APA102 Addressable LED Hookup Guide
bboyho Addressable LED Strips
If you need an abundance of WS2812 LEDs in a slick, pre-assembled form factor these addressable LED strips might be for you.
The APA102 addressable LED strips come in a few flavors, which vary by size and sealant. You can get them in either 1m or 5m lengths, or high density. For each length the strip, they can be either covered by a waterproof sealant or left bare.
Connecting to the Strips
Each end of the LED strip is terminated with a set of four colored wires: red, blue, green, and yellow. Two wires are for power, one wire for clock, and another wire transmits data either into or out of the strip:
| Red | Vcc | APA102 power supply. Should be a regulated supply between 5V and 5.5V. |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | Clock | Clock |
| Green | Data In/Out | Serial data in/out. Look at arrows and labels on strip to check which it is. |
| Yellow | GND | Ground. 0V. |
Each of the wire pigtails are terminated by a four-pin JST SM connector, which you can use to connect string strips together. Typically, the addressable LEDs use a polarized JST SM connector with the male housing receptacle with (female pin sockets) connected to the DI side as shown with the connector on the left side of the image. The female housing receptacle (with male pins) coming connected to the DO side as shown with the connector on the right side of the image.
For the first strip in a string, you can either connect to a mating connector, or cut and strip the wires, and connect them to your controlling device. To reuse the rest of the LED strip, check out the LED strip pigtail connector to easily connect the cut strips:
