I’m thinking about getting more LED’s happening, and want to find a SAFE way to power them, both for AC power as well as portable usage.
WS2812B’s take a max input voltage of 5.3V (although I’ve gone higher with varying results. . …).
Just wondering what people do beyond a USB connector or Arduino 5V output to get <5.3V to their LED strips? Let’s say 5A or greater.
We also know that Arduino input voltage should be between 7-12V.
A 7.5V adapter would match up to a couple of 16850 batteries, however I need to get 5V as well.
- I have been powering LED’s directly with a couple of 16850 batteries, but I’m concerned about over-voltage and have blown some up with 7.5V adapters.
- I could use a 7805 in a TO-220, but that limits my current.
- I could use a PC power supply, but that’s bulky.
- 5V DC adapters with US plug on aliexpress seem to be scarce and doesn’t deal with the 7V Arduino requirement.
- There’s LOTS of 7.5V DC adapters.
- I could find a 5V/5A or 5V/20A power supply and power the Arduino separately (sharing the grounds).
Just looking for suggestions.
I use these to power the LED’s on my tree and my art car.
The arduino is powered by a separate adjustable voltage wall wart or similiar.
@keith_allan and what about your Arduino?
However please correct me if I am wrong. You should be able to just connect a 2.1 bullet connector to the power supply itself. I just went out and hooked it up that way and it works.
@keith_allan So, you’re powering your Arduino off of 5V?
Never had any issues. And I believe that’s the output voltage on the USB port on a Mac book.
I power my arduino and LEDs off the same source. Works great. For development, I use my USB port.
For AC, I gave away using wall warts in exchange for switch-mode PSUs. I bought 20 5A ones for under 5 bucks each, just need to wire up a power lead. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/25W-5V-Small-Volume-Single-Output-Switching-power-supply-for-LED-Strip-light/628334432.html
For portable, I use RC Lipo packs and a buck converter: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-5PCS-GW1584-Ultra-small-size-DC-DC-step-down-power-supply-module-3A-adjustable/1879561651.html - I power the Arduino from the battery balance lead - you can buy the JST connectors for pennies.
I’m just getting into this myself and ran across the MySensors.org website recently while researching ways to add things to my Z-Wave network. See this page for some eBay links: http://www.mysensors.org/store/#dimming
I have no experience purchasing from them yet, but the 12V power supplies are waterproof, if you need that. You can also probably find better prices for similar parts on AliExpress. I’m looking at doing some Z-Wave controlled deck lighting, but haven’t gotten any further than the “research phase” yet. 
For the 5V and portable power portion, further up the “store” page is a Regulators and Batteries section: http://www.mysensors.org/store/#regulators
There’s a lot of good basic info for newbs like me on that site.
Don’t bother feeding the Arduino 7V+. Internally, it runs off 5V, and if you bypass the barrel jack connector you can feed that directly to its 5V pin and it won’t care.
I’ve had success hooking Arduinos directly to four AA NiMH cells in series (4S NiMH) and it’s run just fine off them from full charge to flat – NiMH cells range between 1.2V-1.4V, so 4 in series gives you a maximum voltage of 5.6V, which is below the maximum of 6V for the AVR chip (and seems to be within the tolerance for WS2812 elements).
I’m also curious about reliable power supplies. I have now a 10A 5V powersupply bought on ebay/aliexpress. However it’s still a no-name brand. I don’t want to take risks if I deliver an installation to an external party. If something happens I’ll be responsible.
Someone pointed me to Meanwell as a affordable brand. However there 5V supply goes to 6A (30Watts): https://www.meanwell-web.com/en/products/ac-dc-power-supply/adaptor/26-100-w/gsm60b
I buy from Smun: http://www.smunchina.com/e_products/?big_id=1&small_id=28
They’ve got a huge range of PSUs
May not be as good quality as Meanwell, but they are only a few bucks. I haven’t had a single failure yet and I have tested 25 of them.