How to use WS2812B RGB LEDs with Arduino

This tutorial is aimed at getting some instant gratification from your WS2812 LEDs (trade name: NeoPixels). I'll briefly cover a bare-bones setup for Arduino.
The full tutorial for this video (with images and step-by-step tips) core-electroni...
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[@marcel3463]

The first who manages to explain everything so simple and easy!

[@AmoghSrivastava]

Just wired mine up yesterday successfully! Thanks I used the following setup: - BTF-LIGHTING 5m 300 LEDs W2812B RGB strip - Switching Power Supply: 5V 20A 100W - Arduino Uno - Adafruit NeoPixels Library (strandtest)

[@sergioarizpe9407]

Most examples I have seen use a capacitor and resistor in the circuit, I guess there are reasons why but thanks fore keeping this one simple.

[@u9Nails]

Thanks for the help! I wanted to make a fun fancy LED light show. This help still is good for 2023.

[@questwalkerko]

I fried my strip because i gave it 12v instead of 5v. Still a great tutorial!

[@buzzroadguy]

I may have done same. Only a couple LEDs light in strip when given power and no response to a data. Am I blown up?

[@keep2swag89]

Same im buying a new one😂

[@neevkhanal132]

🤣😂

[@mirkosimic8898]

hahahah

[@MLFranklin]

I've seen quite a few and this is the best one I've seen. Very clear and to the point. Short, but not too short (and that's a good thing because it doesn't waste any time). Plenty of helpful information and tips. Well done!

[@LauLauHip]

Thank you, I am new to doing stuff with Arduino and had an led strip just like yours, but other tutorials only show the 3 wires. I was confused what I was supposed to do with 5 😂😂👍🏻

[@Scorpiotide]

I just made my strip lit up with this tutorial through Arduino! My first time ever thank you! :D

[@MerrillMadsen]

Thank you so much! That was super easy to follow and worked for me like a charm!

[@Core-Electronics]

Glad it helped!

[@onezavalar]

whew! Thank you my friend. Finally, to the point. I know I know I'm new to the arduino stuff and I need to learn more. But yes, instant gratification straight and to the point without making me sleepy with unnecessary explanation.

[@Mechulus]

It worked, but of course I was disappointed to see only 64 leds light up instead of my full 50' roll. I obviously need more power for that as the Arduino can only supply so much. I have a 5v external power source on the way. Can't wait to see this thing light up all the way!

[@jacksvlogs9924]

This was so helpful and incredibly clear! Thank you!

[@Rat-Instinct]

Top banana!!! Downloaded the software. Followed your steps and yes indeedy instant satisfaction! And currently all running from a USB3 port (144 WS2812B strip). Many thanks! Now on with the light show :)

[@stellaanderson5481]

Thank you so much for this! Such a great resource for teaching

[@andychyjek263]

Fantastic, clear and understandable tutorial. Thank you very much. Got my LED running the first time. CHEERS.

[@TBL_stevennelson]

Great video

[@greengallop123]

Very simple and neatly done. Covering everything! Thank you!

[@MohsinAliWaheed]

Really simple and easy to understand tutorial. Good job mate.

[@FoxyOfJungle]

Thank you so much! It worked perfectly!

[@ImExtasis]

Nice video mate! I just bought a Mega 2560 board to start working on it

[@RalphWLundvall]

Covered the wiring which is missed in the first videos I looked at. White, Green meaning something different, at least Red is VCC 5v.

[@KWHCoaster]

Great How To! I just bought 3 strips of 144 LEDs for future projects and I was wondering how to test quickly them before putting on the shelf for later. All good. Thx!

[@thinkingjohn2099]

Good stuff Brilliant thanks so much got it working yay ! Your step by step made it easy, thanks again

[@TerenceClark]

Excellent! I was battling syntax on an adafruit trinket. I didn't realize a lot of libraries have example sets. I'm a programmer for a living, but those first baby steps in any new language take the right kind of tutorial to resolve some of the syntax gotchas. A few examples for me to steal *ahem* borrow from and I should be all set. Thanks!

[@electrodiy6493]

You made my life simple. Thumbs up. Great job bro!

[@sarba85528]

Hey, 4 days ago, I asked if I could use ADAL2000 using the same code... Now I do its awesome! You can see the VDC set and measured, the sine waveforms with different frequencies, etc... So good :)!!

[@0549257524]

Amazing and practical tutorial.

[@sauliusagintas]

Brill video with very clear explanation. I did set up neopixel the way you showed but pixels won't lit up. So now i know what to check. Thanks

[@ashishrai9260]

Sir why don't you connected resistance and capacitor to the led strip

[@starmc26]

The resistor is to protect the data signal. The capacitor is for the led strip power.

