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  • Author Author: zengirl2
  • Date Created: Date Created
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FLORAbrella Update - Hot Pixel

zengirl2

I think it is good to be honest about  the process, and not every day is filled with Neopixel rainbows.  Today I was working on hacking some code to make a nicer rain pattern -- one with random rain drops.  Currently the pattern is running backwards as if the rain is falling up.  So, I started working with some of the values to see if I could get it to rain down.  I had just started to make some headway when I bumped one of my LED strips, which was joined to another with alligator clips.  I noticed the lights flicker and immediately checked the clips to see if any were touching.  My hand happened to glance over the last LED in one of the strips and I discovered warmth.  LED's do not like heat one bit, so I immediately pulled off the clips.  Unfortunately it appears there was damage done to one of my strips.  The last light sometimes comes on, but the strip itself is not able to communicate to the next one in line any longer.  If you look closely, you can see a slight brown mark at the C1 area.

 

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So, today's takeaway is:  Do not use alligator clips for LED strips and make sure you have extra strips to test your circuit.  Hopefully I can just snip the bad pixel off this strip and still use it for test purposes (with some real soldered wires) while I wait for a new strip to arrive.  I was sad for a minute until I realized that this bad strip may someday be used for my dream LED quadcopter.  So, one failure can still be a victory.  Okay, got to run -- soldering to do!

Parents

  • If your using insulated crocodile clips then I usually try to pull the insulation down over the clip as far as possible, if it's connecting to a wire then you can usually get it all the way down, or on a board then it can be pulled flush with the board to help try to stop accidental connection with something it shouldn't!

Comment

  • If your using insulated crocodile clips then I usually try to pull the insulation down over the clip as far as possible, if it's connecting to a wire then you can usually get it all the way down, or on a board then it can be pulled flush with the board to help try to stop accidental connection with something it shouldn't!

Children
  • in reply to hifromkatie

    Hey everyone, thanks for the pixel condolences.  They were insulated clips, but alas when using three of them on a tip of an LED strip with only about a "strand of spaghetti" space between each pad, well, it was just bound to happen.  I did solder some jumper wires onto my test strip and things are a lot safer now image  I'm definitely still trying and the amount of soldering is making me crazy.