installing LED strips

[Mikii_v]

Hi all,

Just installing some LED lights on my 16ft boat. I understand how to install a single LED strip to a switch + fuse but il go over it again incase I'v missed anything. I want to install 4 LED strips and am stuck at getting my head around connecting it all into the one switch.

Heres a quick explaination of what iv done: (all in non electrician terms, easy to read)

1. positive wire from battery to fuse
2. positive wire from fuse to switch
3. positive wire from switch to LED light
4. negative LED light to battery

viola... you have light!!!

my question is, how do i connect another 3 LEDs strip into that 1 same switch to turn it on/off?

I am installing 2 LED strips on each side of the boat, 1 in the cabin and 1 on the rocket launcher, so wires are going to get pretty messy... i have already thread wires into the rocket launcher poles so they are hidden.

i hoped i helped some one out there with this simple explaination.
Any help will be much appreciated, thanks !

[rixter]

They are parallel connection strips of lights with tiny resistors to match a parallel wiring setup, meaning they will only draw 12v (if they are a 12v strip light setup) , but the more led light strips you use, the more battery amps they will draw (and use a bit more of the 12v supply slowly, but mainly draw more amps) . Nothing to worry about though as you could run hundreds of led's off a car or boat battery for days without drawing much ampage. Most basic leds these days only use about .03 milliamps per hour each / bugger all ! .

So , you want to continue the parallel connection when adding more strips so you don't require more than 12volts or blow led's before their time .
With Each new strip , join them + to + , and - to - at the end of each strip, like creating 1 long led light strip. Use 2 lengths of 12amp wire ( one each for + and - ) to join 2 strips or more if you want to separate the strips and are using a single 8 amp battery in your boat. Use at least 20amp wires if your running a duel battery setup in parallel.

Because most led light strips only have terminals on one end of the strip , you may find problems joining 2 strips or more together / using both connections on each strip for starters even just for 2 led light strips ... so you end up with no connection point, so you may have to clean the terminals off the end of a led light strip to connect the battery and switch etc etc. Some led light strips come with connections on both ends , they are preferably the ones you want.

You could hook them all up together as a sort of serial connection , + to - for each strip, or even hook all the positives together and all the negatives together on each strip (almost a pure parallel connection ) , it would work for a while , but you would slowly start blowing led's over time way before the full life cycle of the led light strips .

You also may want to consider the switch your using to turn on the lights. Even if your using a 12v switch but dumping a full basic 8 amps minimum into a low amp switch, you will end up burning/frying out the contacts on the switch after a while ( a fire hazard also ! ).

This is where you need a relay switch really like for spotlights on a car. It is the safest way as high amps around or under the consol of your boat is a fire hazard , just as it is inside a car and why low amp switches are used with a relay (when wiring directly off a battery with high amps).
Even though your not drawing much amps using hundreds of led's at most , if you've got it wired directly to the main battery source to power them (12v but around 8 amps minimum ) / high amps , then that can cause the switch to spark and burn out, maybe even cause a fire behind your boats dashboard if the switch can't handle the amps.

There is an easy way around it though , just use a 240v 20amp switch as used on high wattage 240v amplifiers. They work fine to power up 12v devices with high ampage without burning out the switch contacts , just as good as using a relay switch to an extent imo ( I trust them ), but !!!! . ... if they pop and burn out one day by chance, then they will burn out and cause just as much danger and damage as a low ampage 12v switch without a relay setup..but I did warn you of high ampage dangers behind your switch /boat steering/consol . ! .

Your choice ! , if you've got insurance and stuff and your boat is worth a few bob, then personally I would do it the right way and use relay switches also like used for spotlights in cars , if wiring straight from the main battery/batteries . Doesn't cost much more , and is way safer, and at least your covered by insurance if an electrical fire broke out on board.

You can also pick other low ampage points behind the boats dashboard that other devices use / already setup for low amp use . Wire off them , saves using high ampage switches or relays. Got to be carefull though what you draw power from behind your boats dashboard though as you can drain the amps suppling other stuff and effect other dashboard equipment.

BTW, I just noticed this is your first post , welcome to the fishing vic forums . :welcome2:

Also , may come as surprise to a few regz on here too , but I have been messing with led's for years and came out with some of the first replacement led lights for dashboards in cars and for the Auto transmission lights and interior lights years ago, all different colours, was doing it in around 1995 ( I was on the ford forums back then as username: XR6_VCT_2000 or something like that, and working my way along developing led light replacements, it's all still on there I think as I was working it all out years ago), then sold the idea off to ford with the matching resistor/led to plug into the 12v light sockets for each led to replace all the old yellow dull globes. Which is now used in almost every car today / fords / holdens / toyata / Subaru etc etc etc. Wish I sold the idea/patent for more back then nowerdays , but im happy these days anyway , did ok and got my name to a major patent.

My first demo was actually a bit of a old clear BIC pen casing , chopped about 1cm long, I managed to stuff the resistor in it with some paper to support the gaps, put a terminal at the end and either sides jus like a normal old small 12v light globe so it plugged into the old sockets. It ended up a bit smaller than the old 12v dull yellowish lights but fit into standard dashboard lights and other small 12v light fittings in a car, and had the first blue led mounted into the end of the 1cm plastic tube. Sold the idea/patent to Ford in the late 90's for I won't say how much :D. :super:

If you would like a basic 'proper insurance safe' legal way to wire them up, I would be happy to draw you up a wiring diagram when I have time over the next day or so .

Cheers , Rick.

[mazman]

I would set it up so they are running in parallel. The way to do this would be to have a wires connecting the switch to one of the new LED strips and then connect that LED strip to the negative terminal of the battery and do the same for the third LED strip.
so you will end up with.
1. positive wire from the battery to fuse
2. positive wire from fuse to switch
3. positive wire from switch to LED light no.1
4. positive wire from LED light no.1 to LED light no.2
5. positive wire from LED light no.2 to LED light no.3
6. negative wire from LED light no.1 to LED light no.2
7. negative wire from LED light no.2 to LED light no.3
8. negative wire from LED light no.1 to the battery

[Mikii_v]

thank you so much for all your tips!!!

"You can also pick other low ampage points behind the boats dashboard that other devices use / already setup for low amp use . Wire off them , saves using high ampage switches or relays"

i was thinking of this, would i be able to connect the positive wire to lets say the anchor light's positive connection going towards the battery? saves me wiring all the way to the battery, instead leech power off another positive going to battery.

thanks for for the warm welcome, i was on the previous site, i thought all the posts carried over.

mazman - thanks for that explaination, that is as simple and easy to read as it gets, alot will benifit from this.

i will attempt this tomorrow. it will be pretty messy as theres 4 strips at different locations so there will be wires going back and forth, just need to make it neat.
picture this -
1. LED on the right side of the boat connecting to rocket launcher LED
2. rocket launcher LED connecting to in cabin LED
3. in cabin LED connecting to left side LED
4. left side LED going back into the dashboard and into the switch
5. switch positive to fuse
6. fuse to anchor light positive or straight to battery
7. LED on right side negative to battery

it would be soooo easy if i made the light switch at the back of the boat but thats just ugly

" Some led light strips come with connections on both ends , they are preferably the ones you want"

thats the one i got !!!

rixter - thats amazing how u sold your idea, genius ! your username does ring a bell, i was on the tx5 and tx3 forums.