LED strings - 12v or 5v - Which should you Buy and Why.

[@AndyDoesJapan]

Holy crap, this was so helpful! I went from "I have no idea" to "I know exactly what I'm getting" before the video was even over. Thanks alot!

[@DrZzs]

Awesome! Glad it helped!

[@butchford757]

Thanks for the refresher training. It has only been 35 years since my basic electronic training in the Navy. And like most things. Use it or lose it...

[@DrZzs]

Time to start using it constantly then in all your new Smart Home projects!

[@iamprawin]

Uujjn

[@ashleighrowe2565]

Very cool, awesome video as always, but 2 points i would add: (Yes im a nit picking sod) most LED strings used currently are of 2 types, adressable and R/G/B channel ones. The adressable ones (more expensive, but prettier) dont change their colour based on voltage, but based on data being sent at a lower voltage from a controller The channel ones dont "change their colour based on the voltage" the same 2v to 4v forward voltage is there, but is being toggled fast (via Pulse Width Modulation, or PWM) to give the appearance of the colour being dimmer The reason lights appear to be red when given too low of a voltage is because red LEDs turn on at a lower voltage, so are the only ones to turn on, as the voltage isnt high enough to turn on the green or blue LEDs, but that isnt the same effect as the PWM from the R/G/B channels from earlier Also, the other point: PC power supplies put out 3.3v not 3v, i know thats picky as all hell, but its a commonly misspoken thing in the tech communities, and ive had people in the past ask me about a psu they thought was faulty because they had been told it was meant to put out 3v not 3.3v

[@DrZzs]

Haha. I'm happy to be nit picked by such a knowledgeable sod! You are welcome to correct my deficient knowledge anytime! Thanks!

[@terry6520]

Ashleigh - This video and your comment were both excellent. I just got two power supplies today (for two 5m 5050 rgb strips that I had), and when I hooked them up, I got exactly what you described - just red. The cause must be that I have 12v strips but 5v power supplies. Thank you for taking the time to put that out there.

[@nicklauscraig9157]

I used the 12v lights for my house which was about 80ft. It was a pain for me to run that extra set of wires. If I had to do it over I would have gone with 24v lights and probably have been okay without power injection for this length. I used a 12v to 5v voltage regulator from amazon to use the same power supply with my setup to power the wemos board. Keep up the great work on your videos!!

[@DrZzs]

Thanks!

[@3dFirefly]

EASY SOLUTION for 12v. I installed 12v WS2811 tube LED on a my house (ranch) meaning I had 4 (5 meter) strings, I connected the 5v Arduino nano to it simply by adding a DC-DC stepdown voltage regulator to LED string itself (at end where addressable input starts), I connected one 12v power supply in middle (between string 2 & 3)

[@icefire5555]

To add to your point about 5v being able to directly power your micro controller. You could get a voltage step down board for a dollar or two and drop the 12v to 5v very efficiently. Also because of how you calculate Wattage. Volts*Amps=Watts. And wires melt at higher Amperages. For any longer protect you should use Higher voltage. If you push 5v through a wire, the longer it goes the harder the amperage is on the wire. Too many amps and the wire will blow like a fuse. (which comes with the risk of fires). But because the LEDs run at the same power, 12v offers almost 3x the wattage down the wire at the same amperage. (This is why telephone poles have thousands of volts on them) But I came here to see how many LEDs could make it in a 12v string and I wasn't disappointed. I enjoyed the video, Thumbs up from me!

[@DrZzs]

Great info! Thanks!

[@kittytoy1480]

2:55 for everyone wondering about brightness and resistance

[@tomkar013]

Super helpful!! had no idea that the old pc sitting in my cupboard could solve all of my powering issues!

[@DrZzs]

When all the other parts of an old PC are outdated and useless, the power supply is still worth keeping. I've gone to the Thrift store and bought old junk PC's for $10 just to get the power supply.

[@tomkar013]

DrZzs yeah that’s a good idea, I think I might do that.

[@ronaldchand588]

I am a newbie in this. Correct me if Iam wrong. It makes sense that the brightness of the 5v and 12v pixels are same. If you inject power properly, I also understand the you will be able to run 2.4 times more pixels using 5v PSU than a 12vPSU as long as the power supply have the same output in terms of watts. E.g. A 300 watt 5v PSU can run 1000 pixels with multiple power injections however, a same 300 watt 12v PSU can run 416 pixels with lesser power injections. for argument sake say 0.06 amps per pixels. I am trying to make a best choice here. By the way, fantastic job with your videos..

