Help Running moonlights on batteries.

saltwater4life1

saltwater4life1

Member
Hey guys,
I recently bought some led lights that run on watch batteries but the big bulky case they were in didn't work for me. So i took the leds out and soldered them to wires. Now my idea was to run 4 leds which each one ran on 3 watch batteries so i tested them in series of 2 wiring the - of one led to the + of the other and then to the batteries, Using 6 watch batteries but they wouldn't power. What do i need to do? I checked and each watch battery is 1.5v so it takes 4.5v to run one led, which mean 9v to run each series. Do i need to use a 9v battery or should 6 of the watch batteries that come to that voltage work? What am i doing wrong?

Btw i plan on wiring a plug to them later down the road so this is temp...


Thank you,
~Nick
 
My first thought is that you don't have enough amperage in the batteries you are trying to use. Do you know how much amperage the other battery was producing?
 
LED stands for light emitting diode, and a diode only allows electrons to flow in 1 direction. If you have the polarities back wards then the lights won’t work. It sounds like you have them running in series so it only takes 1 wired backwards to make them all fail.

I would test each one individually: noting which lead has the positive side hooked to it to make it illuminate and do this for all of them and when connecting them wire + to - (series) and if you have enough voltage then they will light up.
 
Thanks,
I made sure and soldered them all the same red wire for + and black for - and i also tested each one and they all worked the same.
I was just trying to get them to run on the batterers to free up a outlet because i though it was be easy to do... But it hasn't lol
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14297857#post14297857 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sisterlimonpot
just have to ask...
Why are you running them on batteries?
Click to expand...
That was my question, but he appeared to want them for some reason. A $5-$10 power adapter will last almost forever.;)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14299513#post14299513 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltwater4life1
Well how do i know what power adapter then? and will i have the same problem if the batteries aren't lighting them up?
Click to expand...
Were these LEDs working you got them? Have you ever seen them work? How many LEDs are there in the total "string"? How many and what voltage batteries were in the total string? Can you tell if they were wire in series or parallel or how many are wired together? What were they for and do they have any name/markings etc?
 
Yes they worked they were brand new.
By the info on the batteries and what i found online each battery is 1.5volts and each led took 3 of these.
They were from clip on led reading lights. Only 1 led per lamp thing. I have some pictures of what they looked like if that would help.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14299699#post14299699 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltwater4life1
Yes they worked they were brand new.
By the info on the batteries and what i found online each battery is 1.5volts and each led took 3 of these.
They were from clip on led reading lights. Only 1 led per lamp thing. I have some pictures of what they looked like if that would help.
Click to expand...
It appears that your LED would need 4.5 vdc to work. If you wire them all in parallel your adapter would need to be 4.5 vdc. Try three standard C or D cell batteries and see if that will power one LED. Remember (as sated above) they will only work if the polarity is correct.
 
Wait 3 C or D batteries for 1 led or 1 series? (2 leds)

Edit: I just tried 2C were powering 1 led. couldn't do 3 because the wire cut wasn't long enough, But i connected 2LEDs and 3C batteries and they were very dim, could barely tell it was on.
 
Last edited:
How many LEDs/lights do you have in each "reading light". If you had one LED per light and three 1.5v batteries then that is 4.5v per LED. Three D cell batteries will power one LED not two. You would need a 4.5v adapter if I under stand you. What is the name of these things and where do you get them?
 
1LED is in each reading light. I know it takes 4.5v for 1 led but i wasn't sure what you meant in the previous post if you meant 3C batteries for 1led or 1 series
0125092201a.jpg

0125092201.jpg


The picture above is from 2 sets just so you can see the top and bottom of what they look like.
I soldered 2 wires to the middle where you can see the - and + of the led's are
So to power 4 led's i would need an 18v ad adapter?
 
If I were doing them I would wire them in parallel and not series. You would need one 4.5v adapter and could add LEDs if you wanted.
 
I don't mean to be rude, but do you understand parallel wiring? That is where all the positives are connected together and all the negatives together. That way each LED is still only drawing 4.5v.;)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14301742#post14301742 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wbond
find an old wall adapter, it's way easier. Any will work as long as they are 5vdc or more. see this link for more info
http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz
Click to expand...

The "5vdc or more" may be a problem here! I would stick with a 4.5vdc adapter. I don't think they would last very long if you try the "or more".:rolleyes:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14302898#post14302898 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltwater4life1
Thanks for that extra reply i wasn't sure what parallel was. So if i ran them like that i could use 3C batteries to run all 4?
Click to expand...
Yes, but you can get a cheap power adapter at Radio Shack for a few dollars that will do the trick too.;)
I just said to try the C or D cells to test the LEDs.:p
 
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