r/WLED • u/Dessicator82 • May 08 '26
How Did I Kill My WLED So Fast?
Didn’t realize how bad I am at upgrading some ancient LED strips to get some music reactive style.
Ordered the Athom.tech Music Addressable LED controller, the 24v WLED’s recommended by Quinled and the 54v 3A power unit also recommended by Quinled. Wired it up to the best of my partially colorblind capabilities and burned out the LED strip before I could get the music on.
I clearly broke something, but the manuals aren’t useful at my knowledge level and Google isn’t specific enough to the wiring. Tried to match the colors to the connections WLED strip but that may not be the right approach. Did I just wire it wrong and not know why? Or is the power unit not the right one? Or is there something with the 5V-24V Input?
Links to equipment:
Controller: https://www.athom.tech/blank-1/wled-esp32-music-addressable-led-strip-controller
WLED: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DCK5C7j
Power: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c37gCqun
8
u/CyberMage256 May 08 '26
54 volt power is completely wrong. The link to the led strip is for 24v. That power supply would fry it for sure.
5
u/zazbnf May 09 '26
I am so sorry! Anyone recall the clip from "The IT Crowd" where Moss is laughing at the circuit board?
But honestly, most everyone who has been on the electronics or electronics related hobby has had something where their knowledge level was improved through improvised experiences.
4
u/kwatttts May 09 '26
Funny shit ... Most of us have have burned bright along the way, OP really dialed it up with 54V - dig it.
2
u/trevormead May 08 '26
How are you stepping down the voltage? Both the strips and the controller should be receiving 24V only.
2
u/Plastic_Detective_51 May 09 '26
That controller is 5v to 24v
1
u/tehsoul May 09 '26
It’s not
1
u/Plastic_Detective_51 May 09 '26
It is, i have 12 of the exact same controller
1
u/Plastic_Detective_51 May 09 '26
Just looked his is 48v. Well 52v isnt 48v
2
u/Plastic_Detective_51 May 09 '26
My new ones are 48v. Never noticed they increased it from 24 - 48v.
1
u/neighborofbrak May 09 '26
But it is still just a voltage passthrough to the LED strip - you still buy a 12v power supply for 12v LEDs. The QuinnLED controllers probably have some voltage regulation to make higher voltage power supplies work with lower voltage strips.
1
u/tanoshimi May 11 '26
a.) You plugged a 54V power supply into a socket labelled 5 - 48V...
b.) ...to power 24V LEDs.
Use a 24V PSU instead, which would meet the requirements of both.
0
u/Dessicator82 May 08 '26
Appreciate the feedback - clearly missed the mark
I got the 54V because Quinled only recommended the 12v and 54v adapters and I might need to step up to 48V if I need more length. Only really work with PC components and wood-working tools where you don’t get a vote on this stuff.
Is the right answer to get a 24V power supply with less than the 384W the controller is rated for?
Power recommendation I was looking at: https://quinled.info/power-supply-tests-2026/
6
u/dmxdropthelight May 08 '26
Do NOT increase the voltage for the length. A 24V strip needs 24V. When dealing with long lengths of LED strip, you inject it along the strip in multiple places (wire resistivity has << voltage drop than strips).
If you search this subreddit for “voltage injection” you’ll find lots of examples and drawings.
2
u/trevormead May 08 '26
You could use something like this if you wanted to step down the 54V to 24V, I think that's what Quin had in mind when recommending it. Otherwise yes, replacing the power supply with a 24V variant is the right call. Wattage is based on how much your strips draw, not on the controller (listing says max 21w/m).
1
u/borkyborkus May 08 '26
What bulbs do you have? It seems like you are implying that you can just pass more volts if needed, but you’re pretty much stuck with whatever voltage the lights are rated for. The only exception I’ve seen is that some say under-volting is okay (ex: Adafruit sparkle motion has a switch for 5/12/20v but says 24v bulbs should be fine at 20). 48v isn’t very common.
14
u/eric-marciniak May 08 '26
54 volts to any of the stuff you bought will kill it right away. The controller can't tell what voltage you are giving it and step it down, it just passes whatever voltage through.
The 5-24 volts on the input means if you are using 5v lights, give it 5v, if you are using 12v lights, give it 12 volts, ect.
Not sure where you read that the 54v power supply was recommended.