[@i3looi2]

Thank you for the explanation.. my concern was the distance. But seems my 3M will be covered by both solutions. Guess I'm going with the 12V since A) my controller can handle any range from 5v-24V and B) the 12V led strips are considerably cheaper.

[@2Ustfu]

Thanks Justin for another very informative video. I am thinking of running crown lights around the perimeter of my living room ceiling. The perimeter runs about 20 meters total, and I was about to buy some 5V power sources with 4 boosters. But having a single 12v power and stringing 20 meters of LEDs would make a neater presentation. I am glad I saw this video before I began this project. Saved me a lot of time.

[@DrZzs]

Excellent! Mission accomplished!

[@jamespowis5360]

You do not need a second power supply, all you need is a buck converter or a voltage regulator to drop voltage from 12 to 5 volts. However most LED strips require a matched signal so you would need a MOSFET to raise the signal from 3.3v to 12v (this is also recommended for 5v LEDs if your controller is outputting 3.3v anyway).

[@gempio2634]

Hey hey... you can get buck converters from 12v to 5v to solve the issue of the power supply and be pretty much golden. They're dirt cheap, they don't separate ground most of the time and you wont have extra space taken by yet another power supply.

[@TokyoAkiHara]

Thanks for the video!! This was so clear and simple to understand! I'm looking into buying a lot of LED strips to literally ''lit'' my room into a RGB wonderland and to me, 12V would have been brighter than 5V. Well considering the higher number. But now I understand what the difference is and I can make easier decisions!

[@DrZzs]

Great! Mission accomplished!

[@muralibommanna7789]

Lovely video .Nice explanation with live demo.Wanted to do 200 feet led strip light for a hall and was thinking about 5 volts.Increase in voltage doesnot change brightness , the second lesson.Such a great help.Thanks for the nice Job DrZzs.

[@DrZzs]

Glad to help! These are lessons I learned and figured others could use too.

[@GS-qe3pt]

Most complete video on youtube about this subject. Thank you very much!

[@P_double_H]

There goes my dream of running 12v addressable led strips on my home's fascia.

[@davidferreira4518]

Damn.. It's rare for me to comment on something, but this video was just perfect. Simple and concise with really good visual examples. Take my like sir and thank you!

[@essenceofveles]

This is was so helpful. I wish I could give two thumbs up.

[@nawfel9971]

Thanks you so much for the video!! ivz planed to do a cosplay project and hesistate between 5v and 12v to have brighter led decoration on my armor and you just made me understand things !

[@jensschroder8214]

A 12 volt power supply and a 7805 regulator. It already existed in the 1980s and turns 12 volts into 5 volts. But it simply heats 7 volts away, so only connect a small load or use a heat sink. Today, however, there are also ready-made step-down circuits.

[@das_radiergummi]

Well, 12V power suply can be used to power both, the strip and Controller by adding the stepdown/ buck converter in-between the supply and controller...

[@das_radiergummi]

... which should be set to 5V or some has already a fixed voltage of 5V, The converters cost not much

[@СашкаБелый-ч6м]

It is the best experiment and good information for save our money! But the question remains - What to use in case when we need something brighter then ws2811/ws2812? (and not expensive). I try to create DJ facade 2x1 meter with 40x20 diodes (800pcs), but 0.3W per LED - it is to small. In AliExpress written “WS2811 with 12v it is 60mA*12v=0.6W”, but now I know that it is not true. But what to use?

[@deadniell]

Can't believe i could learn A LOT in 6 minutes

[@MrTenwisemen]

im so glad i find your video guide this is a big help for me for my project because i honestly not a techy nor good in electrical but when it comes with your clear explanation i find it simple. thank you 💖💖💖 from Philippines im your new Subscriber now. 😉👌

[@kennethcoletrajano1119]

Thank you for this! I was really in the dark on what these dv voltages differ from each other!

[@michaelmohr7395]

Using 5V LED strips I am going pretty long like 80ft, understand I should have bought 12V+ to make it easier, do I need to inject every 5m? Can I skip? I have a 5v 60A power supply and can get good color through 3? I tried to inject at end of 3 into 4 and it makes the last strand no receive the data and the coloring is all jacked up. Appreciate your time and passion on this I bought through your links hope I helped to fund a little :) - Mike

[@stevea8201]

Terrific, answered all of my questions perfectly!

[@jorgeferreira2009]

... and I believe that (still 3 years later) the 12v aren't truly individually addressable led, right? The 5v are but the 12v are only each 3 leds can be controlled.

[@1997MHz]

Great explain on voltage drop :)

[@ilducedimas]

Your video answers so many of questions I've had for a long time. Thanks a lot !

[@s0l1dsnak3]

I've also noticed that the 12v strings lump 3 pixels together per data block, so you can only change the colour in strings of 3

[@Fanaleds-software]

I've read that somewhere else as well. Is that true for all of them? Because I can't see a reason not to go for 12V for my christmas lighting vs 5v. But if they're not individually, 5v it will be :(

[@GearGuy]

Great video, but what about amperage draw considerations? If you want to drive, say 15 LEDStrips (Complete strips with 300 LEDs per strip), that would entail alot more amperage at 5v than at 12v... At some point the amperage draw becomes a real major concern. And also, at some point even voltage boost runs get too long. So I guess to put it as a question: What would be the best/safest (and most cost effective) way to power 15 LED strips (with 300 LEDs in each strip)? (Example: Accent/ceiling lighting around the circumference of an entire floor of a large house) All I have gleened from what I have read is that 24v led strips would likely support the longest runs with the best/safest voltage/amperage combinations... but 5v LEDS]s have some real nice advantages (individual light control thru PWM) that I would like to be able to use (even if it would require multiple interconnected data drivers to be able to keep the refresh rate acceptable). Feel free to post a link if you know of a detailed solution, but I have yet to find anyone/anysite that addresses (anything even remotely close to) that type of problem with a more or less concrete solution. Not looking for the soluion to the data I/O, just to the power/wiring requirements.

[@DrZzs]

The dude who I think knows the most about higher voltage LEDs and good PWM control is Quindor - intermit.tech He has done his whole house in LED strips. If he doesn't have a video that covers what you're looking for you can probably contact him through email or on discord (www.discord.me/drzzs) - Quindor#4006 I haven't used any 24v LED strips. I've become a fan of the 12v version for most things, but I haven't tried putting 4500 LEDs all from one source. My guess is you'll want to use multiple power supplies along the route. You might even try the holiday led show forums, those guys deal with high numbers of LEDs like that. www.doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/forum.php I'm not sure the individually addressable LEDs are available in 24v. Hopefully I'm wrong about that. Sorry I don't have the exact answer for you.

[@gunsncodes6665]

On 1:04 both power supplies have 20A. It means that the 12V supply have 12V*20A=240W and the 5V have only 5V*20A=100W. You can simply have more power with the same size of the power supply, same current and same diameter of the cables if you increase the voltage.

[@timnerenberg]

And you doesn't even need a second power supply. A simple step down converter would do it anyways, if you're using a Controller with 5V

[@andredornier]

So maybe you’re qualified to answer this question for me. If i go with the 12v would I require less amps to drive the same amount of leds vs 5v?

[@seekertosecrets]

I won't need much wire to power some small LED light diodes if I use a A23 Battery. However, that might be an issue if want to use some LED strips.

[@mountain_dweller]

Excellent video! My question is about quality. All I'm wanting to do is to run about 15 ft of 5 volt warm white LEDs powered via a 5 volt USB from a 26000 mah power bank. Very simple situation. I'm just leery of buying whatever LEDs out of China from Amazon. I'm wondering if you know of a company that produces higher end LED strips of better quality. Thanks

[@atomicdetailsoc]

do you have a guide on how to use an old computer power supply for a controller? i have an old gateway in the garage and now i know what must be done LOL

[@DrZzs]

Something like this maybe? www.amazon.com/CHENBO-Benchtop-Computer-Breakout-Adapter/dp/B07S91NQL3?tag=drzzs0e-20

[@sanderdemeer3783]

Goodafternoon. I have a question. I have a string of Christmas lights which have about 100 led’s. I really want to connect this string to an adapter but I really have no idea which one i need to buy. Currently the cheap Chinese light string runs on 240 volts but I really want to change that because it isn’t particularly safe😂. I’m planning to remove the entire module so that I’m only left with the LED string and I want to connect this to a 12v power supply. I can’t find anywhere what ampere value I need for this. What do you recommend me to use for this amount of led’s? As you might’ve noticed I’m not really an expert when it comes to electricity😅. I really hope you can help me out. I’m looking forward hearing from you😃. Sander

[@RetroGamer75]

I have brought BTF-100-5 5v-20 dedicated to dot matrix, question is this I have another power supply Alitove 5v 60A 300W , problem is this 3.3FT or 144LEDs/m two of those need more 27 LEDs it come out 172 LEDs. Do I need Another PS? Today I brought wrong size 8 gauge it wouldn’t fit in PS. I end up returning it to Amazon. What is gauges, what size for LEDs. my strip is 3 pin 12mm, I am confuse why I need black/red wire? If power come from the wall. Thanks I like this video my English isn’t great due to deafness.

