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inject power
#1
So, i have most of my lights working now
i have a ethernet pixel controller running 2 led strips (160), 2 seperate Ws2811 50 pixel strings and a ws2811 100 pixel string.
I have a 5v 20a power supply.

(i also have a 5v 60a spare power supply)

all the lights "flash" like i want them to, and I know how to adjust the colours etc.

However as the title says, i think i need to inject some power.

My LED strips should be all white at times, but range from white to red at the furthest point. My pixels perform similar with a lot of red instead of white at times.

i believe this is due to power drop.

So i don't screw it all up now, can someone just clarify how to "inject power"

It is my belief that i add +ve and -ve to the other end of the strings by connecting the red and black (or white on one string) to my spare power supply.

My LED strips are sealed at the ends so cannot add to them, but hoping that by adding power to everything else they sort themselves out!

Am i correct?

Would it be better to connect my 60A supply to the board (it doesn't seem to make much difference) and inject my 20A. I don't know. This is the bit that confuses me.

Or i may be completely wrong and need to do it some other way?

any help appreciated!
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#2
(01-12-2020, 09:25 PM)miamivice Wrote: So, i have most of my lights working now
i have a ethernet pixel controller running 2 led strips (160), 2 seperate Ws2811 50 pixel strings and a ws2811 100 pixel string.
I have a 5v 20a power supply.

(i also have a 5v 60a spare power supply)

all the lights "flash" like i want them to, and I know how to adjust the colours etc.

However as the title says, i think i need to inject some power.

My LED strips should be all white at times, but range from white to red at the furthest point. My pixels perform similar with a lot of red instead of white at times.

i believe this is due to power drop.

So i don't screw it all up now, can someone just clarify how to "inject power"

It is my belief that i add +ve and -ve to the other end of the strings by connecting the red and black (or white on one string) to my spare power supply.

My LED strips are sealed at the ends so cannot add to them, but hoping that by adding power to everything else they sort themselves out!

Am i correct?

Would it be better to connect my 60A supply to the board (it doesn't seem to make much difference) and inject my 20A. I don't know. This is the bit that confuses me.

Or i may be completely wrong and need to do it some other way?

any help appreciated!

What I've done is leave the +ve disconnected at the pixel controller (Just connect -ve and data), and then connect the +ve and -ve either end of the string. 

I've got a 230-pixel string (4x50 & 30, and have injected power in 4 places which seems to work just fine (all white pulls most power) .
For this I used 1mm 2-core flex which doesn't suffer from much voltage drop (furthest injection point is about 15m from PSU. Tried with thinner cable and the voltage drop was very apparent.

50-pixel string is powered from controller (again with 1mm flex), and also a 256-pixel matrix and 100-pixel string from the PSU.  

Main points I found are 1) Don't connect +ve from different power supplies, 2) Use a thick cable to avoid voltage drop. 3) General rule for 5v strings is inject every 50 pixels

Pixel controller is run off 10a laptop power supply, and all pixels from a 5v 30a psu. I've added in a 3amp fuse for each set i'm injecting too.
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#3
(01-12-2020, 09:41 PM)cymglo Wrote:
(01-12-2020, 09:25 PM)miamivice Wrote: So, i have most of my lights working now
i have a ethernet pixel controller running 2 led strips (160), 2 seperate Ws2811 50 pixel strings and a ws2811 100 pixel string.
I have a 5v 20a power supply.

(i also have a 5v 60a spare power supply)

all the lights "flash" like i want them to, and I know how to adjust the colours etc.

However as the title says, i think i need to inject some power.

My LED strips should be all white at times, but range from white to red at the furthest point. My pixels perform similar with a lot of red instead of white at times.

i believe this is due to power drop.

So i don't screw it all up now, can someone just clarify how to "inject power"

It is my belief that i add +ve and -ve to the other end of the strings by connecting the red and black (or white on one string) to my spare power supply.

My LED strips are sealed at the ends so cannot add to them, but hoping that by adding power to everything else they sort themselves out!

Am i correct?

