have a question if they have included the servo motor??

[@movienino]

Do you need those mosfets or can you use other transistors like s8050?

[@adarshsuraj2930]

thank you .. it was really helpful.. Is it possible to get 3000k warm light in WS2812B instead of rgb

[@crecker1850]

Expected primary-expression before '=' token how do I get it to work

[@Rodrigo_RDA]

What is this big capacitor used together with the WS2812B LED strip for? Is it really necessary?

[@aarons2869]

Great vid, thanks!

[@jonb5586]

Could anyone get the 5v working? I did everything right and nothing

[@UnOrthodox_Christian]

I can’t get the code to compile. It’s mad at delay(delay(fade speed); it said invalid use of void expression

[@xthestrawhat]

what are the extra two wires on the neopixel type strips? I'm assuming there are just an extra way to do the power without the pin connector but I'm not sure. For example in the video there's an extra red and white wire to the side.

[@MakeUseOf]

You're correct, that's for power injection from a separate power supply. It usually has a DC power plug on the end of those.

[@MrDarkavatar1]

I follow you tutorial and i have some problem with the a simple program. I try with tip122 and tip31 but i cannot control the brightness... if i send with analogWrite the valute 255 the color turn on but if i use value lower than 150 it tourn off.... I've checked connections hundreds of times and they are ok so i don't know what to do. PS: if i send value between 255 and 130, the brightness wont change, It's always the same level. Can you help me?

[@kiranshashiny]

Im doing the same using the TIP122 - worked for a few days and now the red pin goes ON and off, repeatedly. At this time - I'm not even changing the analog values.It's set at 255 constant. Somethings going on !

[@tilenpodobnik641]

Very very informative.. great video

[@VishalRajput-wp8dx]

How many control led by Arduino can 900 led control by Arduino

[@Marcodenooijer]

Hi great video! I have a few led strip and latley i had a new addressable one with a magic home controller. Works great with wifi and google home. But now I want to tinker with some ambilight. Now I want to use a addressable 12volt WS2811 led strip with a arduino uno. But I have searched hi and low but can't find a clear explanation like you did for the rgb one and the 5volt one. It is not clear if you have to use a mosfet or not. I was thinking that you can just power the ledstrip with the 12volt power supply. Then the data cable from ledstrip to arduino. and ground from led strip to arduino. ( Also have powerded the arduino with a 5v usb powersupply.) Is this save to use it this way? Thanks!

[@PantherJagger]

I have the same question as Marco, I have the new WS2815 12V, I think he is right, just looking for confirmation too..or a quick wiring diagram.

[@arsebiscuitsandwine]

This is exactly right, use a separate 12v power supply for the led strips, and run the data line as normal. You will need to connect the ground line of the 12v supply to an Arduino ground pin as well. If you are using a 12v tolerant arduino, you could power it using 12v on the vin pin too, which would mean you'd only need one power supply.

[@mishanakhter732]

would this work with an IRFz44N Mosfet?

[@xdjoaw250]

Does it work with nedis rgb strips?

[@sandeepwarrier7435]

5:15 WS2812B strip demo

[@Mathew69er]

very nice video ... Can I also control two separate RGB LED stripes? In my case 2 times 1 meter. I want to build it into my Virtual Pinball.

[@JonathanDeWitt1988]

If you have an external power supply it shouldn't matter if it is one or more as long as that external power supply can supply enough power for both strips. You would just use two pins from the arduino for data (data1 and data2). If you wanted to use the same data pin for both it may work but you'd have to make sure it requires less than 40 mA.

[@Mathew69er]

@@JonathanDeWitt1988 THANKS ....

[@thewanderingguru4097]

Hi, I'm new to Arduino. This tutorial is great for a project I'm considering. I am making a dice tower where I'd like to run an IR sensor, small speaker, and a small amount of LEDs from an Arduino. My goal is so that when you put your dice in the top of the tower for a roll, the IR sensor gets tripped and a few sounds play and the LEDs flash in. some pattern. I'm pretty sure this is doable but I'm wondering how I would fit the Arduino, a ring of led lights, and a breadboard in the base of the tower. Should I get the breadboard printed so its smaller? I only need 5 or so if that's the case. Suggestions for saving space?

