2nd gen license plate lights

[willzilla]

Wondering if anyone knows the max wattage LED we can place in the license plate light bulb connector safely? I put in some 6 LED 904 wedge lights rated at 10-16V, 0.35W, & put out 42 lumen and they popped the 15A fuse within about 5 seconds... I swapped in some lower watt cheap 194 168 W5W 2825 Frosted Lenses 12-14 Volts DC 0.18W single LED and the fuse was fine but the light output is much worse :-/

The 6 LED light in question is: http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=337

I'm assuming the higher power draw on the superior 6-LED set is enough to pop the fuse... What is the safe limit on this circuit? I didn't see the electrical wiring diagram max current draw or anything on the schematics just 12V DC power.

Is it safe to perhaps pop in a 20A or higher fuse without risk of melting out something to run these LEDs?

Thanks!

 

[FIND]

The LEDs aren't popping fuses. You must have had a short or something. Perhaps one of the leads was diagonal and contacted both sides of the circuit? Either way, stock incandescent bulbs are about 4 watts. The array I use for my license plates should be drawing around .6 watts. You may also consider the possibility that you have bad bulbs, or that they entered thermal runaway and formed a short across the diode.

*edit, I guess looking at the leds you were using, it doesn't use wire leads, so I would say it is more likely your LEDs or that resistor just overheated and shorted.

 

[willzilla]

Hmmm... Odd... Guess I need to break out the DMM or something.

 

[FIND]

Indeed, good luck with it. This is why I make my own arrays now.