Any electricians in here? LED wiring question. - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Cornflakes'Camaro · 05-13-2021, 08:28 PM

I got an LED wire kit (40 ft). It comes powered by a 120V plug in wire, with a 12v output from the plug in box. The wire supplying power to the LEDs is 22AWG. I want to cut the plug/box off and wire it to be powered by a marine battery. All connections will be soldered & heat shrunk. My question is:
1) can this be safely done?
2) what size on-line fuse should I use?

Thank you!

davesnever · 05-13-2021, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cornflakes'Camaro

I got an LED wire kit (40 ft). It comes powered by a 120V plug in wire, with a 12v output from the plug in box. The wire supplying power to the LEDs is 22AWG. I want to cut the plug/box off and wire it to be powered by a marine battery. All connections will be soldered & heat shrunk. My question is:
1) can this be safely done?
2) what size on-line fuse should I use?

Thank you!

Yup totally safe! LED's are low voltage and draw very little current. Since they are low voltage the fuse in a dedicated circuit should be 5A or less as most 22AWG wire is rated for about 6-7A. To be be on the safe side a 2.5A fuse would easily protect the circuit. What you are doing is basically making sure the fuse is the weakest link in the circuit and it will burn out before your wiring. Of course there are other factors involved such as LED chip type and length of the strip but you will find almost all LED strips are wired with 22AWG which is used for low power distribution.

Cornflakes'Camaro · 05-14-2021, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davesnever

Yup totally safe! LED's are low voltage and draw very little current. Since they are low voltage the fuse in a dedicated circuit should be 5A or less as most 22AWG wire is rated for about 6-7A. To be be on the safe side a 2.5A fuse would easily protect the circuit. What you are doing is basically making sure the fuse is the weakest link in the circuit and it will burn out before your wiring. Of course there are other factors involved such as LED chip type and length of the strip but you will find almost all LED strips are wired with 22AWG which is used for low power distribution.

Awesome Dave, thanks for replying. So I dont have to worry about the battery over powering the LEDs and turning them and whatever they are mounted too into melted liquid?

davesnever · 05-14-2021, 09:32 PM

No you are fine, I have added 3 strips in my trunk directly off the interior light circuit and also run a 20ft. strip around the perimeter of my engine bay that is wired into headlight circuit. As I recall I have a 2.5A fuse on the engine bay one and the trunk I just tapped into the circuit and left it unfused because the BCM is already protected. I did use a larger guage wire to feed them of course.

05-13-2021, 08:28 PM	#1
Cornflakes'Camaro Counting down the days... Drives: Black 2011 2SS/RS Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Fort Walton Beach, Fl Posts: 637 View My Garage	Any electricians in here? LED wiring question. I got an LED wire kit (40 ft). It comes powered by a 120V plug in wire, with a 12v output from the plug in box. The wire supplying power to the LEDs is 22AWG. I want to cut the plug/box off and wire it to be powered by a marine battery. All connections will be soldered & heat shrunk. My question is: 1) can this be safely done? 2) what size on-line fuse should I use? Thank you! __________________ Tick Performance Custom Cam w/ support mods/BBK LT Headers w/ midpipes/Straight Exhaust/Airaid Cold Air Intake/ZL1 Driveshaft/ZL1 Differential/Hendrix Engineering Offset Bushings/ZL1 Axles/BMR Rear Subframe Bushings/BMR Toe Rods/Carlyle Racing 15" Conversion/Jannetty Winsheild Bottle Scoop/Forgestar 15x10 Beadlocks wrapped in Mickey Thompson Radial Pros

05-14-2021, 09:32 PM	#4
davesnever Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Richmond Hill ,Ontario, Canada Posts: 780 View My Garage	No you are fine, I have added 3 strips in my trunk directly off the interior light circuit and also run a 20ft. strip around the perimeter of my engine bay that is wired into headlight circuit. As I recall I have a 2.5A fuse on the engine bay one and the trunk I just tapped into the circuit and left it unfused because the BCM is already protected. I did use a larger guage wire to feed them of course.