[@that_one_who_knows4311]

work well! but my ledmatrix is 16x16 so i change the code from: Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(60, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800); to:Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(256, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

[@daleleighton]

Stop it... you won me over at "G'Day"... :-)

[@rafhanahraco4935]

My led strip doesnt turn on, my codes n program are uploaded succesfully. I commected my VCC wire to 5V of my arduino, could it be i dont have enough voltage to power it? But it stated on the packaging its voltage is DC5V

[@wolfieno5471]

This helped alot. Do you need a resistor?

[@xz86]

I see many KZbin videos use 330ohm resistor for the data pin and cap for the power source. Is it necessary?

[@Leftfield2k7]

It's worth doing as it will protect the first Neopixel from getting damaged. Also worth chucking an electrolytic capacitor across the supply, just make sure you use one with a high enough voltage rating and anything around 1000-3000uF is fine.

[@PedroAraoz]

Thanks a lot, this video helped me set up my lights!

[@tapanmohantysantoor]

Explained very clearly. I just purchased a Arduino nano. I have a led strip already. I will make it. Pl tell me about scrolling text

[@woodyouloveit-fe1sw]

Can it be programmable for water level indicator

[@yourguardianangel4714]

Hi l just need ur help l done same as u but nothing happens l don't know if l miss something out

[@paleosoldier9932]

Do double A batterys work asswell as power supply

[@mirkosimic8898]

great tutorial, thanks man

[@dangoren9606]

Good video, helped me a lot. Thanks mate!

[@rev.kenshostad2888]

Can you change it to make every odd or even work and nothing else or perhaps every tenth LED to work?

[@arnprasad]

Hi.;.can you do a video on the 7 digit clock using only these components? there are plenty of videos but no one is explaining clearly like you do. In these times of lockdowns - a clock will be a fun project to do with kids. No 3D printing...just a strip..some thermocol or cardboard..nano or node mcu and make a clock. thanks in advance!!

[@3dtexan890]

Very good video. Thanks

[@ClarkDroneFilms]

I have never used an arduino but I am thinking of using one to control some LEDs on my FPV drone. Could I use multiple pins on the srduino to control different strips of Leds?

[@CalebHoernschemeyer]

Thanks for a simple answer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@claytonstmartin8659]

What wire size do you use? The ws2812b pins look to be roughly 22 AWG, but charts I see online show this size is not able to handle all 9 amps for a 150 light strip

[@TheTaiji]

thank a lot man i have put this in a cool box with input holes for mini usb and power with either 9v battery or 5v wall charger :) thanks a lot man looks realy cool and drives of just 1 power source :)

[@hamzab6046]

Just a simple question. If you're powering via the USB port, wouldn't that limit the length of the RGB LED Strip that you can safely power?

[@ramy2970]

Thanks man got it finally working!

[@danangpamungkas1317]

Very informatif.Can you show me the code for putting digital clock on tha ws2812B strip panel? Thank you.

[@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.

[@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

[@aldinmarchetti]

Gracias loco!!!

[@soulfire0909]

Can you modified or tell me what I need to remove or change in the sketch in order to remove any flashing or any led lights turning on while waking or turning on computer. Ideally I want leds to turn on only when i start ambibox screen grabbing

[@dontworryaboutit17]

I hooked up my lights to the power supply, plugged it in. they flashed a bit, then went dark. The strand test doesn't do anything. Did I kill the lights?

[@Sandipmaurya001]

I want to produce two pulse output with 90 degree phase angle (to connect home therate on volume control replace of rotary encoder) with Arduino. can you help me. Please tell me how to produce pulse to increase or decrease volume for A and B pin of rotary pin.

[@ZacSpyrakis]

how would i be able to plug the led strips into regular 240v wall power ?? and is there a way to use the custom light sequencing, as well as using regular solid colours with the remote supplied with an led strip ? or will that need two strips, one for solid colours and one for the custom sequencing thanks !! :)

[@Core-Electronics]

Intriguing question - why not try posting that on our forum? Our support staff, or members of our makers community might be able to point you in the right direction for whether its possible to do it with one LED strip. forum.core-electronics.com.au/

[@iracingiflag]

Would a 5v 3amp power supply work that plugs in to the board be ok to run 12 leds?

[@richierich.1982]

Hi great video, Will this work the same for RGBW

[@pankajbajaj289]

brother i hv one led blinker in that 3 wires one red one black nd one is yellow where i put yellow one pls tell

[@jainebri]

Why you do not put a resistor between the pin 6 and the signal of led strip?? Most of the people suggest this...

