voltage greater than 14 for led panel

Home / the12volt's Install Bay / Lights, Neon, LEDs, HIDs / voltage greater than 14 for led panel (

Topic Closed)

Welcome Guest :)

Members

< Prev Topic Next Topic >

68jimmy

Member - Posts: 2

Joined: December 30, 2007

Location: New Mexico, United States

Posted: December 30, 2007 at 12:52 PM / IP Logged

I have been using the led wizard to design an led panel for my truck. M problem is that I have anywhere from 14.2 to 14.5 volts. My panel will consist of 120 super bright red leds configured as 6 x 20. Is there a way to install a simple voltage regulator to keep a constant 12v across my panel?

Thanks in Advance!

donovan

KPierson

Platinum - Posts: 3,527

This member consistently provides reliable information

Joined: April 14, 2005

Location: Ohio, United States

Posted: December 31, 2007 at 12:35 AM / IP Logged

You're best bet would be to go with a 5vdc regulator - like a 7805. You could possibly go with a 7812 (12vdc regulator) but you generally like to see at least two volts higher then your regulator output on the input at all times (so 14.0vdc on the input of the 12vdc regulator). If the car isn't running, you won't have the 14vdc. If you go with a 5vdc system you'll always have enough headroom. You can get a 7805 in a 1A package at Radioshack. If you need more then 1A you can wire them in parallel. If you are using over 100mA of current from a single 7805 you'll need to add a heatsink.

Kevin Pierson

68jimmy

Member - Posts: 2

Joined: December 30, 2007

Location: New Mexico, United States

Posted: December 31, 2007 at 2:11 PM / IP Logged

After doing a bit more reading and research I was intrigued by perhaps using a 12v zener diode across the parallel/series setup. Have you had the opportunity to try such a setup? It looks good on paper but I'm not sure that my calculations are correct and that I really need as big a diode... Thought?

Thanks.

KPierson

Platinum - Posts: 3,527

Joined: April 14, 2005

Location: Ohio, United States

Posted: December 31, 2007 at 2:45 PM / IP Logged

I would still go with a 5vdc regulator.

If you go with a zener you will need to completly isolate the LED voltage from the battery voltage, because you don't want to zener clipping the output from your alternator (not that you would ever get a zener diode with that much current capacity). You would probably need a large power diode and then a large current, but low resistance load resistor or something along those lines.

With the 5vdc regulator all you'll need is the regulator, a couple optional (but recomended caps) and your current limiting resistors for each LED (or each bank, however you choose to do it). I always recomend individual resistors, but with 120 LEDs I might put one resistor for 2 or 3 LEDs. Remember, if you use one resistor for 6 LEDs if something in that leg fails the entire segment will go out.

Kevin Pierson

Sorry, you can NOT post a reply.
This topic is closed.

Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

Search the12volt.com

Follow the12volt.com

Disclaimer: *All information on this site ( the12volt.com ) is provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular use. Any user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and use of this information. Please verify all wire colors and diagrams before applying any information.

voltage greater than 14 for led panel

Sorry, you can NOT post a reply.This topic is closed.

Sorry, you can NOT post a reply.
This topic is closed.