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Wiring & switching Shelly troubleshooting

Shelly LED strip shows the wrong colours or won't work

Colours swapped, the white channel dead, colours off at low brightness or a wall switch that does nothing. On a Shelly RGBW controller it's usually the profile, the wiring or the strip.

Checked

  • Gen2
  • Pro

Start here

What are you seeing?

Pick the closest match and we'll point you to the fix most likely to sort it.

Go to the fix

Why it happens

A Shelly RGBW controller has a set of outputs that change meaning with the profile. On the Plus RGBW PM, the same four terminals are red, green, blue and white in RGBW, or four separate lights in Light. So a strip wired for one profile looks broken in another.

The rest is the strip itself: Shelly lists 12 and 24 V strips, with a current limit on each channel.

Before you start

These checks are done in the Shelly app or a browser. The controller runs on 12 or 24 V DC, but its power supply plugs into mains: work on the supply or a wall switch is a job for a licensed electrician.

Quick checks first

Run these checks before moving on to the fixes.

Checklist 0 of 3 checked
Read the LED

Green means the Shelly is on Wi-Fi and the cloud, yellow means Wi-Fi only, and red means it isn't on Wi-Fi. If it's red, start with the Wi-Fi guide, not this one.

Read the strip's label

Note the strip's voltage, its type (single colour, RGB or RGBW) and its current or wattage per metre. The fixes below depend on all three.

Check the power supply's voltage

The supply should match the strip, 12 or 24 V DC. The controller takes either.

Fixes, most likely first

Work down the list and stop when it's fixed.

  1. The controller is on the wrong profile

    How to tell. The app shows colour but no white slider, or four separate lights where you expected colour. The Plus RGBW PM has three profiles: RGB, RGBW and Light. Light runs up to four single-colour strips on their own.
    • Pick the profile that matches the strip

      On the Plus RGBW PM's web page, go to Settings, then Device settings, then Device profile. Choose RGBW for an RGBW strip, RGB for an RGB strip, or Light for single-colour strips.

    • On the Pro RGBWW PM, check its four profiles

      The Pro has RGB and CCT (the default), CCT x 2, RGB and lights x 2, and Lights x 5. RGB and CCT suits a strip with colour plus warm and cool white.

  2. The strip's wires are on the wrong terminals

    How to tell. Each colour shows, just not the one you picked. On the Plus RGBW PM, the outputs O1 to O4 are also R, G, B and W, in that order.
    • Match each wire to its terminal

      With the power off, check the strip's R wire is on R (O1), G on G (O2), B on B (O3) and W on W (O4). On the Pro RGBWW PM in RGB and CCT, O1 to O3 are red, green and blue, O4 warm white and O5 cool white.

    • Leave the supply side to an electrician

      If the power supply is wired into the mains rather than plugged in, turning it off and on at the wiring is a job for a licensed electrician.

  3. High frequency mode is on

    How to tell. Colours drift only at low brightness. Shelly says raising the PWM frequency from 833 Hz to 22 kHz quietens the power supply but can make RGB colours inaccurate at low brightness.
    • Set it back to the default

      If the frequency was raised to 22 kHz, set it back to 833 Hz and check the colours again when dimmed.

  4. The strip isn't one the controller supports

    How to tell. The strip is 5 V, or addressable (one data wire instead of a wire per colour). Shelly lists 12 and 24 V single-colour, RGB and RGBW strips for the Plus RGBW PM.
    • Use a 12 or 24 V strip

      Swap to a 12 or 24 V strip with a separate wire for each colour, and a power supply of the same voltage.

  5. The strip draws more than a channel can take

    How to tell. The strip is long, and its rated current per metre adds up past the limit. Shelly gives the Plus RGBW PM 4 A per channel and 10 A in total, and the Pro RGBWW PM 6 A per channel and 16 A in total.
    • Shorten the run or split it

      Work out the strip's total current from its label. If one channel is over, shorten the run, or split it across a second controller.

  6. A 230 V wall switch is wired to the inputs

    How to tell. The app controls the strip but the wall switch doesn't. The controller's inputs are DC, and Shelly makes a Decoupler for switching them from an AC wall switch.
    • Ask an electrician about a Decoupler

      A licensed electrician can fit a Shelly Decoupler 230V so the wall switch can drive the controller's inputs.

    • Check the input isn't detached

      On the Plus RGBW PM, an output type of Detached Switch means the input doesn't control the light. Set the output type back to Toggle Switch.

On your device

Shelly Pro RGBWW PM LED Strip Controller Its inputs follow the profile
  • Which input controls what

    In RGB and CCT, inputs 0 and 1 control the colour, inputs 2 and 3 the white, and input 4 does nothing. In Lights x 5, each input controls its own light. The buttons dim the brightness only, not the colour temperature.

Shelly Pro RGBWW PM LED Strip Controller

Frequently asked questions

Check Night mode in the controller's settings. While it's on, the strip comes on at the brightness you set for that time window.

Yes. In the Light profile, the Plus RGBW PM runs up to four strips on their own, and the Pro RGBWW PM runs up to five in Lights x 5.

Hold its button for 10 seconds to factory reset it. Holding it for 5 seconds turns on its access point and Bluetooth for setup instead.

Scripts that help

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