tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Wife has the idea of marking the dark stairs at the French house with LED's, a bit like some theatres and cinemas do.

She has found a set of 10 blue or white ones in B&Q at £30.00 the set.

I, on the other hand, know that 12V LEDs can be had from RS, Rapid etc at 9.5p each

BUT: what would I need to buy to power them? (Remember, I don't KNOW what I want, but I do know it has to be pure DC, so no "build a smoothed circuit" type answers, please. "Electronics for dummies" is more my style, although I CAN read a circuit daiagram, and I CAN solder).

I'd be looking at maybe 12-13 on a run, wired in parallel.

NB: they have aforward current rating of typically 8.5mA, and use approximately 120mW each.

Edited to say: would THIS work?: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=32754

TIA

austinwrx

funnily enough I have just put a new kitchen in at home- wired up three circuits for cabinet, under cabinet and plinth lighting.

took ages to find nice leds for the plinths-- gone for exactly what you mentioned- the white 15mm from b & q.

dead easy to install- 12mm wood bit and push in and plug in. they are wired onto a 3 prong socket/transformer.... so in france you'd have to plug it into a 3 pin adapter. not ideal.

it worked for me as I had pre wired a switchable socket under the units- but just working off a switch on the counter.

is there a similar b & q in france with the right transformer on.

Coffin Dodger

No reason why you cant use regular LEDs. The DC power supply you linked to, provided it's set at the right voltage would be fine. You will need current limiting resistors for each LED though, unless they are the type that have them built in, otherwise they won't last long

Coffin Dodger

Here you go:

The Best Current Limiting Resistor Calculator for Led's

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

The LED's I found are rated at 12V, so should be OK?

I've heard of getting the right VOLTAGE to an LED, but not limiting the current, I thought they did theat themselves, like bulbs?

I also found some 5mm LED holders, which push fit into an 8mm hole.

Wife is on about red or green ones now, just to MARK, rather than LIGHT the stairs.

She has already got a couple of Philips 3-LED LIGHT, triggered by motion, one top and one bottom of the stairs, to help guests who need the loo in the night, since we haven't got round to fitting the upstairs one yet.

I was THINKING of wiring that power suply via a Screwfix 230V motion detector too, itself hard-wired into the house wiring.

Coffin Dodger

I'm guessing something like this then:

5mm 12V LEDs > Maplin

And the important bit: No LEDs are not like bulbs, they will take as much current as the power supply can provide and will go pop if you don't limit it.

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Ah, thanks, I found mine at Rapid, and it mentioned them having a resistor to allow them to work off 12V without an external one, but I hadn't realised it was current-limiting.

dunx

iTrader: (3)

In theory, (using 12V LED's), 20 in series, and 20 more (in series) connected in reverse will operate alternately on the +ve and -ve parts of the cycle on a uk supply, I admit to not knowing what the suppy voltage is in France....

But if it was 110 V then you would only need 10 in each series chain.

HTH

dunx

Coffin Dodger

Don't try this at home kids

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

I can see it working, but it would be a nightmare to keep the 230V live wires safe, even under the stairs

I think I'll stick to my plan...........

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Until the Mrs has her say and buggers it up

Were you right not to buy the sets at B&Q when we popped round, or did you get a bollocking

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Jury's out

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

also on the solar lights

dunx

iTrader: (3)

Snigger ! But seriously, that new fangled insulated wire is now widely available, and a hefty dollop of "glue gun" action to insulate the LED's would see you right !

LOL

dunx

P.S. I do sometimes wonder how I did manage to last this long, with tricks like this one !