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Tech Support Q/A Blog
Power Adapters & Chargers:
Welcome to the technical support Q/A Blog where we go more in-depth regarding subjects you may have questions about but were unsure what or how to ask. The subject here is power adapters and chargers which for this article full under power adapters. Generally, the subjects will be pertaining to voltage, amperage, and polarity but also discussed will be how amperage can affect the charge of a Li-Ion battery.
Voltage:
Most if not all of our products are going to be 12 volts or 24 volts. The general and obvious rule is that any LED lighting product that operates on 12 volts will need a 12 volt power supply with the same rule applying to anything at 24 volts. Too much voltage from the adapter will cause the LEDs at best to have a shortened life and at worst to smoke.
How This Affects Chargers and Li-Ion Batteries:
Our Li-Ion Batteries and chargers are rated at 12.6 volts. The rule stated above with matching power adapters and LED lights most definitely applies here as well.
Amperage:
The rules for this are less exacting than with volts; however, one rule that needs to be observed is this: The amount of amps should always be at the level of your lighting or greater. It is OK to use a 12 volt 3 amp power supply to power 2 amps worth of lights but not OK the other way around. This will lead to an overdriven power adapter.
How This Affects Chargers and Li-Ion Batteries
This is actually interesting because in theory, an adapter that has a higher amperage (e.g, 1A versus 500mAh) will charge the battery faster or in the e.g, twice as fast. Before you run out and get a 1 amp 12.6 volt charger as opposed to the 500 milliamp charger of the same voltage that comes with your B38 battery, keep in mind that this may also cause your battery to overheat leading to malfunction. In short, we strongly advise against using any other charger than the one that comes with the battery or at least one that does not match the amperage requirements.
Polarity:
You go to plug in your charger to your battery but nothing is happening. Why? The voltages are the same and you did observe the rules regarding amperage. Most likely, your polarities are reversed. All of the products we sell at HitLights are positive polarity which is reflected with this symbol below.
How This Affects Chargers and Li-Ion Batteries:
Ensure you use a charger and battery that are the same polarity. That is all.
If you have further inquiries about LED related subjects, please send us an email at customerservice@hitlights.com or call us at 1-855-768-4135