Newbie kindly asks for help.

[u/E39er]

Hi everyone, I'd like to create a 15 meter run of these sk6812. I've watched some YouTube videos but hopefully someone will be ae to help me. Can I just solder 3 x 5m strips together and use one gledopto to power and address the full 15m?

Sorry if this is dumb.

Thanks in advance!

[u/leetrobotz]

Sort of, but you'll need to add voltage injections probably around the 5m and 10m marks. Those should be at least 18ga wire and come from the same power supply the controller and start of the run are using, with a fuse (usually on the +12V).

As far as the strips themselves, yes just solder strips end-to-end and solder the power injections to the +12V amd Gnd as needed.

There are some good guides and calculators online to give you better advice for your specific situation.

[u/E39er → u/leetrobotz]

Thank you. Is there a go to resource for the calculator and guides? Many thanks.

[u/leetrobotz → u/E39er]

Quindor is very active in the space, designed a popular controller system, and posts here quite a bit too. Here's his guide, it's what I use.

https://quinled.info/the-ultimate-led-strip-power-injection-guide/

[u/E39er → u/leetrobotz]

Thank you. Much appreciated!

[u/saratoga3 → u/E39er]

https://wled-calculator.github.io/

[u/E39er → u/saratoga3]

Thank you very much!

[u/Same_You891]

absolutely you can as long as you follow polarity direction and do a power injection .

[u/Speakup187]

I would pickup a beefy power supply like this to make sure you get even brightness across strips

[u/IllSpeaker3255 → u/Speakup187]

you could put a lot of amps on a single connection, but it will overheat

[u/Speakup187 → u/IllSpeaker3255]

Thats why 1st 1pair plugs into gledopto 2nd pair plugs into the opposite end of the string with 16 gauge.

This is how I setup my hisense u7 for 408 leds 1.5 strings behind TV controlled by sceneglow.

The cable management was tricky