Another Noob Q. – add resistors to existing LED string(s)?

[Kris]

Hello! Your neighborhood noob has another question.

I need to dim the brightness of an existing LED plug-in (not solar or 12V…) light string, so I’m wondering whether I can just splice an additional resistor into the wiring, or is it more complex than that…?

I have a plug-in string of 200 blue lights which is just *insanely* bright; I just want some soft light to reflect in the pool, NOT have planes landing in my yard… =:-O

But I always get confused as to what, *exactly*, resistors lower:
the voltage or the current…?
I’m thinking that the blue ones absolutely require 3V to run, but it’s my understanding, such as it is, that lower *current* gives less brightness.

So, will a resistor do it, or am I misunderstanding the whole thing??

Thank You!

Kris “BirdsInMyBrain”

[Windell Oskay]

You *can* add an LED, but the actual behavior (and safety…) depend on how that string is actually wired internally. If it runs on AC, the “right” way to do it (assuming that there aren’t any “smart” electronics inside) might be to use a variac, or AC dimmer of another sort.

[Kris]

Thank you for your reply, Wendell.
It’s apparently not at all as straightforward as I had hoped!, and since it does have a built-in “half of them fade in while the other half fades out” function, I think that counts as “smart” and makes it unsuitable for plugging into a dimmer unit.

For safety’s sake, I’ll just leave well enough alone — making myself glow in the dark would be a little *TOO* weird even for Halloween, LOL!

Thanks again for your reply!

– Kris

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