[@hiku7]

@core electronics What is the adapter called that you call a 'fly lead' the one that you use to connect power and ground to the bread board

[@skat3n3ss]

Hello sir, first of all i want to say good video very easy to understand. I was working on a project pretty much creating a dance dance revolution type of game and the part im having difficulty is how to get LEDs to light up in synchronicity to pins when my arduino registers the pull_up resistor and commands the specified pin to register a keyboard stroke. It will be 5 separate pins that need to register individual keystrokes, and im thinking of putting something like 4 to 8 LEDs per button. My questions are what kinda of code will i be using ? Do i need a separate power supply to power the leds?

[@Core-Electronics]

Sounds like an interesting project - if your having trouble then we strongly recommend you post details to our forum. We have a fantastic support team who are keen to assist makers with their projects. coreelec.io/forum

[@way2fast4u]

Were would one find a program to run just red white blue. Do they have pre made programs to copy and paste. If there is were do or how do I locate it. Thanks

[@packyji70]

hi! hope that you going well. have a big problem with my ws2811, I have a pannel 69*25 pixels and I connect the entries to the out and not working when I put the sd card to T8000 A. I realy need your help, please.

[@FluffyM0nster]

Hi, I must say that you are a gem as I was getting apprehensive on how to use these as I am not a programmer and just learnt it from your video. However, I am facing a situation which is kind of odd. I have run the code and it shows "done uploading" however it does not light up the LEDs. Strangely when I touch my laptop somehow the lights start. I know its kind of strange however I have tried everything I can think of. Could you guide me with what could be the problem?

[@hoboman303]

Anyone know how I can add a piezo trigger to the circuit as a switch to turn on and off the leds?

[@JoshuaRilliet]

Hello, I know the video is old and I hope you still see the comments. I will soon start with Arduino and so I still don't know much about it and I was wondering if it is possible to do the same thing with an Arduino Nano rather than with a Uno?

[@mikereyes6778]

Great video could this kind of application be done for a car and do you need a computer at all time for it to work?

[@sarba85528]

Thanks a lot for your tutorial video!! I've a question, I don't have the lab power supply like yours. So do you think I can ADLM2000 (with Scopy) as a power supply?

[@RayaRSS]

Mine are running on byte shifting, I can't get one soild color at a time, what's the problem? :(

[@rasikaalwis7345]

Cheer Bro..Good job!

[@sabotack]

I just wanted to take some time and thank you for this wonderful tutorial. I got myself one of these LED strips and used an old PSU to power it. Everything works perfectly! The only thing that I'm confused about is, why you have to connect the ground to the arduino as well. Does it have to run to the arduino?

[@benjyking500]

Ali everything needs a common ground. Otherwise the voltage applied to the power pin on the Led will not be the same as applied to the signal, since they are not referenced (grounded) from the same point.

[@godwinyuson600]

@@benjyking500 sup bro. May i ask is it okay to plug this rgb lights and arduino to my PC usb plug ? The same power source.

[@ruanduplessis6375]

why do need to run the GND (white) into the arduino also. would it not work with just with data line connected to the arduino?

[@Sarioah]

The data line needs a reference to apply a voltage against. Connecting GND lines together gives the ICs in each LED and the Arduino a common point to measure voltages against and allow a return path for current to flow through. Think of it like the Arduino saying to the IC: "Here's a 5v signal on the data line with respect to GND".

[@RoberT-oj3yx]

ty help me alot got it finali to work :)

[@Core-Electronics]

Fantastic - we hope it helps you make cool projects

[@philipculver4821]

What model Arduino are you using here? Thanks!

[@mason-ny2jc]

where do i find the neopixel library to download

[@haansworsie]

How easy would it be to integrate an IR Remote to control?

[@Core-Electronics]

You can find easy to use IR remote kits for the Arduino like this one: core-electronics.com.au/ir-kit-for-arduino.html

[@FindLiberty]

Nice!

[@herdysetyawan3990]

Can i powering LED Strip using 9V Battery ?

[@djperformance4748]

Will the program still run if you have uploaded the arduino code but disconnected it from the computer?

[@_BangDroid_]

One the arduino is programmed it will run when it has power

[@SkuppyVincenzo]

Hi, great tutorial, so running a 60 led strip would need a 5 v DC supply at how many Amps ?

[@andymarkantonatos4849]

Around 700mA or above I'd imagine. Do yourself a favor and get one that has 2A. With current, it can be exponentially more than what you're drawing unlike voltage. You don't run the risk of damaging the LEDS with too much current, get all the current you can get!

[@SkuppyVincenzo]

Andy Markantonatos thank you so much !

[@trustgaming_shorts]

Around 2 amps should be fine man!

[@Yannis_Nik.]

Hello Core and everyone. Just one question : before you upload or install anything, after you connected the wires and made the hardware setup. the strip was lighten , right? Since you powered on, regardless anything else, the lights were on, right? A cold white I'd say light. And only after you uploaded the sketch and everything it went lighting on programmed. Is that so?? I watched again. You have the power lines connected, though, before you upload the sketch, no light is on. You have the + and gnd cable connected! How can it not light on?? I have the exact same scheme made. Why my strip is on??

