VGMStudios

I have been meaning to write about this, just never got around to it and never knew where to post it.. But anyways enough rambling.

Id like to know if anyone here can help me with a small project that I have been thinking about doing for a while. I just dont understand electrical work (volts, MA) and such.

What I want to do:
I bought outdoor LED lights for the fence. They are charged by solar power. They use a 3.5v battery and I have about 20 of them hanging on the fence (I can get the actual number later).
What I want to do is remove the battery function and let them be powered by plugging them all into the mains (power outlet on the side of the house).
Reason why I want to do this is cause its not always sunny here, there more most days the lights are dim or off and the battery only lasts about 3 or 4 hours. Would like them to last all night until the sun comes up when they will turn off due to the solar panels.

So how do I calcualte what kind of adapter do I need to power these lights after chaining them all together?

Bert

I hate electricity, because it is invisible and it bites. . . but it does come in handy for a lot of things, LOL

It sounds like the LED's operate on 3.5V DC (direct current). The house is 110V AC (alternating current). So you would need a converter (I forget the technical name, "inverter" maybe) that converts 110V AC to 3.5V DC. I don't know if you can buy such a thing; but that would be a good place to start, maybe Google can find it.

It also needs to provide plenty of current (amps) but I don't think that will be an issue, because LED's don't draw much current.

Another issue would be the light-sensitve switching. I think you'd need to find that for the 110V AC power source.

Those are some rough thoughts, like I said I am not the greatest with electricity either, so maybe someone else can clarify/correct as needed.

Mustang Freak

x1000
I hate electricity I don't even like carpet shock! There's a job you literally couldn't pay me enough to ever do!

houtex

You need to know the amount of VDC the string(s) use, AND the Amps as well. Without those key things, nobody can tell you how to fix this properly. If you cannot find the information the only way to know is to test with a multimeter. Remove the negative side of the battery after it's fully charged. Now insert a mulitmeter set to 10VDC, turn the circuit on and get the lights working. Note the VDC being consumed. It will drop, that's ok, the first couple of numbers are close enough for our use. Turn the circuit off. Switch the multimeter to 10Amp. Turn the circuit on. Record the amps used. It's likely maybe 1 or 2, possibly 3... Whatever it is, we need this.

Alrighty, you have the specs. Go find one of these:
https://www.newegg.com/p/16J-0175-00...9SIAFY67M22928

Make sure it can hit the approximate VDC (3 most likely will work, given the battery size, I'll explain in a minute) and the *Amps* needed. Not Watts. Although you can go find a calculator to convert things, it's just easier to know the Amps are correct.

You can also find a purpose built single selection VDC/Amp adapter (say a 3.3V at 2.1A one) so there's no guesswork.

I'd also maybe run the lights down to near exhaustion and then see what the voltage/amp draws are there. The middle is a good target between the two extremes. Say you started at 3.3VDC, then it dropped down to 2.5VDC. 3VDC would be fine in that case. Amps will probably be the same though, but it's possible it moves.

So there ya go. Get er dun.

---

Regarding the 'probably 3 VDC will work' thing, this is because *typical* LEDs are at the 3V range. Anywhere from 1.7VDC to 4VDC for the blue and white ones, and anywhere in between. 3.3VDC is the overall target that's aimed for for these things, though, because most work in that voltage. That's per LED. They also draw a mere 0.26A per LED. Not a lot. And they act very much like a short, or more correctly a very very teeny fuse. They typically will blow their brains out if you hook them up directly. So you need a resistor in the mix for a single LED to work at 3V off that battery or it'll go pop.

And while there's an optimum VDC, they'll work in a range. And thats' from 1.7VDC up to the 4VDC. Or so I am understanding this...

Then again, we're talking 20, which is sort of an odd number given the 3V situation... to me anyway... But they probably wired up the entire 20 LED string in series, then that's going to be 3V at 2.6A, not including the resistors... which may or may not be needed in a string of this many LEDs. Possibly. One can't be sure, need the specs or the tests, and this stuff gets weird fast. There may be a voltage regulator or rectifier... it gets complicated... but the circutry's already there, you're just needing to supply a good, clean, reliable and steady source that replicates the battery good enough.

https://electronicsclub.info/leds.htm
And this for the voltage thing...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED_ci...%203.3%20volts.

Maybe that helps, IDK. I read a little of it and I understand some words in it here and there...

I think the multimeter testing is the way to go myself. You'd have an easy time gettin' the right adapter and off ya go and things. Although the battery would be a smoother, steady supply, so you need to investigate the smoothness of the supply you'd get to replicate it, like I said before. If you have a 'bumpy' square rectified 'DC' power going on, it's not gonna be fully smooth...

I love electrics.

Hope it helps anyway, have fun, let us know what happens! Worst case, kablooie goes the string!

/Of course, you could always keep the battery in it and just get a battery tender that'd do the job...? Might be easier than all that silliness above...

VGMStudios

Houtex just so you know I read this and I kinda get it.
These are the type of lights I am talking about.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lots-10-Sol...p/283960183658
Id like to string those together and plug them into the wall.
There are about 20 of them Id like to string up together.

Im gonna do this when the weather gets warmer.

David Young

I use cell phone 110v plug in charger adapters to power my ring doorbell and my outside security cameras. Never have to charge batteries again. I had to buy longer cables that go to the 110v plug adapter. I think they were something like $10 for each 15 foot cable (might have been 20 feet). I did this aver a year ago. If this makes any sense