[@MakeUseOf]

Does it need to be a ring of LEDs, and what's the breadboard for? A pixel RGB shield could do the job. Trying to drive an audio file is a little bit complex though - for all those features, you might want to use a Raspberry Pi instead, then you could run an audio cable to an external or bluetooth speaker, and it'll be a LOT easier to deal with audio files. Somethign like this for LEDs: thepihut.com/products/true-colour-rgb-led-hat-for-raspberry-pi

[@techsobserver]

Hello I have a question if I wanted to use the WS2812 with the 5V and instead of using Power supply , I connected it to my USB 3.0 on my laptop continuously will that work? Since it’s already 5V USB port?

[@MakeUseOf]

Definitely not, you'll blow out the USB port as i's not designed to handle such a high current device. For a very small strip of about 5-10 LEDs you might be ok, but not worth the risk!

[@techsobserver]

MakeUseOf ohh, i think even powerbank with 2.4A, won’t do the job then because the reseller advises in 9watt what power supply do you recommend me if it was 1m , 30 LED of 5V . I’m not that smart in electric 😔,

[@guy_withglasses]

@@techsobserver if you do how many LEDS there are x 60mA that should give you how many amps it will draw, so if its 30 leds that would draw 30x60mA=1.8 amps

[@techsobserver]

Guy_WithGlasses thank you.! 😍

[@LaureKamalandua]

How would you advise building up a circuit to enable serial communication through USB and a connected LED strip. The Arduino will be powered in this matter through 5V (USB) and 12V (VIN) for the lights. I've seen from schematics that the circuit will logically switch between 5V or 12V when powered, but it is difficult to find great recommendations on this matter. The goal is to have the stip light up when notifications are being received over serial (from external API's).

[@MakeUseOf]

You wouldn't do that. 5v powers the Arduino, and a separate 12v line powers the LEDs. Without knowing a bit more about the LEDs you're trying to light up, I can't advise any more... The 12v LED strips I know of don't have serial communication, you just adjust the voltages. Do you have a link to the strip you're trying to control?

[@gauravpawar7802]

I think this problem is a solution is that only for you can design mobile app (from app inventor this is free) than control through it, according to your choice.

[@ATHIK0909]

Chips model ?

[@kennmossman8701]

ANY logic level Mosfet will work???? What if Vgs(on) > the logical High voltage? Vgs(on) can be as high as 4 Volts and that is at 250 uA; that means the Gate voltage might have to be 5 to 7 volts to handle significant current.

[@kiranshashiny]

What voltage should I supply the R G and the B pins ?

[@kennmossman8701]

@@kiranshashiny as per what the strip is rated for....usually 12V for a strip

[@kiranshashiny]

@@kennmossman8701 I got that. But what is the voltage rating for the Red pin, likewise the Green and the Blue pin of the LED strip. Thanks for replying on short notice. The thing is I have just 1 IRF44N and we have a lock down here and no stores are open/mall. So trying to just get the Red light up.

[@kiranshashiny]

@@kennmossman8701 I have the Arduino Nano and It's giving out 5v from one of the pins, and I want to insert a small LED connected in series with a 1k resistor and feed it to the Red Pin of the LED strip (So I know that the Mosfet is sending the voltage )

[@kennmossman8701]

@@kiranshashiny connect the resistor and LED from the I/O pin to ground. The I/O pin goes to Gate of the MosFet, The MosFet has the LED strip connected to its Drain

[@r3d984]

What would change with WS2811 12V strip? Capacitor should be 12V? How to choose the right resistor?

[@martinkuliza]

that cap doesn't have to be 12V it just has to be A MINIMUM OF 12V You could also use 16V which is very common in the 100uF and 1000uF capacitors,

[@miniblackops9051]

can you do led strips with 12v??

[@timma7]

I set this up with a Nano, using Digital ws2811 WS2812B Addressable smd5050 5v led bar light and using a 360.00 ohm resistor with a 100uf cap and i am getting flickering and signal loss quickly. it can only run the first 5 of my 64 leds with a 2A power supply, and it really is only effectively working 3 of them. Any ideas what i am doing wrong?

[@Handlebrake2]

Did you figure it out?

[@glennbrownengineer]

Do you think i could light up a certain length of the strip based on a distance reading from a sensor? Like the carnival hammer game, an object flies up and the LEDs light up as it goes up.

[@MakeUseOf]

As long it's pixel LEDs (individually controllable), yes, that would be easy. Just map the output of the distance sensor to the total number of LEDs proportionately, then FOR loop through to turn them one by one, with a delay between each refresh.

[@valoaras9729]

Where can I find the LED strips? I couldn't find a site that sells only the strips for a reasonable price

[@MakeUseOf]

If you don't mind waiting, AliExpress has tons for ultra cheap prices. Just search WS2812B and you'll find them.

