Hi, I got some strip from aliexpress the other day,

Archive FastLED Archive
1

Hi, I got some strip from aliexpress the other day, and apparently it uses the WS2812B chips (as they only have 4 pins). I’ve been trying for the last 3 hours, but I can’t get the strips to do anything. They’e got 5V power, and plenty of it, got the Arduino connected to the same ground as the strip, and data wire to pin 6, but it just won’t do anything. I also tried the adafruit library just for completeness - nothing.

I have 4 rolls of strip here, and they all do (or don’t do) the same thing :frowning:

I’m lost??

Thanks

2

The lights I use have the wires oddly colored. Green is 5v, red is data, black is ground. Double check that.

The lights often have connectors on both ends so make sure that you’re applying electricity to the correct end (there should be an arrow on the strip)

The ground from your 5v power supply and your arduino need to be connected.

3

I thought 2812s are three pins, not four … If he’s got four wires, it’s time to make sure the strips are indeed 2812s …

4

Ah, good point Ashley. Daniel can you post a picture of your strips. The ws2811/ws2812 have 3 pins on the strips. Some manufacturers have four wires coming off (two connected to ground, one data and one 5v, but the strips themselves only have three pins)

5

Thanks for the replies, Sorry, I meant the LED chips themselves have 4 pins, indeed the strip itself only has 3. I think it was a combination of a bad strip + power issues, as I’ve got 3 of the strips running OK on my bench now. The first strip seems to be completely dead and won’t do anything.

No kidding about these being extremely sensitive to voltage!

Dan

6

I’ve blown a few myself (I used to use 12v strips…). Sometimes only the first chip is blown. Often the whole one goes…

7

yea, I just poked a pin through the silicone casing and “injected” the data straight to the 2nd LED, and the rest of the strip works fine. A bit irritating as I now have one strip that is 5cm shorter than the others, and I have 599 LED"s in my code instead of 600 now :stuck_out_tongue:

8

injecting the data… how 80s syfy movie!!
599 > 600 in cool factor