BFL13 wrote:
Is it possible the 14.7v killed the LED lamp?
Yes.
There are three different types of LED light setups..
1 As one poster mentioned, many cheaply built LED assy's use a resistor as a current limiting device. This type of LED light has a very narrow voltage range that it will work fine within. You always can go down in voltage (dimmable) but go up and you let out the smoke packets that the factory put in it.. Once the smoke packets escape, the device no longer works.
Common, cheap and effective although you do lose some energy as heat through the resistor.
2 No current regulator (IE no resistor), only the LEDs wired in series and the LEDs themselves regulate the current.. Does work, however they have an extremely tight voltage range and going even a millivolt over can cause failure, can always go down in voltage (dimmable).. Typically used a lot with battery powerd flashlights but I have seen that design in line powered LED lights.
Common, cheap but pretty scary..
3 Electronic constant current/voltage regulated (switching regulator)with LEDs wired in series/parallel strings. Very efficient, tolerates extreme wide voltage variations (IE 9V-30V) without the LEDs changing brightness. These however are typically non dimmable).
Here is a pix of a G4 base LED for puck lights..
Not so common for vehicles and they are more costly, also have additional side effect of creating a lot of RF noise (RFI, "hash", ect) especially with poor designed regulators which can affect radio abd TV reception.
I suspect that you ended up with number 1 or number 2 options..
If it does not give you a large voltage range like 9-30V pass it up, it was designed for use with a vehicle which typically reaches 14.4V right after startup and that lasts for only a second or two.
