LED HELP

[IOWAICE21]

I am installing led strips in my flipover and trying to run them to rocker switches. When i hook them up the wires start to smoke and get hot. I don't know if i am hooking them up wrong or what the deal is. I have the positives going to the positives and the negatives going to negative. I don't have a ground wire. If i hook the negative on the ground they work fine but they stay running. Any help would be appreciated.

[stripernut]

You are using AC LEDs with a AC system? Not DC LEDs with a AC system...

[puddy]

Run red wire from Battery positive to terminal on switch then red wire from the other switch terminal to the first light, and so on only connecting the red wires to red wires. Now run your black wire from Battery negative to the first and consecutive lights.

[IOWAICE21]

You are using AC LEDs with a AC system? Not DC LEDs with a AC system...

The leds are dc as well as the toggle switches.

[IOWAICE21]

Run red wire from Battery positive to terminal on switch then red wire from the other switch terminal to the first light, and so on only connecting the red wires to red wires. Now run your black wire from Battery negative to the first and consecutive lights.

So the led negatives will only go to the battery then?

[bigbuckmiddaugh]

Something funky.
If they are smoking, I want to say something is backwards

[ssduramax66]

So the led negatives will only go to the battery then?

Yes that is correct. You want the switch to "interrupt" the red wire.

[kyl_me]

Where do they start to smoke? Start by putting the LED leads on the battery (one LED strand at a time). See if they light up, test the next strand. Need to find where the problem is coming from.

[3300]

i wrote a post warning about the thin tape on the back side of the led's sold on reels at least. the tape is easily punctured/sliced/pushed back and allows the circuits to become exposed. there are solder pads at every group of three led's that allow to be cut and soldered on either side of the tape

smoking and red hot wires are a short circuit. same as touching the red wire to the negative battery post. wire gets cherry red hot and now its the same as an eclectic stove top burner and thats how fires stat in walls of your home or cars or now shanties

to find your problem, you  have a few choices. use a multi meter and set it to make noise for continuity testing. touch the red/black wires in each set to find what one is ringing out, that is the one with the short

run one strip at a time directly to the battery and find the one with a short in it. it will light and not get hot/smoke if has no short

if you took the paper off the back of the tape, thats not good and you will have to watch for problem more than those who left it on. like myself. i used velcro wire ties and can remove and move it easily and have a smaller chance of of dead shorts on the metal conduit.

only a few things come to mind to stop the shorting out on the conduit.
easy and fast way, use electrical tape and wrap the pipe where the strips sit on them. use velcro cable ties to be able to remove/move them. we aren't on ice all year, so why not use them else where when it gets warm out?
i can think of a few places to use them

use heat shrink tubing on the conduit at contact points

use heat shrink tubing on the strips so they are never going to short on metal again

mount the strips to some thing that you can hang like a light bar. i thought of the clear pvc pipe and do the same with green for under water fishing light bar