Hey guys, Sorry in advance, I'm new to all this forum stuff.

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Hey guys,
Sorry in advance, I’m new to all this forum stuff. I am having a really frustrating (novice af) problem with some WS2812B strips.

I want to run a basic chase effect on 150 led’s with a mega 328p controller but nothing does what it is suppose to. Very few of the examples even light up any LED’s. The code attached manages to flick the first LED green then white then move on to the next but only reaches no. 13…

So I just want to know whether I should be superstitious or that maybe this particular strip isn’t what its suppose to be? (ebay buy, doesnt say WS2812b anywhere on the packaging/strip itself)

https://gist.github.com/shmalt/b733964649577bf5d8257e4ce77451c8

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Sorry meant to attach this too. Any help is greatly appreciated!
missing/deleted image from Google+

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Rather than supply the Arduino with power from the USB port, I would program the Arduino from the USB, disconnect the USB and then connect the +5V from your PS to the 5V pin on the Arduino.

I suspect your grounds were not connected properly.

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Your schematic shows a 220 Kohm resistor. It should probably be 220 ohms.

You can easily do without the resistor, just wire straight to the strip.

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@JP_Roy I guess I wont be able to show my face on this forum again… Thank you so much sir, this was exactly it!

@Andrew_Tuline It was actually the wrong resistor magnitude as stated by JP Roy. But I will be doing this once I have a grip on the programming so out of interest, is there any problems in doing this? My PS drops to 4v when the lights are at full capacity…

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@Walt_Nied Glad to have helped !

What type of PSU are you using that drops to 4V ?

I would simply change to a PSU that can deliver all the current for your 150 LEDS. That is 150 X 60 milliamps = 9 amps if you set all the LEDs to full brightness white.

USB typically can deliver 2 amps so to work you must significantly reduce the strip brightness.

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Also, instead of 100 uF, a 1000 uF capacitor is recommended.

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For the first tests, connect your led with a wire as short as possible:

  1. the signal from the Arduino will be less deformed, so the timing for the WS2812 is respected.
  2. the power supply voltage will drop with longer wires.
    Once this works with the test situation, connect the leds for the project