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#1 |
Got 20's????
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Aberdeen SD
Posts: 1,451
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LED/ electrical ?
I have an LED bar from a 98 S-10 3rd brake light. Now, these lights are in series right? So can I just cut off which ones I don't need because its too tall. I am going to do 2 or 3 rows of LED's in each tail light going up and down. I just need to find out how to trim them down. Heres a pic of the printed circuit.
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99 Silverado Ex-Cab 2wd, Bagged&WhippleCharged 02 Sierra Ex-Cab 4wd 2500 HD The 72 went down the road. |
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#2 |
Got 20's????
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Aberdeen SD
Posts: 1,451
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and
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99 Silverado Ex-Cab 2wd, Bagged&WhippleCharged 02 Sierra Ex-Cab 4wd 2500 HD The 72 went down the road. |
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#3 |
faster, faster, faster
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Houston ,Texas ,USA
Posts: 1,354
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They should be in series. You could also get a bare board with no cicuitryor holes in it and cut it to fit, and build your own. Not that hard. That way you could integrate an led turn signal with a split in the board, and different colored lights.
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I'm going to Law School, wanna debate? It's good practice. |
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#4 |
Got 20's????
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Aberdeen SD
Posts: 1,451
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But I'm a cheap A#$ and this looks like a cheaper alternative. I have this one plus one more coming off one of our builders. I would wire up just the outside one to blink and all of them for the brake. Figure something out.
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99 Silverado Ex-Cab 2wd, Bagged&WhippleCharged 02 Sierra Ex-Cab 4wd 2500 HD The 72 went down the road. |
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#5 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Help! I'm in an office park with its own network of freeways!
Posts: 470
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They should be in parallel, not series. If they were in series, they'd go from very bright to very dim since each light would eat a bit more voltage as the electricity moved down the line.
Series is like the small Christmas lights (the infamous, "If one goes out, they all go out!"). Parallel is like the big lights (the bulbs screw in). Your dash lights are in parallel.
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'67 C20--427 tall deck/SM420, 4.10 HO52 (Michigan has not been kind to the Old Man) '95 Caprice--355 LT1/T56/3.42 8.5" 10-bolt (daily driver, almost 300k on the chassis) '07 Outback--wife's car. 125k & counting. No head gasket or transmission issues yet. *fingers crossed* |
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#6 |
Got 20's????
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Aberdeen SD
Posts: 1,451
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okay, so now what
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99 Silverado Ex-Cab 2wd, Bagged&WhippleCharged 02 Sierra Ex-Cab 4wd 2500 HD The 72 went down the road. |
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#7 |
Registered User
![]() Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 649
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series is for constant current and parallel is for constant voltage.
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#8 |
faster, faster, faster
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Houston ,Texas ,USA
Posts: 1,354
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If you place resistors and small capicitors in the beginning and the end of the series like ford has done on there LED's then it keeps a constant rate of energy to all the bulbs.
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I'm going to Law School, wanna debate? It's good practice. |
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#9 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Help! I'm in an office park with its own network of freeways!
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Why? If they're in parallel, you already have constant voltage. Adding resistance is just going...
Wait a minute. Do those LEDs take a full 12V (I would think so, but then again I think in incandescent bulbs) or do they take 5V like an ECM & all its sensors? If they took 5V, I could see why resistors would help.
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'67 C20--427 tall deck/SM420, 4.10 HO52 (Michigan has not been kind to the Old Man) '95 Caprice--355 LT1/T56/3.42 8.5" 10-bolt (daily driver, almost 300k on the chassis) '07 Outback--wife's car. 125k & counting. No head gasket or transmission issues yet. *fingers crossed* |
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#10 |
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Brandon, SD, USA
Posts: 1,292
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i THINK most LEDs take 9 volts.
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#11 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Cedar Park, TX
Posts: 686
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They are in parallel...
Most LEDs take 2~4 volts, too much voltage and they will burn out quickly. I am not familiar with the circuit shown, but when removing extra LEDs, for each LED removed you can count on approx 20mA extra going to each LED left. There may be a voltage regulator, and/or resistors mounted on the back, ie, surface mount compontents. Most likey, removing one or two, no problem, more than that and you may end up with all the LED failing rather quickly depending upon the design. Best way to determine the current draw is to use an ammeter on the entire unit, then divide the amps by number of LEDs. If you remove quite a few of the LEDs, you may have to install resistors to make up to the current flow that those LEDs provided for, or else, you'll experience the entire unit failing to light...If you need more help, just e-mail me offline, will be glad to help you make it work.
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#12 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Help! I'm in an office park with its own network of freeways!
Posts: 470
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Ahhh! Makes sense now.
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'67 C20--427 tall deck/SM420, 4.10 HO52 (Michigan has not been kind to the Old Man) '95 Caprice--355 LT1/T56/3.42 8.5" 10-bolt (daily driver, almost 300k on the chassis) '07 Outback--wife's car. 125k & counting. No head gasket or transmission issues yet. *fingers crossed* |
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#13 |
aka Crusher, Crushergmc
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,834
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Yeah but they sound really cool when they blow up. Like a little firecracker!
They may actually be both series and parrallel in groups. Remember, all 12+ volts must be consumed by the components in the series portion of the curcuit (ie, 6 LEDs divided into 12 equals 2vdc each LED. 4 LEDs divided into 12 equals 3vdc). If you cut some LED's out, either eliminate the entire series (if it's one of several groups) or add a resistor to replace the drop from the LED's. Hope this helps.
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"KEEP IT DOWN!" 70 Jimmy 454 2wd 56 GMC Big Window "It's funny till someone gets hurt, then it's freakin' hilarious" |
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