LED Wiring Basics

●Stable

Reference guide for wiring WS2812B addressable LEDs — the LED type used in all GlowFlora products.

WS2812B Pinout

        ┌─────────────┐
   VCC ─┤ 1         4 ├─ VSS (GND)
   DOut─┤ 2         3 ├─ DIn
        └─────────────┘
        (top view, pin 1 = notch corner)

Pin	Name	Description
1	VCC	Power — 5V (3.5V–5.3V range)
2	DOUT	Data out → DIN of next LED
3	DIN	Data in from MCU or previous LED
4	VSS	Ground

Chaining LEDs

LEDs are chained in series — DOUT of one connects to DIN of the next:

MCU GPIO ──[330Ω]──► DIN₁ → DOUT₁ ──► DIN₂ → DOUT₂ ──► ...
5V ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────►
GND ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────►

Data resistor

Always include a 330Ω resistor between the MCU GPIO and DIN of the first LED. See Current Limit Config for details.

Power Injection

For longer strips (15+ LEDs), voltage drop along the strip causes LEDs at the far end to be dimmer and shift color. Inject power at multiple points:

5V ──┬──► LED 1 ... LED 15 ──┬──► LED 16 ... LED 30
     │   (data chained)       │
     └──────────────►5V rail ─┘  (power injection)
GND ─────────────────────────────────────────────►

For GlowFlora Home (30 LEDs) at full brightness, inject power at LED 15.

Voltage

WS2812B runs on 5V. The ESP32 GPIO outputs 3.3V logic — this usually works fine for data signal, but a level shifter (e.g. 74AHCT125) can improve reliability for longer runs.

For GlowFlora (short runs ≤30 LEDs), the 3.3V signal without a level shifter is reliable in practice.

WS2812B vs SK6812

GlowFlora uses WS2812B. SK6812 is a common alternative with similar pinout but adds a white channel (RGBW). WLED supports both — select the correct LED type in WLED Config.

Feature	WS2812B	SK6812 RGBW
Channels	3 (RGB)	4 (RGBW)
Protocol	800kHz	800kHz
Power (max white)	60mA	80mA
WLED support	✅	✅