[@billligon4005]

I'm putting these LED lights in a HO model railroad cars to light up the interiors. They run on 12v, so if I cut the length to about 1 foot solder 12v power to them from the track, will they work???

[@gurpreetsaini5148]

Hi buddy, you perfectly explained in video. I just want to make sure about my dreamlight project. I am bit confused between ws2811(12v) and ws2812b(5v), which led strip should good for my family roon ceiling perimeter about 15 meter. Basically, i prefered 5v strip bcoz its more consistent and LED's indivisually addressable, instead of 12v as set of 3leds. Please suggest me about the power supply Amps? if i go with 5V/15meter (60Leds/m ws2812b strip)...thanks

[@baughhumbuglights8860]

Calculate your power needs and get a power supply that will run at NO MORE THAN 75-80% of max rated output. For instance, if your strip needs 8A to power it, a 10A supply *should* be enough, but I would highly encourage you to get a 12-15A power supply.

[@arthursidortschuk5835]

I gues it would be good to know that 12V lights get hotter than 5V because the Resistance of the Copper trace in flat LED strip is not enough to disapate the heat. Use 12V only if you have somthing that can take the heat away?! I feal like 5 Volt is always the answere for me.

[@derekis1joedirt]

I just wire up the 5 volt strips in 4 series sets I figure the voltage drop on one strip is about 3 volts so 3x4=12 so they light at a decent brightness without any current protection

[@derekis1joedirt]

But this is a dirty way to do it with no controller and can damage your lights from over current

[@AndersJackson]

Higher voltage transfer more energy with lower current. And that is why 12V don't loose that much energy in the resistance in the wire. And why the energy grid is on so high voltages (several 10 thousands volts). It is more efficient then to use low voltage and high current instead.

[@sokka50]

Does the number of LEDs per meter matter? For example if I have 4-5m LED strips but with a high density of 144 LEDs/m. Would a 5V still work for that without extra feeding wires in between? I am an electrical noob, sorry :D

[@DavidGarate55]

Good video. I took your recommendation to buy the 5v lights which I will need to inject power anyway, so my purchase is justified. I am running about 125' with one string and I need to buy more lights so I can do my garage and the rest of my house. Hopefully I get this Hassbian thing figured out so I can start to install and run these lights.

[@DrZzs]

Thanks! if you have trouble with your hassbian install let me know. I haven't done a video on that because Ben's is pretty good. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qnSqnYSJqLZgg8U You'll probably be installing a newer version of Home Assistant. They changed "input.slider" to "input.number". So if you use my files you'll have to go in and change that in the config.yaml and the arduino sketch. I'm working on updating the yaml and sketch. I should have it done by next Monday.

[@DavidGarate55]

I am going to try one more thing tonight. I tried the all-in-one script but it failed, something about "no such file" something may be wrong with the hass.io github repository.

[@DrZzs]

I had trouble with HASS.io I'm sticking with my Hassbian install for now. Good luck. Maybe I need to do an install video. I'll put it on my list.

[@DavidGarate55]

Please do a video, I followed Ben's instructions and also went by the Hassbian install site, home-assistant.io/docs/installation/hassbian/installation/ AND it does not connect... What could I possibly be missing? I have a hardwire connection. I downloaded the Hassbian image as a zip and flashed the card as the .zip file, I wonder if this what was wrong?

[@luv14lyf]

So 24v is no brighter than 12v? When running the extra pair of wires, is that same pair used at the end of each string or is a separate pair needed for each string? So if 5 5v strings 5 separate pairs wires for power injection?

[@Cryptic78]

Thanks for the clarification. This helped!

[@LivingWaterEternal]

Very well presented, straight forward presentation. Nicely done and informative, thank you.

[@DrZzs]

Thanks!

[@PGE564]

Hi, I've had reliability problems with consumer grade LED string lights, how reliable are the LED lights you use, strip and string? Between strings just failing and squirrels, yes those furry tailed tree rats will chew a LED bulb out of a string, only if the display uses trees and shrubs. I have learned the fine art of salvaging and splicing LED's and strings to make a working string. I'm tired of the cheap LED Christmas light BS!!! I know not much you can do about the squirrels other than keeping the light out of the trees and bushes, but still on the house, and a section of the string goes dark, GGggrrrr!

