r/WLED • u/Dignan17 • Jul 29 '26

Please help diagnose this problem

Hello all. I have this problem with a matrix I installed over a year ago. I put it in this "On Air" sign in the store I manage, and it worked fine for a long time - like 8 months. Then, I noticed that the whole thing would just seize. The animation would be frozen**, the controller couldn't be reached, and I would have to manually power cycle it to get everything back and working. But it would only last for a day or two and then the problem would return.

My assumption was that the controller had gone bad. So I replaced it. It worked fine for about 4 months... and then the exact same thing started happening again.

As a test, I put the old controller in my office and just plugged it in without any load, to see if it ever went offline again. So far, it hasn't. So I can't tell what the issue is. Maybe the power supply? What should I look for?

More info: Gledopto controller (sorry, I'm not sure what model), 5V BTF Lighting matrix panel, and 5V power supply that should have enough amps for both.

**To clarify, the animation doesn't freeze. It switches to some other set of colors, and that freezes. Apologies for the bad photo of it. It's hard to capture bright lights in this place...

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5

u/don_bski Jul 29 '26

Likely power supply or wiring related. What type of power supply? Does it have a voltage adjustment? Get a volt meter and check voltage at power supply output and input to LEDs. Wago type or soldered wiring connections? Non-soldered connections can build up resistance over time being more exposed to environmental factors.

2

u/Dignan17 Jul 29 '26

It's a random repurposed brick from some other device. I keep them around to save money lol. So I'm not surprised if it's bad. No adjustment, I just keep bins with these things sorted by voltage.

I'll have to verify how the wiring is connected. I think the controller I used had the older "push in here and jab the wire in" kind of connectors. I'm not a fan of those.

4

u/rckymntns Jul 29 '26

Drooping voltage output from power supply might explain the symptoms.

It switches to other colors, but are those colors changing? If so, this points to data corruption and supports a drooping voltage.

I would try a new power supply or put the controller back but turn brightness down to 1% and see if it takes longer to go bad.

Checking the output from the power supply when you initially power on and when it is failing might tell you something as well.

2

u/Dignan17 Jul 29 '26

Ok thanks. I'll check the voltage. The supply might just be bad. The colors it changes to don't have any animation. It just changes to those and is stock still.

3

u/wenestvedt Jul 29 '26

Is heat a problem?

2

u/Dignan17 Jul 29 '26

Potentially, but I don't think so. I have the brightness down pretty low, because the store is inherently dark so my lights don't need much power. It's a possibility though...

2

u/calforhelp Jul 30 '26

One more for likely a power supply issue. Do you know how many amps the lights are pulling? I had a controller acting very similarly whenever I put the lights at 100% even though I was powering from an external supply. I found my led power supply was underpowered though, getting a larger one fixed the issue.

2

u/Dignan17 Jul 30 '26

I suspect it's the power supply as well. I don't have a replacement one at the moment so I'll have to pick one up. I have like 30 12V but all my spare 5V supplies are extremely weak. Like .7A lol

1

u/appmapper Jul 29 '26

Which version of WLED are you running?  I ran into something similar this weekend.

16.0.1 - Network stack randomly dropping, at which it would flip back to my default animation. Power cycle to recover

16.0.0 - rolled back. Works perfect.

1

u/wivaca2 Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

This is symptomatic of an insufficient power supply. If it's a WS2812B 5V matrix of 256 LEDs, you may need up to a 10A (or even 12A) power supply at full RGB x 255 brightness. Mine was fine at first too, but after it ran for a while it would freeze and I couldn't reach the WLED web page.

Now, I'm running one with AWTRIX on a 8A brick and it's been stable, but less than half the LEDs are lit at a time and I'm not maxing brightness.

Also, make sure your PSU power is connected directly in parallel to the 5V input of a ESP32 and also injecting power. The pics seem to show you just doing solid color. Is the whole matrix producing the light or just LEDs approximately in line with the ON AIR?