View Full Version : Electrical help
Tylerwiebe
May 1, 2013, 01:07 PM
So I have these lights from a semi truck that I would like to put in my room the lights work on a car battery so is it possible to hook them up to a 110 wall plug In? If so what will it take to do so ?
ebaines
May 1, 2013, 02:00 PM
Lights from a truck are designed to work at 12 volts DC. Your electrical outlet is 110 volts AC. If you plug them in directly the lights will most likely immediately burn out. What you need is a DC power supply that converts 110V AC to 12V DC, and that provides enough current to drive the lights - something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-12-Volt-DC-Power-Supply-5-Amp-5A-12V-Adapter-LCD-CB-/280869637201#ht_1707wt_1140
Before you rush out and buy this particular unit you need to know how many watts of power these lights consume, otherwise you may overload the power supply and burn it out.
Tylerwiebe
May 1, 2013, 02:08 PM
How would I hook the adapter to light because the lights have a positive and negative wire and what is the best way to find how much power the lights use
Thanks a lot for the answer and would be happy if you answer any more questions I might ask
ebaines
May 1, 2013, 02:15 PM
You will need to fabricate a socket with leads that connect the light to the plus and minus 12 volt terminals of the power supply.
If the lights are incandescant you can use an ohm-meter to measure their DC resistance. The current it draws is then calculated from V=iR, such that I = 12 volts/R.
How many lights are you hoping to string up? What kind of lights are they (interior lights, head lights, turn signals, etc)? If you're doing a bunch of them it may work better to go a different route - connect everything to a standard 12 volt car battery, and use a battery charger to keep the battery at 12 volts.
Tylerwiebe
May 1, 2013, 02:22 PM
They are led lights from a peterbilt 379 the air cleaner lights I want to hook up 16 lights
Look up peterbilt air cleaner light to see what I mean
ebaines
May 1, 2013, 02:26 PM
The good news is that LEDs draw only a small amount of current, so probably the inexpenive DC power supply I referenced earlier will be fine. If the power supply you get has a plug like the one on that web site has you can cut the plug off, strip the wires, and connect them to your LED leads. If the LEDs come on, great. If not, try reversing the leads.
Tylerwiebe
May 1, 2013, 02:32 PM
To hook up the lights to the power supply can I cut off the end of the adapter that gives dc power and strip that wire and there would be two wires one plus and one negative and them hook the two wires up to the lights
Tylerwiebe
May 1, 2013, 02:41 PM
Well thanks for all the great help and if I have any problems with this I will talk to you
Thanks a lot Tyler