power injection/common ground

[seank]

if i'm only connecting the signal wire of two separate strips together but powering each strip independently with their own psu do i tie the ground together?

[Emuney18]

Yes.  If the data is continuous across the strips then the ground must be as well.


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[PittFan]

About common grounds...
If I connect the house ground at my meanwell power supplies to the V- leg, and do this for all the power supplies, will they all have the same ground?

[Poporacer]

If I connect the house ground at my meanwell power supplies to the V- leg, and do this for all the power supplies, will they all have the same ground?

NO NO!!! AC ground and DC ground are not the same thing and should NEVER be connected together! And you should not connect the V- directly from one power supply to another. When people say that the grounds should be connected together, they mean at the power injection point.

[PittFan]

I didn't mean the actual AC neutral. I meant the earth ground that comes from the house.

What you mean at the power injection site can be taken care of via 3-2-3 tee, right?

[Poporacer]

I didn't mean the actual AC neutral. I meant the earth ground that comes from the house.

No, you don't want to connect those either!

What you mean at the power injection site can be taken care of via 3-2-3 tee, right?

Yes, that will usually take care of it.

[TimD311]

Now I'm more confused reading this. I've watched multiple videos and thought that the ground going into the 1st power supply needed to also be connected to 2nd or 3rd power supply but now I'm guessing I need to tie the 12 volt dc ground from 1st power supply to the 12 volt dc ground to 2nd or 3rd power supply?

[Poporacer]

but now I'm guessing I need to tie the 12 volt dc ground from 1st power supply to the 12 volt dc ground to 2nd or 3rd power supply?

Yes, but NOT directly to each other. They need to be connected together at the power injection point.

[TimD311]

Yes, I mean to use a "T" that way I just pass ground and data but still the in a new supply using a distro board like the F8. Is this the way I should go? I'm using an F4V3, F4V2 differential expansion and 2 smart receivers. New power supply, 12 volt for each receiver. Since I'm using the"T", they will tie my DC grounds together. But what about the DC ground for my F4V3 to my smart receivers ground, how can I tie these together? Now I'm starting to get a headache from trying to figure this out. 

[Poporacer]

But what about the DC ground for my F4V3 to my smart receivers ground, how can I tie these together?

I want to make sure I understand the question. you have an F4V3 with a Differential Expansion board, and that Differential Expansion Board is connected to some Smart Receivers. Each Smart Receiver will have it's own power supply. If that is your configuration, you do not need to connect the V- (ground) from the power supply at the F4V3 to the power supply at the Smart Receiver. The Smart Receiver/power supply is like it's own little controller.

[Paullights]

I'm imagining the voltage levels of the signal (5V) need to have a ground connected where you mix the power.  If you only connect the 0V at the power supplies it might not work.

Power flows through the 0V wire. So if you took a measurement of the voltage at the power supply to the 0V at the power injection point, It might surprise you to read a couple volts.  For the same reason you have voltage drop, there will be voltage increase on the 0V wire at the far end away from the power supply.

Tie the 0V together at the injection point so that the signal has the same reference from the two pixels.

It is possible to cut the positive voltage wire prior to new section vs just allowing the power to flow in either direction at the injection point.  This would allow the fuses to protect one specific section.