Power Problems

[Discotech24]

I purchased the pixels from Ray Wu that run off the 2801IC. I need to split my strand to 2 8ft. pieces. When I do this I lose all my brightness to the farthest LED's. As per Ray I added another supply at the far end of the strand and it makes no difference. Anyone have any ideas to fix this. I spent plenty of money on my strips and power supply but the lights look silly. Help please!!

[-klb-]

You added length in between the two sections? How much? What size wire?

If you disconnect the 2nd power supply, what voltage do you read at those leads?

Is the dimming visible if you only have the primary power supply, and only turn on the 1st and last pixel? How does that compare with other test cases?

[Discotech24]

Approximately 20 feet of Cat 5 wire(22 guage).

[Discotech24]

Voltage at far end is 3.83 volts without second supply. First 8 feet of strip look nice and bright but second 8 feet are very dim.

[Discotech24]

Voltage at far end is 3.83 volts without second supply. First 8 feet of strip look nice and bright but second 8 feet are very dim.

[-klb-]

Since you have 8 wires in the cat 5 you can try doubling up the wires used for +5 and ground.

Also, try feeding the top of the string from the same power supply as the base, but try using some 18Ga wire from the power supply to the top of the string.

[Discotech24]

Looks like feeding to both ends from the supply will work....unfortunately now I need to order another supply for my second strip. Thanks for the help:D

[LightORamaJohn]

If you use 18 gauge wire for the power between the sections as klb suggested, you could probably put one power supply in the center of the 20' section.

[edvas69]

Discotech24 wrote:

Looks like feeding to both ends from the supply will work....unfortunately now I need to order another supply for my second strip. Thanks for the help:D

If adding another power supply then you must ensure you dont connect the + positive wire together between power supplies. Power supplies are not designed to have the + connected together (unless specifically designed for this) You still must connect the DC ground together to ensure both power supplies have the same reference.



What im not sure about is why you need a second power supply if the first power supply is rated high enough to take the load. All you need to do is run extra cable from your power supply to both ends of the second strip.

[WilliamS]

Power injection is the way to go. As many reccomend run power to both ends, signal only to 1.

[Discotech24]

Thanks for all the tips. Picked up some 14/2 stranded wire and have fed the power lines to the bottom of both 8 foot strips and the lights look great. I continue to be amazed at all the help offered in the forums. Thanks again.

[Guest wbottomley]

GoofyGuy wrote:

Power injection is the way to go. As many reccomend run power to both ends, signal only to 1.

Really? I would in the middle to save excess wiring.

[ShaggySS]

Sorry for bringing this post back to the top but I am reading conflicting things here when it comes to power injection. I adding some WS2811 strips to my display but I have a few long runs where it would be easier to mount if I soldered the two strips together and treated it as one 100 pixel strip. So can I simply put a power supply at each end? I wasn't sure how that works.

I guess an easy test would be to take two power supplies and connected the positive to the positive and the negative to the negative and plug them in. If it didn't blow up I am good but I figured I would get some clarification before I got too crazy.