How to connect an LED New Year’s garland on the street in an apartment directly from the mains, batteries, to a 12-volt battery, to ISB

On New Year’s Eve, the soul requires a holiday and bright emotions. One way to achieve this goal is to buy decorations for an apartment, house or outdoor area. At the same time, it is difficult to imagine a New Year’s holiday without a garland that glows with many colors, improving mood and decorating our home.

Below we will consider how to connect a New Year’s garland on the street, in a car or in a forest. Let’s talk about the intricacies of connecting light bulbs to a 12-volt battery, USB or batteries. We will also analyze the features of connecting to speakers using improvised methods. But more about everything.

Features of connecting street garlands

The first thing you need is to wisely choose a New Year’s garland designed for installation on the street. Such products must be protected from natural influences, namely moisture, rain, snow, etc. The design must have a degree of protection of IP65 or higher.

The use of standard IP44 garlands is not suitable due to possible damage. In this case, you should not trust the word of the manufacturer. Check his protection statement for yourself.

The next issue is connectivity. Here you can supply from different voltages:

• 3 or 4,5 V – from batteries;
• 12 or 24 V – directly from batteries or through a power supply;
• 220 V – from the household network.

When making a decision, it is important to focus on safety. At home, as a rule, the option is chosen with a connection to a household network or through a transformer (power supply).

The latter reduces the voltage to 12 or 24 V. In this case, the garland itself must be designed for this rating.

This option is suitable when hanging a garland on a window from the outside or on the front door.

It is advisable to take the power supply with a power reserve or use two or more devices connected in parallel. If installing one garland on the street is not enough, you can connect several products using special connectors (for low-voltage products) or soldering (for 220 V devices).

When installing, look at the number of serially connected sections. This requirement is easily found in the instruction manual. In most cases, it is not recommended to turn on more than 3 garlands in series.

Violation of this requirement will inevitably lead to damage to the product due to the passage of increased current through the elements of the garland. If you need to connect additional light bulbs, you need to supply a separate power wire for them.

Additional points to consider when connecting a garland on the street:

1. A controller is required to control the brightness of the light and the mode.
2. In addition to protecting the lamps themselves, it is important to take care of the presence of a housing for additional elements, such as a controller or power supply. If their protection is not enough, it is worth providing a separate box for mounting devices indoors or outdoors. In the latter case, the box must have the necessary protection.
3. The socket must be with the maximum degree of protection against external influences. When installed outdoors, these connectors have a special cover.

Given these points, you can easily connect a garland on the street and create a festive mood at any time of the year, including New Year’s holidays.

Connecting a garland in the forest

If you need to connect a garland in the forest, when choosing a product, the same principle is used as discussed above. The main difficulty is finding a suitable power source. At a great distance from the outlets, it is better to use a rechargeable battery or AA batteries. How to connect a garland with their help, we will consider below.

Another option that is suitable not only for the forest is shown below.

In car

Many car owners dream of decorating a car with a garland. Two options are possible here:

1. Assemble the product yourself (the principle is discussed below).
2. Use the finished design.

In the latter case, you will have to sweat to make changes to the factory version, since the usual Chinese garland runs on 220 V alternating current.

The best option would be to purchase an inverter from 12 to 220 V. There are special models for cars on sale.

Other ways to use ordinary garlands on a car are not advisable, as they are laborious and dangerous.

How to connect an LED garland

In recent years, LED garlands are most in demand, which are distinguished by their light design, long service life and ease of connection.

The shortest way is to buy a finished product, using it to decorate a house, street or office. If desired, you can make and connect the garland to the power source yourself.

To 12V battery

A popular option is to connect the garland to a battery or 12 V power supply.

You will need:

• light bulbs;
• 12 V power supply (battery);
• the wire;
• resistance;
• soldering iron, sealant and knife.

When connecting a garland on LEDs to a PSU, a distance between the bulbs of about 20 cm is recommended. Make marks and clean the necessary areas where the connection will take place.

