Led Lights Are Dim

[aceoftrades13]

Hello,
I just tried to hook up two new led case lights to my PSU. I have had one other attached since i built the machine. However, now the leds, including to one I originally had are barely lighting up, or they arn't lighting at all. Ideas?

 

[COLGeek]

What make/model of LED lights are we talking about? How are they powered?

The most basic thing to do is to verify good connections. Second, if the LEDs attached to the mobo headers, verify that the polarity (usually just flip them around) is correct.

Please clarify.

 

[aceoftrades13]

The leds are connected to the 5v directly off of the PSU. One is just some BS light stick from frys, not sure what the part itself is, and there is no number listed. The others are LED ram mods from FrozenPC.

I think I might have some sort of short in the PSU which is causing low power output. Is that possible?

 

[COLGeek]

More likely, the Molex connection isn't securely fastened. Those things (especially cheap ones) can get out of alignment and not connect well. You may just need to check/reseat them. Also, try another connector, if possible.

 

[aceoftrades13]

I've tried 3 different lights in 4 different connectors. I cant seem to get a different result. (Followup, OK so i was able to restore one of my lights by plugging it into one of the LEDs that aren't working. I'm not sure why the other two will not work, but since they are both new, they may be faulty.) Is there a way to check?

 

[COLGeek]

The only way to check is with a good power source. You could take a 9-volt battery and attach 2 wires to it and see if that does the trick.

 

[aceoftrades13]

Tried the battery, I think the mods just may be bad. I've contacted the website and am returning them for new ones. Thanks for the help!

 

[aceoftrades13]

Best answer selected by aceoftrades13.

 

[athenatsai]

good discussion. Learnt a lot. LED Lights is quite a great topic.