Help installing LEDs inside case?

[rowdymoody]

Hello, I have two 18" 12V blue LED bars. They are made for a car. The connector is a 12V adapter plug that goes into the 12V port on your dashboard of your car. I am going to cut off the adapter so that I can wire them to my computer.

I have a few Ideas in mind as to how I can go about installing these, I just have a few questions about these options, and would like to know which option is the best to install these.



Option #1 - I have an old molex to 6-pin connector I could cut up. Hook the posetive lead from the LED to the yellow 12V wire on the molex connector, and then connect the negative lead from the LED to the neutral black wire on the molex connector and plug it into one of my spare molex tails from my PSU.

Option #2 - I have an old computer, I could pull a fan out, and cut off the 3 pin connector. Hook the wires from the LED bars to the 3 pin connector, and then plug it straight into my motherboard.

Option #3 - My computer case is a Corsair 600T, which has a built in fan controller knob. I could do the same steps as Option #2, but rather than hook the 3 pin connector straight to the motherboard, plug it into one of the spare fan controller plugins and run them off of the fan controller.



Is option #2 a bad idea? It seems to me that it would be the wiser choice to run them directly off of the power supply, rather than off of the motherboard.

If I go with option #3, would the light intensity change as I change the fan speed via the case fan controller knob? Or would the light remain consistent as I adjust the knob?

Which of the above do you think the best idea is? How would you do it? I am also open to any other suggestions about it.

Thanks for any thoughts or input!

 

[i7Baby]

You need to make sure any circuit you configure will be able to comfortably power the bars. How many watts are they?

I'd try to avoid powering them from the motherboard if they were over say 2W.

And similar with powering them off the fan control - especially if it runs a circuit board behind it.

I'd try to power them from the molex connector you've got. But it'd be nice if you could add a switch to turn them on and off.

 

[ko888]

Motherboard fan headers are usually rated for a maximum of a 1 Amp current draw. Don't risk burning out a copper trace on your motherboard.

Play it safe and tap into the +12V line of a 4-pin Molex peripheral power connector.