LED light strip!

[Leakylunar]

Replaced old strip lights in van with 12v planet led strip lights. One seems to have a mind of its own!
I just assumed they where a straight swap but obviously they will use a fraction of the power anyone know if they might need a ballast resistor?

 

[WillH]

Shouldn't need a ballast, just a 12v supply. Check polarity as they are polarity sensitive.

 

[starquake]

Also check they don't need a regulated supply. SOME LED's even 12v ones do, so will sometimes flicker with changing van voltages as you turn other stuff on. (van voltages vary from 13.6v to 11.9v on lead acid). A simple 12v regulator can do trick in line with supply if they need that (out of sight). Most van builders do not do this. The guy that owned our van before us missed this on the RGB LED we have installed too and it flickers quite badly as the pump turns on (it,s a generic chinese controller so no surprises as it's missing any capacitors to smooth the supply).. I am swapping for a better strip, better controller with a capacitor on it to smooth the delivery of current. (I'm going in all likelyhood for a QuinLED driver/controller with a sk2816 I think the model number is rgb strip when I swap it, about $40 of bits), and will add a wireless wall remote eventually.

 

[Leakylunar]

One seems to work fine so my first call maybe when I get back to swap them to see if it’s the wiring or light fittings. They were £40 each so assumed reasonable quality. Thanks for all the info as soon as I get back home I will investigate further.
Don’t know if it makes a difference but same problem with EHU or 12v only

 

[starquake]

EHU will be a usually permanent 13.6V and non ehu will vary. If it’s different chances are they may have in their specification they need a regulated ie perfect 12v. LED drivers as you use in a house to run strip produce a near perfect 12V at all times.

Obviously if designed for car or motorhome use should accept 12-15V or so (14.6V is the highest charge voltage you would expect) Check the spec for this as if it says 12V regulated it’s not really designed for use on a battery.

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[Leakylunar]

Thanks, I’m disconnecting to light today provided I can get to the screws. Hopefully it will give me more information on the back regards voltage/regulation .
Just odd that one works fine of course there is always the possibility that I e wired it wrong, La Rochelle tomorrow could find screwdriver there .

 

[Guigsy]

I've had a similar experience. A domestic grade 12v LED light that was expecting a nice calm 12v from a mains power supply didn't last very long in the van. It wasn't happy with the automotive 12v, which swings all the way up to near 15v on occasion. It started flickering before failing.

 

[Carpmart]

A cheap 12v buck converter inline will smooth the voltage to a consistent 12v and probably resolve the issues.

Also, are you sure they want 12v and not 9v or something else? Again the buck converter is easy to dial up and down the voltage to what you want!

 

[MichaelT]

Some cheapo Chinese led are polarity sensitive so check that.

 

[autorouter]

A cheap 12v buck converter inline will smooth the voltage to a consistent 12v and probably resolve the issues.

A 'buck' converter outputs a lower voltage than the input voltage, that's why it's called a buck or stepdown converter. In the small print you will probably find that the input voltage needs to be at least 1V higher than the output voltage. So if you want 12.0V you will need an input of 13.0V minimum. Not a problem if you have EHU or solar, the battery will be at 13.4V at least, but may be a problem if not on EHU and no solar. You usually want LED lights when it's dark, so there is no solar.

Better to get a 'voltage stabiliser' which takes whatever input voltage is available (eg 10 to 15V) and outputs a steady 12.0V. Also called a 'buck-boost converter'.

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[ChrisL]

Better to get a 'voltage stabiliser' which takes whatever input voltage is available (eg 10 to 15V) and outputs a steady 12.0V. Also called a 'buck-boost converter'.

Would something like this do the job? How many amps do led strip lights draw? I'm thinking of converting my fluorescents.

8-40V to 12V 10A DC Voltage Stabilizer Waterproof Car Power Supply Regulator New | eBay

Output Current: 10A (Max). Type: DC-DC Boost&Buck Converter. 1x DC-DC Converter. 2.Non-defective and Right Products. Defective or Wrong Products.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Carpmart]

A 'buck' converter outputs a lower voltage than the input voltage, that's why it's called a buck or stepdown converter. In the small print you will probably find that the input voltage needs to be at least 1V higher than the output voltage. So if you want 12.0V you will need an input of 13.0V minimum. Not a problem if you have EHU or solar, the battery will be at 13.4V at least, but may be a problem if not on EHU and no solar. You usually want LED lights when it's dark, so there is no solar.

Better to get a 'voltage stabiliser' which takes whatever input voltage is available (eg 10 to 15V) and outputs a steady 12.0V. Also called a 'buck-boost converter'.

