IR illuminators that are 12v AC/DC compatible

Sybertiger

Sybertiger

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Jun 30, 2018
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I would assume that the vast majority of 12VDC illuminators are in fact DC ONLY. Is anyone aware of 12V AC/DC illuminators.

I have outdoor garden lights around certain areas of the house so there's garden light wiring running past a few areas that might be candidates for IR illuminators. The garden lights operate off of a 12VAC transformer (like a Malibu lighting garden transformer). It'd be nice to tie into the 12VAC that's already available. I know a good chunk of those LED garden lights coming out of China are 12VAC/DC compatible so they've got a circuit/rectifier to take care of it as needed. Sometimes they advertise the LED garden lights as 12VDC but neglect to mention they work with 12VAC also.

Anyhow, anyone have specific knowledge on this? It's not worth the effort of putting a bridge rectifier on these as now you are dealing with the elements.
 
I believe you correct in that most have rectifiers in them. If you hook 12VAC to them and they don’t have a rectifier they will just flash 60 times a second. Rectifiers are cheap, just buy 1 in case it’s needed.
 
Searched and found this post. Wondering if anyone has found a small, "landscape-lighting-like", IR illuminator that runs on 12VAC? Just like the OP, I'd like to attach an illuminator to my existing landscape lights. I have an LED uplight for a tree that is closer to the street. It would be nice to add an illuminator there and point it to the street for LPR purposes.
 
The output from a bridge rectifier, if you add a filter capacitor, will be around 16VDC. That's a little on the high side. You'd be better off going with a simple diode and a capacitor for filtering. That will be closer to 12 VDC. Without the filter it will probably still flash at either 120hz, bridge, or 60hz, simple diode.
 
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reflection said:
Searched and found this post. Wondering if anyone has found a small, "landscape-lighting-like", IR illuminator that runs on 12VAC? Just like the OP, I'd like to attach an illuminator to my existing landscape lights. I have an LED uplight for a tree that is closer to the street. It would be nice to add an illuminator there and point it to the street for LPR purposes.
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sebastiantombs said:
The output from a bridge rectifier, if you add a filter capacitor, will be around 16VDC. That's a little on the high side. You'd be better off going with a simple diode and a capacitor for filtering. That will be closer to 12 VDC. Without the filter it will probably still flash at either 120hz, bridge, or 60hz, simple diode.
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Although I do have the parts, this is going to be for the outdoors. The illuminator will be small and on the ground and will "pretend" to be landscape lights. I would have to bury the circuit. Need something packaged for the elements.
 
reflection said:
Although I do have the parts, this is going to be for the outdoors. The illuminator will be small and on the ground and will "pretend" to be landscape lights. I would have to bury the circuit. Need something packaged for the elements.
Click to expand...

Easy enough to pot it in liquid rubber, just a little messy to work with. Alternately, a small project box wrapped with Coax Seal then tape would work as well. We're talking low voltage, not 110VAC.
 
Good grief y'all... They only cost 3-5 bucks.
 
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Yeah, but no satisfaction from doing it yourself :D
 
I didn't want to wait until November so I went to my workbench and checked out my inventory. Found four 1n4007 diodes and a 470uF capacitor so I soldered this together. Took about 15min. I tested it with a 12VAC supply and looks like it's outputting 15VDC. Might have to add a resister to drop the output voltage if it's too high for the illuminator.

DIY-rectifier.png
 
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An LM7812 would solve that and clamp the voltage.
 
I measured the voltage drop at the location I wanted the illuminator and it was 10VAC. So looks like my DIY circuit will be perfect for my needs as the output should be close 12VDC. I'm going to put some neutral silicon sealant on the exposed areas and put this in a project box (or 3D print my own since I want to keep this compact).

Yes @sebastiantombs , it is rather satisfying :)
 
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All the silicon sealant I had was acid-based, so I went with hot glue instead. Time to wrap this up many times so I can bury it.

IMG_8669.JPG
 
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