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Will the CLNP + CLCP control any 5V WS2812B addressable 5050 RGB LED Strip


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What a mess, corsair had fun doing a closed system :-(

 

Corsair put together a system that is relatively plug and play and difficult for someone to mess up. You've decided to go outside that. You can't blame them for your desire to go off the beaten track. From a support perspective, it makes complete sense. People do dumb things regardless of how hard engineers work to prevent them from doing dumb things. "Build a more idiot proof system and they build a better idiot."

 

Example: even with different connectors, folks actually managed to blow out their Corsair stuff by plugging it into the motherboard's 12V connectors.

 

Now ... you've decided that you want to go off the beaten path. That's fine; there are those of us that have figured this stuff out and how it all works. They are standard LEDs. They are standard connectors. So it's all do-able and really not that difficult ... if you know what you are doing, understand a few basics about electricity and wiring and are willing to experiment and risk blowing out devices. Keep that last point in mind - you may well blow out a fuse or something else and you cannot hold Corsair responsible for that. I've blown out NoPros and Fan Hubs. Others have as well. That's the cost of experimentation. Don't want to take that risk? Stick with the system as designed.

 

If it became too impossible I took two kits of strips only then I can use only 6 so even there it is not convenient.

 

Given the unified system and the software done so well it is really a pity that you can not easily connect non-proprietary strips.

See above. You can but it's not supposed to be easy. It can quickly become a support nightmare with customer satisfaction issues all over the place, even though it was the customer's own fault.

 

Can I feed them externally and use only the LNP to control the colors?

The limit of 2.1A is for sinoglo connector sin or in total of the two?

 

You can, yes. And the limit is per header. The overall limit of 4.5A is due to the SATA connection.

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I do not absolutely blame corsair for the closed system, even after it has released icue has surpassed the other producers to unimaginable levels given the comfort and the ecosystem.

it's just a shame to have so much potential but to be limited, I speak from the power of two completely corsair stations and would return to buy a thousand more times, I was only sorry for the big limit.

 

I am willing to try, I cable with links and everything, but I struggle to understand how to connect the wires, then I know that exaggerating with the A breakers and circuitry break, but if I could also put the strip on writing was too beautiful.

 

Thank you so much again for all the help you are giving me

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The pinouts for the cables are pretty straigthforward. Pin 1 is +5V power, Pin 2 is Data Out and Pin 3 is Ground. Pin 1 is marked on the connectors with a triangle. If you look at the connector on the lighting channel, pin 1 is on the right. There's no reason why you couldn't crimp a Corsair/Molex connector on to the strips or, as many 3rd party strips have JST connectors, create a Corsair/Molex to JST cable.

 

You can also use a multimeter to make sure that you have it right.

 

A fire extinguisher shouldn't be necessary but keep an eye out for blue smoke. If that happens, something is miswired. :eek: And yes, I've done that. RIP NoPro.

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Hi. That picture you posted above was posted by me when I was wiring up generic 5V WS2812B addressable 5050 RGB LED Strips to my Commander Pro (CoPro) and Lighting Node Pros (NoPro).

 

As DevBiker said, the CoPro and NoPro LED ports have a current limit of ~2.0 Amps. The way around that is to not power the LEDs from the CoPro or the NoPro LED ports.

 

There are 3 connections to the LED strip - +5VDC, Data, and Ground. Normally, the +5VDC pin connects to the +5VDC power pin of the CoPro (or NoPro) LED port. The Data pin connects to the Data pin, and the Ground pin connects to the Ground pin. If you are not sure which is which , carefully measure between the LED port pins. When your DC volt meter says +5VDC, the black lead is on the Ground pin and the Red lead is on the +5VDC Power pin. The other pin is the Data pin.

 

To get around the current limitations of the CoPro / NoPro, do NOT connect the LED strip +5VDC Power pin to the CoPro /NoPro +5VDC Power pin. Instead, connect the LED strip +5VDC Power pin directly to your system power supply. If you use a "Peripheral" power output and a standard 4-pin Molex power connector, the current limit will be higher than the 2 Amps of the CoPro / NoPro.

 

Connect the LED Strip Data pin to the Data pin of the CoPro / NoPro LED Port. Then connect the Ground pin to the Ground pin of the CoPro / NoPro LED Port AND the Ground in the 4-pin Molex connector.

 

It sounds more complicated than it is. The idea is that the CoPro /NoPro only has to provide DATA to the LED strip. The LED ports do not have to supply the drive current to the LEDs. So you get the Data from the CoPro / NoPro but the +5VDC (and the LED drive current) comes directly from the system power supply. I hope this is making sense.

 

Then you are up against the limit imposed by the CoPro and NoPro firmware. IIRC, Corsair has arbitrarily limited this to 96 LEDs. That is because the worst case, in spec load is 6 x LL-series fans that have 16 LEDs each. 6x16=96 LEDs. This is why (I think) the firmware limit is 96.

 

Remember - measure twice and solder once.

 

Good luck! :biggrin:

 

edit to add - I see DevBiker has identified the pin locations on a CoPro / NoPro LED Port - Pin 1 is +5V power, Pin 2 is Data Out and Pin 3 is Ground. Pin 1 is marked on the connectors with a triangle. If you look at the connector on the lighting channel, pin 1 is on the right.

 

Use a multimeter to make sure that you have it right.

Edited by SpeedyV
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I have attempted this myself with that i thought was ws2812b led strips that i have in stock,

 

I cut some 10 led strips as i want to use icue to control them, if i connect them to the CLNP i get the wrong colour spectrum, it looks as though the CLNP is using GRB instead of RGB, as Blue is Blue, Red is Green and Green is yellow...

 

If i use them on the allpixel, i get the correct colour output, but when i put them on the CLNP i get a different colour spectrum, i am assuming the CLNP is putting out a different data command to what the strip i have is expecting,

 

My question is, how do I identify what exactly the issue is, and if i am correct how do i identify which WS2812B 5050 will work..

 

Here is an image of the strip i am using, excuse my soldering it was a test piece

20181213-163525.jpg

Edited by tealsteam
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You need to have a separate power source or you'll potentially blow the LNP's fuse with that number of LEDs. That would, I think, be somewhat less convenient. You can do up to about 60 LEDs before you start going over the power limit on a single channel. SATA provides up to 4.5A and, on the Lighting Node Pro, that's split between the 2 channels. So a little over 2A per channel. 90 LEDs will be pushing 3A.

 

As I said, I think that it should work. But I can't tell you that it definitely will work because I've not made a connection with just the signal wire and no ground. Even the Fan Hub cable uses the ground wire. So if you're looking for 100% certainty that it'll work ... stick with the Corsair cables.

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Something to consider - you should be able to drive 90 LEDs from a single RGB Fan Controller. That will have the full 4.5A available and there's no fuse that I can recall ... just a capacitor. The pinout is slightly different but you should be able to get the current that you need from the Fan Hub's power connection. This, by the way, is also a cable that I could actually put together for you.
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Ok, so you say that I can power 90 LEDs using a single channel without causing damage?

 

In the end if only the LPN dies and it does not damage me anymore then it is not a problem to recall as much as I have another one :-)

 

Unfortunately as I said I'm Italian so I can not take the cables already made as those who linked me the ebay shop :-(

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IF you power it through the RGB Fan Hub, NOT through the Lighting Node Pro, THEN it may be possible.

The RGB Fan Hub would still be connected to the Lighting Node Pro. But it has its own power ... and no fuses AFAIK. So, yes, it should - theoretically - be possible to connect to the RGB Fan Hub use that for your power sources, rather than splicing an SATA cable in.

And that eBay store ships internationally. All the time.

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