Battery options for running LEDS

Support Adafruit
1

Hi all, in my most recent order I ordered a set of the Adafruit LEDS, which are great. My problem is I need a way of powering them via a battery. Ideally the battery would have enough power to have them on, intermittently, over a 4 hour period (~ 2200 maH). Are you able to recommend a battery that could power them like this?

I’ve tried a USB power bank, which works for a short period then turns off - I assume because the need a draw of current to remain on( but I could be wrong).

Cheers,
Andrew.

2

Hi Andrew,

I think your right about the USB power bank, they may be too smart for their own good sometimes.
Try this:

or this:

You’ll need a charger:

and a way to connect it to the LEDs, this is great because it has a built in switch:

Hope that gets you started in the right direction. Be sure to share your finished project in the projects section of our forum!

3

Thanks Steve I’ve checked those options out - do you have an opinion on the 3.7v verse the 5V recommendations in the documentation?

Adafruit have a 5V/2A supply that should be able to drive 1 meter, a 5V 4A that can do a couple meters, and a 5V/10A supply that can drive up to 10 meters (depending on use) You must use a 5V DC power supply to power these strips, do not use higher than 6V or you can destroy the entire strip

4

Andrew,

It really depends on the specific length of LEDs, the type of LEDs, the type of microcontroller you are using etc. Most NeoPixels will run fine on 3.7. These batteries and power supply are not suitable for 10A draw.
Please refer to the NeoPixel powering guide. You can use less voltage, the lights just won’t be quite as bright. You should never EXCEED 5v when powering your NeoPixels. You could use a boost converter to step up your voltage from a 3.7V liPo to 5V, but you will use up the battery faster and lose some efficiency.

I hope that helps!

5

Thanks Stephen, that’s great. For this stage of the project the brightness isn’t super critical, i’ll give the LiPo combination a crack. Cheers, Andrew

1 Like
6

If you are powering about one meter of LED’s you can use a micro-controller that has a JST connector on it and power your LEDs by the VCC pin on the board. I’ve done this with the Adafruit Trinket, Trinket pro, Flora, and Circuit Playground Express with no issues. You will still need an external charger, unless you go with the Trinket Pro and Power backpack