My RGB LED strip acts badly - is it the remote or the controller ?

[lumen aeternum]

Bought a kit for $10 to see how this stuff works.
roll of RGB strip w/ 4 pin connector
"controller" dongle w/ 4 pin connector and lead to battery box
box 4xAA with on/off switch. Output not marked.

The functions don't work right; gets stuck, the "colors" don't exist except for RGBW - the tints merely add white to a single R or G or B instead of blending to get orange or purple etc. Also the remote OFF leaves it running in blue at a low lumen level; have to use the switch on the battery box. And it seems to eat the batteries over one evening running a 24" strip.

SO is it a crappy remote (I see this 24 key remote a lot in ads) or is it the "controller" dongle?
Which should I replace?

The controller says RGB, 3x4A, 5-12V, 24 key. So it seems to be keyed to the remote somehow.
Can you make a controller "learn" another remote?
Or are controller & remotes sold in pairs?

Or do I just have to buy a non-crap brand - but from where?

EDIT: the controller has a USB plug to fit the battery box USB port. I'm looking at ad ad showing a a controller with a jack, for input from a 12v wall brick. So connector type seems to be something to understand as well.

 

[Dave_H]

I would guess that if the remote does anything at all, it's probably not defective but you
might find another device which uses identical remote, and check it that way. Highly unlikely
that these cheap remotes are specifically paired with a device, though there may be similar but
possibly incompatible types.

By the look of it, probably controller is the problem, or shorts/opens in the strip itself. Can you replace
only the controller part, given such low price?

Buying another might be throwing good money after bad, but also might work out, if the overall
quality is OK; your call. You'd have at least one working set, plus spare parts to debug the first one. If
the remote is good you'd have a spare for convenience, or backup if original gets lost/damaged.

Can two strips be connected? If so you'd have a longer one, but at higher current and shorter
run time.

As for battery life, do they claim anything? Powered by AA cells may just normally not provide
a lot of run time, depending on the number of LEDs on, and their brightness. How many are in the
strip (I am guessing no more than 25-30).

Regarding USB, sounds like it's merely carrying power from the battery box. I have some RGB strips
using USB power, no battery box but could find one separately, or use a USB Li-ion phone charger
pack (you should be able to as well). Even the smallest charger packs (1800mAh) roughly would
hold up as long as a set of alkalines or rechargables; and way longer for some of the larger packs.

Dave

 

[lumen aeternum]

Been looking at cheap controller + remote sets. The controllers seem to be labeled as either 24 key or 44 key remotes. The stuff from China can't be here soon, so I'll wait until after the holidays I guess.

"lighting" LED strips use either 12v or 24v. The 24v can run twice as many feet, and is more power efficient when stepping it down to the LED voltage (which seems to vary depending on the type of strip ??? - white or RBB ???).

Yes the USB connector must mean that the power input is 5v ???

 

[Dave_H]

I have some 3-foot and one 6-foot cheap RGB LED strips powered by USB, using what looks like similar controller
to yours: 3x4A, 24 key etc. marked on controller.

I detached the strip (working) and connected single RGB LED to controller using series resistors, and was able
to replicate all the functions. If I find a larger/brighter single RGB LED I'll give that a go.

You can test your strip and controller independently with some simple equipment: 5vdc 1A supply, small
LED any colour, series resistor say 220-330 ohms 1/4 watt, and some wire.

Mine is: (yours may be different)

pin 1: V+
pin2: green
pin 3: red
pin 4: blue

(1) This verifies LED strip itself.

Disconnect strip. Connect + side of 5v supply to + pin (1) of the strip. Connect - supply directly to pin 2
of strip. All green LEDs in strip should light up, full brightness. Move - connection to pin 3, all red
LEDs should light. Move - connection to pin 4, all blue LEDs should light.

(2) This verifies controller and remote. If this doesn't work, either could be bad.

