You can also convert the light string from 117 VAC to 12 VDC. http://www.fly.net/~thundt/xmas12v.htm describes it in great detail. It's pretty simple, normally the 117 VAC is applied across all the lights in a string, say 50 lights. In order to apply the same 2.34 V per light with 12 VDC supply just group the lights in series of 5. That is, every five lights, tie (short) the wire to ground. Then each group of 5 gets 12 VDC or 2.4 V per light. The LED as diodes so they don't care about the AC anyway and DC will work just fine. This means you need a string with a plug at the end to indicate that you have a ground and power ling all the way, i.e. three wires 1 Ground, 2 Power, 3 Lights. Simple. Then just plug it in to a 12 V source. You can do this for a 6 V bug as well with two or three lights per series, two lights will be brighter than 3 lights. In fact you can use more lights per series if you don't want them to be as bright. Longer strings of say 100, may actually be two strings of 50 lights with a shunt to ground after the first 50 lights otherwise the lights would be too dim. 1.2 v isn't very much and there is a lot of variation of the actual power house to house 110 VAC to 120 VAC, though the standard is 117 VDC.
Dean On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 12:34 PM, No Quarter <[email protected]> wrote: > Well I talked to him and he indicated that it's not by his design that > it acts this way. When he turns on his turn signal, the inverter trips out > - evidently not getting enough supply voltage to keep running. Of course > we know inverters are lossy by design and anytime you can go DC to DC while > bypassing all the transformers, convertors, and transistors, it's going to > be a much more efficient system - though definitely not the most convenient. > > A side note was that since this guy is a Texas native, he was totally > unfamiliar with the salting of the roads. When I suggested he not drive > his beetle through the winter, he told me that he knew by now because many > others had told him to wait until the first big rain in the spring and then > you're usually good to go. :) > > NQ > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* rayvwbug via VintagVW - Air Cooled Volkswagen Discussion List > <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Tuesday, January 06, 2015 10:10 AM > *Subject:* Re: [vintagvw] Using Christmas lights on 12 volt > > Very cool Could be that is by design though as safety might dictate not > to have the Christmas lights distract other drivers when the turn signals > are being use, such that they would blend in. > > Ray. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: No Quarter <[email protected]> > To: vintagvw <[email protected]> > Sent: Mon, Jan 5, 2015 11:06 pm > Subject: Re: [vintagvw] Using Christmas lights on 12 volt > > As a little side note on the LEDs and inverters, a local guy who has moved > here along with his S.O. from Corpus Christi, TX has a 70 beetle. He runs > an inverter to power Christmas lights inside of his beetle, but when he > signals a turn, the inverter cuts out and turns off the Christmas lights. > As soon as he is done signaling, it kicks back on. I'm guessing that maybe > the generator can't keep up with the current draw. > > NQ > > -- > Visit the VintagVW archives at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VintagVW - Air Cooled Volkswagen Discussion List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email > to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vintagvw. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > Visit the VintagVW archives at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VintagVW - Air Cooled Volkswagen Discussion List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vintagvw. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > Visit the VintagVW archives at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VintagVW - Air Cooled Volkswagen Discussion List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vintagvw. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Dean G. Johnson, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow Biomedical Engineering McGrath Lab University of Rochester Robert B. Goergen Hall Rm. 316 Box 270168 Rochester, NY 14627 [email protected] Office: 585-273-2156 Mobile: 315-576-5928 -- Visit the VintagVW archives at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VintagVW - Air Cooled Volkswagen Discussion List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vintagvw. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
