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powering light bar with electrical socket


Trigger Mike

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My son couldn't wait to try out his new light bar for his ATV and connected the wires to the christmas tree socket prongs that were half way in the wall socket.  there was a pop.  I assume he blew the lamps.  Is that likely what happened?  I assume a warranty would not cover that.  Nylight made it.  

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This is just an example but a good RIGID light bar has LED's that only require 3 watts of

power each.   I would guess plugging it into the 110-120 Volt power source fried it.

 

Nice Christmas memory..... ;)

 

..........Widder

 

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Here is a lesson in physics, engineering and patience. Now would be a good time to set him down for that father son talk on electricity and how it works. :D
 

Dang...I still cannot attach links from DDG....and apparently YouTube...
Had to resort to Google.

 

https://science.howstuffworks.com/electricity.htm

 

 

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‘Minds me of something I did in the mid fifties.  ))). Scared the bejesus out of me.

Yeah, I stuck a bobby pin in an outlet because I saw an ad on TV not to do those things when I was like 4 years old.

 

I have had the greatest respect for electricity ever since....

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My lesson in "dumass don't do its" came because I stuck a butter knife in a crack in Mom's stove.  That was about 1945 when I was three.  Burned my hand and melted a little curved spot out of the knife blade.

 

Mom  knife until she died.  No idea where it is now, but I'd pay to get it back.

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Yep 12 volt lights plugged into 120 volt circuit. It's toast

 

Yep, 12 volt dc (more than likely) plugged into 120 volt ac makes for a very bright light for a split second. If it has a "driver", a type of transformer, you may be able to replace the driver. If not, you now have scrap metal.

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Yep, 12 volt dc (more than likely) plugged into 120 volt ac makes for a very bright light for a split second. If it has a "driver", a type of transformer, you may be able to replace the driver. If not, you now have scrap metal.

Yep, the "driver" is toast. I have never attempted to replace a "driver", don't know if it may have cooked the diodes also. 

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Is there a difference between AC & DC led's?

                                                                                  Largo

 

All Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) work on DC at a relatively low current level. Because the amount of current is critical not only to the intensity but the longevity of a LED. 99.999% use some sort of a driver circuit. Some have this driver circuit is built into the LED housing for others it external to the LED housing.

 

There is a very tiny circuit that converts the AC to DC in LED Christmas lights. Explaining the rest of the theory of how Christmas lights work (both conventional and LED) would take me way too long to type.

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I was stationed in ‘68. I received a box from my folks a few days before Christmas. I had a 12” artificial Christmas tree in my room that I bought at the PX. Christmas morning I opened the gift. It was a nice Remington.

An electric razor, not a gun,  with a convertible to use either 110 or 220. I put the adapter plug on it and turned it on.

 But in my excitement, I neglected to move the little switch from 110 to 220. It ran real good ....for about 5 seconds. Then it went China Syndrome and I dropped it in the sink. “Well, Merry Freakin Christmas, Bozo”, I mumbled. After opening all the windows to clear the acrid smoke out of the room, I put on my boots and slogged through the snow over to the club for a breakfast of sausages and bier. And some Glühwein. Quite a bit of Glühwein actually.
Meh.;)

 

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I was stationed in ‘68. I received a box from my folks a few days before Christmas. I had a 12” artificial Christmas tree in my room that I bought at the PX. Christmas morning I opened the gift. It was a nice Remington.

An electric razor, not a gun,  with a convertible to use either 110 or 220. I put the adapter plug on it and turned it on.

 But in my excitement, I neglected to move the little switch from 110 to 220. It ran real good ....for about 5 seconds. Then it went China Syndrome and I dropped it in the sink. “Well, Merry Freakin Christmas, Bozo”, I mumbled. After opening all the windows to clear the acrid smoke out of the room, I put on my boots and slogged through the snow over to the club for a breakfast of sausages and bier. And some Glüwein. Quite a bit of Glüwein actually.
Meh.;)

 

I'll bet that you aren't the first to do that and I guarantee you won't be the last. These days, I bet plenty of Americans smoke their phone chargers when they go out of country.

 

Same thing happens when your helper connects up temporary power to a 277 volt lighting circuit and tries to run a 120 volt drill on it. Then brings the drill to me and says "It ran real good for about 10 seconds and started smoking". He learned the hard way about the difference between 120v and 277v. I guess the lesson in both of these instances (led light bar and the drill) is to ask someone who knows first. 

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I'll bet that you aren't the first to do that and I guarantee you won't be the last. These days, I bet plenty of Americans smoke their phone chargers when they go out of country.

 

Actually, these days it is almost NEVER a problem. Almost everything has a chip in the circuit that senses the power and switches accordingly, laptops, phones, iPads, clocks and more.  Things that draw real power like hair dryers, waffle irons, chainiki*, and cookers I don’t know.

