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  • Author Author: den_olli
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Portable addressable led strip tester

den_olli

in the office building I work we have DIY addressable led strips surrounding every floor of the building to make it glow at night. It's a part of my job to maintain this setup and unfortunately the setup breaks down a lot.

 

We we got a defect then I have to open up the sealing and get the 3m long led bar out and take it to the warehouse to test the led strip. I have already bought a wireless soldering iron so I can do small repairs without taking the led strip out of the sealing, but I still need to get it out if I want to connect it to the test unit.

 

It would really be great if I would have sort of a portable addressable led strip tester, that can run the following tests

- put all led's to red

- put all led's to green

- put all led's to blue

- put all led's to white

- slow nightrider mode 1 led at a time

- put all led's to black (off)

 

this would save me a lot of time and I guess it would be a great tool for everyone that uses addressable led strips in there projects

I'm trying to figure out a way to make such tester, but the main problem I have is how to deliver enough power for the 3 meter long led strip?

  • It sounds very much that the system was not designed to be easily serviced (sadly a common problem)

     

    I'm trying to figure out a way to make such tester, but the main problem I have is how to deliver enough power for the 3 meter long led strip?

    The strip shown above seems to be 144 LED/metre and are the addressable type.

     

    If they are 144/m then one site said it was 43.2 W/m which is 8.64A at 5v.

    This means a single 3m length uses 25.92 Amps.

     

    Having two strips off the same supply is likely to cause issues when they are on white and full brightness.

     

    You'd also need to verify that there are connectors at various points.

    Looking at your picture it seems that there are power and the connection back to the controller.

     

     

    If you can confirm the number of LEDs per metre and the type (some more sharp photos will help), then we might be able to suggest a controller.

    I am suspicious of the power, and curious to know the wiring running back to the controller as I see three wires along with the DC connector.

    The Data and earth are okay but the 5v is only likely to start pulling power from other sections, which may make things worse.

     

     

    Do you have records of the cause each month, or more correctly what has fixed the apparent problem.

    If the LED strips aren't being replaced, then it's either connections, controller or the power supplies.

     

    If the strip isn't the issue, then it sounds like you need a portable strip to prove the rest of the system is working before removing the strips from the ceiling.

    WS21812 strips should work even if you don't connect the rest of them after that strip.

     

     

    Cheers

    Mark

  • in reply to den_olli

    If the software is custom made, can the diagnostic feature (setting all to red, then to green then to blue etc) not be coded in the software? A test mode basically. Why does it need a separate controller?

    The whole project sounds like a disaster of a solution for building lighting, to rely on aliexpress LED modules with this failure rate.

  • max 1 time each month. The controller and software is also custom made for this setup, so it's not always a problem with the led strip. that's why we need to test it instead of just replacing it.

    Also we need to get the profile out of the ceiling to be able to replace the led strip. it would be great if we can test the bars before dismounting them, because it would safe us a lot of time in case the problem is caused by the controller or the software

  • in reply to den_olli

    Hi Olivier,

     

    How frequently is there a failure? And how long could it take to fix the failure, if you had a test tool?

    Even if it takes just 30 minutes to fix, this is very expensive, considering the aliexpress LED strip very likely cost less than how much you cost the business for 30 minutes.

    Is it not more worthwhile to replace the design with a more reliable one that does not use aliexpress LED strips?

  • in reply to guillaume9433

    Hi Guillaume,

     

    it would be possible to start from an existing tester, but for some reason the designer of the system used a 5V 26A power supplies per 2 bars of 3m.

    I don't think a regular battery will provide enough power or the designer of the system has made a calculation error

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