Anyone else who uses the APA102c strip, I’ve been using a 1000uF across the V++ and GND, but it would save me some space to get rid of it, or reduce it (to SMD size preferably). I don’t have a scope to measure power transients, so I am asking others. I’ve been using this cap based on Adafruits reccomendation for the WS2812b’s, are the APA102c’s as sensitive to voltage spikes?
They won’t cause as much noise, but if you turn a whole strip off at once, you’ll get the same inductive kick from the power cable that you would with WS281x drivers.
So, still recommended for circuit parts safety? I am relatively comfortable with DC, AC was were things got hairy for me during E&M
Hard to say without measurements. The shorter your cable is, the less inductance it’ll have. If you’re powering your strip from a nearby USB power bank, you’re fine.
I use 1 cap at the 1st pixel or close to it
Thanks! So I think I’m going to try a 470 uF near pixel 1, hopefully things should be fine, or atleast better than nothing. I have a 1000uF cap, but it is tight in my application. Battery powered here, but trying to get my wires to be very short between the protection circuit and the first pixel.
Use a cap with 6.3, 10 or 16V; they are significantly smaller than a 35 / 50V cap.
They measure 8mm long, 3.5mm o
I usually get away with 220µF
I’m using 6.3V smd 1206 cap and it works perfect, and is small enough