How to connect pico and standard to power source

Just getting started and soldered led to Pixelblaze. how do I connect to power bank portable charger?

With the Pixelblaze standard, you can power up to 1.6A worth of LEDs from the micro-USB onboard. That’s only about 27 standard 5050-size LEDs worth. However, many portable power banks can supply more - 2.1A and 2.4A is common. That said, you shouldn’t run that much through the board - you need to solder up a separate USB-to-LEDs or USB-to-Pixelblaze-terminal-block setup.

Divide the max amperage by .06 to determine the maximum number of LEDs you can safely run without really understanding some more complex settings and the pattern’s draw. For example, if you use the Limit Brightness setting and always keep it to 50%, you can double the number of LEDs that these calculations say is safe; because you’re limiting the current to .03 amps instead of .06 amps per pixel.

On the Pico, your only option is to make a USB-to-5V solderable adapter. You can rip apart your own and use a multimeter to figure the cables out, or use something like this.

Hey @jeff I have the same question basically, except for the Pixelblaze V3 Pico which doesn’t seem to have a micro USB port. So are you saying that you wire the powerbank to the lights direclty? How do you power the pixelblaze itself, then? Can you power the Pixelblaze with a USB port (these deliver 5V / 2A if I’m not mistaken)

Edit: Nevermind, I just found this page: https://electromage.com/quickstart-v3-pico :slight_smile:

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