Disconnect strip. Connect resistor to pin 1 (+) pin of controller socket. Connect other end of resistor to
anode (-) on LED. Connect cathode (+) of LED to connector pin 2.

Power up controller and push remote ON button. Push G button (selects green only). The LED should light.
You can step brightness up and down.

Move pin 2 connection to pin 3. Push R (red) button on remote. LED should light.

Move pin 3 connection to pin 4 and repeat with B (blue) button; LED should light.

Dave

 

[Afraid.of.dark]

I had a case once where the remote simply didn't do much other than switching between basic colors...

After a friend gave me his universal remote everything was fine and I was able to fine tune the colors.

I wish I could tell you the brand of that universal remote but I forgot it. I think that the first letter was "U" or something..

Also maybe worth mentioning is that you should use good AA batteries. Not that they will cause your problem but that using the poor ones (cheap junk that comes with bought electronics) will deplete faster and drop their voltage faster. Lower voltage than expected could cause some further issues..

 

[Dave_H]

I had a case once where the remote simply didn't do much other than switching between basic colors...

After a friend gave me his universal remote everything was fine and I was able to fine tune the colors.

I wish I could tell you the brand of that universal remote but I forgot it. I think that the first letter was "U" or something..

Also maybe worth mentioning is that you should use good AA batteries. Not that they will cause your problem but that using the poor ones (cheap junk that comes with bought electronics) will deplete faster and drop their voltage faster. Lower voltage than expected could cause some further issues..

Interesting point about remotes and the possibility of getting more functionality out of (in my case
at least) the lower-cost RGB strips; or other similarly-controlled products such as RGB ac bulbs.

I suspected 24-key remote marked on controller label was the limit of its ability, hopefully not.

On cheap strip, the tints are mixes of only two colours at a time e.g. you can get a bunch of variations
on aqua by mixing blue and green. Similarly, mixing green and red comes up with orange tints and a
dirty kind of yellow.

Also, "white" on mine is very bluish, no control. They either didn't spend much time figuring out a better
mix ratio, or the controller just can't do it.

As for AA's and battery boxes etc. I would not expect a whole lot of run time (hours), depending on your
colour/mix, strip length, and brightness level. Single colour at reduced brightness would be the most efficient
I think. I tried using a Li-ion USB charger pack (6000mAh) which works OK but shuts off if the load is too low;
that's how some of them work.


Dave

 

[Dave_H]

Probing with a 'scope on my cheap 3-foot 4-pin RGB strip I confirmed the following.

Controller drives full 5v from USB to strip, and each LED does its own current limiting through small
SMT resistors (one per colour).

LED brightness is controlled by PWM in 8 steps, at around 110Hz (9ms period). Steps are roughly equal,
somewhat more than 10% each.

Also, I was able to join a 6-foot strip to the end of the 3-foot, by attaching a small 4-pin socket header to
the end of the shorter one. This involved scraping away clear silicone from the end, which was covering
small solder pads; tinning pads with solder then soldering the header on. Seems to work fine with the same
controller, though using a larger USB adapter (greater than 1A; no current measurements yet). Would be
easier to use a single longer strip if available.

Separating strip from controller likely involves removing some heat-shrink tubing which covers the pin-socket connector.


Dave

 

[Dave_H]

Just thinking about how to test IR remotes, the best way would be
with a known-good system, if one is available. With cheap LED strips, bulbs
etc. it's not hard.

Alternatives, which would give some indication of go/no-go:

(1) Some video cameras are IR sensitive such as those set up for night vision
using IR source. I have a cheap older B/W camera which does this. Point the
remote LED at the camera, push keys and watch for glow/flash on received video.

(2) Find an IR receiver module, hook up output to LED or oscilloscope if
available (I did). You can see data pulses when keys are pressed.

Module I have is old, was sold by Radio Shack ages ago. Runs directly
from 5v dc. One might be salvaged from old VCR, DVD player etc. but these
may or may not be as simple to work with i.e. require some specs.

Dave