Posted: 12/8/2014 4:57:40 PM EDT
| I am getting ready to mount two new LED lights to where my existing fog lights are. The new LEDs have one wire coming out of the housing with a black and red wire exposed. Will I be able to cut my old fog light wires and connect these directly? Or will I need a relay/ fuse as well? |
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Power regulator?
As long as the LED lights are 12v, which I imagine they are.... You should be just fine. You'll only need to add fuses/relay protection if the new lights draw more current than the old lights. You can find this out two ways: 1) see how many watts they are compared to the old bulbs or 2) find out what the recommended circuit protection is for the new lights and compare that to what the Jeep has (fuse value on the circuit). |
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Do automotive LED's run at less than 12V? Quoted:
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If the modules contain a power regulator, yes, otherwise they'll go up in smoke. Do automotive LED's run at less than 12V? At the very least they'll need a current limiting resistor, which functionally is a power regulator ;) |
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At the very least they'll need a current limiting resistor, which functionally is a power regulator ;) Quoted:
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If the modules contain a power regulator, yes, otherwise they'll go up in smoke. Do automotive LED's run at less than 12V? At the very least they'll need a current limiting resistor, which functionally is a power regulator ;) Do they run at 12V? The answer to this really does determine my response. You're confusing me, because you're acting as if it's voltage that needs to be reduced. Is it? Why are you talking about limiting current? If the LED's will handle the supply voltage, I don't understand why you're of the opinion that they'll be "smoked" if current isn't limited. They'll only draw what they need and/or are capable of drawing...if they're intended to be used at 12V (more like 14V). Are they? Are they not? |
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Do they run at 12V? The answer to this really does determine my response. You're confusing me, because you're acting as if it's voltage that needs to be reduced. Is it? Why are you talking about limiting current? If the LED's will handle the supply voltage, I don't understand why you're of the opinion that they'll be "smoked" if current isn't limited. They'll only draw what they need and/or are capable of drawing...if they're intended to be used at 12V (more like 14V). Are they? Are they not? Quoted:
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If the modules contain a power regulator, yes, otherwise they'll go up in smoke. Do automotive LED's run at less than 12V? At the very least they'll need a current limiting resistor, which functionally is a power regulator ;) Do they run at 12V? The answer to this really does determine my response. You're confusing me, because you're acting as if it's voltage that needs to be reduced. Is it? Why are you talking about limiting current? If the LED's will handle the supply voltage, I don't understand why you're of the opinion that they'll be "smoked" if current isn't limited. They'll only draw what they need and/or are capable of drawing...if they're intended to be used at 12V (more like 14V). Are they? Are they not? An LED is a diode, and when it is forward-biased, it is effectively a short (little to no resistance). Diodes do have current limits and to safely maintain those limits you need a resistor to provide a load for the supply voltage. Otherwise, they will run really bright... for a short time. |
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Most of the automotive LED fog lights, light bars, etc. have an operating range of 10-30V DC.
ETA: To answer the op's question; Assuming your lights don't draw 10 amps or more, I wouldn't mess with a relay. Generally, relays are needed for the 30+ in. light bars. I would use your existing set-up. If the fog lights are OEM they will have already have a fuse. Just make sure the fuse is equal to, or greater than the amperage of the LED fog lights. Amps = watts / volts |
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Most of the automotive LED fog lights, light bars, etc. have an operating range of 10-30V DC. ETA: To answer the op's question; Assuming your lights don't draw 10 amps or more, I wouldn't mess with a relay. Generally, relays are needed for the 30+ in. light bars. I would use your existing set-up. If the fog lights are OEM they will have already have a fuse. Just make sure the fuse is equal to, or greater than the amperage of the LED fog lights. Amps = watts / volts You would think that, but the Jeep JKs can-bus will cause the damn things to blink intermittently. He needs to use a seperate relay. |