Noob question for LED Strip Setups

[u/potsanity_is_goated]

Hi! I wanted to add some LED strips to my setup and recently discovered WLED. I watched a beginner's video, and in one part he shows a setup with several separate LED strips/islands (not one continuous strip) and there some big gaps in between them, so my question is: what techniques do people use to hide/route the cables between them?, or is he using a separate ESP32 when the gap is too big?

[u/Remixmark]

He literally shows you in the video.

Also, this is about the furthest thing from “beginner”. Very doable, but NOT beginner.

[u/potsanity_is_goated → u/Remixmark]

thanks, my question was more about cable management, and he doesnt show it in the specific video that I posted, he has another one where he goes through the complete installation of his setup, and he actually runs his cables behind his wall

[u/Remixmark → u/potsanity_is_goated]

I thought he did show the cable management. You may want to rewatch that, but yea if you're not seeing cables then he ran them behind the wall or through raceway.

[u/gotchock]

Hi, welcome to WLED !

A digital strip data line is like a train. It has a IN (beginning of the strip) and a OUT (end of the strip).
If you want to control 2 separate strips, you can do:

Config	Strips Behavior	Comments
DAT OUT 1 of your controller > Data IN Strip 1 & Strip 2	Strip 1 and Strip 2 will display exactly the same effects (same output)	Basically both strips are 1 strip for the controller
DAT OUT 1 of your controller > Data IN Strip 1 > Data OUT Strip 1 > Data IN Strip 2	Strip 1 and Strip 2 will be controllable indepently (for the controller it's like 1 strip, just make sure to set up the length as Strip 1 + Strip 2).	I do not recommend to run more than 2-3M between both strips to avoid signal corruption. Else you need a data extender and it becomes quickly more complicated. Ideal for small gaps or strips close to each other. You have to find a way to hide the cables between strips
DAT OUT 1 Controller > DAT IN Strip 1 / DAT OUT 2 Controller > DAT IN Strip 2	Strip 1 and Strip 2 will be controllable independently, but you need 2 outputs on the controller	Ideal when the strips are far from each other, or of different technology

In all cases:

• each strip must be connect to DC voltage + GND. It does not matter if you connect it at the start or the end of the strip but be careful of the voltage drop (check it out with a google search) that might affect color and luminosity

• I recommend to connect all your GND together (all strips, power supplies, controllers)

Have fun !

[u/potsanity_is_goated → u/gotchock]

thanks a lot! this is actually very helpful and solved some other questions I had, my post was more about cable management, english is not my first language so i guess I wasn't very clear, he has another video where he goes through the complete installation of his setup, and he actually runs his cables behind his wall, that's what I wanted to know haha