Would it be better to connect my 60A supply to the board (it doesn't seem to make much difference) and inject my 20A. I don't know. This is the bit that confuses me.

Or i may be completely wrong and need to do it some other way?

any help appreciated!

What I've done is leave the +ve disconnected at the pixel controller (Just connect -ve and data), and then connect the +ve and -ve either end of the string. 

I've got a 230-pixel string (4x50 & 30, and have injected power in 4 places which seems to work just fine (all white pulls most power) .
For this I used 1mm 2-core flex which doesn't suffer from much voltage drop (furthest injection point is about 15m from PSU. Tried with thinner cable and the voltage drop was very apparent.

50-pixel string is powered from controller (again with 1mm flex), and also a 256-pixel matrix and 100-pixel string from the PSU.  

Main points I found are 1) Don't connect +ve from different power supplies, 2) Use a thick cable to avoid voltage drop. 3) General rule for 5v strings is inject every 50 pixels

Pixel controller is run off 10a laptop power supply, and all pixels from a 5v 30a psu. I've added in a 3amp fuse for each set i'm injecting too.

-----------------

I think i am with you. if i leave off the +ve from all my strings from the controller (leave it to power both my strips) and then connect my spare power supply to the either end of the strings +ve (and -ve??) 
so my strings would have data and -ve connected from the controller and power (+ve and -ve) at either end
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#4
Yes that's right. 5v & 0v from the power supply, data & 0v connect to the controller.
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#5
(01-12-2020, 09:25 PM)miamivice Wrote: So, i have most of my lights working now
i have a ethernet pixel controller running 2 led strips (160), 2 seperate Ws2811 50 pixel strings and a ws2811 100 pixel string.
I have a 5v 20a power supply.

(i also have a 5v 60a spare power supply)

all the lights "flash" like i want them to, and I know how to adjust the colours etc.

However as the title says, i think i need to inject some power.

My LED strips should be all white at times, but range from white to red at the furthest point. My pixels perform similar with a lot of red instead of white at times.

i believe this is due to power drop.

So i don't screw it all up now, can someone just clarify how to "inject power"

It is my belief that i add +ve and -ve to the other end of the strings by connecting the red and black (or white on one string) to my spare power supply.

My LED strips are sealed at the ends so cannot add to them, but hoping that by adding power to everything else they sort themselves out!

Am i correct?

Would it be better to connect my 60A supply to the board (it doesn't seem to make much difference) and inject my 20A. I don't know. This is the bit that confuses me.

Or i may be completely wrong and need to do it some other way?

any help appreciated!

Personally, I would not inject power at the furthest end from a different power supply but would run a separate thick wire from the same supply to the far end.  Its not usually a good idea to run one unit from 2 separate supplies.  I am assuming it must be a long cable run?  I am running 12m LEDs over 8 core alarm cable with little voltage drop over 10m lead?
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#6
Ok Thanks everyone.
I think I will try using the same power supply first and then take it from there.
Thanks for the help. makes it a bit clearer for me
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#7
We recommend using a single power supply wherever possible. However when using several thousand pixels on a single controller multiple power supplies are often required (and common practice) to get sufficient power. Its generally best to use identical power supplies and connect the negatives together to provide a common ground, then use the positives to inject power. We recommend inline fuses are used on power injection lines etc as high ampage output from power supplies can burn through thin pixel wire quickly in the event of a short.
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#8
(03-12-2020, 11:17 PM)Craig Wrote: We recommend using a single power supply wherever possible. However when using several thousand pixels on a single controller multiple power supplies are often required (and common practice) to get sufficient power. Its generally best to use identical power supplies and connect the negatives together to provide a common ground, then use the positives to inject power. We recommend inline fuses are used on power injection lines etc as high ampage output from power supplies can burn through thin pixel wire quickly in the event of a short.

Thanks Craig.
I understand it a lot more now and i am just using one power supply. (the 20 A one not  the 60A one)
Injecting power into my strings has worked (with a slight red flicker on the furthest one), but my strip still turns red ate the furthest point when lit. I cannot inject to the far end of that!
I am still experimenting with them but i know a lot more now.

Thanks again.
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