Hi all, total noob when it comes to lights.
Looking for help. I have a set of LED strip lights
I wanted to power then from a 12v battery
I connected the battery to the RGB controller and the controller smelt burnt. Unsurprisingly… lights didnt work.
I can buy a new controller but i dont want to burn out another one. My logic that a 12v battery should have been fine didnt seem to play out.
Can anyone advise how I fix this?
Thanks!
I hope you enjoy your stay, evilistix!
My former username was “raccoon city” so I’m a fan of “evil.”
A fully charged 12V sealed lead-acid battery has a voltage of about 12.8V. If it is connected to the charger that will be some 13.6V. But I think the voltage is not the cause of what happened.
Maybe kicking in an open door but what about polarity? Led’s cope with that (in general) by emitting light when connected the right way, and emitting nothing when connected the wrong way. I’m not sure if the controller is as forgiving as the led’s.
Yes, did cross my mind… i will put a multimeter on the original plug and see which of the two cables is +. I kind of guessed first time round.
Got a link to the driver you used?
Hi, not really, it just came with the led strip lights. I can take a photo of it later
I have a number of inexpensive controllers that I use for Christmas lights and DIY bike lights. All of my controllers are labeled 12V DC to 24V DC so connecting one to a 12V SLA battery delivering 13 Volts would never destroy the controller. I had one instance where the shipper sent me 5V strips instead of the 12V strips I had ordered and they died instantly when hooked to a 12V source. If you are using the ordinary flat strips with a glue backing they will always say on the strip what the voltage should be. You can test the strip by just touching the positive lead from your battery to the + side and then touching the negative lead to R, G, and B on the strip. Each color should light up when you do this.
You can get cheap controllers with remote control on eBay. I bought mine from China before the postal rates went up and there are lots of US sellers as well. This one ships by Speedpak so arrives within 10 - 14 days. 5-24V 5050 2835 RGB LED Strip Light Mini 24/44 Key IR Remote Wireless Controller | eBay
US sellers are pretty close in price 44 Keys IR Remote Controller for 4 Pin SMD 5050 3528 2835 RGB LED Strip Lights | eBay and offer 4 day shipping.
Going back to the polarity point earlier… after testing i did have them the wrong way round. Will try again with a new controller tomorrow
This one is a little more complicated because of the wi-fi option so you have 6 connections on the LED strip. Simple RGB has four and smart LED strips that have a lot more options for color changing have 5. You can find inexpensive controllers that also have a remote control so you can control it with the remote as well as with a cell phone. Looking at the damaged controller I see it has a J-21 power connector which is common on most wall converters so if you have an old converter from something like a printer with the J-21 end, you will be able to power your strip. One like this 1A 2A AC/DC 12V Plug Power Supply Adapter Transformer for CCTV Camera/LED Strip | eBay that operates on 110V to 240V AC input and 12 V DC output. The power cord is correctly polarized so you never get the polarity wrong.
I’m also surprised you are using a 12V lead acid battery (SLA) to power your strip. There are 12V lithium ion batteries like the ones used for CCTV backup that can power your strip if you can’t power it from house current. I tried making a very bright bike headlight years ago before LEDs became available and it was a dismal failure because the SLA battery was heavy, bulky, and needed frequent recharging.
Thanks for the response, just to add some background info. This is for my kids playhouse outside :). I have a solar panel on the roof charging the battery i posted earlier. So i only have the option of DC12V.