[@djdoncruz]

I think you are misunderstanding the term voltage drop. Yes you do get an increasing voltage drop as the length of the wire increases but voltage drop occurs over every component in the circuit. The total voltage dropped will add up to the total available voltage. For example if you had a resistor and an LED, if the LED has a forward voltage of 3V this means you will have a voltage drop of 3V across the LED. If your supply was 5V, that means the resistor will have a voltage drop of 2V (total in = total dropped, one of Kirchoff's laws). LED's will always drop the same voltage as they are not linear and do not follow ohms law but the resistors that are used to limit the current to the LED's will simply drop the remaining voltage left over not dropped by the LED's. So when you string these strips together its only a very small drop due to the actual wire, most of the voltage is just simply dropped across the components and converted into heat (again ohms law, the power dissipated as heat is equal to the current times the resistance). With PWM even though they appear dimmer, the brightness is predominantly controlled by the current. An LED will draw as much current as you provide (which is why they explode without resistors) and the resistors are the only thing that will limit the current. Current is just the function of Series Voltage dropped over Total Series Resistance. Since current is a physical amount of electrons moving per unit of time(1 Amp equals 1 Coulomb per second (6.2415 x 10^18 electrons)), using a PWM signal means less total electrons per unit of time so actually less energy. Hope this has helped.

[@youvebeensubbedto8009]

Working on an Arduino light array-- extremely helpful video :)))

[@kylelind20]

this was a great video! super helpful as I just realized i ordered 5v lights and a 12v PSU! oops, thankfully i have some extra pc PSUs around that I now know will do the trick! thanks so much

[@DrZzs]

Thanks! ya, I'm sure you'll find a use for that 12v PS someday too!

[@DeKiesel]

Do you have a recommendation for which wire to use when running an extra wire?

[@LuckyGarageUSA]

Does voltage affect the heat output? will a 5v strip at max voltage be cooler than a 12v strip at full voltage?

[@0106139]

Nice video! For my project I will need 200 LEDS with a wire length between pixels of 30cm. Will I get a significant a voltage drop if I connect 4 strings of 50 pixels parallel with 5v pixels? Or do I need 12v pixels? Thanks a lot

[@TheMFLAV]

Wouldn't it be helpful to inject the 12v system as well to keep it at maximum brightness? I'm defiantly doing this after this season.

[@mikewalcott]

Did you end up injecting. We are in the process of getting our lights up but still can’t decide between 5v or 12v. I will have more than 2000 lights.

[@jenskapmeyer2579]

Hey Doc, concerning voltage drop, i guess it should be possible to connect the “0V“ at the beginning, and the 5 or 12 V at the end of the strip. This way every LED should get the exact same voltage. You may adjust an offset voltage on the power supply to compensate the voltage drop the still is there for each LED.

[@mettymaster6963]

Hey Doc, amazing video as usual! I have one question, if i have about 12 strips of ws2811 5V tension, can i run one parallel wire from the power supply and inject in each string or i will have to run multiple wires from the power supply because injection will have voltage drop eventually? Thanks!

[@3rdWorldGamingHD]

You will only need 1 wire for all 12 strip even if you inject each string. Just make sure you get a thick wire. 22 AWG or lower is recommended.

[@PantherJagger]

This was great, but you did mention a part that is hard to comprehend about the 12V Leds. You said your controller "Arduino Mega" needs a separate 5V Power supply after the code in uploaded. So, you are saying Do Not use a feed from the 12V to power the Arduino through the Power Port this will be bad?

[@3dFirefly]

12v input to Arduino is too high, simple solution is add a DC-DC step down regulator , small PCB with an adjustable pot on it.

[@J_AvilaN]

Muchísimas Gracias, he aprendido mucho de usted a pesar de yo no saber inglés, saludos.

[@DrZzs]

Thanks! Gald you learned something new!

[@MegaKayShi]

Thank DrZzs for the video! I'm your big fan. Btw, I just think about using Sonoff SV to control and supply the power for LED strings. Are we able to do this?

[@DrZzs]

Thanks! I can't believe I have "fans". ;P You can totally use an SV to control LED strings. Just make sure you have a properly sized power supply. Watch the video I did with Tasmota on the D1mini. I used a string of ws2812 LEDs. Those are programmable LEDs so they do lots of colors and effects. They draw 20-60mA per LED. They have 3 wires. (+) (-) and (data). You can pass the (+) and (-) through the SV so they are switched by the relay. Then the (data) can connect to GPIO14. If you just want simple single color LEDs the SV works perfectly for them. I've got 3 of those set up at my house already. Hope that helps!

