Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - LED strips.

........I've been playing around with LED strips. These strips are powered by a 12v battery, but I recently noticed that they can also be powered by a common 9v battery as well. Although 9v batteries dont have much capacity (only 280mAh) they are much cheaper and smaller than 12v NiMH packs that are soldered together. A pair of LED strips are about $10, 9v is $5, 9v charger is $2 on ebay and 9v case is about $3 from Radioshack which brings the grand total to $20.
........I just purchased a rechargeable 9V from ebay and will provide an update on its running time. Has anyone else used LED strips? I think their great for side visability when attached to the down tube or top tube.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/totoroben/000_0051-1.gif
This pic does no justice. I will have to take another when it gets dark out.

I'm not sure if this will be of any interest to you, I suspect the 9v battery you have is actually 8.4V ?

If it's a PP3/RX22 type battery, you'll find it is made from 7 x 1.2v cells.

It's possible to take two of these batteries apart and make a small 10 cell 12V pack.

Can be quite handy.

:)

It's possible to take two of these batteries apart and make a small 10 cell 12V pack.
:)

Actually I do have a 12v pack made from 10 AAA batteries that I ordered from batteryspace. The reason I am looking into 9v is that I am looking for ways to make the setup cheaper so other people can try it out with pieces that have greater availability.

Okay here is a pic of the LEDs at night.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/totoroben/000_0052.gif
sure theyre not as bright as cold cathode, but they are waterproof, breakproof, more directed toward oncoming cars and cheaper.

Where did you get the strips ?

Can they be shortened ?

the pair of strips in the picture were purchased from allspectrum.com and are about 40cm in length. These are more expensive and used to blink, but the wires broke from the circuit board so I direct wired it. I recently purchased a pair on ebay from HK for $10 that were 30cm in length. I like to buy the strips that are flat and the LEDs do not stick out. Search for LED strips on ebay.

$3.40 inc. shipping

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5240

wow thats an even better deal! Brings the price down to $14/set. Not as many LEDs are on those strips, but there is no arguing with the price.

Brings the price down to $14/set.
including battery and charger of course.

If you're going 'cheap' also consider a string of LED Christmas lights. :) Should be good to experiment with anyway.

I'm trying to stay away from christmas lights. Going for a more clean crisp look.

Here's a 12 volt battery back that uses 8 AA batteries:

http://www.supercircuits.com/Camera-Power-Supplies/BP12AAK

This is better....

http://www1.dealextreme.com/productimages/sku_21045_2_small.jpg

Unknown, what the heck is that thing? Link?

Ok so I did a test to see how long 2 strips of 15 LEDs would run off a 9V battery. They stayed lit for more than 12h, and were still going. Unfortunately I had to turn them off, so they may last much longer. I am satisfied.