even more coFUSEd lol

[pottinger]

i maybe being a dunce here, but gona ask anyway.

ok, take for instance some LED lighting.

i have the battery one end to connect to.

now, what rating of inline fuse do you use. eg

LED lights are multicolour.

the instructions say
output : three output
Max load current : 3a each colour

so do i put an inline fuse between the battery and the lights of 3amp ?
If i put a larger one surely the lights can draw more and explode :shock: :lol: :roll: :?

this electrikery is doin my head in :lol:

any help mucho appreciated
a light installing potts

 

[terrier man]

Don't want to confuse you :lol: but have you fitted a seperate fuse box for your leisure battery circuit then you can have all your internal lighting on one or two circuits it's not hard to do.
3amps seem's high to me for led's maybe wrong but I run an entire circuit of 5 off of that, remember always best to under than over with leccy fuse's.

 

[lard]

Don't want to confuse you :lol: but have you fitted a seperate fuse box for your leisure battery circuit then you can have all your internal lighting on one or two circuits it's not hard to do.
3amps seem's high to me for led's maybe wrong but I run an entire circuit of 5 off of that, remember always best to under than over with leccy fuse's.

WHS ^^ - probably best to look at your controller, as assume if you have RGB LED's then you will have a controller inline connected to them to control the colour e.t.c. - it's the control power draw you need to use the fuse for, as the LED's will be connected directly to this, then onto the fusebox?

 

[pottinger]

okay,

the remote box states : output current 9a (max)

Yes, i have an extreme van split charge box with 10x 12v spade fused terminals on it.

So i run the accessory to the box and thats where i have to decide what fuse size to put in :?

why not if all my wire is 16.5 amp cant i just put 15 amp fuses in all of them :?

I have a LCD tv that is connected and states 23watts (divided by 12 = 1.92 amp) so is a 3 amp fuse correct ?
what actually protects the tv or the lights ? or doesnt that come into the equation ?

sorry for being so dumb here, but realy want to make sure I get this right :?

a thinks i better do a sparky course potts :lol:

 

[gvee]

I know this isn't fuse related but I think it is worth noting and this is also from memory so give me a break if it's wrong :lol:

You shouldn't wire up an LED circuit without a resistor. The resistor should be before all the lights in a series circuit. If you are wiring parallel then each "arm" of the circuit should be treated as a separate series circuit i.e. have its own resistor too.

V1 - V2 = I x R

V1 = supply voltage
V2 = voltage draw
I = current
R = resistance

As an example: 12V car battery, a single 3V LED that draws 20mA

12 - 3 = 0.02 x R
9 = 0.02 x R
R = 450ohms (minimum)

Now, you probably don't have a 450ohm resistor so you need to apply the "next biggest" rule.

As a second example, we'll chuck 3 LEDs in series in to the circuit with the same ratings as above:

12 - (3 x 3) = 0.02 x R
3 = 0.02 x R
R = 150ohms (minimum)

Lastly it is worth noting that whilst the alternator is charging stuff,your supply can vary up to 14.5V or so. So repeat the last example with a different supply voltage to be safe:

14.5 - (3 x 3) = 0.02 x R
5.5 = 0.02 x R
R = 275ohms (minimum)

Hope this helps, and hope this is accurate too!

 

[pottinger]

oh this looks likes its getting more cofususususuing by the second :lol:
think ill buy some candles.....

i tried the lights briefly against the battery and they wiorked ok, maybe the ir controller has a resistor in it :? :?

a candle wantin potts

 

[67panel]

for f**ks sake stick a 10amp fuse in ,if it blows stick a 15 in.you will never get it finished at this rate :roll:

 

[pottinger]

for f**ks sake stick a 10amp fuse in ,if it blows stick a 15 in.you will never get it finished at this rate :roll:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

the resistor ohm thing is gettin me now :lol: they work off a 3amp fuse (or seem to) so may just go with that.

what i dont get is what actually protects the piece of equipment ?
ie,
my lcd TV is rated 3 amp
wire is 16.5amp from tv to fusebox
putting a 6.5 amp fuse in the fusebox is only protecting the wire ?? or am i missing something here
what stops the tv from going kaboom :?

a glad im not a sparkie potts

 

[67panel]

what ever you have wired in can only draw its rated elecy,dont matter what wire is on it,fuse is there to stop a short or fault when too much currant is drawn.i.e. it blows to stop melt down/fire.so twice the rating will still blow with a fault.

 

[Duncan Clarke]

Fuses are not there to protect your appliances from your wiring but to protect your wiring from the appliances.

If your tv for example failed and shorted out it would draw a big current. This blows the fuse. Without that safest valve it would instead heat up the wiring and quickly start a fire.

The way to pick the correct fuse as suggested is to simply check the maximum current that it will draw from the 12v and go as close above this as possible.

 

[lard]

I know this isn't fuse related but I think it is worth noting and this is also from memory so give me a break if it's wrong :lol:

You shouldn't wire up an LED circuit without a resistor. The resistor should be before all the lights in a series circuit. If you are wiring parallel then each "arm" of the circuit should be treated as a separate series circuit i.e. have its own resistor too.

V1 - V2 = I x R

V1 = supply voltage
V2 = voltage draw
I = current
R = resistance

As an example: 12V car battery, a single 3V LED that draws 20mA

12 - 3 = 0.02 x R
9 = 0.02 x R
R = 450ohms (minimum)

Now, you probably don't have a 450ohm resistor so you need to apply the "next biggest" rule.

