Electrical question

[Kelsey]

I am confused as to how to hook multiple lights in series on my aft deck. I want to "daisy chain" them if you will. They are small, LED oval lights to be hidden and facing down for subtle lighting. Do they make "Y" splices? Or can I simply put one wire in one end of a butt splice, and 2 wires out the other end....make sense?

[stevenovascotia]

I would use a butt splice and put one wire in one side and two in the other. A good idea to put a little dab of silicone into the ends of the butt splices after crimping for marine work - keeps the nasties out.

[stevenovascotia]

If you do solder (I agree it's ultimately the best) Use a solvent such as alcohol to wipe off the resin after soldering or you will end up with worse corrosion. Don't script on the tape you use if you solder - use a good 3m product like #33 or #88 tape available at most electrical wholesalers. It won't fall off like most cheap stuff. If you opt for the butt splices use the silicone to prevent oxidization as previously mentioned.

[62 Connie]

I can appreciate a taped splice. I have had my rubber tape and scotch kote splices pressure tested to 2 miles. But, for just fooling around I would rather be lazy and used lined heat shrink and my ol lady’s hair dryer. If the liner is any good, the splice should be sealed.

[Tom Lathrop]

Whoah guys.

Regardless of how you hook them up, you have to abide by the current/voltage rating of the LED's which is typically in the range of 20 to 30 milliamps at 2.5 to 3.5 volts. You need the specification data of the LED you intend to use before you decide how to hook them up.

For white LED's, you might find that 3 lights in series with a current limiting resistor of about 50 ohms with the whole string connected to 12 volts would be about right for some typical units. Any number of other identical parallel strings could be hooked to the same 12 volts.

[Gary E]

Kelsey,
From your question, it's plain to see you NEED a LOT of help with basic electical systems. With that in mind, hire an electrician to do this for you so you dont create an accident waiting to happen, electricals fire's are a real pain, and not eazy to put out.

For a for a simple system thats already built, get a outdoor set of Christmass tree lights put your choise of bulbs in and install them where you want and be sure to fuse what ever you install.

Good luck
G

[Nicholas Carey]

LIke they say, wire them in parallel, not in series. Wired in series, if one thing fails, the entire circuit fails—have you ever tried to figure out which bulb in the christmas tree light string is the one that burned out and made all of them go out?

Second, use marine wire, not stock electrical wire. Marine wire is tinned its entire length before the insulation is applied in order to minimize corrosion.

Third, if you're new at the electrical wiring thang....get a good book first. Then think about hiring someone who does know, even if only to give you advice and make sure you're doing it properly.

[Bryan Mehus]

Kelsey,
I think there may be some confusion now,eh?

As Tom L said, individual LEDs will have a specific forward voltage drop and are polarity sensitive, combinations of series parallel connections can be used to acheive the desired voltage drop combined with current limiting resistors. Don't do this with blue or white LEDs though, because they are too voltage sensitive, and will have a problem with your charging system. They can be used with a voltage regulator designed for the specific circuit.

Having said that, I don't believe that is what you are trying to do. You probably have lamps designed for auto/marine '12Volt' systems using LEDs. Right? If that is the case then it is just the wording parallel and series that is confusing the issue for you. In a parallel cct. all the loads have the same voltage accross them i.e. one side of all the loads(lamps)is connected to positive and the other to negative, with nothing other than a conductor between the loads. In a series cct. all the loads have the same current,i.e. as the charge carrier leaves one lamp it enters the next and so on until it returns to the battery.

Mechanical connections can be made a number of ways, I prefer properly crimped connections, well sealed, but soldered and sealed should be okay, except on high current applications, solder should not be the only connection means, the lug should be crimped as well.

Bryan

[Kelsey]

Umm...sure, I may NEED a LOT of help,(?) but I'm not stupid! I have been working with a licensed marine electrician wiring my boat, him teaching me as we go. My original question was something we wouldn't be able to get to until next week, so I just wanted to know what to expect when we got to it. Knowlege is power...(It also makes things less expensive when you learn from a pro, and don't have to pay for it later).