[@davide3464]

Hi! Great video, thanks. Here's my question out of pure ignorance: why do most of the christmas fairy lights on sale work on 220volts? Even the short ones (10 meters). What happens if I buy a 10 meter long 220v cluster led light string, and then simply change the plug by putting a 12v adapter? would they still work or are the leds on a 220 string different form the ones on a 12v string? I ask this because the 12v cluster lights are hard to find (at least here in Italy), and also I do not like the idea of having 220v in my garden. Thanks again :-)

[@OldBaldDad]

I think it's just a matter of cost. Fairy lights are designed to be as inexpensive as possible. They consist of many low-voltage bulbs wired in series. Because they're in series, the voltage at each bulb equals the mains voltage divided by the number of bulbs in each series. That avoids the need for a power supply circuit, which saves money. That's also why one bad bulb can cause many bulbs to turn off. If you try running them using 12 volts instead of 220, each bulb will get far less than 1 volt. You likely wouldn't see any light at all.

[@cimen9793]

If we use 5m Led/m 60 leds can we use 5v for for the right color from start to finish or still should we use 12v?

[@YourLocalDominos]

If I'm trying to run four 5 volt LED strip strips (1,200 LEDs total) off a battery pack and I want this to run this for 3 hours on any color combination (addressable LEDs) what type of battery pack would you recommend? I'm using a simple in-line wireless RF controller. I would assume based on this video I would need to run additional power lines from the battery pack to each of the four different LED strips to maintain consistent power. any help would be great. If you know of a specific battery pack that's on Amazon that you can reference please include a link.

[@DrZzs]

That's a TON of LEDs to try and run off a battery. Here's the math: each LED will use an average of 20 milliamps, or 0.02 amps, so if you have 1200 leds, that's 1200 x 0.02 = 24 amps. Now to size the battery. A 24 amp-hour battery would last 1 hour. I don't even know if you can buy a 5v 24 amp-hour battery. Probably not from Amazon anyway. If you want to power that many LEDs, you might want to consider a generator instead of a battery. something like this would probably last about 2-3 hrs: amzn.to/2yZutpY You'd also need a DC-DC converter to drop the 24v output to 5v for your LEDs. If you want 3 hrs, you need somewhere around 72 amp-hours at 5v. You could also use 3 of these: amzn.to/2KB3hnS that would give you 3 hrs and you wouldn't need a DC-DC converter. Good luck!

[@michaelrainey-wiles7704]

I'll be connecting six 6.5' LED stripes. They are 5v strips. Will my power supply still only be 5v or would I need to up the power? Thanks!

[@kriss1313]

And 24 V :) I wonder if for 24v longer strips are possible withoute power ingection.. like 15m.

[@Index-o1234]

Question.....I have a mobil progect I am working on it doesnt require more then 2 sets of 3ft of WS3812B Led lights. I ordered a 5V USB Controller WS2812 WS2812B LED Controller With Remote RF Wireless Control 3Pin USB 5V For WS2812 WS2812B LED Strip Driver to run of a portable battery bank of 5w 1.0A / 5V 1.8A.....My question is....will it work? Or is something missing? Im awaiting some of the parts to arrive but it's 3 months out so I thought I should ask someone whom really knows in the event I need to purchase anything else to make it work. I don't want to tap into the electronic device it is mounted to because of the dismanteling, soldering and possable fire hazard issues it may cause it is stored in a household and of course all those electronic products give off toxic smoke if it catches fire so I want to avoid that nitemare and just run everything off a battery bank. Any helpfull guildance would be appreciated. I am a firm believer in asking knowledge people whom know more then myself on subjects I am not familar with. Thank you

[@titustide]

I'm getting 144ct/1 meter LED's and only need to light up 1 meter. Will I be okay with only 5volts if I want to light them up at 100% brightness?

[@billybolocks7563]

My wife just swaped a 5 volt transformer to a 12 volt transformer on our Christmas tree lights. Now the lights don't work. We swapped the transformers back as they were, lights still don't work. We tested both the 5 volt transformer on another 5 volt set of Christmas lights and the work. Is it possible that by previously connecting the 12 v transformer to the lights that we destroyed all our Christmas lights at once?

[@DrZzs]

Short answer, yes.

[@Moon-xc7pj]

I don't know if you still answer any of these questions but i actually bought 10 m of 12v led strip and 2 m of 5v led strips, so i been wondering is the 5v strip going to explode or burned if i plug it with the 12v 10 m led strip?

