Basic Electrical Question
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Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 162
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From: Central New York
Basic Electrical Question
I installed some LED lights, and they work fine but don't appear as bright as the photo on ebay. I checked the voltage, and it appears I am only getting about 1.1 volts to the lights. Is that even possible? I have the lights plugged in to the Maxifuse connector. Does the voltage (as opposed to wattage or amperes) make a difference in the brightness of the LED's?
Road Master
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 954
Likes: 4
From: CA
I installed some LED lights, and they work fine but don't appear as bright as the photo on ebay. I checked the voltage, and it appears I am only getting about 1.1 volts to the lights. Is that even possible? I have the lights plugged in to the Maxifuse connector. Does the voltage (as opposed to wattage or amperes) make a difference in the brightness of the LED's?
wattage/voltage/amps all come into play, but if the LEDs are 12volt led's and only getting 1.1 volts, that is a problem. If they are 12volt, hook them straight to the battery when the bike is off and see if they are bright. Just make sure its 12volt LED otherwise you can blow them if they use a lower voltage, and maybe could be strung in series and collectively all of them draw a total of 12volts.
As for amps, if you are over drawing the system, and may be cutting back on whatever it can and making your lights appear dimmer (lighter) than what they are supposed to be.
Wattage would be basically the brightness of the bulb..Higher wattage, more current (amps) it draws.
Last edited by jknowlton; Jun 30, 2009 at 01:32 PM. Reason: added wattage
Road Warrior
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,296
Likes: 3
From: Cheltenham, UK
I installed some LED lights, and they work fine but don't appear as bright as the photo on ebay. I checked the voltage, and it appears I am only getting about 1.1 volts to the lights. Is that even possible? I have the lights plugged in to the Maxifuse connector. Does the voltage (as opposed to wattage or amperes) make a difference in the brightness of the LED's?
How did you measure the voltage? Did you measure across the LED or on the supply side referenced to a good earth?
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,034
Likes: 45
From: Michigan
Leds typically only require a little over a volt to work. Usually there is a board hooked to them with a voltage dropping resistor and possibly other components.. I dont want to insult you either but if and you can check if your getting a good 12 volts to the led's then my answer would be . Things sometimes appear to be great on Ebay when in reality its just someone making money . Doctored up photo's or movie files to make the item look a lot better than it really is.. Did you contact the seller?
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