External LED strip?

Hello!

 

I want to buy a new 5m ledstrip and I was wondering if it is possible to connect it to iCue. Currently I'm using 6 fans connected to a Commander PRO.

 

 

Regards,

Jestin

At 5m? Not likely.

There's an issue of available power - you are limited to about 60 LEDs when powering from a Lighting Node Pro or Commander Pro. You can double that by powering from an RGB LED Fan Hub.

There's also an issue of LED count. iCUE won't control more than 96 LEDs on a single channel (6xLL RGB fans). 5m is likely more than that. Now, there are things that you can do to hack this but you'd be completely on your own.

Finally, they would need to be the correct type of LED - WS2812B. And, even then, I've had issues with some of the aftermarket general purpose LED strips from Amazon that I've tried out.

As DevBiker said, 60 LEDs per channel is what the LNP/CP can power. But 5m should not be a problem if you dont pass that limit. You could also, if you have a LNP laying around from your 6 fans, go with 2x 2.5m and/or increase the limit to 120 LEDs if you use both lighting channels.

As far as I know you can also cut WS2812B stripes every one LED.

I've bought quite a few different WS2812B stripes for my LNP online (not from Amazon) and I never ran into issues with them.

 

I also heard of someone who managed to control stripes connected to an Arduino with Link. He combined both "channels" and got 120 LEDs total

I just ran an extension cord (the one that came with my corsair lighting kit) and stuck 4x corsair light strips under my glass desk...

 

i wasnt aware we could even use third party ones

The most important thing is how many LEDs are on the strip, the length of the strip is less important. As others have said you can 60 LEDs for the LNP. The reason why the RGB Hub can take 96 RGB LEDs strips can only do 60 is due to current restrictions. The header that you plug it into is rated at 3A. Each WS2812B RGB LED can use .06A of current, when white and brightest, so 3A * .06A = 3.6A. Corsair might actual limit the LEDs from getting to bright, to allow for more of them to be used. When you use a RGB hub, you have 16LEDs/Fan. Each fan is plugged into it's own 3A rated header. Each fan only uses .96A per 3A header. The next limitation is the SATA power, which is only rated at 4.5A. If you calculate .96A * 6 = 5.76A, so again Corsair might be limiting the max brightness on white.

 

 

Side note I did mod to allow me to use the LNP externally:

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Actually, the Corsair LEDs draw a little over 0.3A each at full white. There's a little overhead due to the IC itself as well.

Actually, the Corsair LEDs draw a little over 0.3A each at full white. There's a little overhead due to the IC itself as well.

 

This might be true for the Corsair controllers, though I do wonder how much current would be put through it, if it used a different controller. The data sheet for the WS2812B has it rated at 50-60mA. The software control might be limiting it for safety reasons granted there is some variation in the WS2812B. I do wonder if there is some slight variation in Corsair's RGB LEDs. If they hit it's max current at 60 LEDs, it would be over the rating of the 3A header.

 

https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheets/WS2812.pdf

According to the document they are designed to take up to 20mA/channel for 60mA total.