Greetings fellow lemmings! I have a problem and i was hoping your smart brains could help me solve it. I want to use an arduino and some addressable LED strips as an „ambilight“ upgrade for my pc. I soldered everything according to some instructions on the webz. I also provide enough electricity for the strips via a 12v charger. When I power them on (no matter if the arduino is turned on or not), they just blink randomly. Only a few led on the 4 strips I connected (to make corners for my monitor). The data input from pin 5 on my arduino is completely ignored when it is turned on. So I think it’s a wiring problem. But I don’t see the issue. On the picture you see the input connections i soldered. The strips are just connected together by wires. Ground to ground, data to data, power to power. Is my dumb smooth brain keeping me from my plans, or is there something broken? I only have replacement led strips, but I don’t know why the arduino or the power supply should be broken
This is a major issue here. Either your LEDs are 5V or they’re 12V but they’re never both and injecting 12V into a 5V strip is going to burn the strip out.
I assume you’re powering the arduino separately and if so, you’ll need to tie the ground from the arduino to the ground of the strip so that they match.
What strip do you have exactly and how many LEDs are you going to run?
Listen to this guy. Most LED tape is 12V or 24V. A 5V 20A power supply may meet your wattage requirement, but the LED tape will need it at 12V to function properly.