[@mirrorgamerz2017]

dang i wanted to do the stuff with neo pixels but i dont

[@kiranshashiny]

Ian, What's the difference between the transistor TIP122 and this Mosfet IRF44N used in the RGB 5050 circuit. I have mine using TIP122, and I came across yours using the MOSFET ? Appreciate a reply.

[@milano3829]

Can we use TIP122 or IRFZ44N instead of IRL..? Will I be able to dim the leD's?

[@sherazbutt5803]

wait but mines are exactly the same like the 12v ones except they use 24v and also is written where it says "12v+" 24v whatttt II searched the whole internet which leds are mine??

[@kharl8880]

Hello I just receive my WS2812B and I need to test it but I don't currently own a proper power supply for this. Can I use my spare 600W Pc power supply for this ? the label on the power supply is DC output +5V has 48A

[@MakeUseOf]

Yes, that's plenty of current. You'll need to short the power pin from the motherboard connector to trick the PSU into turning on.

[@erbozr7231]

Hi, great video! I have a (pheraps stupid) question. Let's say I connect a 12v rgb led strip like you did. Since the gnd that goes to the source of the mosfet is shared with arduino, will arduino have to bear the current consumption of the strip? Thanks...

[@MakeUseOf]

I'm no electrical engineer, and the ground should be tied to your power supply as well (and grounds being shared), but no, this wouldn't damage the Arduino. As long as you're not connecting the positive to power it from the Arduino too, then you're fine.

[@ryangeorge5880]

Can you do this in Matlab

[@wwinston3748]

Quick question, I'm using the WS2811 lights and connected everything but when I turn on the 5V power supply, the lights only turn red. Any solutions?

[@MakeUseOf]

They need a signal so show anything, but dodgy behaviour like this can sometimes happen when the ground pins aren't tied. Make sure the ground pins from your Arduino, the power supply, and the LEDs are all connected together.

[@sofarharishon2394]

will the IRFZ44N mosfet work in place of the IRLZ44N? I'm confused as to what the difference is..., if it may not dim properly, or if the resistors need to be modified, etc....? I'm working on a (hopefully) badass project, so any info youse can give me is greatly apprieciated! :)

[@milano3829]

Can we use IRFZ44N? if u come across any conclusion plzzz share

[@lewis5796]

i found a spare power supply that has 4.5v output. would this be too weak to power the LEDs and arduino?

[@MakeUseOf]

The voltage should be fine, but you'll need to check the total output power depending on how many LEDs you want. Don't connect more than about 10 directly to your Arduino. If you power them using that external supply, as many as it can handle minus a bit for the Arduino itself.

[@Dojahong]

What a great video! thank you

[@sonic4life]

What did you use for your power supply? Is it just a 12v power supply plug that you cut and fit in? And would I need to make any other adjustments for LEDs that need 24v besides the power supply?

[@martinkuliza]

Well, Technically.. 1. He used 5V DC that was connected to GND (-) Vin (+) 2. Now it depends how many you are using as to what sort of Power Source you're going to use and if it is at all necessary to use one. in a lot of cases you could plug it straight into the Arduino USB and it'll work 3. You need to consider are you connecting LED's in-Series or In-Parallel. In-Series you're focusing on Voltage Drop while Current is constant In-Parallel you're focusing on Constant Voltage, While Current is dropping as you add LED's In-Series, you can use 1 resistor regardless of how many LED's you are using, ONLY.. you need to calculate the resistor value to use In-Parallel as is the case in these strips, You need to attach a resistor for each LED that you use (Unless of course it's integrated into the strip) Check the datasheet But if you want to know WHAT HE USED He used a 5V DC Power supply ( i imagine 1A should be fine)

[@sonic4life]

@@martinkuliza thank you!

[@martinkuliza]

@@sonic4life You're Welcome

[@4kills482]

@MakeUseOf I have a question. At 2:33 , I don't get what the 10kOhm resistors are for in that circuit. I can see that they are parallel to gate-source of the MOSFET. But what are they for? I really don't get it and I am really wondering

[@Nuttycomputer]

I'm struggling with the same thing. Putting this in diagrams it doesn't seem like they do anything.

