I have a set of four 12V RGB LED 5050 SMD strips. The seller I bought them from was clueless about what kind of LED's were used, and (essentially) told me to keep it connected to the controller box. I do not want to do this however as I'd like to have two different colors shown simultaneously, something the controller doesn't support. Additionally, they told me it requires a stable 12V, and since I'm using it in a car, this is not possible directly. I suspect there are already current-limiting resistors built into the circuit in the typical fashion for these 12V strips. While I don't see any on the LED side, I suspect they exist on the backside which I cannot see.
All this in mind, I have a few questions:
1) Would these LED strips even work on lower voltages (say, 5V), assuming I had a high enough mA to power them?
2) If not, how do I go about "stabilizing" the wide voltage range of an auto (I was reading it was something like 9V to 60V) to the voltage that the LED strip supports? Linear regulators like the LM7805 work well for bringing a higher voltage down to a lower one, but beyond a dedicated module (like the XL6009 ones on eBay, which are clunky at best), I'm not sure how to conditionally bump the voltage up or turn it down (or if I even need to).
3) Currently I'm using an Arduino with a bunch of transistors and 220 ohm resistors to control the color of the LED strips via PWM. It works, but relies on the XL6009 module being precisely tuned, which, as stated, is clunky at best (it relies on a small screw adjustment). Is there a better way for PWM'ing these strips without using a 555 timer like the prevailing Google result suggests? I tried the 555 timer approach first, and found it to be wholly user-unfriendly. Is there a chip that can PWM the LED's at the required voltage without using external transistors? Only need PWM for two of the pins if it helps (it's only using white and amber, the two amber ones require the PWM).
I've googled high and low for days for the answers to my conundrum, so I finally decided to just ask people who know what they're doing
Thanks in advance!
All this in mind, I have a few questions:
1) Would these LED strips even work on lower voltages (say, 5V), assuming I had a high enough mA to power them?
2) If not, how do I go about "stabilizing" the wide voltage range of an auto (I was reading it was something like 9V to 60V) to the voltage that the LED strip supports? Linear regulators like the LM7805 work well for bringing a higher voltage down to a lower one, but beyond a dedicated module (like the XL6009 ones on eBay, which are clunky at best), I'm not sure how to conditionally bump the voltage up or turn it down (or if I even need to).
3) Currently I'm using an Arduino with a bunch of transistors and 220 ohm resistors to control the color of the LED strips via PWM. It works, but relies on the XL6009 module being precisely tuned, which, as stated, is clunky at best (it relies on a small screw adjustment). Is there a better way for PWM'ing these strips without using a 555 timer like the prevailing Google result suggests? I tried the 555 timer approach first, and found it to be wholly user-unfriendly. Is there a chip that can PWM the LED's at the required voltage without using external transistors? Only need PWM for two of the pins if it helps (it's only using white and amber, the two amber ones require the PWM).
I've googled high and low for days for the answers to my conundrum, so I finally decided to just ask people who know what they're doing
Thanks in advance!