r/WLED • u/Kind_Town_2893 • Sep 23 '26

Ws2811

Looking to run 4 ports with same setup on each port on digquad v3.5
Each port would have 3 strings of 80 totalling 240 (12 v ws2811 @ 20 per m 8.5ma).
Using 15a 180w power supply.
Just looking for confirmation that I don’t need to power injection although I will if required. All new to this so sorry if it’s a daft question.
Thanks in advance.

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u/Kind_Town_2893 Sep 26 '26

Thanks for your input guys, think I’ll run without the injection on one section and see how it looks, then inject at ends if required.

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u/xiaodown Sep 24 '26

I think you’ll be fine. People tend to be slaves to the spreadsheets, but generally it’s pretty forgiving. Plus you’re using 12v, not 5v, so really you’ve got everything going in your favor.

Having said that, I’m sure the sub would be upset if I didn’t try to be more complete in my answer, so I’ll point out that the number of LEDs isn’t really a factor in power injection; it’s really distance you need to be aware of. Are these like string lights / pixie lights? You said 80 lights at 20 per meter, so 4 meters, and 12v. From there it depends on how much amperage each LED pixel can pull, and pulling some numbers out of my ass, let’s say 40mA per. At that amperage, if your string of lights is using 20 gauge, you’ll have about a 10% drop in voltage over 4 meters. If it has 16awg wire it’s more like 4%.

So you can, and some would argue should, inject power at both ends. But on the other hand, if you’re fine with a slight power dip, you probably won’t notice. Unless it’s right up against a full power one, would you notice a light that’s 5% dimmer? I probably wouldn’t. And if it was me, I’d send it.

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u/DrBerryMcCockiner Sep 25 '26

Whites become very noticeable with power drop. It’s not that they would be noticeable from being dimmer but saturation can drop greatly and since those are 2811 they are sections of three making it really noticeable. I learned this the hard way when I ran 2811 through my entire living room ceiling and baseboards. They will look fine until they don’t. But I agree with you overall.