[@kennmossman8701]

to pull down the Gate at a logical Low otherwise the MosFet can stay on for a time

[@chris1232123]

Where can you get the WS2812B for ~$4/m? Best I've seen is ~$10/m for 30 LEDs/m

[@MakeUseOf]

AliExpress. I'm not vouching for this particular store, but you'll find lots like it there: www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003301670787.html - $16 for 5m of 60 LED/m

[@knurremurre]

Hey! Maybe a stupid question but, will i burn something up if i skip the mosfets? i have a 5v strip, and i just want it to turn on a color, no need for controlling brightness and such.

[@MakeUseOf]

Not a stupid question, but yes, you will, as the power would be flowing directly through the Arduino. You may also break your USB port if it's plugged into your computer at the time.

[@knurremurre]

@@MakeUseOf thanks for answering! Could have gone bad with trial and error approach :)

[@nathansong8133]

what if the LED strip just has 2 connection points?

[@MakeUseOf]

Then it doesn't do different colors, that's just +/- power connector.

[@nathansong8133]

@@MakeUseOf ah ok thanks man

[@JohnM-sz2vh]

Does the Arduino need to stay connected to the LED strip in order for the programming to work, or does the strip have memory built in?

[@MakeUseOf]

needs to stay connected, yes.

[@MakeUseOf]

If you want something with memory built in, you'd be better off just grabbing a strip of Govee lights: amzn.to/3MaCfS8

[@JohnM-sz2vh]

@@MakeUseOf Cool option but too expensive to create products with. I’ll go the Arduino route. 👍🏼

[@valizeth4073]

I really don't get how I should get it to work. I have an LED which has 4 pins and they're marked as VCC, GND, GND, DO.

[@MakeUseOf]

So, you connect VCC to the +, GND to -, and D0 to a digital output channel. But you'll need to know the precise model to get the right digital control codes in FastLED

[@eyalg12]

How much volt does those need if i want to power it up with a battery? lets say around 10-15 leds

[@MakeUseOf]

The LEDs and Arduino all run at 5V, and 15 LEDs should be fine to run directly through the same power as the Arduino - 15 LEDs at 60mA each will draw about 0.9A total, so any standard USB phone battery will handle it.

[@eyalg12]

@@MakeUseOf Thanks!

[@L00000ng]

8:20 saving this for later

[@S0K0N0MI]

Can this particular 5050 circuit run on 24v as well? Im having a difficult time grasping the datasheet of the MOSFET.

[@MakeUseOf]

Those LEDs are 12v only, and the circuit is designed for the 5V arduino voltage. Step the 24v source down to 12 and 5 if you want to use it as a power source for the project.

[@S0K0N0MI]

@@MakeUseOf I wanted to put the LEDs (mine are 24v) on their own separate rail and have arduino control the MOSFETs (while on its own power supply). Can you do that with these MOSFETs?

[@kennmossman8701]

@@S0K0N0MI yes you need a very low Vgs(on) MosFet. Voltage for the strips is immaterial unless it exceeds Max DS of the MosFet

[@monicahouston6753]

what was your port set as, please ?

[@MakeUseOf]

That depends on what board you use, and whether it has an official FTDI serial chip or third party one. If it's an unofficial board, you'll need to download drivers for the serial port to work. Do you know which serial chip it uses?

[@ztx-zn5uv]

why it tells me (expected ')' before ';' token) when I upload the code????

[@MakeUseOf]

Paste your code somewhere we can take a look. No typos in our code as far as I can see.

[@ztx-zn5uv]

@@MakeUseOf my code is exactly as yours,its the one in the link.i just copy and paste it

[@brianmalone4810]

i have the same error code , changed line 67 to delay(fadeSpeed); no more error.

[@UnOrthodox_Christian]

Same, expected ‘)’ before ‘;’ token in the delay(delay(fadeSpeed); line

[@mewintle]

What are you using to make a callout label that follows the item you're rotating? That's a great effect!

[@gerardpontino]

how many LED's for WS2811 can this handle please? Is your design ok for a 1meter (60LED) strip?

[@MakeUseOf]

You mean to directly power them from the Arduino? Really shouldn't do that, no. Allow 50mA per LED, 50 x 60 = 3 amps, you'd kill the Arduino immediately. They must be powered externally. If you mean can it drive just the signal, then easily, yes. You could drive up to about 600 on a basic Arduino using FastLED, and many thousands if you use a Teensy. Hope that helps!

[@williambrewer7879]

@@MakeUseOf Thank you so much for the video, I found it extremely helpful. I have a quick question going off of gerardpontinomusic's components. I am using the WS2811 type LED strip setup. What type of small external power supply would you wire to your breadboard to achieve the 3 Amp 5V that is required? No where else seems to have answers. Thank you again!

