help with capacitor for neopixel power

EL Wire/Tape/Panels, LEDs, pixels and strips, LCDs and TFTs, etc products from Adafruit

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urbanmatter
 
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help with capacitor for neopixel power

Post by urbanmatter »

I was reading this page on the site:
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neop ... uide/power

"Before connecting a NeoPixel strip to ANY source of power, we very strongly recommend adding a large capacitor (1000-2000 µF, 6.3V or higher) across the + and – terminals. This prevents the initial onrush of current from damaging the pixels."

can someone recommend a place to buy one of these capacitors, and a specific capacitor that will give decent results?

1chicagodave
 
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Re: help with capacitor for neopixel power

Post by 1chicagodave »

Buy online or in person (at a store)? Where do you live? What country?

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michaelmeissner
 
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Re: help with capacitor for neopixel power

Post by michaelmeissner »

If you live in the USA, Radio Shack stores usually has a cabinet in the back where they have components on sale. Radio Shack prices tend to be on the high side, but given the normal shipping costs, it would likely be cheaper to get a small amount immediately. Lets see, it looks like $0.90 - $1.20. Plus you don't have to wait a week or so for domestic shipping or several weeks for international shipping. Usually when you get capacitors (or resistors), you buy them in bulk. In fact, I was just looking for my bag of capacitors as I was answering this.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: help with capacitor for neopixel power

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

can someone recommend a place to buy one of these capacitors, and a specific capacitor that will give decent results?
RadioShack as suggested earlier should have them. And any elecrolytic capacitor in the range of 1000uF to 2000uF and rated for 6v or more will work.

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