RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Marc
what you need to know is the following, I am not patronizing you because this post will sound basic but best to be basic and give you the info you need.
On your new lights there are 2 wires, red = positive, Black is negative. Once you have placed your led lights in the holes and secured them. Find the 8 pin connector on the bottom of your upper hull half.
looking at the 8 pin connector ( this is the small thin board with a bunch of wires going to it ) you need to solder the red wire to the third pin from the right side and the black wire goes to the second pin from the right. The very first pin is where you would put the black wire from your machine gun with the red wire going to the third pin from the right same as for the headlights.

The electronics will feed the right voltage and your machine gun should work with the above

jackalope wrote:Along with what Alpha said the longer lead on the LED is the POSITIVE side, the shorter lead is the NEGATIVE side. Unlike a light bulb an LED can not work if hooked up backwards.

Yup and the only way you will burn that sucker is if you ground it out...it's kind of hard to kill a LED

What I really want to know is how you lost the wires the Heng Long Glue Monkey usually makes sure those don't go anywhere

ALPHA

ALPHA wrote:

jackalope wrote:Along with what Alpha said the longer lead on the LED is the POSITIVE side, the shorter lead is the NEGATIVE side. Unlike a light bulb an LED can not work if hooked up backwards.

Yup and the only way you will burn that sucker is if you ground it out...it's kind of hard to kill a LED

What I really want to know is how you lost the wires the Heng Long Glue Monkey usually makes sure those don't go anywhere

ALPHA

Too much voltage will kill them too as Marc found out.

jackalope wrote:

ALPHA wrote:

jackalope wrote:Along with what Alpha said the longer lead on the LED is the POSITIVE side, the shorter lead is the NEGATIVE side. Unlike a light bulb an LED can not work if hooked up backwards.

Yup and the only way you will burn that sucker is if you ground it out...it's kind of hard to kill a LED

What I really want to know is how you lost the wires the Heng Long Glue Monkey usually makes sure those don't go anywhere

ALPHA

Too much voltage will kill them too as Marc found out.

I'm not certain he burnt it though.... a LED is a diode so a type of resistor... too much voltage just makes it act like a diode ....reason in older HLs they had resistors preceding them... now ...most of that is taken care of by the RX ...if you get a cross circuit it will certainly burn... happened on my FOV metal hulled Sherman...but if he had that micro shrink wrap still on the lead... there's a good chance any voltage went through it...best thing is for him to pull that black insulation off ..or cut it till the lead is exposed then wire it to the square 8 pin secondary board on the hull...all he has to do is solder either the ground or hot wire...then seek the power source on the board by just touching solder points ...it's the way I troubleshoot the lights... it's tedious ... but all part of building and learning the way around these tanks


ALPHA

Alpha my friend TRUST me when I tell you too much voltage WILL blow out an LED! I used LED's in my locomotives for YEARS and they must have a resister in line or they blow out. Bright flash of bluish white then turns red then no more light at all. Our tanks don't have a resister in line but the control board only allows enough power to light it up and not blow it out but if you hook them straight to the battery I'd be willing to bet you that'd kill em instantly.

Yep...

Been there.... done that...

jackalope wrote:Alpha my friend TRUST me when I tell you too much voltage WILL blow out an LED! I used LED's in my locomotives for YEARS and they must have a resister in line or they blow out. Bright flash of bluish white then turns red then no more light at all. Our tanks don't have a resister in line but the control board only allows enough power to light it up and not blow it out but if you hook them straight to the battery I'd be willing to bet you that'd kill em instantly.

I trust you Jack.... ....but Marc didn't say there was a flash of any kind...so his LED might still be good... Happened on my FOV...( shorted a couple of times lol)... one time I tested it with an 11.1 lipo...didn't light up...figured it was burned...but to my surprise after soldering the leads to the board..(had to switch the wires)...it worked...on another LED on the same tank..the two leads grounded on each other that killed it ....Not to worry Jack... I believe they burn lol...it's just with these tanks and the low voltage... the probability is not as great

ALPHA

dgsselkirk wrote:Yep...

Been there.... done that...

MURPHY'S LAW

ALPHA

IDK man the LED's I always worked with were rated at 1 volt or even less, so where our tanks may only have 7.2 volts thats more then enough to cook an LED.

Good Afternoon,
Aye, that's how I ruined the first LED in the spot on 'Maxene' and it was one of those tiny SMD types. I had to replace it with a standard 1.5 which was a good deal larger and required redoing the mount. At least I learned where the good hotspots to use were at on the board.
regards,
Painless