# led 12v voltage stabiliser



## The-Cookies (Nov 28, 2010)

f i am putting leds in the van i have got 8 downlights and 2 spots will 1 of these be powerful enough wired in to the light circuit.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170604685056

or how many leds can i run off it


----------



## clive1821 (Mar 27, 2010)

Sorry being a bit dim here, but why would you need one of these, as each replacement is made to run off your existing supply ie 12volt... If I recall I have 8 of then in my van all working fine.... As a rule of thumb for every one halogen lamp you have you can have 8 led lamps using the same current


----------



## cleo (Nov 17, 2007)

We've recently replaced all our halogen bulbs (18 of them) for 2.5w LED bulbs without using a transformer. It's just a straight swap.
Jill


----------



## The-Cookies (Nov 28, 2010)

i thought that because the leds are 12v if you run them on hook up the habitation batterys are kicking out between 13.8 and 14.4 volts which i am led to believe blows the leds


----------



## Addie (Aug 5, 2008)

I think there is a bit of debate around this - the same there is debate about using a similar "voltage stabiliser" on Richer Sounds TV's and the like.

I personally have been running the LED's in my van straight from the battery (while 'charging' on hook up) with no ill effects, however I'm perfectly happy to believe that doing so may result in premature failure - but this is not something I have experienced first hand. 

Indeed with the amount of new vans coming with LED lighting as standard I'm fairly sure (although happy to be proved otherwise) that these do not have voltage stabilisers in them.

Personally, especially if you are buying cheap LED's from eBay China/Hong Kong etc is just buy them and see how you get on. Get a couple spare for what they cost and if they start to blow / burn out then you know you'll need one.

To answer your question directly you would ideally need to test the LED's on a bench using a volt metre to know for sure. That unit will cope with 1 AMP (if you e-mail him via e-bay he is very helpful) so in my case it will run 5x 1M 5050 LED Strips @ 0.2 AMP each - that equates to 300 LED's (60 per metre!). You could probably insert this after your distribution unit / fuse to look after the whole circuit. 

For LED Bulbs I doubt you would pull 1 AMP - but if you replace them all and run a Volt/Amp Metre across the fuse terminal with the fuse removed this will tell you for sure. The eBay seller is able to sell you increase amperage units if you ask him.

Hope this is of use - happy to be corrected on any points as this is just my understanding.


----------



## clive1821 (Mar 27, 2010)

Each one of the led replacement units are supplied with regulators there's no need to worry about it the rise to 14.4 volts should have no effect


----------



## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I have 6 GU4 spotlight bulbs which came from UltraLeds about three years ago. All 6 are on their way out with numerous leds having burned out. I can only assume the a combination of over voltage when on hook up and a fair bit of use due to our fulltiming has knackered them. I have just ordered replacements which will tolerate anything between 11 and 30 volts, Alan.


----------



## Ricster (Sep 3, 2010)

Out of interest I've just bought some LED strips from Amazon..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003N8822O
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003Y7AY3E










And was planning running them off a fused wire connection from the leisure battery. I never considered a voltage regulator. Should I have?

Thanks in advance.

Ric.


----------



## clive1821 (Mar 27, 2010)

As per my posting most of the led replacement lamp assemblies are supplied with voltage regulators as they need it to operate in the first place, I would not recommend you getting a regulator as in any case the battery would regulate the supply.... different if you were using a 24volt supply


----------



## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Sorry to differ Clive but I think if you buy leds rated at 12 volts they may not like 14 plus when on hook up. My feeling is that it shortens their life considerably, Alan.


----------



## Pat-H (Oct 30, 2009)

It's very important that LED lights are fed from a constant current supply. A slight increase in voltage will cause a dramatic increase in current and burn out the units.
In mains applications the LED lights are connected in series with a power supply that delivers the correct current. The voltage going up and down as required to ensure that current is maintained.
But on a 12V supply this is more complex so I suspect each unit needs it's own feed. Unless the unit has a regulator inside it any way.


----------



## The-Cookies (Nov 28, 2010)

put 2 regulator stabilisers in just in case , better safe than sorry, thanks for the advice


----------



## Addie (Aug 5, 2008)

It's up to you Rick, I've got 4 of those strips in my van, no stabliser - no problems. I can only imagine they would cause you problems if you spend a lot of time on hook up (in which case, what is the point of getting LED's anyway!?)