[@petersjohnj]

Dr. Z. I made a huge mistake! First off I opted for off the shelf Twinkly RGB+w lights rather than just doing my own build. 2) I accidentally cut through all 3 wires about halfway through my strand. I am going to solder the cut wires but the lights aren’t marked at all so I’m not sure which one is volt+, ground, or data. How can i test to make sure I don’t damage the lights more than I already have?

[@MrJohnCatz]

I am looking to run rgbw strips under my kitchen cabinets ~ 15’. and I also want them to dim and run from phone and Alexa. What would you recommend using, and would you make a video ASAP..

[@ingy23]

If it was me I would use SK6812 and I would prob use 30LEDs per meter with a aluminium heat spreader with diffuser. It might require power injection at both ends if its 1 long run as these only run at 5V. Then just control them with a D1 mini running wled and a 10amp power supply.

[@scottrbailey]

Comparing WS2811 (12v) to WS2812B (5v) is not a fair comparison, as the WS2812 is individually addressable while the WS2811 are controlled in sets of 3. This video is old, but today a better comparison would be WS2813 (5v) vs WS2815 (12v).

[@edwardschmidt4963]

I have 5v led rgb light strips for my hallway setup from a motion detector. The thing is the lights take way too long to get to it's full brightness??? When they are fully bright the colors are the same.

[@nev0076]

I got the answer thanks to you. Appreciate it sir.

[@unobianconero5751]

can we run a 6V smd led on 5V supply without capacitor or any other stuff? is it be lighted up? max brightness? will the current be more than on 6V supply and does is need a resistor to limit it from draining more extra amps?

[@kaylaterbush6754]

I'm not sure if you can help but I thought I would give it a try and ask! I bought one of those LED bathroom vanity mirrors (27"×36"), that come with a strip of LED lights around the entire edge. It also has a 12vDC driver, and a touchscreen power button to turn the LEDs off and on, all the while being hardwired into my homes electrical. You can see that there is power ran to the on and off touchscreen switch by the color that it turns. However, when I push the switch on, the LEDs stay extremely dim! At times they will flash on brightly a few times and then they go back to being very dim. Any clue as to what might be wrong? We've checked wire connections and everything seems to be intact. Faulty driver perhaps?

[@DrZzs]

sounds like something is faulty. Without know much about the LEDs it's hard to say what you could try. Can you test the voltage at the LEDs? I'd guess you probably can't without tearing apart the mirror. If you can find away to provide power from a different source that might tell you that the problem is inside whatever driver/controller they're using. If they get brighter sometimes then I would assume you could do something to make them brighter more often. I'd test the voltage as close to the LEDs as you can. Then try using a different power supply to provide some voltage a little higher than what you measured. See if that makes them brighter. If not it is possible that they just aren't made to be brighter.

[@UltraNEO]

Instead of buying a second power supply. It may be easier to buy a DC/DC Converter, to Step down your 12VDC to 5VDC. This way you can use one 12V PSU for your 12v lights and 5v controller module.

[@DrZzs]

Trudat!

[@naoisehayes4473]

How would I do that?

[@subbirrahman1289]

That was a superb explanation bro.. Thanks

[@DrZzs]

My pleasure

[@denistremblay4713]

Wow simple short and to the point thank you so much :-)

[@chepoez]

Great video!! What can I to with a 5V led string to increase the brightness? Will it work if increase the ampers? what if i use a 6V source? does the voltage only affect the color?

[@DrZzs]

Thanks! As long as you're supplying the minimum voltage, the brightness is determined by the control signal. They do draw more current when they are brighter, but you can't supply more amps to make them brighter. Just doesn't work like that. You can try using 6v, but I don't think it'll make a difference. If you're running a long string you can try adding a source of 5v to the far end of the string. It can come from the same power supply, just run a pair of wires to the far end. If you have a multi meter measure the voltage at the end of your string of lights. If it measures close to 5v then you won't gain anything by adding more. That's about all I can think of to make them brighter.

[@jjggbbjunk]

LEDs have an almost constant forward voltage drop. In a laboratory, you could vary the brightness by varying the current, but this is tricky to do. In practice, these lights increase brightness by increasing the percentage of time the LED is turned on using a process called Pulse Width Modulation. The LED is turned on and off too fast for the human eye to register, giving it an effective brightness. Each LED chip has a red, green, and blue LED. By altering the effective brightness of each of the LEDs in each little module, you can get a mix of colors. The LEDs will be as bright as they can get when they are on 100% of the time. Current while turned on is limited by electronic controls to protect the LEDs If you bump up the voltage above the maximum limit, the LEDs will be destroyed.

