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New to electronics need help on LED circuit for motorcycle

padyleitzel

Jun 18, 2010
2
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Jun 18, 2010
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2
Hey so im kinda new to electronics but I have a basic understanding of it. So I got the idea to put about 4-6 led's under my bike to make it look nicer. So I figured I would start from the battery which has 12v then I want a switch in the circuit so I figured I could put that after the battery followed by a resistor which then leads to the led's which are in parallel and then that leads back to the battery. Can anyone confirm that this is the order in which they go?
 

(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
Moderator
Jan 21, 2010
25,510
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Jan 21, 2010
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25,510
Yep, that's pretty much it. You would probably want a fuse between the battery and the switch (closest to the battery is better) just in case you accidentally short something. It may not be necessary to take the return right back to the battery, the bike's frame may be connected to one side of the battery (I don't know, I don't work on bikes :)).

It's probably best to take the power from a point that only provides power when the ignition is on. That way you won't get into trouble by flattening the battery if you leave it turned on. Alternatively, you could take the power from the headlight, which almost certainly goes off with the ignition -- it will eliminate the problem of finding a place for the switch.

What colour LEDs are you thinking about? Differnt colours have different requirements, so red vs blue require slightly different calculations for number of LEDs per string and value of resistor. Also consider how bright you want the LEDs. If you want to see them as bright points of light, you can use standard LEDs. If you want to direct them to the road and see an illuminated patch of road under the bike, then you'll need higher powered LEDs.

On a bike (or under any vehicle) you really have to consider mounting and protection of the devices. You don't want to leave exposed wires or places where debris from the road can break something.
 

padyleitzel

Jun 18, 2010
2
Joined
Jun 18, 2010
Messages
2
I want the switch so that I can turn them off. So that at night if I want I can pop them on and during the day I could have them off. Or if im passing by a cop I could turn them off being blue is I believe illegal. I just want them for show pretty much im not looking to illuminate the road so that I can see. I just want there to be the blue illuminating out of the bikes body work.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3111495&retainProdsInSession=1

I was thinking about getting these.and yes I was going to try and make everything as sealed as possible so that nothing can get into my bike or harm the components.
 
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