wireing 3 led strips to a switch

utajoker

utajoker

utajoker

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Hi

I have 3 1m strips of leds for my wardrobe.

I want to wire them all to one switch.

Do i wire all positives to switch positive and all negatives to switch negative or do i have to do some kind of circuit?

think its obvious im crap with electronics :p

Thanks.
 
not enough info + danger of death by dying

what led strips have you got (link, model)
what type of switch have you got
what are you trying to achieve



/
I have an alien plasma weapon, I just plug this into the mains to recharge, right?
 
Can you power the leds directly from the mains, so the driver is built in? or do they need a separate driver?

And depending on how your lighting is wired you probably don't have a neutral at the switch, so you would need to take a neutral from somewhere else, you tell if you have some blue/black wires in a connector block behind the switch
 
Wire the strips into a normal 13A mains plug (all three into one plug is fine), plug it in, turn it on, job done :)
 
utajoker said:
Hi

I have 3 1m strips of leds for my wardrobe.

I want to wire them all to one switch.

Do i wire all positives to switch positive and all negatives to switch negative or do i have to do some kind of circuit?

think its obvious im crap with electronics :p

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Its safer to wire a switch to the DC part of the wiring. Somewhere after the power supply but before the wiring splits off for the strips break one of the wires and solder the latching switch there. The switch will make or break the circuit. You need to ensure the switch can handle the current. You don't need to switch both wires.
 
Monserrat said:
Nah, LEDs are so low voltage that they require a transformer. I have a 5M strip and the transformer steps mains voltage down to 12V DC @ 2A.
Click to expand...

Just meant did they come as a finished product - wire straight to mains or do they need a separate driver.

Just like LED down lights some are built in so just wire into mains and some would need a separate driver.
 
i have this plug the 36W version for 3 1m strips.

and this switch


i got it all to work by putting all positive from leds and plug into one side of the switch and all negative from leds and plug into other side.

It works just the wrong way.

Plan was for when the door shuts it pushed the pin in and breaks the circuit, but pushing it in actually completes the circuit.

Have i done something wrong or do i have the wrong switch?


Also when the leds are not on the plug makes quite a loud buzzing noise, but stops when the leds are on. what is causing this?


thanks for the help.
 
Always put your switch Live unless you on a ring main.

6 wires 3 Blue into N and 3 Brown into L put switch on L connection to mains after the driver of course.

Oh yes make sure its a 240v switch! ;)
 
You have a push to break switch, so when it is released it should connect two of the contacts. This is what you want, so I think you have it wired incorrectly.
If there are three terminals, check the other one with a multimeter.

The switch is the wrong type for switching the DC side, it's only rated for 2A@240vAC when you are switching 12vDC@3A (36W = 12v@3A), the voltage may be rated differently for AC or DC but the current rating remains the same.

I'd like to suggest you use it to switch the AC side but I'm worried you may get it wrong.

The plug is buzzing because its load has changed and its inductor is doing something called magnetostriction, same thing happens in graphics cards.
 
i really don't understand much of that :p


should i wire all the leds to the power then put the switch between the power and that?

rather than all the wires meeting at switch?
 
utajoker said:
Plan was for when the door shuts it pushed the pin in and breaks the circuit, but pushing it in actually completes the circuit.

Have i done something wrong or do i have the wrong switch?
Click to expand...

I've traced the supplier of that switch,
it only has two terminals, so if it is breaking when released you have been sent the wrong switch.

This is pretty unlikely tbh so check it again with a multimeter*




*which you probably haven't got :(




I hate that switch btw, stuffing 240v into accessible unshrouded terminals is dodgy. It's safer to switch the DC side but then the contacts are under-rated.


/
 
Last edited:
im going to get a magnet switch instead.

as for the plug buzzing.

ive just tried my laptop charger plug and that works fine.

Will there be any problems with using one permanent?

thanks.
 
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