 

-—

* chainiki = electric teapots

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I'll bet that you aren't the first to do that and I guarantee you won't be the last. These days, I bet plenty of Americans smoke their phone chargers when they go out of country.

 

Same thing happens when your helper connects up temporary power to a 277 volt lighting circuit and tries to run a 120 volt drill on it. Then brings the drill to me and says "It ran real good for about 10 seconds and started smoking". He learned the hard way about the difference between 120v and 277v. I guess the lesson in both of these instances (led light bar and the drill) is to ask someone who knows first. 

Gotta love those 277 volt troffers with battery back up. One leg is always hot and folks are too reliant upon the switch to shut off power rather than at the breaker.

I'm converting a building from fluorescent to LED.  Stoopid battery packs get so hot they smoke and get brittle. Fire Marshall is starting to change his mind on the battery packs after I showed him the aftermath of one cooking off.

 

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I have to ask. What eggzacky is the purpose o& a light bar on an ATV.

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I have to ask. What eggzacky is the purpose o& a light bar on an ATV.

I keep telling him over and over he doesn't need one.  He mainly rides during the day and it has head lights for the rare time it gets dark on him.  He seems to mainly be trying to keep up with the other kids, something I also keep trying to teach is a bad idea. 

 

He also says he wants underglows for some strange reason.   

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Gotta love those 277 volt troffers with battery back up. One leg is always hot and folks are too reliant upon the switch to shut off power rather than at the breaker.

I'm converting a building from fluorescent to LED.  Stoopid battery packs get so hot they smoke and get brittle. Fire Marshall is starting to change his mind on the battery packs after I showed him the aftermath of one cooking off.

 

 

Those damn battery backup fluorescent emergency lights were and are a terrible idea. I detest replacing the ballast/battery pack on them things. Twenty+ wires and rarely does one match the original set up. In my opinion, it is a extremely flawed set up that is designed for failure. Electronic ballasts don't get any where near as hot as the magnetic ballasts of old used to, but they still get hot and the battery pack is made out of plastic....go figure. Sooner or later, all the troffers will be LED but by the time that they all finally get changed out and I'll be either retired or dead.

 

PS, When you see Hamley, tell I said hey if you would.

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Actually, these days it is almost NEVER a problem. Almost everything has a chip in the circuit that senses the power and switches accordingly, laptops, phones, iPads, clocks and more.  Things that draw real power like hair dryers, waffle irons, chainiki*, and cookers I don’t know.

 

-—

* chainiki = electric teapots

 

Many of the "real power" items have a selector switch but you DO have to switch them to the correct voltage or learn to like the fried wire smell. :o

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With or without rum?

 No rum. Not in traditional Bavaria. A wee bit of Cointreau or Grand Marnier.

Thinking of making some up this evening. 
 

My first exposure to it was at a local hockey game in Bad Tolz. German team vs GI team. It was in an outdoor arena. A couple of Deutschers sitting in front of us had several thermos jugs full which they gladly shared. Good stuff. Got frostbite in both feet during that outdoor game. :(

 

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Those damn battery backup fluorescent emergency lights were and are a terrible idea. I detest replacing the ballast/battery pack on them things. Twenty+ wires and rarely does one match the original set up. In my opinion, it is a extremely flawed set up that is designed for failure. Electronic ballasts don't get any where near as hot as the magnetic ballasts of old used to, but they still get hot and the battery pack is made out of plastic....go figure. Sooner or later, all the troffers will be LED but by the time that they all finally get changed out and I'll be either retired or dead.

 

PS, When you see Hamley, tell I said hey if you would.

I'll speak with him this evening.

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We stayed in an old resort our first trip to Antigua. Unbeknownst to us, some of the outlets were 220. Problem is they look just like 110s. My wife is one who always has to have a fan. Sure 'nuff she plugged it into a 220. Ran like a bat out of Hell...........for about 5 seconds.

JHC

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I keep telling him over and over he doesn't need one.  He mainly rides during the day and it has head lights for the rare time it gets dark on him.  He seems to mainly be trying to keep up with the other kids, something I also keep trying to teach is a bad idea. 

 

He also says he wants underglows for some strange reason.   

Well heck, in that case just install them. Since he won't ever need them no one else will know they're broke. 

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A good reason for a light bar on an ATV:

 

Although night riding might be rare, extra lighting (especially LED type) will light up some

of those low tree branches and pot holes that are normally seen in day time.

 

The factory lighting on most ATV are really not that great.

I have a new Yamaha Kodiak with 3 factory lights.    Two are fixed to the front and one is fixed to the

handlebars and lights up the direction you turn.    I'm not fond of their light output and plan

to add a light bar to mine.

 

..........Widder

 

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