Dr. Doom

Hey guys I ordered an LED light strip and am going to follow the write-up wapozzi did
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/un...strips-131120/

well my question when wiring is... instead of running the power wire through the cab and possibly cause a short and/or fire , can I run the power to the battery and run the neg through the cab and have a ground trip? I am thinking of doing this without the use of a relay.

ColoradoCorey

Actually if they were incandescent I would say ya but because they are LED I do wonder. Does the wiring diagram or instructions warn against this? Is there a transformer for this? Also because there should be some sort of over current device and beings its only 12v as long as you use a gromet going through the firewall you should be just fine.

Dr. Doom

no instructions or diagrams, ordered off ebay from China. I was going to run a 5? amp fuse inline to the battery. Im just trying to avoid running a live wire through the cab.

mr white

The LEDs require power to function. I'm not sure how you are going to get power without a + from the battery. If the LEDs don't have an inline resistor, you need to put one on it.

ColoradoCorey

if there is no sort of controll for this Im not sure what to say. Let me get this right, it is a light bar with wires coming off of it and thats all you got? Also that 5 that you are talking about is only current limiting. I would almost be 100% sure that those LEDs can not handle 12v at 5 amps because that would nmean that there is 60 watts worth of LEDs there. Do you happen to have a link to the ebay store item?

Dr. Doom

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Waterproof-P...item4601d1d436

yes just red and black wires coming off the strip. maybe I should pm wapozzi and see how his lights are doing?

Dr. Doom

also just looked at other strips (same thing) from other sellers and some offer a 2amp transformer to plug into the wall 110v. So Im guessing 2 amp fuse should do it

ColoradoCorey

no the 2 amp is just the over current protection. You need to look at the voltage.

edit: I just looked at it and it says 12v per 5 meters so thats 1/3 amp or .3333

I would try a .5 amp fuse first. although I still kinda worry about the voltage.

Dr. Doom

they are rated for 12v if thats what you were asking

98Plum Crazy

I am not a pro, but do run a car stereo/elec shop. I use these things all the time when a customer buys from eBay. They are just fine and I use a 5amp fuse and I run live leads through firewall everyday and don't have a problem, but it unsure, you are just fine to have them turn on through negative lead, just run hot to them and negative through switch. No point in running neg wire through firewall, just use bare spot under dash or whenever and grind it down and get proper ground. Fair warning, neg triggering can cause drain of battery ore than normal since you are powering up to led just switching through ground. Pm me for any more info.

mr white

You're probably not going to pop the LEDs as long as there is a resistor in line. That fuse would mainly be if the wire shorted out on the chassis.

98Plum Crazy

99% of strip have resistors inline because obviously LEDs require less voltage, but most instantly blow without them.