Fuse for LEDs

[mraf]

Ok, I now have 14 Leds on the 86. What I need to know is what size fuse should I put in the fuse holder to save them from blowing if there became a problem. Don't ask me what size {milliamps,amps or whatever} LEDs they are because I bought them from E-bay and they don't tell you nothing about them except the usual BS {Better,brighter}. But they do tell ya that they are 5mm LEDs {Yippee}!

[BuddyRich]

Most 5mm leds fall in the 25 ma range. so 10 of them draws .250ma or 1/4 amp

[juggler]

Yup he's right - those LED's barely pull any amperage. I have the same number of LED's on their own circuit and I have a small 2 amp fuse in place. The real point is to protect things if there is a short and not to prevent the LED's from pulling too much amperage. They really can't.

 

The newest LED marker lights that I'm about to install are 13.5v and 1.35w. This equals .1 amps.

[Skid]

When going to the led lights, is everyone just going with the new style bulbs that they make in led now that installs in the factory sockets?

[juggler]

When going to the led lights, is everyone just going with the new style bulbs that they make in led now that installs in the factory sockets?

 

 

I'm not replacing my normal lights. I'm just adding additional lights. I have the Pilot LED light bar under my trunk and two LED light strips on my license plates. I wired them right into the normal brake/running/turn lights.

 

I also have a large number of purple LED accent lights on their own ciruit and switch so I can have them on when the bike is off.

 

Now I am adding these new lights. I'm not completly sure where I'll tie these into the system. I'll post more when I figure that out.

[BuddyRich]

When going to the led lights, is everyone just going with the new style bulbs that they make in led now that installs in the factory sockets?

 

Skid, I custom made mine. They are very bright. But I used the same LED that the ones below are made from. These are not cheap but at 50,000 hours they will probably outlast the bike. I also like the faster flash so I did not add a load balancer. A load balancer is a false load and sends the power to ground so you loose the amp savings by going to LED. The LED also has a must quicker "lightup" time. One reason for the slow flash on normal automobile flashers is the long delay from the time the bulb gets power to the time it goes to full light output.

It is best if the LED is pointing out. If I rememeber right the 1st gen taillight

bulb is pointin back so it will work good, I have not seen the front turnsignal orientition. I would use the Luxeon, They are BRIGHT.

 

 

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=CAR

1157-LX3 Luxeon LED bulb

http://www.superbrightleds.com/store/html/images/115x-xLX3.jpg

[V7Goose]

You select the size of fuse based on the size of the wires the circuit has. The fuse is designed to protect the circuit should the total current draw exceed what the wires and supply can handle - it blows before the wires begin to melt or overheat to cause a fire. There really isn't anything that a fuse can do to protect an LED, so don't worry about that. If you have run a new circuit just for these new lights, you probably used fairly light gauge wire. Without knowing what exactly you used, I'd suggest to keep your fuse no bigger than 10 amps. As others have already said, your total load with LED, even a whole wall of them, will be way under that. Good luck,

Goose

[mraf]

Thanks for the replies. Its always good to ask here for any knowledge. This place has it all! Now does anyone know were theres buried treasure?

[Pilot]

You select the size of fuse based on the size of the wires the circuit has. The fuse is designed to protect the circuit should the total current draw exceed what the wires and supply can handle - it blows before the wires begin to melt or overheat to cause a fire. There really isn't anything that a fuse can do to protect an LED, so don't worry about that. If you have run a new circuit just for these new lights, you probably used fairly light gauge wire. Without knowing what exactly you used, I'd suggest to keep your fuse no bigger than 10 amps. As others have already said, your total load with LED, even a whole wall of them, will be way under that. Good luck,

Goose

 

Goose is correct, fuse's protect wires.... .

 

When designing a circuit one would first figure out what the total load will be in amps and then make sure the wire is sized correctly in order to supply the load safely without melting the insulation on the wire, thereby possible causing a . Then one would insure the proper size fuse is selected to insure the current flow is inturrupted before all that bad stuff happens. One usually designs for 80%, in other words you want to stop current at 8 amps if your wire size is only good for 10 amps. And you want to install the fuse as close as possible to the source of power not the load, remember your protecting the wire.