Problems hooking LED's up to front speakers
 

I have some LEDs I want to hook up to the speakers so they pulse with my music, I know it works because I hooked them up to my amp/sub to test out (it will blow eventually and I want them up front anyways) I took the speaker off the door and the wires going to the speaker are in a little harness/clip type thing going to the outside of the speaker, I know to make the leds work I just need to hook pos/neg to the speakers... does anyone know how to do this? Thanks

bump

A pic would help.

How about unplugging the speaker, strip some insulation off the wires for the LED, jam the bare wires into the female side of the connector and plugging it back in? Otherwise you can tap into wires with a quick splice squeeze connector found at Radio Shack or auto parts store.

Have you looked into getting a music control module for the leds? im guessing it would be better in the long run for the led's


It sounds like you just want to connect the positive led wire to the positive speaker wire, and same for negative. which in that case rkw pretty much gave you the only option you have. Check your walmart for positaps (in the automotive section)

Not the greatest idea. What is the typical voltage on the LED's you are using? The LED's you bought should have a data sheet online somewhere. Typical voltages for run of the mill LED's are around 4V max, but depend on the color you are using (the typical only goes lower from there). "Turn on" voltage for LEDs are usually assumed to be ~.7 V. I don't know enough about our music system to comment that it will probably be too high, but keep that in mind. LEDs can get very hot, and they stink when they burn out.

I would look into doing something else other than just sticking them in parallel with the speaker. If I had little electronics knowledge, I would find out what kind of signal is being delivered to the speaker, and run a series resistor (size depends on signal) and LED to ground off of the positive signal line (to GROUND. I'm pretty sure the negative line does NOT feed directly to ground, but like I said, I'm not 100% sure how our system works)

There are a lot of ways to do this, but throwing an LED in parallel with a speaker is not one of the ways I would do it.

Well ont he electronics side of it LED's run on DC (direct current) voltage the voltage to the speaker is AC (alternating current) So they will work only have the time, each time the current goes the correct direction for the LED.

The problem is as Yeah.Thats.Rice says most LED's have a max voltage of about 4 volts adn anything more than that will burn them out. So when the radio produces the sound the voltage out of the MIN radio is for about 1/2 volume is as follows:

Base radio - 11-12 volts

HiFi System 15-18 volts

So any LED without a inline resistor to lessen the voltage will blow the LED.

Now LEDs can take some reverse voltage but not really very much in fact many will blow with as little as 2 volts reverse voltage so now that we know all of this its not going to work very well as the LED connected to the speaker wires will have both forward and reverse voltage as the voltage is AC and with the voltages that the stereo puts out is way to high for the LED you will be replacing them very quickly.

Now as rogo states there are music controllers available for driving LED's as you are wanting to. A little harder to hook up but will make what you are trying to do actually work and work well.

This is the one I have, from oznium where I also ordered all my led strips:
http://www.oznium.com/cathode-music

This is one I am possibly going to try:
http://www.streetglow.com/Music-Interface-ANMI2#

Its available cheaper on other sites, but that is the official product page.

The only problem with the oznium is that I find it is too sensitive. I tried the napkin/wrap it up with electrical tape trick that was posted on the site but its still way too sensitive. The oznium also has a solid on and a flash fuction that will flash between its two 'channels'


Just some more info if you choose to go that route..

I didn't even consider AC :confused: Brainfart.

You could consider using a rectifying circuit, but they are very difficult to make efficiently.

I bought the streetglow sound modulator, I have no fricken idea on how to even hook it up, I thought it was just a battery operated microphone that picks up sound waves, its more than that and I am not that great with electronics. The LED strip I have is meant for the 12V cig lighter, so I tried to sodder a resistor onto it and hook it directly to my sub amp (dont even know how many volts) but I guess the resistor I bought is too strong because it cut the actual sub out, I'll figure it out eventually.

wut?

It came with the 12v plug that hooks into the cig lighter port up front, so I cut that off, and soldered a resistor to the exposed wires hoping it would take some of the power/stress off the leds so they wouldnt blow, kind of hard to explain sorry haha

what kind of hookup does the module have. it only shows the front online so i cant see the wires but if its like mine, it should have a power wire/ground wire and then multiple pos/neg wires to hook directly to the led strips. you hook the module to a 12v source, then ground it somewhere, then you figure out where the red and black wires connect to your module

you shouldnt be hooking anything to your amp/speakers, your module has a mic in it that controls the power output to whatever is connected to it (LEDs for most cases)

Here is a link to the wiring diagram. I have no idea how to hook up a single wire to a 12v source, as well as the ground. I will take a picture with a camera later of everything I have.

www.streetglow.com/site/Media/Manuals/anmi.pdf

If the power distribution blocks did not come with it, im assuming they are another accessory streetglow wants you to purchase. If you have 1-4 strips, i would suggest using the four outputs on the module itself. In my image below i took them out, and ran the LEDs straight to the module, which is how the oznium is laid out as well

basically you run the red wire from your module to your battery. You can run a wire straight to the battery (fused) or you can run a wire to your amp's 12v input (fused also)

then you take the black wire from your module and run it to a ground point in your mini, if you put this up front, there is a good grounding bolt near the fuse box.

then you locate the pos/neg outputs on the back of your module and you hook up your LEDs to those as i showed in the pic


the module is pretty much what you thought it is, its a microphone in there that then controls output to your leds, so make sure your module is in a spot where it catches the soundwaves best. My oznium module is overly sensitive, which makes the lights stay on almost constantly. You may find if you put yours under the seat or something where it only catches low notes, or certain bumps in the music, that it will flash more accurate to your music

EDIT: I just tried viewing the image and its not much bigger than the thumbnail, not sure whats up with that, but it makes the text unreadable, but its all in my post anyways