Wiring WS2812 LEDs

Components & Accessories
1

Hi,

I was just wondering if the diffused WS2812 LEDs can be linked together without the breakout board. Additionally, I’m not clear on how to wire the LEDs based off the provided pinout (what is DIN, VDD, DOUT?). Thank you.

2

All the VDDs and GNDs get connected together. DOUT from the first LED connects to DIN of the next and so on.

3

Data In, Voltage at the drain, Data Out :slight_smile:

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4

Thank you for the help. Does the data out pin on the last LED in the series need to connect to ground?

5

no…one’s out goes to the next in, last one is unconnected

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6

I tried just connecting a series to start but it’s not working. Below is my code and pictures of my circuit.

/// @file    Blink.ino
/// @brief   Blink the first LED of an LED strip
/// @example Blink.ino

#include <FastLED.h>

// How many leds in your strip?
#define NUM_LEDS 5

// For led chips like WS2812, which have a data line, ground, and power, you just
// need to define DATA_PIN.  For led chipsets that are SPI based (four wires - data, clock,
// ground, and power), like the LPD8806 define both DATA_PIN and CLOCK_PIN
// Clock pin only needed for SPI based chipsets when not using hardware SPI
#define DATA_PIN 2
#define CLOCK_PIN 13

// Define the array of leds
CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];

void setup() { 
    // Uncomment/edit one of the following lines for your leds arrangement.
    // ## Clockless types ##
    //FastLED.addLeds<NEOPIXEL, DATA_PIN>(leds, NUM_LEDS);  // GRB ordering is assumed
    // FastLED.addLeds<SM16703, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<TM1829, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<TM1812, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<TM1809, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<TM1804, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<TM1803, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<UCS1903, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<UCS1903B, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<UCS1904, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<UCS2903, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
     FastLED.addLeds<WS2812, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);  // GRB ordering is typical
    // FastLED.addLeds<WS2852, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);  // GRB ordering is typical
    // FastLED.addLeds<WS2812B, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);  // GRB ordering is typical
    // FastLED.addLeds<GS1903, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<SK6812, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);  // GRB ordering is typical
    // FastLED.addLeds<SK6822, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<APA106, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<PL9823, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<SK6822, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<WS2811, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<WS2813, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<APA104, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<WS2811_400, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<GE8822, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<GW6205, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<GW6205_400, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<LPD1886, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<LPD1886_8BIT, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // ## Clocked (SPI) types ##
    // FastLED.addLeds<LPD6803, DATA_PIN, CLOCK_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);  // GRB ordering is typical
    // FastLED.addLeds<LPD8806, DATA_PIN, CLOCK_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);  // GRB ordering is typical
    // FastLED.addLeds<WS2801, DATA_PIN, CLOCK_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<WS2803, DATA_PIN, CLOCK_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<SM16716, DATA_PIN, CLOCK_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
    // FastLED.addLeds<P9813, DATA_PIN, CLOCK_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);  // BGR ordering is typical
    // FastLED.addLeds<DOTSTAR, DATA_PIN, CLOCK_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);  // BGR ordering is typical
    // FastLED.addLeds<APA102, DATA_PIN, CLOCK_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);  // BGR ordering is typical
    // FastLED.addLeds<SK9822, DATA_PIN, CLOCK_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);  // BGR ordering is typical
}

void loop() { 
  // Turn the LED on, then pause
  leds[0] = CRGB::Red;
  FastLED.show();
  delay(500);
  // Now turn the LED off, then pause
  leds[0] = CRGB::Black;
  FastLED.show();
  delay(500);
}

IMG_2269
IMG_22694032×3024 3.34 MB

IMG_2270
IMG_22704032×3024 2.39 MB

7

I’d strongly suspect the soldering is the issue…

Try testing one by itself first and expand from there, testing to ensure the soldering connections behave as expected as you go

8

Did I initialize correctly? It’s not working with one LED either (a separate LED on a breadboard).

9

Hi,

Just following up, thank you.

10

It could be so many things that I don’t know what to suggest…the soldering is my first suspicion , as many of the joints look really sketchy

11

Okay, thank you. Just confirming that this initializer is the correct one for a series of LEDs without the breakout board:

FastLED.addLeds<WS2812, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);

12

Do you have photos showing how the single LED is connected?

13

Yes, the shorter pins are on the left. Data pin is set to 3 in my code.

IMG_2296
IMG_22964032×3024 2.46 MB

14

I think you’re misunderstanding how things are supposed to be connected. See the image below for an example.

image
image1092×388 33 KB

You can do the same with a single LED and skip the rest as a test. Once one LED works, you can add more.

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