You’re right of course, i forget that everyone is not a lithium user; works fine for me!

 

[scotjimland]

I buy quality LED lamps from Aten Lighting,

They are regulated from 10-30V, so suitable for 12V and 24V systems. (no voltage regulator required)

Not polarity Sensitive

3 year guarantee

Of course you can buy cheaper.. but .... buy again and again

 

[GAVLAD]

Was the original bulb a tube strip lightbulb?
Have you replaced it with an LED tube strip bulb or a strip of LED lights?

If you take the plastic lens cover off the light and take a photo or the bulb or if you've still got the original bulb, photo it and contact Richard at Bedazzled LED lighting, he may be able to help you with the correct replacement or provide advice.
I replaced all of my internal lights for LED's and Richard was a font of knowledge, so may be worth giving him a try.

 

[autorouter]

Would something like this do the job? How many amps do led strip lights draw? I'm thinking of converting my fluorescents.

Looks OK to me, maybe a bit over the top, a 5A output would probably be sufficient, but that would still work fine. LEDs are generally much more efficient than incandescent light bulbs or fluorescents, so 5W of LEDs would give out the same or more light than a 20W fluorescent, and 5W is only about half an amp at 12V.

Nowadays there are several different types of LED strips, with different light output per metre (more or less LEDs per metre). And that's before you consider colour temperature (warm white, cold white etc), and remote controls that change the colour. Some even allow programming of individual LEDs along the strip to produce all kinds of effects, if you like that kind if thing. There's a basic intro here

Everything You Need to Know About LED Strip Lights | Waveform Lighting

www.waveformlighting.com

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[starquake]

Looks OK to me, maybe a bit over the top, a 5A output would probably be sufficient, but that would still work fine. LEDs are generally much more efficient than incandescent light bulbs or fluorescents, so 5W of LEDs would give out the same or more light than a 20W fluorescent, and 5W is only about half an amp at 12V.

Nowadays there are several different types of LED strips, with different light output per metre (more or less LEDs per metre). And that's before you consider colour temperature (warm white, cold white etc), and remote controls that change the colour. Some even allow programming of individual LEDs along the strip to produce all kinds of effects, if you like that kind if thing. There's a basic intro here

Everything You Need to Know About LED Strip Lights | Waveform Lighting

www.waveformlighting.com

I built a very bright LED flagpoile which can use up to 90W in theory (8-9A). Hwoever the joy of LED's is they don't lose "much" output at lower levels. We found a 3A supply was plenty for majority of lighting we used last weekend, and we put it on "eco" 10W mode quite a lot without much.

As said, you get LED's in single colour across entire strip, individually addressible color changing, and strip wide colour changing as well as a RBGWW varient that has dedicated (2) white LED's to do different blends of cool/warm white too.

If you willing to learn, you can order such bits as are sold yourself from the manufacturers in china for a lot less than what is typically charged on amazon or electrical retailers in UK, but you do have to do your own research as to what you need to drive them. The stips come typically "bare" with connectors prewired (usually 3 or 4 pin JST connectors), and you just have to solder a 3 or 4 pin JST to a controller of your choice suited for the LED, and if that controller doesn't do regulation, in turn to a buck/boost converter like mentioned to maintain a solid 12V. You can also use 5V LED's but this needs a 12V->5V buck converter/regulator to give a solid 5V supply, but also requires thicker wiring, and sometimes injection of power mid strip for same lumen output. The 5V LED's typically are more effecient in a VAN though, as in use about half the power for same lumens as a 12V set (don't ask me why, but this is a fact).

Theres also differnece between differnt LED strips on use, I have 2 individually adressible strips myself, and one strip uses DOUBLE the power of the other. There is no real difference in how they look.

The other thing is the controller choice matters, you can get cheap chinese ones using a wireless remote (usually about $10), ones that join your wifi and can connect with open standards to alexa and google home (and also can use wireless buttons) (usually in the $10-30 range), but you can get them using open source firmware so it's not propritary chinese code (WLED is the common controller code you can use, but you'll need permanent wifi in your van to use this).

I'm now I have knowledge replacing a strip in our van with a 5m individually adressible 12V strip (sk2816 I think it is, would need to check the order for the actual part), a Quinled controller design (includes a fuse for the strip), and a small buck converter. I'll hide the controller/buck converter in a small box as it's "tiny".

 

[Leakylunar]

I arrived home late Saturday so Sunday I put light back up and to my surprise it works fine. I’ll put ehu cable on and see if that makes a difference at weekend as the van is now up for sale!