Hello and help please with LED strips

[dj unsung]

Hello to everyone here,

My name is George and the need to find a solution to my LED strip lights brought me here.
The only knowledge I had regarding LED lights is simply to plug in the usb in a port.
This changed since I ordered from Aliexpress a DC12V WS2815 5050RGB 5m. (5m 144 IP30)
To my ignorance I thought they would come ready for use.
The last couple of days I am searching online, reading and watching many videos in order to understand how to make them work.
The things I have ordered excluding the led strip lights are:

1. Esp32s
2. Breadboard jumper wires
3. 5v power supply.

I have already connected the Esp32s to my laptop, downloaded and installed WLED on the Esp32s.
In addition I have connected the 2 extra wires from the led strip (red and white) to the 5V power supply.

Questions:

1. On AliExpress website although these strips are advertised as 12V and 12V is also mentioned on the strip, as you can see in the photo, the recommended power is 5V
Can I use the 5V I purchased or do I need to buy a 12V power supply? Will they work safely with the 5V?

2. With my limited research I assumed that I could connect one end of the breadboard jumper wires to the esp32 and the other one to the led strips?
I have watched a couple of videos that provide information but the way they connect them is much more complicated than my assumption so I am wondering if what I mentioned above is possible. If not can you please tell me the correct process and also what extra do I need to buy?

3. The led strip has 4 wires (white, green, red and blue) can someone tell me on which port of the Esp32s do the fit?

Thank you

 

[DPG]

The addressable LED strip I'm using is 5VDC and 3 wire.

Red goes to 5V connection of the micro
White goes to 0V
Green goes via resistor to data pin 4 (D4), although depends on what pin you are using in your software

I haven't used the extra red and white power connections on the LED strip, but I would if the lengths involved were longer.

Obviously yours is 12V so the ground connection will be the same, but you will feed it from an external 12VDC power supply.

Not sure if this helps entirely, but I'll try and put more info in when I have time later.

Oh and welcome to the forum!

 

[dj unsung]

Thank you for your reply,

I am a complete noob so I will try to explain and ask questions to the best of my knowledge.

1. Will it be ok to use the 5V power supply I already purchased? Will it be safe or do I need to buy a 12V?
2. On the LED strip there are 4 wires and extra 2 (photo) I have connected the extra 2 to the power supply via an adaptor.
Is this the right way?
3. The 4 wires do they connect to the Esp32? If yes can I connect them with the breadboard jumper wires?

I do apologise but it is very confusing for someone who doesn't have a clue

Thank you

 

[DPG]

Thank you for your reply,

I am a complete noob so I will try to explain and ask questions to the best of my knowledge.

1. Will it be ok to use the 5V power supply I already purchased? Will it be safe or do I need to buy a 12V?
2. On the LED strip there are 4 wires and extra 2 (photo) I have connected the extra 2 to the power supply via an adaptor.
Is this the right way?
3. The 4 wires do they connect to the Esp32? If yes can I connect them with the breadboard jumper wires?

I do apologise but it is very confusing for someone who doesn't have a clue

Thank you

You will need a 12VDC power supply to feed your LED strip.

I've only used the 3 wire strip, but it looks like you only need to connect these on yours:
Red wire - supply
White wire - ground
Green wire - data pin
Blue wire - ignore

You can connect them by plugging into breadboard contacts, or using crocodile clips etc.

 

[dj unsung]

Thank you for your reply.

I managed to set it up but the issue I have is with overheating the board (Esp32s)
I connected the red wire on the vin port, the white wire on the gnd port and the green wire on the d2 port. I didn't connect the blue wire
When I made the adjustments on the Wled software all leds were working fine.

When I connect the esp32 to my laptop via a micro usb the temp is fine but the issue of overheating happens when I connect it to the 12v power supply. The board is heating really bad. I tried also through the Wled software to increase the amp from 1000 to 5000 only when I had the power supply connected but it was not working. Am I doing something wrong or the esp32 board is not designed for such power?

Thank you

 

[BenCos18]

Thank you for your reply.

I managed to set it up but the issue I have is with overheating the board (Esp32s)
I connected the red wire on the vin port, the white wire on the gnd port and the green wire on the d2 port. I didn't connect the blue wire

you don't want to run the leds from the Vin port on the esp
use a direct wire from the psu to the led power and use the other wiring as normal otherwise you can kill the esp
also the cabling the esp would have connected isn't designed for higher loads

The board is heating really bad. I tried also through the Wled software to increase the amp from 1000 to 5000 only when I had the power supply connected but it was not working. Am I doing something wrong or the esp32 board is not designed for such power?

never increase the max power that high unless your psu is rated for it
send a photo of your current wiring.

btw the wled software measures in miliamps so 1000 on is is 1 amp for example

 

[dj unsung]

Hi Ben,

Thank you for your reply.
The LED strip comes with 4 wires and an additional 2. From the videos I have watched I have connected the extra 2 wires with an adaptor to a power supply (red and white). Do you mean that since I have done that there is no need to connect the other red wire to the esp32? I have connected the 5V psu and everything works fine. I tried the 12V and simply doesn't work. To be honest I don't mind using the 5V psu instead of the 12V.

Thank you

 

[BenCos18]

correct
you need a ground from the psu to the esp though btw
tie the grounds (not the same as the earth in a mains connection) of all supplies together

Hi Ben,

Thank you for your reply.
The LED strip comes with 4 wires and an additional 2. From the videos I have watched I have connected the extra 2 wires with an adaptor to a power supply (red and white). Do you mean that since I have done that there is no need to connect the other red wire to the esp32? I have connected the 5V psu and everything works fine. I tried the 12V and simply doesn't work. To be honest I don't mind using the 5V psu instead of the 12V.

Thank you

 

[Dan]

Welcome to Electricians Forums

Thanks for signing up.

 

[dj unsung]

Thank you