Sometimes you need cool looking lights without any fuss or muss. Enter this 10m (32ft) string of RGB LEDs that plug into a USB port and are controlled via Bluetooth. Just download the app (scan the QR Code on the cable dongle) to your phone, pair to the string, and you’re all set – choose the hue, blink pattern, brightness, and more. No soldering or special connectors needed.
This is about as close as you can get to plug n’ play RGB goodness.
Specifications:
- USB-A plug (rectangle), compatible with practically any USB power source/power pack
- 29 modes of operation including
- “Sync to Music”
- Timer mode
- 1-100% controllable illumination of each Red/Green/Blue Channel
- 5V/1A Power required
Operation:
- Scan QR code on control module to bring up the app store for “LED BLE”, and install it.
- Activate Bluetooth on your smartphone
- Plug in USB string light
- Pair with “LEDBLE”
- When you first open the LED BLE app, make sure you grant permissions to use the device location.
- If you get to a home screen for the app, select ‘LED BLE’.
- From within the app you can custom colour, blinking, brightness, and music options.
What could be better than LED string lights? Having USB powered led string lights that are also remote-controllable! Each string comes with 100 LEDs and is 10 meters (32′) long which means there is 1 LED every 10cm (4″). These have been manufactured with thin 26 gauge copper enameled wire which makes it easy to bend into shapes but and keeps the string lightweight.
The remote that comes in the box allows
- 16 pre-programmed colors
- 4 timer settings
- 4 animations
- 4 brightness levels
- and on/off buttons.
The little USB dongle also has a button on it that allows you to cycle through the colors and animations manually, just in case you have misplaced the remote.
Specifications:
- 10M Long (32′)
- 10cm (4″) Spacing between LEDs
- 100 LEDs per string
- 26 Gauge enameled copper wire
- Remote controllable (Remote included)
- USB 5V Powered (wall adapter not included)
- RGB Color spectrum with preprogrammed colors
We have no idea how or why these nifty little LED string lights were made, but they’re so nifty, we had to have some. These tiny LEDs are soldered to what looks like bare wires, but are in fact enamel coated, so these are very thin indeed.
Specifications:
- Nominal operating voltage: 3~3.4V
- 10m (33′) long. with an LED every 10cm (~4″)
Color-specific Note – Warm White:
- Although spec’d at 3-3.4V, we found best performance at 6VDC nominal, and 7.2V is very nice (2 LiPoly cells).
Color-specific Note – Blinking RGB:
This particular kind has a Red/Green/Blue LED installed 10cm (~4″) apart down the whole string. Apply power (3~3.4V), and they start blinking. Sparkfun member codertao recenty posted his results using this string at different voltages:
- At 2V (0.05A), only the reds are on
- At ~2.3V (0.09A – 0.13A), the greens start coming on
- At ~2.5V (0.15A-0.18A), green is full on, and blues start activating
- At ~3V (0.34A-0.38A), blue seems fully on, and it looks good/decent.
- At 3.5V (0.5A-0.6A), still looks good, is bright while coiled
- At 4V (0.8-0.9A), relatively bright, probably being overdriven; was able to run like this for a few hours with no ill effects.
- The RGB version costs $1 more
Note: Please see the Resources tab for comparison data on different LED strips.
When we first saw this type of LED string, we know we had to have them. But with more bling. Instead of 10cm (4″) spacing, we had our own manufactured with a much tighter ~3.3cm spacing (1.3″) spacing. But to keep the power requirements reasonable, these strings are a shorter 3.3M (10′) length.
As these use a solid-core wire, they can be bent and formed to generally hold a shape.
Specifications:
- 3M long (10′) (+5/-10%)
- 3~3.3cm (1.3″) spacing between LEDs
- 26 gauge enamel wire
- Included 12 ohm, 1 watt current-limiting resistor for 4.5VDC operation
- LED viewable at ~0.05 mA/ea, functionally bright at 2mA/ea, very bright at 4mA/ea
- 90 LED string current draw – 180mA (low power) to 360mA (high power)
- Colours available:
- Red
- Yellow
- Blue
- Green
- Pink
- Purple
- White
- Warm White
- RGB (Separate Red, Blue, Green LEDs)
Note: This string is provided with a unattached resistor. Powering a string up without a resistor can result in burning out the whole string of LEDs. Soldering skill is necessary.