Switch all the LEDs first, and the last resistor and 12V power supply.

The resistance value is calculated taking into account the power and type of light bulbs. Before connecting the wires, be sure to consider the polarity, because otherwise the garland will not work.

К USB

The easiest way to create a glowing tape for USB connection is to use LEDs from keyboards, mice or other devices. They are easy to find on the radio market or in your pantry. For example, consider a string of 12 LEDs connected in parallel with step-down resistors.

The choice of quantity is due to the fact that USB is designed for 5V power supply, and the smallest current is 0,5A.

We will take it as an example. On average, the current consumption of a light bulb in a garland is 20 mA, so the maximum number of LEDs is up to 25. The number 12 voiced above is taken in such a way as to avoid any risks.

To protect against heating, it is necessary to reduce the input voltage. The optimal parameter is chosen taking into account the color of the lamp:

• orange – 2,03-2,1 V;
• red – 1,6-2,03 V;
• yellow – 2,1-2.2 V;
• purple – 2,8-4,0 V;
• green – 2,2-3,5 V;
• blue – 2,5-3,7 V.

The best solution is to solder the LEDs in series. This method has a disadvantage in the form of increased heating of the diodes and a decrease in their resource. It is better for each diode to provide its own resistance.

Ohm’s law must be used to calculate the value. For example, if you need to power a 2 V light bulb, the potential difference will be 3 V (5-2). To calculate the resistance, we perform the action 3 / 0,02A and get 150 ohms. But it is worth considering that the color of the light bulb can also change from the parameters of the resistor.

It remains to assemble the structure, close the contact points with the help of cambric and connect the finished garland to the USB cable.

Inside the latter, four cores are provided. For power, you must use only black (minus) and red (plus). After connecting, test the operation of the garland and, if successful, celebrate the New Year in a bright design.

To batteries

If desired, you can connect the garland to the batteries. Converting a product from 220V to 3V will take a lot of time, so it’s better to buy a ready-made product or make a luminous tape yourself.

To work, you will need a wire (soft twisted pair) and heat shrink tubing to protect the joints.

Batteries provide power, thanks to which you can place luminous bulbs anywhere. It is best to use two 1,5V AA power supplies to get a total of 3V. The connection housing is easy to find on the radio market.

You can use different bulbs, for example, G45 or DIY LEDs for 20 mA and 3V, which are easy to solder to each other. The wire diameter must be at least 0,75 square meters. mm with a monolithic core.

Changing the brightness is possible using the dimmer. You can also buy a 12A plug.

In general, you will need the following equipment:

• LEDs of one or more colors;
• resistance per 100 ohms according to the number of diodes;
• wire with two cores;
• knife and soldering iron;
• heat-shrink tubing;
• cassette for AAA or AA batteries;
• power plug and regulator (optional).

When buying LEDs, give preference to flashing products, because they look more beautiful.

Having a garland diagram in front of your eyes, it will not be difficult to make and connect it.

Assembly takes place in several stages:

• bite off the leads from the LEDs of the garland and leave 5 mm each;
• shorten the resistors and solder them to the anodes of the bulbs;
• prepare wires of the required length and put on heat shrink tubing;
• connect wires to resistance and diodes with correct polarity;
• shrink the tube with a lighter.

Now connect the product to the cassette, taking into account the polarity, and put three batteries into the connector itself.

Optionally, you can make shades from disposable glasses or tennis balls. To do this, cut a hole in the ball or the bottom of the glass and install the LEDs in it.

At the same time, please note that when the garland is connected to batteries, its operating time is limited.

On average, the capacity of a finger-type AA is from 1 to 2,5 Ah. In the case of a serial connection, the voltage rises to 3 V. This means that two AAs, on average, are enough for no more than 1,5 hours of operation.

In the manufacture of the control unit, you can use a microcontroller. On sale you can find different types of such devices – with buttons, remote control and other types.

The main thing is that the product is suitable for power. Before soldering, make sure that the poles are connected to the power supply correctly.

