^^ or just an off on switch lol

 

You should check out these and other stuff on the site. I am doing some LED work this week too.
http://www.oznium.com/led-flex-strips

 

i already have a swith on them, im using a 8 gauge wire directly from the battery so i have to have a switch on them, but the idea of a dimmer sound good. dont have time to rewire the leds as of now but will one day soon im hoping. thanks for the site, they have some nice stuff.

 

8G WIRE! haha wow mate, thats a bit over kill. I use 8G wire to power a 600W amp. You could get away with a MUCH smaller wire. Save the 8G for your sound system or something. Ohh, and a Pot will act as a dimmer btw.

 

well the 8 gauge wire go to a bus terminal that powers all the leds i have, the underseat leds, and im planing on getting some other stuff so i figured that it would be better, i know electrical but not great. and i looked at the wire, its only 10 gauge, but still.

 

YA STILL OVERKILL............

leds use VERY LITTLE power...... my 6ft strip of flexstrips leds only have a VERY TINY WIRE for power and ground! its so small that my wire striper wont go small enough and you cant even use a razor blade or it cuts right thru the tiny wires!!!!!!!

way overkill.....
trust us... HUGE OVERKILL.LMFAO

 

bahahaha, the more i think about it the funnier it is, picture this.... 10 G wire powering a LED that isnt even as big as the wire is thick... lol. Dude, I use like 24 G speaker wire (cause it comes in figure8 i can strip it in half and its twice the value for money ) to run my LEDs.

SAVE THE 10 G FOR SOMETHING MORE APPROPRIATE.

 

I'd like to make a clarification -- this is nearly right. LEDs aren't that much like speakers, and series/parallel configurations don't change delivered power.

Generally speaking (very general, when you consider their inductive load), speakers are more-or-less linear resistance/impedance devices. Their nominal rated load tends to be flat over their frequency response (eg, 8 Ohms) and only the phase the signal is changed. When connected in series, the total load is the sum of the each speaker's load (eg, 2 8-Ohm speakers in series yield a 16-Ohm load). Connected in parallel, the total load is always lower than an individual speaker's load (eg, 2 8-Ohm speakers in parallel yield a 4-Ohm load -- see amg6975's A/V FAQ for the formulas).

To find the power delivered, we need to do some circuit analysis. First, we'll use an amp's peak power to find the current it's sourcing and then we'll use that current to find the power delivered to each speaker. I'll use the above examples: 2 8-Ohm speakers in series, and then in parallel. To find the current sourced by the amp, we need the formula: P = V * I, where P is power, V is Volts, and I is current (Amps). Another basic electrical law is V = I * R, where R is resistance/load. Combining these two laws gives us: P = I * I * R. NB: This is simplified. For AC signals like music, you'd need to do some calculus, but for explaining the overall idea, this will work. To simplify things further, let's assume we're only concerned with peak power delivery: that we're using the amp to its rated limits (say 160 Watts for easy math). We now have two known values in an equation with three unknowns, and we can solve for the current coming out of the amp:[ul][*] 2 8-Ohm series: 160 = I^2 * 16 leads to I = sqrt(10) or 3.16 Amps[*] 2 8-Ohm parallel: 160 = I^2 * 4 leads to I = sqrt(40) or 6.32 Amps[/ul]

Now that we know the total current leaving the amp, we can find the power being delivered to each speaker. We again use the formula: P = I^2 * R, but now we're solving for P (the power to a speaker, not the current from the amp) since we know I and R. In the series case, I is the same current leaving the amp (since the electricity has only one path). In the parallel case, the current I is split evenly between each speaker (since they have the same resistance), so a current I/2 is passing through each speaker, with a total current I coming from the amp. [ul][*] 2 8-Ohm series: P = 3.16^2 * 8 leads to P = 80W. Each speaker is getting 80W of power from the amp (as it should).[*] 2 8-Ohm parallel: P = (6.32/2)^2 * 8 leads to P = 80W. Again, each speaker is getting 80W of power from the amp (as it should)[/ul]

So, the power delivered to a speaker doesn't depend on the speaker's connection (serial or parallel). The difference is in the current passing through the speakers. In the serial case, both speakers have 3.16A flowing through them; in the parallel case, both speakers have 6.32A flowing through them. This is where wire gauge comes into play: a too-thin wire can't support higher currents and will be consumed (like a light bulb filament burning out).

Phew! Now onto LEDs... LEDs, on the other hand, are very much non-linear devices. In addition to emitting light, they are also diodes, which means they only allow electricity to flow in one direction (speakers don't care -- they're essentially wires: specialized inductors that will carry current in both directions). Apply a positive voltage to an LED, and it'll light up and allow electricity to pass; apply a negative voltage, and it won't do anything. This one-way switch behavior makes the LED non-linear. When an LED is on, it has two unique characteristics: there's a small on resistance and there's a voltage drop between the two terminals. These two characteristics are determined by the manufacturing process of the LED and are usually available in the vendor's data sheet.

colby_666 mentioned that his LEDs were rated for 12 Volts, this means there will be a rather large voltage drop when the LEDs are on (typical LEDs are rated between 1-3 Volts). Placing them in series will make them dimmer because they aren't being used at their rated voltage. A single 12V LED between a 12V power bus is the intended use, but if you put two 12V LEDs in series on that same bus, then you're no longer using them properly. Instead of seeing 12V at its terminals, the LED will see something less (most likely 6V), and won't glow as brightly.

Sorry for the rambling. . . It just kept flowing :-D