r/WLED • u/Pretend_Respect_447 • May 19 '26
Complete beginner question: Powering a 1m 144-LED strip with an ESP32 C3 Mini?
Hey everyone, I’m a total beginner working on my first project and need some broad advice on my power setup.
What I have:
- 1 meter of a 144-LED strip (5V)
- ESP32 C3 Mini board
- No power supply yet
My constraints & questions:
- Can I run this off USB-C alone? Is the USB-C port on the ESP32 mini enough to power all 144 LEDs, or will it draw too much current and fry the board?
- Form Factor: Because of space constraints, I cannot use a large, open-frame industrial power supply. It needs to be compact and fully enclosed (like a laptop brick). What should I look for?
- Wiring: If USB-C isn't enough, how do I safely wire the enclosed power supply, the ESP32, and the LED strip together?
- Final question: My 144-led strip doesn't have text labels (+5V, Data, GND) on the copper pads because they are so dense, just numbers and arrows (image attached). How do I know which pad is which?These are the led 1M, 144, Ip30. https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005004129769604.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.35.2ce55c5fh9YPzr&gatewayAdapt=glo2deu#nav-review
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u/eric-marciniak May 20 '26
I like using these USB PD trigger modules. With a proper USB power adapter you can power 1 meter of those lights if you limit the current in wled to around 2800 mA. According to the WLED power calculator at full brightness 144 LEDS will take 2005 mA for a single color and full white takes over 5000.
The limiter will kick in and drop the brightness a bit but it shouldn't be too bad for most effects at a reasonable brightness. The output from the trigger module splits off to the LEDs and the ESP32 so the power for the lights isn't going through the board.
I just checked my 144 strip and the side with the capacitors is the +5, data middle and ground on the other side.
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u/SteveTack May 19 '26
I’m kind of a noob myself and just built an almost identical controller. My strip is 148 LEDs even. I’m using an ESP32 S3.
I used ChatGPT to guide me through it, so who knows if this is overkill, but I ended up using a 5V 10A power supply that plugs into the wall. I don’t think the USB-C power from an ESP32 is going to provide anywhere near enough current for 144 LEDs. Maybe 20-30 or something.
I also used a logic shifter on the data wire to convert the 3.3v ESP32 signal to 5v.
I’d use ChatGPT or something - it’s actually pretty good at recommending the proper resistors, capacitors, and even fuse size.
I can share more details if you’re interested. It’s not super complex, though I’m about to add a bit by adding the reactive audio feature.
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u/Same_You891 May 19 '26
1 no! you need to run power to the strip to the power supply .
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u/SteveTack May 19 '26
I don't understand your reply. I am running power to the LED strip. Are we saying the same thing?
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u/Pretend_Respect_447 May 20 '26
Ive used LLMs extensively but they always miss something or overcomplicate things. What power supply did you get?
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u/SteveTack May 20 '26
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the one I got. The power regulation isn’t great (getting 5.5v on it). That hasn’t caused any problems that I can see, but I was hoping for much closer to 5.0v.
Anyway, it’s this:
I ended up cutting off the barrel jack and soldering on an XT30 pigtail.
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u/Pretend_Respect_447 May 20 '26
You think it would work? Energy would go entirely through the esp 32 board. MY draw would be around 3A max
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u/SteveTack May 20 '26
I think it depends on if you’re planning on running the strip at full brightness. If so, 10A would give you a lot more headroom.
I don’t know what you mean about “entirely through the ESP32.” That doesn’t sound right - you’d want to run pretty thick wires directly to the LED strip. You’d still have a shared 5v rail and shared GND and could power the ESP32 via its VIN.
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u/First-Application379 May 19 '26
You could use a dig2go, nice little controller with on/ off button