LED Problem - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

cadyshac · 09-15-2015, 05:04 PM

I have some LED strips behind my grill and in the engine bay that have been there for over a year with no problems. I have a small RF remote, .5 amp per channel, 3 channels. All of this stuff is RGB and from superbrightleds.

I got the DRL halo rings from Nightowl, intending to run them off my existing controller. When I add the nightowl halos, my existing strips will not turn off. They fade to a faint blue but will not turn off. The nightowl halos do turn off though. The nightowl halos have their own separate "driver" but it is powered by my existing controller. The red power wire for the driver was eliminated by nightowl. There is a black ground wire but when I touch it to ground I can see a spark, even if my controller is turned off.

I have not been able to get in touch with anyone at Night Owl yet. I did talk to superbrightleds and they said I am exceeding the output of my controller. By my calculations I am close but should not be over the amperage rating. I am fine with buying another controller with a higher amperage output but first I want to be 100% certain this is the problem. When everything is hooked up all the colors and variations of them work fine, red, green, blue, purple, etc.

I feel like something else is wrong but I am not an electrician, help please!

Sorry this is so long,

Cady

GVA 45TH 2SS · 09-15-2015, 05:41 PM

If you have one channel for the halos then you can run one on full white before you hit the .5 amp limit. So I assume the Nightowls are 1 watt per color (Red, green, blue) 3 watts for white.
How many other strips is your controller powering? Wattage? Colors your trying to run?
If your controller cant put out enough power, I believe you can hook up the red wire going to the Nightowl driver to add a separate 12 volt line to prevent voltage drop.

Below is from the install instructions.

Make the connections: Connect the red, green, blue, black wire from the LED driver to the LED controller. If the
controller can supply enough power (such as a NightOwl SL port), the red wire of the red/black bundle does not need
to be connected. Seal it off. This black wire DOES need to be connected to ground (could be the same ground as the
DRL bulbs).

I would wait for Joe to confirm this before doing anything though.
Try contacting him here on the forum
Joe@NightOwlLEDs
or through their website.
https://nightowlleds.com/index.php?r...mation/contact

09-15-2015, 05:04 PM	#1
cadyshac It's in the hole! Drives: '11 2SS L99 SGM, '18 2SS, M6, HWSE Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Kentucky Posts: 1,401	LED Problem I have some LED strips behind my grill and in the engine bay that have been there for over a year with no problems. I have a small RF remote, .5 amp per channel, 3 channels. All of this stuff is RGB and from superbrightleds. I got the DRL halo rings from Nightowl, intending to run them off my existing controller. When I add the nightowl halos, my existing strips will not turn off. They fade to a faint blue but will not turn off. The nightowl halos do turn off though. The nightowl halos have their own separate "driver" but it is powered by my existing controller. The red power wire for the driver was eliminated by nightowl. There is a black ground wire but when I touch it to ground I can see a spark, even if my controller is turned off. I have not been able to get in touch with anyone at Night Owl yet. I did talk to superbrightleds and they said I am exceeding the output of my controller. By my calculations I am close but should not be over the amperage rating. I am fine with buying another controller with a higher amperage output but first I want to be 100% certain this is the problem. When everything is hooked up all the colors and variations of them work fine, red, green, blue, purple, etc. I feel like something else is wrong but I am not an electrician, help please! Sorry this is so long, Cady

09-15-2015, 05:41 PM	#2
GVA 45TH 2SS KNGTFALL Drives: 2012 2SS 45th edition Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: (Near) Charlotte, NC Posts: 1,533	If you have one channel for the halos then you can run one on full white before you hit the .5 amp limit. So I assume the Nightowls are 1 watt per color (Red, green, blue) 3 watts for white. How many other strips is your controller powering? Wattage? Colors your trying to run? If your controller cant put out enough power, I believe you can hook up the red wire going to the Nightowl driver to add a separate 12 volt line to prevent voltage drop. Below is from the install instructions. Make the connections: Connect the red, green, blue, black wire from the LED driver to the LED controller. If the controller can supply enough power (such as a NightOwl SL port), the red wire of the red/black bundle does not need to be connected. Seal it off. This black wire DOES need to be connected to ground (could be the same ground as the DRL bulbs). I would wait for Joe to confirm this before doing anything though. Try contacting him here on the forum Joe@NightOwlLEDs or through their website. https://nightowlleds.com/index.php?r...mation/contact