I'm working on my first fairly large project involving lots of WS2812B,

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I’m working on my first fairly large project involving lots of WS2812B, and I need tips on how to wire power.

I need to power 40 strips of 50cm (60leds/m). That’s 1200 Leds, so 72 Amps for full-white. Hooked to a MEGA.

I’m thinking of using two 60 amps psu like this one : http://www.trcelectronics.com/View/Mean-Well/LRS-350-5.shtml. The project might get bigger eventually so the extra amps wouldn’t be lost.

I just don’t have any idea how to wire the strips from the power supply. The setup is arranged with the MEGA in the middle and the neopixels all around it (think 40-leg octopus). That’s a lot of wires going to a PSU. There has to be a proper way to wire this.

Thank you!

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Ill let others comment on the power side of things - but for 1200 LEDs you should seriously consider a teensy 3.1 instead of the mega.

1200 ws2812 LEDs will take 36ms to write the data out for which means, realistically, you’re going to have a frame rate of no more than 10-15 FPS (not to mention the mega mcu isn’t terribly powerful).

With the teensy3.1 you can make use of parallel (8-20 way) output which will drastically reduce the time to write out a frame of data.

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The most efficient way to power anything is to have the shortest possible (ie. lowst-resistance) path between the PSU and each strip of LEDs. I’ve used thick-ish speaker wire for DC distribution and transmission in the past because it’s cheap and effective: AUDIO CABLES - HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!

To distribute power across so many strips, you’ll want to run the power from the PSU to a busbar (or several) first, then run an appropriate length of wire to each strip. I used this one in my last project, all you need to do is crimp the wire ends with ring terminals (#8 / 0.16" size, apologies in advance for Imperial units): http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000277JB4

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Thanks Daniel and LE, very useful advice

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@Franck_Marcotte I do not know what is your budget for this but would you consider making or having made a Printed Circuit Board that would serve not only to distribute power but also simplify the routing of data signals to your strips by using 4-pins PCB mounted connectors for each strip ??

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@JP_Roy
I can imagine it would make the whole thing a lot cleaner! Sadly I’m limited on both time and money. But this project might be a first demo with more to come. Do you have a good recommendation for learning about custom PCBs? I come from a programming background and I still have a lot to learn about proper electronics. Thank you!

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For quadcopters, we often use a power distribution board that’s basically a PCB with copper on both sides (one +, one -). You could probably create something similar. Maybe even two rings of copper (speaker) wire separated by thin plastic or thick cardboard.

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Hi @Franck_Marcotte ,
I just posted a number of pictures showing how I built my Xmas tree last year.
Hopefully it can give you some idea for your project.

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@Franck_Marcotte and on the issue of learning about custom PCBs and electronics, try YouTube… tons of tutorial videos there !
Just search it for “Basic electronics” and “Printed Circuit Boards”.

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@JP_Roy
You christmas tree project is similar to mine! Thank you for the example :slight_smile:

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Maybe some useful stuff here about power topology, bus bars, etc: