Can you wire an LED strip from the centre ?

[Spinny]

I plan to put an addressable 24V COB LED Strip under the edge of a kitchen worktop inside a recessed alu profile. It would be easier to run the wires to connect to the strip away from the very end. Does anyone have any experience or comments on whether this can be done ?

 

I suspect power can be connected to any contact point on the strip although I have never seen an example where it is done this way. But with a third data wire driving the addressable IC's would this still be possible ? Or does an addressable strip rely on the data feed being at the very end to drive the IC's in sequence along the strip ? Normally the IC's would say begin at 0 and run to say a length of say 70. but could you connect the data wire at the centre and somehow run from -35 to +35 ? Will be using a WLED based controller.

 

Has anyone wired an LED where they had the wires somehow fold through 180 deg to run back behind the strip before exiting the profile/channel ?

 

( @cedricuk any info on this ?)

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Spinny

[-rick-]

2 minutes ago, Spinny said:

I suspect power can be connected to any contact point on the strip although I have never seen an example where it is done this way. But with a third data wire driving the addressable IC's would this still be possible ? Or does an addressable strip rely on the data feed being at the very end to drive the IC's in sequence along the strip ?

 

It's this. Centre feeding a normal (non-addressable) strip is fine (and recommended on long runs). Addressable strips need to be fed from one end (and generally have a limited length so don't need anything else). The signal wire is not continuous. The first chip has a signal input and signal output pin where the output feeds the next chips input.

 

You can, if you want, wire two strips in parallel but then each strip would behave identically, limiting the patterns you can make. (This method could be used to centre feed, if you cut the strips then layed one in one direction and the other in the opposite direction from that centre point.

[Spinny]

2 hours ago, -rick- said:

This method could be used to centre feed, if you cut the strips then layed one in one direction and the other in the opposite direction from that centre point.

Yes that thought has occurred to me now. Discussed it with ChatGPT who thinks it will work but some running patterns etc would still not work properly and this is a known limitation of WLED at present.

So it seems it would be best to still feed the data wire to the Data Input end of the strip. ChatGPT suggests using a fine wire for the data feed which would still need to pass down the profile in front of the LED strip to get soldered onto the connector on the front of the strip. Pic shows my cable, so either run a wire (or all wires) down the profile in front of the strip to solder onto the front. But not obscure the COB light itself.

[-rick-]

The signal wire definitely doesn't need to be that thick. But I'd be cautious about running the power from centre (test it first on a spare length of strip).

 

If you can feed power from centre then you could easily get a thinner strand of wire for the signal. Having said that, be careful about the overall length of the signal wire. These signals are prone to interference and don't like long cables. Controller needs to be fairly close by.

 

4 minutes ago, Spinny said:

Yes that thought has occurred to me now. Discussed it with ChatGPT who thinks it will work but some running patterns etc would still not work properly and this is a known limitation of WLED at present.

 

I wouldn't call it a known limitation as such. It's not going to get fixed, it's a fundamental part of the design of how the signalling works. If you feed two strips from a single signal the strips will be an exact copy of each other. ie. if you fed from a central position then a traditional chaser would result in the chase being from centre outward. There would be no physical way of having a chase from one end to the other.

[Spinny]

20 minutes ago, -rick- said:

If you feed two strips from a single signal the strips will be an exact copy of each other.

Yes understood, but two different GIO's from the controller could be used with two data wires, one connected to each half of the LED strip at the centre of the combined run. Each half would then effectively be a separate strip running in opposite directions. Combining them in WLED means logically reversing the direction of one strip in WLED and then having WLED concatenate the two strips. Chat GPT thinks this would work for some light patterns but not for others.

 

[Spinny]

I am just wondering how feasible it is to run wires inside the profile next to the strip itself. I plan to use 10mm strip and profiles only 12.6mm wide internally and wires would need to be kept from blocking light from the COB somehow.

[-rick-]

13 minutes ago, Spinny said:

Yes understood, but two different GIO's from the controller could be used with two data wires, one connected to each half of the LED strip at the centre of the combined run. Each half would then effectively be a separate strip running in opposite directions. Combining them in WLED means logically reversing the direction of one strip in WLED and then having WLED concatenate the two strips. Chat GPT thinks this would work for some light patterns but not for others.

 

Ah got it. If each strip get's it's own control pin then anything is possible. Maybe the pre-built patterns don't work as expected but you could create custom ones. (Or have ChatGPT do it). Still if it's not off the shelf supported it's a hassle to make work.

 

5 minutes ago, Spinny said:

I am just wondering how feasible it is to run wires inside the profile next to the strip itself. I plan to use 10mm strip and profiles only 12.6mm wide internally and wires would need to be kept from blocking light from the COB somehow.

 

Anything is possible. Work out the required power and then you can minimize cable size within the profile. Could even look at using insulated copper tape (layers) to run the connection.

 

Thinner wire comes with it's own limitations but it's a viable trade off for short runs.

 

Assume you have 24v strips and not running more than 2-3m?

[Spinny]

26 minutes ago, -rick- said:

Assume you have 24v strips and not running more than 2-3m?

Yes.