[@jeric_synergy8581]

TMK, WS2812b strips will NOT light up with just the application of power: specific signals MUST be sent down the data line.

[@jezzc2535]

is it possible to make it so that you can have the first 5 doing one thing whilst the next 5 are doing something different? great video as well

[@aarongzmn]

Yes. Basically the way it works is that if you have 10 LED’s, 10 instructions are sent. The first pixel grabs the first instruction and removes it, then it sends the 9 instructions that are left down the line (until there are no more instructions left). So, it’s totally up to you how you split up the instructions.

[@Crainage1056]

can it be pwoered with a 5V external battery? its a pretty sstrong one I have.

[@Core-Electronics]

As long as it can supply enough current to power the strip! Each LED in the strip need about 50 milliamps of current. If the strip is 60 LEDs, you will need 3000 milliamps of current from your battery or 3 Amps.

[@jeric_synergy8581]

BOOM! I got to add the 1Kth "Like". Good stuff, briskly presented, thank you. Also, l learned about the "Comment (Out)" feature of the IDE, very useful. THANKS. FWIW, I'll be using the WS2813, but I imagine it's exactly similar.

[@yahavalon1278]

HI Could you tell me which is the cheapest but right arduino model (or other) for driving ALITOVE WS2812B Addressable LED Strip Light? Thanks Yahav

[@jonelio03]

For me the arduino nano works ok but you can use pretty much every popular arduino.

[@basv8456]

If the arduino is powered by arduino you can also power the LED strip by the 5v output

[@martinhaugen9261]

Hello. I am going to use addressable led in a shelf powerd by an ardurino(5m with led) i was wondering if i need external power or is the power from the ardurino all i need? I found your video very interesting btw! Keep it up!

[@jainebri]

Yes, you need an external power supply, because a 5m of led normally contains 300 leds, each led require 60mA of current, so 300x60mA = 18000mA => 18Amps. I have develop a project for my childrens with a led strip of 5m and I bought a Power supply with 5V and 20Amps for 12 Euros, and It works out very good. I use Arduino Nano and a Bluetooth module and a microphone GY-MAX4466. I hope this helps !!

[@user-jt2et2rj3u]

The Arduino only supports 4 leds

[@Agiztos]

Hey, im totally new to this stuff and wanted to give my tv watching experience a new feel with some ambilight. i could get the strandtest working, is there a way to expande this with a raspberry pi ?

[@conceptualTriad]

It is tricky due to neopixels precise timing requirements, but Adafruit has a library that uses a workaround: learn.adafruit.com/neopixels-on-raspberry-pi

[@Sandipmaurya001]

Hello Graham, Your tutorials are wonderfull. I also follow you on udemy. I have a question can you help me.

[@dudewheresmycar3618]

i am planning to buy a BASIC ARDUINO UNO STARTER KIT that has a Arduino Uno - R3 Model. can i control a WS2812B RGB LED STRIP 60/M 5VDC IP65 with this arduino?????

[@DR01D5]

Sure just follow the video and make sure you have a 5V power supply

[@LUISYANES1215]

I need code for arduino mega can you help me or tell me where to find it thank you

[@sefisredtv8991]

Can i have these run automatically every time the arduino powers on? I plan to install it on my motorcycle as a drl.

[@armelodie]

the arduino plays the last program that was inputted on it (DONT PRESS THE RESET BUTTON :) )

[@jeffcarpenter7721]

ive tried everything on these neopixels cant for the life of me get more than one working with no outcome of my doing i tried at least 14 different vids

[@samueladitya1729]

if you don't connect +5v to arduino it will still work right?

[@jeric_synergy8581]

It was powered thru the USB connection.

[@imaansattar5135]

what power supply (V and A) do I use to power a few LEDs

[@soulure]

5V for this kind of strip. A maximum of 3.6 Amp requirement per meter. So for a 5 meter strip, you need an 18amp 5v power-supply. I use a 5v 15amp power supply and it works just fine.

[@Mr007Bruce]

Hi. My LED strip is not working. 1m/60 LED`s (ws2812b). This is my 13th code what I tried. Something wrong with the LED strip? Code is good. I use DC5v 10A adapter. When I plug in to the power source the LED`s lit up for a sec. I can measure 5v on the other and. (That`s mean the LED`s are working?) Data pin line beeping if I check on both end. What do you think? What`s the problem?

[@yusux]

I have the same issue

[@Mr007Bruce]

Tdawglives I got it work. Was the first LED on the strip. Cut off. Re soldering the wires. That's it.

[@yusux]

Mr007Bruce I was connecting it on the wrong side of the strip lol

[@hyuckhoon9217]

Awesome!!!!!!!!! :)