2 crystals, each with a single neopixel. I’ve seen some diagrams where they bridge 2 LED pads, and others where they just run off of one.
Figured I would ask here and see what you guys think.
Do you want them to work independently or mirror? The easiest solution, as long as they are near each other is run from one data pad and one LED pad, then you can use sub blades (which basically uses the config to tell the OS that certain sections along the pixel line are treated as their own independent blade), or just create a style that has half the blade doing its own thing.
You can also have these two pixels on the same data/LED pads as the main blade to save on wiring (though you’d need to have wire that can carry the full load). With this way, you would need to use sub blades.
Bridging the LED pads is done for main blades to share the load between two FETs.
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I think I’ll wire them separately from the main blade with their own data line, but I haven’t decided how I’m going to have them behave. Probably just mirror what the main blade does.
Just curious though, at what point would you consider bridging pads when you are adding accents? The internet being what it is, is full of Proffie wiring diagrams, with multiple options done by different people for the same setup and I just don’t know the “why” of it. Is there a rule of thumb for power draw that I should know?
Never. Not needed. A single FET could even handle a main blade running 288 pixels ( 144 x 2 strips ) but it’s common practice to distribute the load across 2 FETs since they are usually available.
Thank you so much for responding and helping me get this. I am not doubting you, but I keep seeing stuff like this on searches.
I only ask because it’s so easy to do, I have no issue with doing it, but I just don’t understand WHY it’s sometimes shown, and other times not. Is it just something people do to be extra safe, habit, or like me, just doing what others do without fully understanding the board and it’s capabilities?
That LED has separate leads for each color die, R, G and B.
It isn’t an addressable “neopixel” LED that is driven by a data feed.
The FETs control brightness of each color to mix a final result.
Ohhh, ok. That makes a little more sense to me. Thank you
This is mostly true. But there may be cases where it would cause the FET to overhead, which is why two FETs is recommended for the main blade. (Or any other string with 100 LEDs or more.)
It depends on the FET that was used, the quality of that FET, the quality of the soldering and the amount of air movement inside the chassis.
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