wiring leds and fans

[missionpilot 10+ year member]

i plan on using a relay to power my four fans, and some leds that i have laying around. my dad said something about series or parallel wiring them. I know how to series and parallel wire subs, but i don't know anything about electrical. So please tell me the advantages and disadvantages, and what i should use in this situation. Thanks John

PS - would i series or parallel them the same way i would a sub?

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[missionpilot 10+ year member]

come on-somebody knows how to do this

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Wire them all in parallel. All the +'s go together and all the -'s go together. Make sure the relay can handle to total current draw of the LEDs. Use a separate relay for the fans and the LEDs.

The reason you want to parallel everything is voltage. In a parallel circuit every load in the circuit gets the same voltage (12V in this case) rather than sharing the voltage as they would in a series circuit. Running the full 12V to every component will ensure that the fans spin at full speed and the LEDs are as bright as they are supposed to be.

 

[missionpilot 10+ year member]

ok makes sense- thanks alot

John

 

[missionpilot 10+ year member]

for some reason i'm not getting any power to my fans, do i have to ground the relay itself?

 

[forbidden 10+ year member]

Where are the fans grounded to?

 

[BulldogSr04 10+ year member]

Do your led's have a resistor on them? If they are 3v led's i wouldnt run them in parallel. you have to run 4 of em in series to get 12v or they will blow

 

[missionpilot 10+ year member]

i just ran all the grounds from the fans to the fround on the relay, and i won't be putting the leds on this relay.