Approximate calculations show that with self-assembly and connection, you can save about $ 22 (for 20 meters). The longer the length, the more noticeable the savings.

To power supply

As an option – connecting a garland from a mobile phone power supply. Here you can follow the same principle as discussed above. The main thing is to make calculations by the number of LEDs.

As noted, it is better to use DIY light bulbs that have a current rating of 20 mA and a voltage of 3 V.

The charger from the phone gives out from one to two amperes. For example, if a 1 A charger is available, 50 LEDs can be connected to it. With a distance between the lamps of at least 10 cm, the total length will be five meters.

If you plan to assemble a longer garland, more current will be required. For these purposes, you can use a 12 V power supply with a subsequent decrease in voltage to 3-4 V through a converter.

So, to connect 200 LEDs on a garland, the current in the line will be 20 mA * 200 = 4 A, and the total power will be (for 5 V) – 19 W (5V * 4 A). Ideally, when connecting a long garland of more than five meters, it is better to use several power sources.

To columns

There is another way to connect the garland – to the speakers. Such a decision is made in the case when a person wants to receive a flashing light music.

No resistors or transistors are needed to assemble the circuit. Only a solid-state relay should be at hand, which has a number of advantages – high speed, noiselessness and the presence of galvanic isolation (by U). A zero crossing detector is also provided here. This is only a part of the advantages, because in practice there are more of them.

A solid state relay, in fact, is a triac switch with control and decoupling circuits. You can buy it on the radio market, on the Internet or on Ali Express.

The number of performances is enough to select the right product. Relays come in different sizes and capacities.

In this case, equipment with screw terminals and a current of up to 60 A was used. In most cases, a lower current is enough for a garland. The main thing is that it be from 2 A and above.

The control supply voltage (pulse) is 3-32 V. In this case, the control itself is carried out directly by sound.

The algorithm is as follows:

1. A solid state relay is placed in the gap of the garland.
2. The sound from the speaker is fed to the input of the latter.
3. After turning on the music, the garland will blink according to the tempo of the piece.

The output from the amplifier can be taken from any channel (left or right). If desired, you can connect the product between the outputs to flash when stereo appears. If you have a subwoofer at hand, you can connect to it.

To create a bright effect, buy two garlands and a couple of relays, and then connect to different channels. There is a wide range of options available here.

For ease of control, use two toggle switches for switching. The first allows you to turn on the normal garland mode, and the second to turn off the influence of music.

The presence of galvanic isolation ensures that the voltage does not fall on the column. To turn on the load, you can use a plastic container. Here, make holes and install the toggle switches. This completes the work.

Direct without controller and control box

The weakest point in the garland is considered to be a box with a microcircuit. It is necessary to remove everything from it, except for the diode bridge. Only a resistor and light bulbs are added.

As a result, the following elements are needed to assemble the scheme:

• diode IN4007 (four) for the diode bridge (remain);
• LEDs (16 x four different colors);
• resistance at 30-70 kOhm.

The principle of connection is simple. A voltage of 220 V is applied to the diode bridge. Further, the LEDs are connected in series by color (four groups) and combined at common points. On the one hand, a plus from the diode bridge is suitable, and on the other, a minus (through resistance).

Installing a resistor is mandatory, because it limits the voltage. If you ignore its setting, the resistance near the LEDs will get very hot, which will lead to burnout.

If desired, you can do the work without a microcircuit.

To do this:

• solder diodes in the form of a diode bridge;
• make a hole in the end of the cork of a plastic bottle and pull the wire into it;
• assemble the circuit and insulate the contacts;
• fill the contents with hot melt, and on top cover it with the top of another cork.

On this, the restoration of the garland can be considered complete.

Results

Knowing how to connect a garland in the forest, on the street near the house or in the apartment, you can always please yourself and your loved ones. In this case, the power supply of the product can be very different. Connection is possible via USB, battery, batteries or even speakers. The main thing is to have a desire, a little time and, of course, a basic set of knowledge.