Led bed light question

I'm going to install led strips. Its a roll and will be cut into 3 sections for under the sliding tie downs. So starting on the passanger side red and black wires connecting to the center strip then red and black wires connecting the other end of center strip to the one on the drivers side, and 2 more wires coming out of there black going to ground red to a switch. Then black coming off switch to ground and red off switch will have a fuse then to battery. Does that sound right? Or do I have to ground each strip individually? Hope that makes sense.

Thanks
Steve

 

Subbed looking for this info as well

 

You do NOT need to ground each strip individually. Exactly what you wrote is exactly how it needs to be hooked up. Other than the ground coming off the switch, which I assume is for a switch with an indicator light on it? Also in the past when I have wired up those LED strips, they seem to be directional based on where you cut them. I would wire all of them together and then touch the leads either on your battery or hook it up to a power supply to make sure they come on before you stick them.

 

Ok thanks. Yes the strips can be cut every 5th led I think. The switch does not have a indicator light. I plan on putting it one of the cubby pockets in the bed. So no ground for switch? Just wire from leds and a wire going to battery.

Thanks
Steve

 

Picture or link to the switch you are using?? The switch should not have a ground unless it has a light on it. If it doesn't have a light, then something is wrong.

A basic (no light) switch should only have 2 wires or connections on it. It does not matter which side goes to what, but one side goes to your lights (+) wire and the other side goes to a fuse (5amp should be plenty), then to the battery (+). And all the (-) on the lights connect together and then get grounded just like you said.

No need for any relays unless your going to be using something other than a switch to trigger these lights on, or if you want them to be on accessory only and not the battery. But that's a whole different story.

 

Ok I actually dont have a switch yet I was just trying to make sure I had the wiring correct. The lights will only work on the switch. Dont really have aneed for the lights to come on a different way.

Thanks

 

Hey Steve,

Why are you cutting the roll into three sections? If it is a five meter LED roll you can 'wrap' it all around under the tie down utility racks without the need to cut the LED strip. You'll end up with about 6 inches of excess at the end of the strip to cut off.

Just did this to mine along with some other LED mods here: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/lighting/267483-led-lights-under-truck.html#post6591525

 

If you have all the lights linked together, red to red and black to black, you should still only have two wires at the end to wire up to power/ground. Run the black wire to the nearest grounding location. You can make your own with a tapping screw or use an existing screw on the truck. Just make sure it's screwed into metal, and make sure it's clean and bare metal with no paint.

Then run the red wire to one post on the switch, then another red wire on the other post of the switch. In between the switch and the battery is where you'll put your fuse. Put it as close to the battery as possible.

 

Oh, and like it was said above, a basic 12v switch with no light on it will just have two terminals. If there's a light there will be a third which will be for a ground. you don't NEED to run ground to it but then the switch won't light up.

 

I was thinking of cutting cause figured it would be a cleaner look but I'll wrap it around there and see how it looks.

Thanks to everyone for all the info. Going to try to do install this weekend.

 

Ok I'm looking at the led's there 2 wires red and black a pair on each end of the roll so if I don't cut them do I just have to connect on end to the switch and ground and not worry about the other end?
If I do cut them then where they can be cut there are 4 connections that say +12v, G, R, B. So do I have to make wires connections for all 4 or just 2?

Thanks
Steve

 

I believe you only wire one end of the strips. The other wires are only used if you're connecting multiple strips together.

 

Ok so it I cut them do I have to wire 4 wires cause it will act like they are multiple sets?

 

I've never done them so I don't know for sure. I would assume you would just leave the wires at the cut end alone. Just tape them up really well so it doesn't short out.

 

I've been doing a lot of the LED light specialty set-ups lately. I am a bit curious on your strips. If you have a single color LED, then you should have only 2 terminals, one red, and one black. On LED strips that have the "+12V, G, R, B" then you may be looking at either the full color strips, or a modified version. "G" is for green, "R" for red, "B" for blue, and 12V for the power source. the connector end on the RGB, full color LED will look like this:



Sorry for it being blurry. As you can see, it starts at the top with 12V, then G, then R, then B.

To make connections simple and easy, you can get the strip jumpers like this (Note this is for the RGB full spectrum, not single color)



These are really good because they make a great connection, and simplify things a lot. You can connect it onto either end of the strip, because the strip also has a wafer thin connection on the back side of the strip as well. This way you can jumper from one strip to the next. Then, depending on if you are at the beginning or the end, you can cut and strip the wires of the connector to hook it all up. Can you post some photos of what you have so far?

 

The color says white here are a couple pics.

 

OK, I see what is going on. They use the same circuit board as the RGB full spectrum, but then only install the single color LEDs to the circuit. You can still use the same connector pieces that I showed to join multiple strips. If you need any help just let me know.

 

Installed the lights today. Went good. I cut the lights into 3 sections then just soldered wires to reconnect the strips, added silicone to the areas I cut. Put the switch inside one of the open pockets on the side of the bed.
Day almost started off bad when I was in the bed looked up and saw my dog face to face with a skunk lol. But no one got sprayed.

Here's the skunk it walked onto my porch

Thanks for everyone's help

Steve

 

Looks good! I'm thinking of doing this someday too. But I already put a nice LED dome light on my shell that works great.

 

Looks good. Once I get everything finished on the truck I am going to have to take some more pictures myself. I work on my truck at the shop though, so it is hard to get any decent night pictures unless I am working WAY late. lol.