Tamiya MFC unit, any experts here regarding lighting?

[RC10th]

So, long story short I've wired up 4 to 5 Tamiya Semi's with MFC/MFU's and so far everything has been good.

Needless to say this truck is begging for more lights. I know this question has been asked hundreds of times but there seems to a yes/no response and a lack of detail.

From what I can gather is the LED circuits are current limiting, meaning no matter how many LED's you hook up in series will just get progressively dim as you add LED's. On the other hand if you hooked the LED's up in parallel you increase the load which could overload the MFC.

I wouldn't be using more then 4 Tamiya LED's on a couple of circuits. Anyone know what the output specs are of the MFC and/or if it has overload protection?

[jwscab]

if you wanted to control more LED's with a control signal, you can build a small transistor circuit that will take the load off the MFC unit and you can set the component values to handle lots of current; if you can solder and read circuit diagrams though.

[RC10th]

if you wanted to control more LED's with a control signal, you can build a small transistor circuit that will take the load off the MFC unit and you can set the component values to handle lots of current; if you can solder and read circuit diagrams though.

I thought about that as you can basically run an infinate number of LED's that way. I was hoping to keep this simple and not have to delve into doing things that way, if it were my truck I would do it.

I could possibly test a few different configurations on a port/circuit that wont get used.

[jwscab]

also, depending on the mfc specs, and the LED's you are running, you might have a lot of overhead current capacity, as most LED's are in the 10's of milliamps. most basic transistor circuits can handle at least a hundred, if not multiple hundreds these days.

[RC10th]

I'm sure there is plenty of headroom and most of the "no's" are people who are doing it wrong. Being it's not my MFC unit and the crazy price they are I'd like to avoid leaving it to chance as best I can.

I vaguely remember LED's shouldn't be hooked up in parallel, but in theory 2 bulbs in parallel would double the load on the MFC

[shodog]

I added two 3mm led's in parallel to the turn signal lights on my Knight hauler so I could have blinkers on the air cleaners. No issues whatsoever.