Performance Note: Factory datasheets suggest the LEDs are 20mA rated, but 90 LEDs @ 20mA = 1.8A. Although 26 gauge wire is 2.2A capable, we found powering up the strings over 15mA/LED causes stress to the LEDs closest to the power source. DO NOT exceed 10mA/LED (900mA for whole string) for safe operation.
See associated images for table of brightness.
3M of LEDs, 3.3cm apart, powered by 3 batteries… 3L333B? That’s a terrible name…
The Battery-box LED String is really quite brilliant, with an LED located every ~3.3cm over 10′ for a total of 90 LEDs. Available in a multitude of colors (even red, green and blue on the same strand), they’re a quick and easy way to add some LED bling to your project, with no soldering or hacking required.
As these use a solid-core wire, they can be bent and formed to generally hold a shape.
These use the same strings as our 60600 series, but without the need for a soldering iron.
Specifications:
- 90 LEDs
- Length: 3M (10′) (+5/-10%)
- 26 awg solid-core enamel wire
- LED Spacing: ~3.3cm (1.6″)
- Power: 3 x AA batteries (not included)
- Colors available:
- Red
- Yellow
- Blue
- Green
- Pink
- Purple
- White
- Warm White
- RGB (separate Red, Blue, Green LEDs)
The Grove – LED String Light is a LED Driver. The input voltage of this module is 5V/3V3, but the string light is works at 12V. This module is based on the AIC1896 which is a current mode step up DC/DC Converter. Grove – LED String Light is equipped with a 5M RGB LED String Light.
- 5M
- 50 RGB LEDs
- JST 2.0 Interface
- Grove Interface
- Colorful
- Grove – LED String Light
- LED String
- Grove cable-20cm
Note: These are not the Adafruit 12mm Diffused Flat Digital RGB LED Pixels (Strand of 25), although they look and behave the same (they use the same WS2801 chipset). The wiring color standard is different, and these are shorter strands of 20, not 25.
RGB LEDs are undoubtedly cool, especially when you can chain them together for neat effects. But if you have more than just a few to chain, it gets cumbersome. That’s where the Stringxels (strings of pixels) come in to make it easy.
Each unit of the stringxel features a silicon-overmolded water-resistant 8mm diffused RGB LED that looks fabulous. These 20-unit chains are wired together with beefy & flexible 20AWG ribbon cable, spaced 11cm (4-3/8″) apart, but unlike standard holiday LED light strings, you get to program their behavior!
Each stringxel unit features the well-documented WS2801 RGB controller IC, so you simply power up the string with 5V, and use common data-shifting techniques to clock in your data to each Stringxel. This isn’t quite the same as addressable LEDs, where each LED has a set permanent address; stringxel data is clocked “down the chain”, one stringxel at a time. When clocking is done, all the units latch, and light up the RGB data passed to them. It’s all documented in the Arduino sample code available under the Resources tab.
The same factory that manufactures these square-base units also makes a Bullet-type RGB LED Stringxels for more compact designs benefiting from a skinnier/tube-like form factor.
One strip draws ~1.0A at full brightness, so you are welcome to use the 5V 1A power adapter with it. If you are connecting more than one, we recommend a hardcore power supply that can handle quite a few amps (20A to be precise!). Or you could use a capable LiPo battery and add a buff 5V regulator with it to get this string off the grid. Yes, 5V doesn’t usually carry very far down a wire, but that’s the reason for the beefy 20AWG stranded wire. We cannot visually detect a difference from the first to the last stringxel!
If you need to patch strings together, we’ve got 3-conductor cables ideal for this. Keep in mind, these do not have the 5V line wired into the connector, as it’s expected you would be further feeding a better 5V source “down the chain” to keep the brightness up.
Applications:
- Holiday lighting: Christmas, Halloween, etc.
- Mood lighting
- Accent lighting for the home, show vehicle, or robot
- Cupboard or closet lighting (RGB in the closet? Sure – wear a white shirt, figure out color combos…)
- Camping lighting (stringing these from awnings looks very camping-geek)
- Advertising & signage
Wiring (Different from Bullet-type):
- Note that wiring isn’t exactly standard. BE AWARE WHILE WIRING IT UP!
