Quadcopter LED strip only lights up 8 lights.

[Matt24683579]

Hey everyone, I'm using inav with this sp racing evo flight controller right now and was trying to install addressable led 's onto the arms. right now I can only get a small strip at a time to light up, and it seems like 8 is the mosy i was abke to get working at once. since they all have a Do and Di on each side, i assumed wiring them in series would allow me to continue my light strip. It does not seem to work tho. and also doesn't work at all when I plug in the opposite end with a longer strip than 8 Led's. i am not sure what to make of this because the strip of 8 from the same roll works fine when I need it to. Not sure why the rest don't though. Thanks guys

 

[LitterBug]

I wonder if your 5v supply is struglling to power them when you add more strips. Do you have a meter to check the voltage as you add strips? What is your 5V supply? How many mAh is your 5v supply rated for? Have you tested each strip individually? Maybe one is bad. Do you have them wired FC -> DI [strip] DO -> DI [strip] DO ?

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[PsyBorg]

Current is the most important factor but Voltage plays its part as well.. The led strips I used on my Versa Copter required me to add a diode to one strip to drop over voltage from the bec I was powering it with and another string off a different bec needed two diodes in series to drop the voltage before they would all work properly.

Try adding a diode on the positive power side to drop that 5v down.