If you want to get one they're not very expensive:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170619994709


----------



## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

That's an interesting point Addie. I am on hook up about half the time and as I said some of my leds are failing (all one type) at around four years old. I need leds because I am only on hook up half the time. I assume that if I was on hook up more often my bulbs would have failed even sooner. Adding to that I have six of this particular bulb in the van. Just two of them get a lot of use, they are our reading lights. All six of the bulbs have done service in the reading lights and as they failed were swapped into the other fittings which are very rarely used. Taking all that into account I have had very little use from these bulbs which reinforces what I think about the need to regulate the voltage with at least some types of bulb.

It will be interesting to see how the new ones do, Alan.


----------



## Addie (Aug 5, 2008)

erneboy said:


> I assume that if I was on hook up more often my bulbs would have failed even sooner. Adding to that I have six of this particular bulb in the van. Just two of them get a lot of use, they are our reading lights..


Possibly, but if you consider a voltage stabliser is £6.50 - not one of the LED's in my van cost more than £1.50 so it seems a waste of money protecting a £1.50 bulb with a £6.50 device when in your case they would have paid for 4 replacements to last another 4 years!


----------



## dodger148 (May 9, 2005)

I agree with Clive.
We have led's in the spots, one in the outside light, with no issues.


----------



## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I have two different types of led bulbs in my van. One type claimed to be able to operate on anything between 10 and 30 volts. The others just said they were 12 volt, these are the ones which have failed. 

The new ones I have ordered also claim to tolerate 10 to 30v so I hope they will last longer. Time will tell, Alan.


----------



## TickTok (Aug 27, 2010)

As I understand it up until perhaps less than two years ago LEDs did need a voltage stabilizer although it was never advertised that you did, since then not only has the brightness improved several times over and they are far more robust, most (ie more expensive) have a regulator built in. I had some early ones in the van that ran for no more than 10 hours before individual LEDs started failing, I replaced the rear light bulbs in the car with ones with built in regulators in them last summer and they have been on 5 days a week for an hour a day all last winter.


----------



## Ricster (Sep 3, 2010)

I contacted the seller of the LED strips asking if I needed a voltage regulator. My essence of my email said..



> Essentially 12v should be the norm, but sometimes when hooked up (like at a campsite) that can spike to 14v and in turn after some time off hookup can drop to 11v before a low voltage alarm will sound within the van. Will these lights be fine at this range of voltages?


The (somewhat short) reply, was..



> I am 99% sure they will be fine, I think it will only be an issue if you drive with them on.


Which really doesn't leave me any better off. Now to be fair, I'm planning putting the strips in for wild camping so that when I'm not on hookup I can reduce battery life and I certainly don't intend on driving with them on, so I guess I can avoid the regulator.


----------



## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

erneboy said:


> That's an interesting point Addie. I am on hook up about half the time and as I said some of my leds are failing (all one type) at around four years old. I need leds because I am only on hook up half the time. I assume that if I was on hook up more often my bulbs would have failed even sooner. Adding to that I have six of this particular bulb in the van. Just two of them get a lot of use, they are our reading lights. All six of the bulbs have done service in the reading lights and as they failed were swapped into the other fittings which are very rarely used. Taking all that into account I have had very little use from these bulbs which reinforces what I think about the need to regulate the voltage with at least some types of bulb.
> 
> It will be interesting to see how the new ones do, Alan.


LED's have improved considerably in the last four years.

My first batch purchased at the same time have long been assigned to the bin.
My current batch have seen two years of fault free service and were direct replacements for the halogen units. I wouldn't know what a LED regulator was.


----------



## howardch99 (Jan 28, 2011)

If you don't like the open frame regulator, here is an alternative: Amperor LED Voltage Stabiliser installed on a narrowboat.

The unit has the cover and can output 5A (70W in the 12V application). That is enough power to light up many LED strings / LED bulbs. The special output plug comes with two bare wires (+ and -).

However, there are some wiring works to do. Like what the email sender mentioned in the article, you might need to shorten / lengthen the wires.


----------

