I'm making a big clock:

I was very pleased with myself; all the code and temporary wiring worked. But Issues Arose when I was starting to close things up and make permanent connections. I think I've sorted it out but am curious as to whether I am on the right track as to why the issue happened.

Basically this is a very long strip of RGB LEDs. By the end of the strip, I was having colour fade issues that were especially noticeable on white colours. Some research led me to voltage drops and recommendations to add additional +5V and grounds at multiple places along the strip. Tested with alligator clips and the intended power supply (large USB powerbank) and +5V and ground at either end and one in the middle worked really well. Lit up all digits nicely, no colour fade.

Ran permanent soldered connections: issues started. Lights would blink three times and then go out. After lots of trouble shooting I eventually diagnosed that:

• battery --> digits + bright white = issues
• battery --> digits + any other colour (i.e. non-white) = okay
• battery --> alligator clips --> digits + bright white = okay

As I understand it, on RGB strips white = all three colour chips on so potentially three times the current draw. I am guessing that this tripped some kind of current limiting safety feature (I suspect on the battery).

What confuses me though is why there aren't any issues if using the alligator clips with otherwise the same set up. Are the alligator clips perhaps acting as just big enough of a resistor to bring the current down under a limit?