I need some help about WS2811 power supply.

Kevin_Chen · February 10, 2019, 2:27am

As shown below, I hooked up 120 LED with a separate 5V/2.4A adapter to work with a NODEMCU ESP-12E with a 5V/500mA from my computer. This is is working fine.

However, when I removed 5V/500mA from the setup and connected NODEMCU 5V/GND to draw power from 5V/2.4A, the CPU, jump wires all got heat up and I smelled the burning…

What should I do to safely to provide NODEMCU 5V power with only one 5V/2.4A power adapter?

Joel_Byrnes · February 10, 2019, 3:37am

Be careful you didn’t connect them in reverse, most ICs get hot and draw all the current when connected in reverse. The overheating may damage them too.

Kevin_Chen · February 10, 2019, 3:52am

Joel, what’s the the proper way to connect when I only have a 5V/2.4A power adapter? Thanks!

Jason_Coon · February 10, 2019, 4:54am

Which pin on the nodemcu did you connect the 5v?

Kevin_Chen · February 10, 2019, 9:43am

@Jason_Coon I was connected the VIN pin to the 5V/2.4A adapter. This is the 5V pin, correct?

Ken_White · February 10, 2019, 12:00pm

@Kevin_Chen - Have you measured the voltage of your power supply? Is it actually 5 V?

Jason_Coon · February 10, 2019, 6:13pm

Yeah, VIN should be the correct pin for 5V. Definitely measure the output voltage of your power supply, and maybe share some pics of your connections?

Jeremy_Spencer · February 10, 2019, 8:40pm

Please provide a link to the actual MCU that you are using.

Kevin_Chen · February 11, 2019, 12:56am

@Jeremy_Spencer https://einstronic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/NodeMCU-ESP8266-ESP-12E-Catalogue.pdf It’s NODEMCU ESP-12E.

Kevin_Chen · February 11, 2019, 12:56am

@Ken_White Thanks! I never thought about that. Let me double check first.

Kevin_Chen · February 11, 2019, 2:43am

Suggested by a friend, I connected the power from a power supply. Strangely, the overheat issue was gone. So, it must be the power adapter! Thanks for you all to look into this for me! What a great community!

Kevin_Chen · February 11, 2019, 7:13am

Hi All, thanks for the suggestions provided. I found the final cause of this. I connected 5V + and - reversed to cause this issue! Ha…ha…

Kevin_Chen · February 11, 2019, 7:15am

@Joel_Byrnes You were right about the inverse connection on the adapter! Thank you!

Syed_Atif_Hashmi · February 11, 2019, 10:52am

Make common ground

Kevin_Chen · February 11, 2019, 11:31am

@Syed_Atif_Hashmi yes, the LED and Nodemcu have common ground. Thanks!