| [GMCnet] LED lights using 120v power supplies [message #115486] |
Fri, 18 February 2011 09:49 |
Gerald Work
Messages: 102
Registered: June 2010
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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Just a cautionary note for those of you who are purchasing LED lights intended for home use. While the transformer that plugs into the wall normally does output 12v the circuitry in the LED itself normally does not have any voltage regulation and expects to see only the 12v output by that transformer. A fully charged "12v" battery puts out more than 12 v, more like 12.8v and while charging will see around 13.8v. At one stage in the charging cycle it may see to close to 15 volts for a short period of time. The chances are your unregulated 12v LED will not last long under these variable voltage conditions. If you want them to last you need to find units with internal voltage regulation that will handle up to 15 volts. That is why the units designed for RVs and boats often appear more expensive to purchase but will last for years in our GMC environment where the seemingly less expensive units may burn out prematurely.
Jerry
Jerry and Sharon Work
78 Royale rear lounge
Kerby, OR
glwork@mac.com
http://jerrywork.com
541-592-5360
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:55:28 -0600
From: Thomas Phipps <tph1pp5@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Interesting article on LED's
To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
Message-ID: <1c240.4d5c63ef@gmc.mybirdfeeder.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-15"
Another great source for finished LED lights is IKEA. They have many different styles, and most will work on 12v. The 110ac is converted into 12v by a small inverter on the plug.
If you shop at IKEA, be advised that they operate an "As-Is" part of the store. This is were all customer returns and aged showroom items are marked down and re-sold. I picked up an very nice LED strip, that is normally $50 new, for $10 and I've have done this twice. Nicely packed and easy to mount. I think the strip style that I bought would be great mounted under cabinets, since the LED's are SMD devices and very small. I have operated these directly from the house 12v without any trouble.
Tom Phipps
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