As a second example, we'll chuck 3 LEDs in series in to the circuit with the same ratings as above:

12 - (3 x 3) = 0.02 x R
3 = 0.02 x R
R = 150ohms (minimum)

Lastly it is worth noting that whilst the alternator is charging stuff,your supply can vary up to 14.5V or so. So repeat the last example with a different supply voltage to be safe:

14.5 - (3 x 3) = 0.02 x R
5.5 = 0.02 x R
R = 275ohms (minimum)

Hope this helps, and hope this is accurate too!

This brings me back to my electronic days

Yes - LED needs a 470 ohm resister..but..most LED (strips, bulbs e.t.c.) now have resisters built-in so it's not a problem,

With regards the fuse, yep, it's to protect your wiring/battery from a fault on an appliance that will cause the fuse to blow before you reach the rating of your associated cables - your LED rating for max current may seem excessive, but then it might well reach 9A if you have 6 15Watt LED strips connected..

As it is, just note how many are connected and then calculate the current draw and stick a fuse in - so 3 x 5Watt strips/bulbs gives you:

W=I x V
I = W / V
I = (3 x 5) / 12 = 1.25 Amps

So place a 3A fuse and away you go

Just confirm that everything you have on the leisure system should be fused...I also have fuses between my smart charger and the LB...can't have too many and better safe than sorry - also better to lowball the rating and have it blow when you pump the volume up on an amp than have fuse rated higher than cable rating - sounds like you are getting to grips with it and must drop some piccies of your LED setup when done!

 

[lard]

for f**ks sake stick a 10amp fuse in ,if it blows stick a 15 in.you will never get it finished at this rate :roll:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

the resistor ohm thing is gettin me now :lol: they work off a 3amp fuse (or seem to) so may just go with that.

what i dont get is what actually protects the piece of equipment ?
ie,
my lcd TV is rated 3 amp
wire is 16.5amp from tv to fusebox
putting a 6.5 amp fuse in the fusebox is only protecting the wire ?? or am i missing something here
what stops the tv from going kaboom :?

a glad im not a sparkie potts

As 67panel says, your TV will only draw what it draws...the associated components require certain amounts of current and add them all together you get your total - the connection is not like a pipe and you open it and current flows at a maximum, it only gets drawn from positive to negative by the components when they require power (so something like a small transformer inside the TV will draw more current as this energy is used and emitted as heat e.t.c.) and this power comes from the potential difference between positive and negative and the attraction of electrons to flow from one to the other - if you connected pos to neg then it would draw as much current as possible - but it's the potential of the attraction that starts it all of, voltage is also known as "potential difference" ....

So - the only time your TV would draw more amps than expected is through a failure of a component = drawing too much power, or, overheating of a cable for example which melts and positive touches negative, trys to draw as much current as it can (nothing restricting it like a resister) and .. the fuse blows when it goes above it's rating..

how quickly it blows you can decide as you can get slow and quick blow fuses - so you can put a slow blow 3A fuse and a quick blow 15A fuse - if you just draw more current on a circuit by adding another appliance, to bring it to say 4A, the 3A blows - but if you have a fault the 15A blows first, this way you can also work out if it was an appliance fault or over loading that caused your fuse to go

sorry for the waffle - hopefully explains it a bit more?

 

[pottinger]

thanks guys, i am feeling more confident now :lol:
ill let the missus sleep in the van for the first few trips :msn4: if she survives i did my job well

a lights out potts

 

[pottinger]

last question - promise :lol:

the lights are 24w
the draw in this case should be 2amp
yet the instructions say
max load current : 3A each colour (I presume that means 3 x aA)

SO

is that a 10 amp fuse required OR a 2 amp ?

They seem to work ok with a 3 amp fuse :? so surely if they are rated 9 amp the fuse would blow ?

a red faced potts

 

[67panel]

sorry dont know what this light is like,are all the colours on together?anyway if its not blown the 3amp fuse should be ok,take a selection with you then you can always fit a 5amp or 10 if need be.






dave --not overthinking just doing :msn4:

 

[lard]

is the max 3A per colour on the controller? as this would make more sense (as you can put multiple lights on it) - if it's 24W strip then that is likely max power, which is white, as this is the colour with all channels on so 3A is fine

 

[pottinger]

is the max 3A per colour on the controller? as this would make more sense (as you can put multiple lights on it) - if it's 24W strip then that is likely max power, which is white, as this is the colour with all channels on so 3A is fine

Yes it's on the controller so I presume 3 colours could draw 3 x 3amp thereby drawing 9a so 10a fuse required .?

Or am I bein well stupid here :lol:

A scared of blowin me bus up Potts

 

[lard]

is the max 3A per colour on the controller? as this would make more sense (as you can put multiple lights on it) - if it's 24W strip then that is likely max power, which is white, as this is the colour with all channels on so 3A is fine

Yes it's on the controller so I presume 3 colours could draw 3 x 3amp thereby drawing 9a so 10a fuse required .?

Or am I bein well stupid here :lol:

A scared of blowin me bus up Potts

Not quite, I would think that the controller can handle a max 3A per channel - your lights are 25W max, so thats 2A total, divide it by three is 0.7A per channel - so a 3A fuse will be fine for the one light

finished putting mine in tonight - never easy to take a picture of lights in the dark on a phone but you get the idea - with the door closed all the light is ambient inside, but with door open it lights up awning/area 8)

 

[pottinger]

I'm liking that lard 8) thanks for the advice too. Gona stick a 3a in Then.

Mounted them around the perimeter of the pop top opening, so its one big disco light when needed and a normal light if not

You could get really carried away with these :msn4:

Also to now, I was going to put an inline switch before the remote/controller as I believe this draws power in in the off mode by quite a bit, rather not but suppose its worth doing :?

A weekending Potts :lol:

 

[lard]

I'd put a switch in - the power draw will be negligable but will slowly drain it - I've just done the same infront of a voltage gauge I put the board under the bed, as my gauge for checking my battery was draining it