Can I switch LED lights to DC?

[TheThom]

Hi everyone,

I'm building a pop-up camper from the frame up (teardrop just wouldn't be big enough for the whole family). I ordered these LED deck lights

My plan was to mount them low in the cabin as nightlights.

When I ordered them they were marked as "12V LED Deck light" They arrived and they are on a string - the end of which has a transformer that converts 120V AC to 12V AC 0.5A. I guess I was hoping that they would come DC and battery ready.

My question: would I be able to splice the wire and run it from my 12V camper battery? Or would the switch from AC to DC make them non-functional? I'm NOT planning on using an inverter or even having a shore-power hook-up option (planning on boondocking a lot). So, if they won't from DC power, then I'm just going to send them back and start over with my search.

As always, thanks for your expertise and wisdom. You could prolly guess that I am NOT an electrical whiz.

Thom

[GuitarPhotog]

You should be able to just connect the wire that goes to the transformer to your 12VDC source. Since the light is sold for AC use, it no doubt contains a diode rectifier, which means you shouldn't have to worry about polarity, but...

Test it first before installing to make sure you have is what you need.




<Chas>

[eamarquardt]

You should be able to just connect the wire that goes to the transformer to your 12VDC source. Since the light is sold for AC use, it no doubt contains a diode rectifier, which means you shouldn't have to worry about polarity, but...

Test it first before installing to make sure you have is what you need.




<Chas>

LEDs are light emitting "diodes". They are "self rectifying". Since a 12 volt a/c transformer puts out both a positive component and a negative component, the LED rectifies the ac and uses only that portion of the wave that is of the correct polarity.

Individual LEDs don't run on 12 volts but somewhere between 2 and 4 volts. To get the right voltage at the LED either a voltage regulator or resister is used.

You will have to pay attention to the polarity to get the LEDs to work. They should not be damaged if you hook them up with the polarity reversed. Given that they run on 12 volts a/c they should be able to run on 12 volts dc.

Cheers,

Gus

[bmacke]

All of the LED lighting I have so far in my Tear are various ones from IKEA. They all came with a 12V transformer. I just cut off the transformer and wired them directly to 12V. I have only had them for about a year with limited outings, so I can't speak to longevity, but I am very happy with them so far. Even the fancy color change ones work just fine.

Brian

[TheThom]

Awesome! Thanks guys!

[H.A.]

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