How To: Connect LEDs

Each LED device is a 5V DC unit which has a red, green, blue and (if RGBW) white LED in a single package. It requires 5V DC for power (positive and ground connections), plus a Data In connection from the controller (or previous LED) which tells it what and brightness to be.

Each LED therefore has the following 4 connections:

  • 5V Positive power
  • Ground power
  • Data In
  • Data Out
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Some of the LEDs / strips include extra common connector points for 5V and Ground, which allows for power to be easily taken from one LED to the next, without needing to run separate wires - so 3 wires in (power, ground, data in), 3 wires out (power, ground data out).

Example simple wiring:

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Note the arrows printed on the strips / LEDs indicating the direction for the Data connections

In the example above, the first LED on the left would be numbered LED 1, the next LED 2 etc.

Alternative wiring:

Also note that it is possible to power the LEDs / strips without necessarily taking power from the previous section; power is wired in parallel. Only the Data connection needs to be in a series daisy chain. (This becomes important when using large numbers of LEDs, to prevent voltage drop, or to power some LEDs separately to the controller)

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Interlocking Connectors:

The controllers are shipped with a female connector, to which you can connect your first LED if using the interlocking LEDs / strips, plus you can use interconnecting cables to extend the distance between LEDs / strips:

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Other LED types

All LEDs have the same basic 4 connections (positive power, ground, data in, data out). In the case of the 5mm round LED types, there is no additional power/ground connections, so you will usually want to double up power connections:

5mm RGB LED:

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Circular RGB LED array:

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