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Trying my hand at wiring devices together for 12v power. Proof of concept, sort of.

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  • Trying my hand at wiring devices together for 12v power. Proof of concept, sort of.

    I have a small portable light that is powered by three AAA batteries, so it operates on 4.5 volts. I actually have several of these little lights, like 6 - 9 identical ones.

    I got the idea that I might could wire three of these things in series so that they could receive power from my hobby system. 4.5 volts x 3 wired in series would be 13.5 volts, so I figure this would work. Three of them would work as one bank of this device, and my next idea was to take two or three of these 'banks' of electronics and wire them together in parallel to maintain the 13.5 volts.

    I'm just beginning to explore this type of stuff so I wanted to see what you guys would tell me about doing something like this.

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  • #2
    That will probably not work for you.

    Sure you can wire batteries in series to increase the voltage for a load but to use a higher voltage than what a load is asking for may result in one or more of those devices to overload and burn up.

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    • #3
      If all widgets were exact same, but there is always manufacturing tolerances that screw up the simple stuff. It just takes one of your series lights to consume a slightly different amount of power than the other 2 and the string burns out. could take 5 minutes or 5 nights.
      Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
      || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
      || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

      solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
      gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

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      • #4
        I am looking forward to answers to OP's question.

        I have tested, on the bench, running identical pairs of 12 volt LED lights in series running from a 24 volt battery bank and it played nicely on the bench.

        I will be installing 14 of these and if there is a flaw in my plan I sure would like to find it before I start mounting lights.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by PNW_Steve View Post
          I am looking forward to answers to OP's question.

          I have tested, on the bench, running identical pairs of 12 volt LED lights in series running from a 24 volt battery bank and it played nicely on the bench.

          I will be installing 14 of these and if there is a flaw in my plan I sure would like to find it before I start mounting lights.
          Good to hear it works for you.

          But like Mike I think the more devices you put into the equation the better chance of an unbalanced system which may direct a higher voltage then desired to one or more of the devices.

          Comment


          • #6
            LED's with simple restive current limiters, are much more flexible and tolerant, then devices with active driver circuits. Resistors are not as efficient, but they don't get confused like Drivers can.
            Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
            || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
            || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

            solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
            gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

            Comment


            • #7
              A bunch of resistors and LEDs in series should be OK if identical. But regulated LED drives
              could be set slightly differently causing varying voltages across different devices. Worse, if
              they have switched regulators, the pulses of different devices will not coincide in time and
              voltage distribution could go crazy. Bruce Roe

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              • #8
                Thanks for the info!

                These are in fact little, portable LED light devices, all identical. I didn't buy these lights, so this would be a zero cost exercise for learning purposes.

                This little experiment was thought up primarily to advance my abilities and knowledge in circuitry, get more time behind the soldering iron, etc. It's just a concept that I thought of, for no other reason than to see its conclusion. Whether it's successful or not isn't so important. The resulting contraption would by no means be a permanent appliance within my hobby system. I wanted to try something with all of these LED lights before they get thrown out.

                From the responses we have here, I get the impression that the basic concept is sound, but the probable, inconsistent variables within the electronics will likely cause eventual failure. If that's correct, I think it falls inline with my expectations.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Farman View Post
                  Thanks for the info!

                  These are in fact little, portable LED light devices, all identical. I didn't buy these lights, so this would be a zero cost exercise for learning purposes.

                  This little experiment was thought up primarily to advance my abilities and knowledge in circuitry, get more time behind the soldering iron, etc. It's just a concept that I thought of, for no other reason than to see its conclusion. Whether it's successful or not isn't so important. The resulting contraption would by no means be a permanent appliance within my hobby system. I wanted to try something with all of these LED lights before they get thrown out.

                  From the responses we have here, I get the impression that the basic concept is sound, but the probable, inconsistent variables within the electronics will likely cause eventual failure. If that's correct, I think it falls inline with my expectations.
                  I think it is all right and safe to experiment with low voltage devices. I hope it all works out for you. Let us know what kind of results you get.

                  Comment

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