Is it possible to somehow use a 12V WS2811 LED Strip with PixelBlaze?
Sorry if this has been asked before, although I really couldn’t find the answer. If it is possible to use with PB to handle the data, what exactly would I need that is simple and not too cost prohibitive to power the LED strip?
Thanks!
You most certainly can use those with a Pixelblaze. Just make sure that you power the LEDs separately from the PB. The PB needs 5v to run, and the LEDs will need 12v. Most strips should have a separate red and black wire going into the start of the strip for power, connect the 12v power supply there, and then connect the data pin to the pixelblaze, and the pixelblaze to a 5v power supply.
How should the 12Vpower be grounded? If I understand correctly I would do something such as below, although I’m not sure about the grounding so much:
Black/Red Power
[ 12v ] -------------------------------------- [ LED Strip Power ]
Data
. ---------------------- [ LED Strip Data In ]
| Ground
[ 5v ] ------- [ PB ] | ---------------------- [ LED Strip Ground ]
| Clock
. ---------------------- [ Unused ]
Correct! The grounds from the 5V and 12V sources should be connected to each other, as well as to the strip (a three way connection).
A common way to power things is to use a single 12V power supply, and then use a Buck converter which takes 12 VDC in and outputs 5 VDC for the Pixelblaze. You’d be hard pressed to find one cheaper or smaller than the ones sold here in the Electromage store:
