Hi, I'm stuck on a little project I'm making, for anyone good with electronics it's simple but I'm a fabricator and have no clue what I'm doing.
So I bought a 5v usb led strip that will be placed into a small picture frame to light up the picture, a 3metre strip is 18watts, with 90 separate light sources. I only need to use 17 of the 90, I've removed the usb plug as I plan to connect it to a lipo battery with a size of 4000mah with an on off switch. My issue is that the battery is 3.7v and the strip is 5v. Ive found loads of videos or info on how to find the right resistor value for led strips but they all focus on the battery voltage being higher than the led voltage, I can't find anything to show what to do when the battery voltage is the same as the LEDs or lower. Do I even need to add a resistor before the strip if the supply voltage is 3.7? Ive tested them without a resistor and they work fine but I'm concerned they might not be safe like that.
I've also bought a little charging board for the battery and a boost converter board. Would boosting the battery voltage to 5v help? Or is it not needed in this situation as the lights work already? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
So I bought a 5v usb led strip that will be placed into a small picture frame to light up the picture, a 3metre strip is 18watts, with 90 separate light sources. I only need to use 17 of the 90, I've removed the usb plug as I plan to connect it to a lipo battery with a size of 4000mah with an on off switch. My issue is that the battery is 3.7v and the strip is 5v. Ive found loads of videos or info on how to find the right resistor value for led strips but they all focus on the battery voltage being higher than the led voltage, I can't find anything to show what to do when the battery voltage is the same as the LEDs or lower. Do I even need to add a resistor before the strip if the supply voltage is 3.7? Ive tested them without a resistor and they work fine but I'm concerned they might not be safe like that.
I've also bought a little charging board for the battery and a boost converter board. Would boosting the battery voltage to 5v help? Or is it not needed in this situation as the lights work already? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.