[@zatoichiable]

So easy to understand... thanks

[@johnjacobjinglehimerschmid3555]

Ok .... so I buy a string of LED's .... for arguments sake it does not come with a power wart. Other than the instructions should inform me as to the power wart to purchase..... How do I "determine" what size "amperage" to get?

[@DrZzs]

Good question! My rule of thumb is 1amp per 50 LEDs. So a 150 LED sting would need at least a 3 amp PS. Here's a newer video that covers that topic and some others: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qonZpautgJidiM0

[@LeanBiff]

How long does the data go though? When do you need to use a signal repeater?

[@easwaran83]

I have successfully added my WIFI RGBW LED Strip to Home Assitant & It works great! Question Is it possible to get this LED Strip to syn with Music? Example: I play/ cast songs thru my google home can they sync & blink based on the music? Please let me know if this is possible? If possible how to achieve it in HA Thanks in advance.

[@DrZzs]

There is probably a way to sync with music. I’ve seen several examples. Some use expensive equipment some just tie the data line to the audio output. I’ve not tried any of them.

[@regmiles]

Hello, Thanks for that info. My projects are small. So distance isn't a problem. I'm liking what I'm seeing in a 5V 8x32 pixel WS2812B 5050 RGB Flexible LED Panel Matrix Programmable Display Screen. But I'd like to run this via a battery pack. The seller recommends a 5V 15A power supply. Is there a battery pack available that can run this panel? Thanks Reg

[@DrZzs]

I'm sure you can find a battery pack, but you may need to hunt a bit. When you size the battery calculate 60 milliamps per LED x the number of hours you want the leds to run. That'll give you a number in amp-hours.

[@christopherrto]

Are 12v (WS2811/WS2815) or 5v (WS2812b/WS2813) brighter? Or are they the same? It seems like they're close, but concrete information is scant.

[@dale3645]

He says in this video that there is no difference in brightness (with the right power injection).

[@smithderek84]

How many strands of lights can be on one other?

[@dale3645]

Some of the other videos (other “LED Guys”) say that the programming might have more and/or better programming with the 5V over 12V. Have you found that to be a problem with your 12V? I am mainly looking for CHRISTMAS but other holidays too. I like the idea of not using any power injection for 5 strands of String Lights.

[@G30-h5e]

I just bought a 1inch diameter circuit board with leds that's 12v, can I connect the red/black wires to a usb red/black wire and them work ?

[@LAWhiteStarTV]

hey amigo with 5 volt power supply can i run a 1000 pixel with 9nly one power supply and also if the gauge of the pixel string is 16, can i use a 14 gauge to extend power?

[@DrZzs]

A good place to ask this question is with the Pixelheads on my Discord Channel: discord.gg/8gvF67h

[@Banjoba]

Excellent video.very helpful.

[@sharonwasag-unknownlocatio9394]

I'm new to this. I am trying to get a small strip of RGB new-pixels to run off of a 3V Microbit. I ordered new-pixels in the mail and received 12V ones. Will these work?

[@jonathanholleman9987]

So you hook a second wire up to the same power supply, this won't draw extra power because it just powers the same lights just with much less voltage drop because it runs through a wire with less resistance, correct?

[@DrZzs]

Exactly!

[@jonathanholleman9987]

Great thank you, just needed to be sure because some other guy used 2 power supplies. lol

[@DrZzs]

I'm not sure what exactly would happen with that. I think technically it should be okay since all grounds should go to the same "ground". But for mine I just used the same ps and ran extra wires.

[@JohnC-kc5uh]

Thanks for the helpful info

[@wZerox]

can i just plug in a second power adapter at the end of my led strip ? because i have a 10m one and i cant reach to the end of the stripe with my cables from my power adapter

[@wZerox]

so i have 2x 5m led strips and i just connect them together in the middle

[@DeKiesel]

I think it should also be mentioned that 5v strings consume less power so you save some additional money there.

[@JacobEcret]

Spend all that money you saved on power injection

[@shamsheralamraja]

Good one, nicely explained.

[@DrZzs]

Thanks. glad it's helpful.

[@eduardo_oliveira88]

Hey, could you help me? I bought a h500p mesh, a gigabyte aorus gaming 5 z370 and a masterliquid 240m lite. The thing is that my mother board has only 3 pin rgn connectors or a 5 pin rgb connectors, while the fans have 4 pin connectors. What can I do, to be able to control all the fans' colors using the rgn fusion (gigabyte Motherboard software)? I'm really lost here! Thanks for the video by the way!