[@ayushpandharpatte3125]

How many mode in this program

[@franchbabu]

Hey There, Please help me!!! I've bought SMD5050 LED Strip but I don't know can I make Ambilight with this SMD5050 LED STRIP. I've search many where, Still no luck. please help me to make a ambilight with this led strip .. thanks

[@MakeUseOf]

I did this: www.makeuseof.com/tag/build-your-own-dynamic-ambient-lighting-for-a-media-center/ But the strip only displays a single color at a time, so it's a stretch to call it an ambilight. You can't control each LED.

[@franchbabu]

:(

[@nataliewhalen3085]

Hi, I am trying to load the FastLED code into my Arduino for a 3-lead LED strip. I downloaded the file, but whenever I try to save it (not even run it), I get "Error compiling for board Arduino/Genuino Uno." Even if I comment out all of the code, I still get this error. I am new to Arduino, so I'm only considering the compatibility of the code itself with my updated software (on a Mac, not sure if that matters). Could anyone broaden my perspective? Do I need to download supplemental files?

[@MakeUseOf]

That's a pretty generic error - it should give some more details about where exactly the error is? Perhaps a specific line thats wrong?

[@martinkuliza]

VERY COMMONLY this is the problem... DO THE FOLLOWING (These instructions are for Windows, if you are using Mac adapt as appropriate) 1. Plug something (other than your Arduino to a USB Port) like a USB Stick, Check if the port is working and that the device detects. 2. Unplug that device and plug your Development board into THE SAME PORT 3. Now... Ensure that your ARDUINO IDE (Software) is loaded into the computer. (The main point here being... THE DRIVERS SHOULD ALSO BE LOADED). To check in windows, Go to MY PC (Right Click on it) Select MANAGE Then select DEVICE MANAGER Check to see if you have any yellow Exclamations or questions marks (if yes, then you have drivers that have not been installed) if all is good Go to PORTS Check to see what port your board is on (let's assume it's COM13 for arguments sake) 4. Now you go to your Arduino IDE Software Go to TOOLS Go to BOARD Go to BOARD MANAGER Choose the board you are using THEN... 5. go to TOOLS go to PORT Pick COM13 (or whatever Com Port your board is on) Now to confirm Go to BOARD INFO (but realistically) if you now try to upload a sketch again it should work If your board is plugged in if the drivers are loaded correctly if your Operating system does not have an issue If the correct board is selected if the correct port is selected Your problem will them be Debugging code but it sounds like your'e on the wrong port Let me know how you go

[@sam_G0]

do you know if this could work with 24v led strips?

[@odiamondz9991]

since you are powering them through an external source as long as the transistors you are using can handle it then i dont see a reason why not

[@odiamondz9991]

and resistors ofc

[@TheIddyS]

how do i connect an external 5v power supply to the arudino

[@MakeUseOf]

Arduino has a 5V and GND pin - you just connect the external supply to that. Make sure you DON'T power it over USB at the same time though.

[@TheIddyS]

@@MakeUseOf thanks for the speedy reply i'm very new to this. Should I strip the non plug end of the regulated 5v supply and then plug into 5V and GND pin?

[@MakeUseOf]

I don't think I can advise without seeing what you're doing at this point. How are you powering the LED strip already? Jut pull the 5V and ground line from that.

[@paulutley42]

Can you run two ws2812B strips on separate output pins?

[@MakeUseOf]

Should be able to, just start the library again with a new pin reference.

[@paulutley42]

@@MakeUseOf How is that done? I have no idea what to do to be honest.

[@paulutley42]

I sent you an email.

[@Rampant_Mongoose]

BEGGINERS WTF WHOOOOS OVER MY DIM HEAD

[@aXimo]

5V, but how many Amps??

[@MakeUseOf]

For pixel strips, factor in 60mA per pixel (which would be full bright white)

[@EVJ-World]

25 Amps and up to 32V if you use the from www.v-vTech.com

[@mozone180]

🫡

[@ThatsPety]

I know what but I dont know why im doing any of this, on a conceptual level. Im still very unsatisfied

[@dylangregory8503]

U just don’t need any of that, buy some good quality ones like ansell and they come with a driver that does all the cool functions for u

[@tomkaisers7057]

Dude, what if you want to wire it up with a door and a contact switch, that the stripe turns red if you open the door of anything, like a showcase for your games