3528 led reels not working

Do you have the little arrows on the connector from the controller and the reel lined up? 

Are you SURE the power adapter has positive on the inside lead?

BTW, I thought you'd like to see the difference between the single chip three-color strips and the 3528 three-color strips.  I commanded white, and here's what I got from the two strips, they're connected in series on the same controller.  As you can see, the multi-chip LED actually produces white, the 3528 strips just light all the LEDs and hope they mix to make white.

John, Yes the arrows are lined up, i don't understand what you mean about the power adapter having the positive on the inside lead, coud you give me a little more detail ,or maybe a photo if possible ?   Thanks ,  Jerry

You have the supply, what does the label say?

I'd also start with one strip, get it working first.

Gerald Marafioti posted:

John, Yes the arrows are lined up, i don't understand what you mean about the power adapter having the positive on the inside lead, coud you give me a little more detail ,or maybe a photo if possible ?   Thanks ,  Jerry

The charger power adapter has a symbol printed on it showing a + symbol in the center of the plug symbol. Does yours show that? If so, that means that the center conductor of the plug is + (PLUS) and you can follow that wiring to the reels to the LEDs to make sure that PLUS goes to the PLUS side of the LED strips.

If he has the controller and reel arrows lined up, the power should be fine at the reel end.  I just wondered if the power supply has the + on the inner terminal, that's required for that controller.  This is an example, however this is not a suitable supply for that controller, I just needed a quick picture of the connector marking.

John ,yes the controller has the same markings as the example you show, in the same order,  i tried to post a picture ,but i am having  trouble retrieving it on my computer, i don't know how i can follow the wireing to anything.

I don't know if this means anything i just thought i should mention it,when i plug the power supply into the controller,i can pull lightly on on the power supply plug & there is some movement of the plug in the controller ,i don't know if this is normal,or not .

Banjoflyer, The reels should light up as soon as the power supply is plugged in,& thats not happening ,as far as checking if the power supply is putting out the correct voltage,i don't know how i could do that with that kind of connector on the output end.

Actually, they may not light as soon as you plug them in.

John ,i put a different battery in the remote,& still no lights,so i am just going to send it back & let them deal with it, i think it is either the controller or the power supply ,i have no way of testing these things ,besides it is a new item,i shouldn't have do any of these things,i will be in touch with you soon about which rgb led's to get, if it is OK with you, but first let me get this problem settled.

Gunrunnerjohn,  Here is a photo of the power supply that i couldn't post yesterday,i don't know if it tells you what you want to know,but i thought i would post it anyway,besides i have allready asked for a refund from the seller.

Power supply looks fine.

Any chance that the coaxial power connector's pin is too small for the mating plug?  There a connectors with 2mm and 2.5mm pins. 

Do the ribbons always have power on them?  If there are traces on the LED ribbons for +12V and common (or whatever they call it), that would be the proper place to check to see if the supply voltage is getting out to the string.  You might need to scratch away some insulating coating to make contact.

(I don't have any multicolor ribbons and controllers .... yet.)

Dale  Manquen,  I was able to connect the reels  to the controller with no problem,they seemed to fit snug ,the only thing i noticed was when i connected the power supply to the controler if i pulled slightly on the connection going into the controller there was some play within the controller,i don't know if that is normal or not,because i have not had these parts before.

Mark, I wish i seen your response sooner,i have already sent them back,the seller was very quick to respond & issue me a return  label ,i didn't know how to test if there was current coming out of the power supply, i would have wanted to know,at least now i know a little more about what to do if i have this problem again .  

      Thanks to to both of you for your suggestions ,it gives me a little more knowledge for future problems .       Gerald  Marafioti

Just for future reference, I was referring to the cylindrical (coaxial) connector that plugged into the DC side of the power supply brick.  There are a few different size pins used inside the center of the connector on the power supplies.  It is possible to have a pin that is too small for the mating hole in the plug, in which case the pin doesn't contact the sleeve in the mating part and you get no power transmission.

Dale, We will probably never know for sure,what i was thinking of doing is e-mailing the seller & asking if they tried to hook everything up when they get the item back, & what happened,did it work or not, i would like to know but i don't know if anybody has ever done that .

Mark, In view of what you had experienced, it probably isn't worth it for me to ask if they tested them,i will just try another set & see what happens.

GUNRUNNERJOHN , I have returned the led's & received a full refund, could you recommend a kit of 2 reels of the 5050 led's the one's like  you mentioned before where there are 3 colors in one led,with the proper power supply & controler, i don't trust myself to get the order wright,since you have way more knowledge than i do about these things,i would prefer the non water proof reels if possible ,because i have brackets i am going to use to hold the led's in place that will hold better with the non water proof reels, they are not as thick as the other type.  Thanks for your help,i really appreciate it.      Gerald  M.

eBay: 391487751696

Make the following selections, this gets you two 5050 RGB reels and the controller.

Then eBay: 262010038401

Make the following selections, this is a compatible power supply that will power two reels.

Notice in the ad they show you illustrations of exactly how they look, each color appears on every LED part, that's the key to the selection.

John, Thank you for such a quick response , i put the order in,i hope everything works this time ,it isn't complicated to hook this up ,i don't know if i did some thing wrong the last time but we will see what happens when i get these.   My thanks again,you have been a great help to me,& all of us on this forum.   Gerald  M.

John, I have received the led reels that you recommended, everything worked great, i am glad i followed your recommendation ,going with the 5050 led's instead of the 3528 was the way to go,at first i was just looking for basically looking for just 2 colors,yellow & orange ,but with this system i have many more choices ,& i can see the difference in the colors compared to the  3528 lights as you pointed out in your previous response . I haven't installed the lights yet ,i had planned on putting them under the second level, but after seeing  how good they look ,i am re- evaluating where i want to put them , i like them so much i am going to put some behind my TV, for some nice back lighting ,again i want to thank you for all your help in with this project,& the other one's before this , it means a lot to me,i can enjoy the hobby more with the help i get from you, & all the other members on this forum.     

Glad it all worked out, I'm sure you'll be happier with the full-featured strings.

I have both reels hooked up under the second level, & i like them a lot ,i did notice one thing & i don't know if this is normal as i have never had these lites before, i have the 44 key remote & when i press the red key everything is of course all red, but as i go down the red colum to get different shades of red i noticed on the same string some of the lights look like there green ,i don't seem to be getting the whole string to be the same,the colors look light they vary along the same string,the green & blue seem they are pretty good color throughout the string, allthough ,there is some difference  in different parts of the string , any thoughts on this ?   

Let me asked this question in a different way,perhaps i didn't make myself clear ,can there be one color more noticeable on the same string,such as when i press the red key,it is all red,but as i go down the red colum at times i see more green than red in the same string ,is this normal ?

There are three LED chips in each little package.  Depending on the exact angle you view them from, the colors can look different.

John, I did notice what you said ,i went to different spots around the layout & i could see that there was some difference in the color,depending on how i was looking at them,i just wasn't sure if it was normal , or if there was something wrong with the lights ,but i do like the option of different colors i am glad i went with the 5050 rgb lights .

Perfectly normal, enjoy.