- Red Wire = +5V
- Yellow Wire = GND
- Green Wire = Data
- Blue Wire = Clock
Features:
- Working voltage: 5VDC
- Current consumption: ~1.0A (All 20 LEDs at full brightness [White])
- LED qty: 20
- LED type: 8mm RGB (diffused lens)
- IC type: WS2801
- Brightness level: 256 level
- Emitting color: RGB/W/R/G/B/other single color
- Clip into a 12mm drilled hole
- Viewing angle: 120º
- Length: 2.3M (~7.5ft) stretched end-to-end, wired 8.2cm (3.25″) apart to 11cm (4-3/8″) LED centers
- Waterproof rating: IP66. That means “Dust proof”, and “Water from heavy seas or water projected in powerful jets shall not enter the enclosure in harmful quantities”.
RGB LEDs are undoubtedly cool, especially when you can chain them together for neat effects. But if you have more than just a few to chain, it gets cumbersome. That’s where the Bullet Stringxels (strings of pixels) come in to make it easy.
Each unit of the stringxel features a silicon-overmolded water-resistant 8mm diffused RGB LED that looks fabulous. These 20-unit chains are wired together with beefy & flexible 20AWG ribbon cable, spaced 8cm (3-1/8″) apart, but unlike standard holiday LED light strings, you get to program their behavior!
Each stringxel unit features the well-documented WS2801 RGB controller IC, so you simply power up the string with 5V, and use common data-shifting techniques to clock in your data to each Stringxel. This isn’t quite the same as addressable LEDs, where each LED has a set permanent address; stringxel data is clocked “down the chain”, as you are passing LED data down the chain, one stringxel at a time. When clocking is done, all the units latch, and light up the RGB data passed to them. It’s all documented in the Arduino sample code available under the Resources tab.
Note: These are not the Adafruit 12mm Diffused Thin Digital RGB LED Pixels (Strand of 25), although they look and behave the same (they use the same WS2801 chipset). The wiring color standard is different, and these are shorter strands of 20, not 25.
If you’re looking for a flatter way to install them, or a shorter string, we also have the 20-pack Flat-type RGB LED Stringxels.
One strip draws ~0.9A at full brightness, so we recommend a hardcore power supply that can handle quite a few amps (20A to be precise!). Or you could use a capable LiPo battery and add a buff 5V regulator with it to get this string off the grid. Yes, 5V doesn’t usually carry very far down a wire, but that’s the reason for the beefy 20AWG stranded wire. We cannot visually detect a difference from the first to the 20th stringxel!
Regarding power requirements: Yes, running RGB strips at full 100% on makes them white, and makes it draw maximum 0.9A. Our own experiments show that random RGB effects not using much white draws approximately 40~70% maximum draw. But it’s always best to oversize your power supply by 20% than be under by 20%! And if you’re looking for easy ways to connect the strings, check out the connectors!
Applications:
- Seasonal lighting: Christmas, Halloween, etc.
- Mood lighting
- Accent lighting for the home, show vehicle, or robot
- Cupboard or closet lighting
- Camping lighting
- Advertising & signage
Wiring (Different from Flat-type):
- Red Wire = +5V
- White Wire = GND
- Green Wire = Clock
- Blue Wire = Data
Features:
- Working voltage: 5VDC
- Current consumption: ~0.9A (All 20 LEDs at full brightness [White])
- LED qty: 20
- LED type: 8mm RGB (diffused lens)
- IC type: WS2801
- Brightness level: 256 level
- Emitting color: RGB/W/R/G/B/other single color
- Clip into a 12mm drilled hole
- Viewing angle: 120º
- Length: 3.35m (~11ft) stretched out, 8cm (3-1/8″) spacing from LED base to base
- Waterproof rating: IP66
- 4 Pin JST MALE Connector on INPUT (with pigtails for power)
- 4 Pin JST FEMALE Connector on OUTPUT for daisy chaining
Check out this video of Stringxels controlled by SB-FireFly:
