# LED strip to power wheels battery



## Chief Construction (Jun 10, 2011)

I have a "power wheels" rechargeable battery. specs on housing are "6v 4.0 ampere hour, internal self-resetting fuse"

I am looking to purchase THIS ITEM. I will only be using about 8' of this.
Is this realistic? Can I just connect the LED wires to the battery wires?
I have no knowledge in all the lingo and what they mean so please go easy on me. 
I am using this battery because it was already available to me and i think (hope) it can light em' up for several hours. It is just small enough to fit in the space I need. I will also install an on/off switch. I am seeing a little bit about resistors, I may or may not need one.


thanks so much for any help.


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## VegasF6 (Jun 11, 2011)

No, that will not work. The item you have listed is for a 12V source. Connected to your 6V battery it won't even light.


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## Chief Construction (Jun 11, 2011)

I see. OK, is there something comparable to THIS to power 8' of THIS? 
Size is a factor(only 1 3/4" slot of space)", and battery is a must so it can be completely self-contained.
Lights would be used 20-40 minutes per use and only a couple times a month.

Really appreciate it.


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## nickelflipper (Jun 11, 2011)

Haven't played with the strip leds before myself, but the plan seems feasible.

The led strip info is sparse, and mostly wrong with respect to the nominal current required. 8 ft. of strip sounds like about half of the total of 600 leds, or 300 leds. The leds are configured for three in series, with presumably a resistor (can't see from the photo, but others are made this way). That means 100 parallel strings, of the three series leds running at 20ma, for a total current of 2 amps.

The battery manufacturer rates the lion battery (3800 mah capacity) at 1800 mah, which seems reasonable. So in theory you get a little less than an hour of run time. This really depends on the forward voltage of the leds, resistor value, and battery voltage characteristics.

Maybe someone with some led strip experience could chime in. Good luck.


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## VegasF6 (Jun 12, 2011)

There ya go. That strip is listed at 48 watts. 8 feet, about half the strip, should consume around 24 watts or around 2 amps at 12 volts. (which concurs with what nickelflipper said.)
So, to get several hours run time you will need a battery rated at 2 amp hours per hour you want it to run, 4 ah for 2 hours, etc. Or, alternatively you need a more efficient light source, better leds and a switching power supply or simply make do with less leds. 

That's about as useful as I can be with no more specifics of what you want to accomplish.


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## qwertyydude (Jun 12, 2011)

You could always wire up a 12v battery to the power wheels. It'll light up the bulbs and you'll go insanely fast. From snails pace to walking speed!


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## VegasF6 (Jun 12, 2011)

I don't think he has the power wheel, just the battery


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