Car Battery (685cca) to run LED's

Thread Starter

LEDconnect

Joined Feb 27, 2016
4
Please keep in mind I'm a beginner that knows little to nothing about this, so here's what I've found out the hard way that you can't just wire them directly to battery (sounded like popcorn) so my question is "How do I connect several hundred LED strings to battery without blowing them?" Battery is being recharged by a solar panel which is working well. In over my head!!
 

MrSoftware

Joined Oct 29, 2013
2,188
Check the spec sheets for your LEDs to see how much current they can handle, and as @dl324 mentioned, use appropriate resistors in-series with the LEDs, or power source that allows you to limit current (a current source), to be sure you don't exceed the current specification for the LEDs.
 

mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
Battery string voltage?
LED forward voltage?
LED current rating?
LED's used as a lighting source or just as an indicator?
exactly how many LEDs do you need?
 

Thread Starter

LEDconnect

Joined Feb 27, 2016
4
All the LED's are 12 Volts, most of the strings of LED's are super bright, use a separate small Solar panels to charge batteries that are between 300mAh to 1800mAh.

dl324 - How would I go about putting the resistors inline so not to blow the LED's?
mcgyvr
I'm only using 1 battery (car), and I don't know what the following refer to:​
    1. forward voltage
    2. current rating
    3. battery string voltage
MrSoftware
What would you suggest I use?​
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
All the LED's are 12 Volts, most of the strings of LED's are super bright, use a separate small Solar panels to charge batteries that are between 300mAh to 1800mAh.

dl324 - How would I go about putting the resistors inline so not to blow the LED's?
If the LEDs are rated for 12V, you shouldn't have had issues with them burning up. Fixtures rated for 12V will typically have built-in current limiting. Cheaper varieties will cut corners at the expense of the consumer
I'm only using 1 battery (car), and I don't know what the following refer to:
  1. forward voltage
  2. current rating
  3. battery string voltage
This only applies to discrete LEDs.

Post information on the LEDs you're using.
 

Thread Starter

LEDconnect

Joined Feb 27, 2016
4
The strands I'm working with have 200 LED's each, they are super bright, require 1800mAh each. The lights are mostly garden lights (mushrooms, stars, dragon flies) that have any where from 1 - 200 LED's - I'm pretty sure I'll have to run several separate circuits. I've purchased 2 different items that will allow fuses to be used.
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
1800 mAh is not correct, that is current times hours. I suspect you meant mA. 1800 mA is 1.8 amps, and at 12v yields 21.6 watts. Divide that into 200 LEDs and each gets about 1/10th a watt. That is reasonable.

If the string is rated for 12 volts they should be fine directly across the battery. So before you make any more popcorn try posting a link to these devices, say where you got them. We will have a look and tell you best how to connect to the battery as I suspect they are NOT 12v capable.
 

mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
red to battery +
black to battery -

If you have 6 of these strips then you would have 6 red wires going to the + and 6 black wires going to the -

simple as that..
Have fun..
 
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