Topic: Electrical/LED work

[Phatty]

I am working on a custom that is going to have LED lights...however, I need help with a wiring diagram.  There will be 7 lights in total, in 7 different locations.  I know I need a bulb and housing for each, and a switch to complete the circuit, but I need help in diagraming the rest of it.  What other components do I need?  Can anyone help me figure this out?

[DocOutlands]

How much power do all your LEDs pull?  That's how big a battery you'll need. 

Jules has done some amazing work with LEDs - hopefully he'll weigh in and help ya out.

[dana.raye.smith]

I am guessing this is for a custom and not in a house?
should be as easy as laying out the light/housing in the place you want, locate placement of power source and switch, and connect the dots in series with wire or cable.
battery powered is easiest. once you have your layout connect wire from + battery housing to the switch i/o(in/out) to each led(in one side /out the other) in series (one after another in single line) and back to - end of batteryhousing to complete the circuit.
Its kind of the same in a house,just dealing with lots more power.
Most little led lights now use 1.5 to 3 volts up to 12 volts( not reccommended without a variable voltage power supply) and the higher the voltage the larger guage the wire used is a good rule of thumb. ussually a small guage 8-12 strand twisted coated wire is enough for this type project as long as the LED's arent too big.
It really isnt too complicated, but i tend to over simplify things... I play with stuff like this at work during times of little work, and we call this *training*.
And I use a soldering iron and solder the connections when i know it is right and works like you want it to.
You can piece it all together and solder it and then place it afterwards if its measured and planned and laid out right, just lots of trial and error.
hope this didnt confuse you too much, and hope it works out good for you.

[DocOutlands]

Made sense to me...

[Phatty]

I think I have it.  I need a switch, battery housing, the 7 LEDs I want to use, and wire, approximately 8-12 gauge.  From there, I start at the switch, to the battery housing, to LED-LED-LED-LED-LED-LED-LED, back to switch, correct?

[Reconsgt]

Pretty much yes, it is a simple circuit, when your ready just drop me a line and I can help over the phone

[dana.raye.smith]

Yep, you got it.
Got me interested as what you are doing?
Whatever it is ought to be good.
Good luck and cant wait to see it.

[Phatty]

Well, I picked up my components, and reduced my lights from 7 to 2.  I don't want to overdo it!  However, I got a momentary switch instead of a regular one, and my battery pack is too big for the space.  I'm going to have to make another trip to Radio Shack next week after Wizard World...

[DocOutlands]

With only two LEDs, you can get stupidly small with your batteries.  I have a night-light "tap light" from WalMart that runs three LEDs on 2x AA batts.  The "champaigne lights" I use in my dio-shots use button batt's to run a single LED.