From Antitronics

Revision as of 22:21, 6 March 2010

Information about LED tapes we are working with

I currently have two types of LED tapes.

They each come in 5m lengths.

They are each sealed against water, for the complete length, but you'll want to seal the ends better than they are if you put them in wet conditions.

They can each be cut into shorter lengths

Type One (all same color)

The first type has all RGB LEDs, which operate from a 12VDC supply. Each channel (Red, Green, and Blue) operates together for the whole length of the tape. The tape has built-in current limiting resistors, and is common Anode (Common ground, you have to switch the +12V to the R, G, and B wires). This type has four wires -

Red

Green

Blue

Ground NOTE: The ground is incorrectly labeled "+12V" on the LED tape

Type Two (each LED addressable)

The second type has individually addressable RGB LEDs, and requires a controller to operate. This type has six wires -

Gnd

SI - Fader Clock Input

DI - Data Input

CI - Click Input

LI - Latch Input

+5 - 5VDC

Each 5m length of tape has 160 RGB LEDs (and 80 controller chips).

Each set of one chip and two LEDs is 6.25 cm long (about 2.5")

The tape may be cut between any set of two LEDs

The tape is built using half-meter sections of flexible circuit tape, sections are soldered together.

The tape is enclosed in a waterproof tube, but the ends must be sealed.

Current draw with ALL LEDs on (Red, Green, and Blue) is 1.21 Amps at 5VDC for each meter of tape.

Note: If you operate a 5m length of tape with all (or most) LEDs on, there is enough voltage drop along the tape to cause the LED colors to be different at the far end of the tape.

The following links are related to the same type of tape, and the arduino library works with them.

[Product Info]

LEDControllerChipDataSheet

[An arduino library for these strips] (This has documentation about how to control them)

[Youtube video of a similar strip in action]