Hi
Wow, you have a lot of battery options.
What I would do is decide on your battery option.
Then fit a motor and esc to suit this.
Then arrange the leds to suit that.
Can you detail what you have with regards to the boat. Are you building it or is it already built?
Regards
Robert

Hi fulmic
LEDS require a constant voltage and this can easily be achieved by using a series resistor between the battery and the LED.
Different coloured LEDs require different voltages so you cannot mix red and green leds connected to one resistor. I use a separate resistor for each type of coloured led. For 12v I use a 1K to 1.5K depending on how bright you want. For 6v >470ohm works but again adjust to suit. LEDs are diodes and if you do not limit the current they will self distruct very quickly. You can connect say 4 LEDS in series and attach to a 6v supply but I would always use a few hundred ohm resistor also in series to protect the dead short failure of one of the Leds.
As regards a battery there are devices on line that will reduce your main battery voltage to 2v to 3v or you could use a single LiFePO4 cell at 3.3v.
dave976

Robert maybe first i need to understand if use a 6V lead battery pack or utilize Lipo 3S or 4S. After that i need to define how to proceed. My idea is always to reduce the park of battery, more i have more job is request for maintenance. Is not a problem of money the topic is that the boat will be use anyway not so offend and i do not like to keep a Lead 6V battery in stand by for long time. If you think is possible for me is much better utilize 3S or 4S Lipo but i need the tension reducer that need to be install before ESC in this case between exit of battery and entry of ESC.

Sorry maybe i done confusion
The original boat used a 6 volts. Later on i start to think that i can use the Lipo battery that i have for my gliders that are 4S with 3200 mA/h.
But if i use this battery and i do not buy a new 6Volt Lead battery i can have problems with motor that works with 6V. Because 4S Lipo has 14.4 Volts. In this case i need a Tension reducer. But i need to put this reducer between the battery pack and the ESC in order to entry in ESC with 6Volts. Can i find a regulator? I can use also 3S Lipo that also i use for my airplanes. I can use 2 packs of 3S in serial in order to have always 11,1V but 2200x2 mA/H. But also in this case i need the tension regulator from 11,1V to 6V Base on it (if i use the Lipo 3S or 4S). Before my question was just to understand if i can use Leds of 12Volts with a battery of 6V as the original battery package, What about the light intensity? Thansk

HI Here is a link to an article on led wiring.

Https://thenrg.org/resources/Documents/articles/LEDLightingForModelShips.pdf

Hi, I am a bit confused. On your original inquiry you mentioned a 12volt battery.
Now six volts then 7.2volts.
You will need a different dropping resistor for each voltage.
A 12volt led may work on 7.2volt but would be dim.
You mention flickering when the motor is running. I have not found this to be an issue are the leds power should be directly to the battery via a fuse so any voltage changes on the battery should be minimal.
All I can suggest is that you have to experiment a bit.
Another solution it to use wheat grain bulbs to the correct voltage. This removes the need for resistors.
Regards
Robert

Hillro, good morning, i need to ask the following
I founded on Amazon a set of LED 3mm Dia at 12 Volts already with resistance inserted according the different colors.
Question
In order to avoid to utilize the 6V battery of the motor also for LED, in this case i avoid to see the LED blinking by the motor run, can i use an extra battery dedicated only for LED at 7,2 Volt? because the the LED has 12Volts? In different words can the LED of 12Vols work with 7,2 Volts? Thanks Fulvio

Good morning
Once you ideas come together, just make a sketch of the circuits you intend to use. Photograph them then post them here. I am sure lots of members would add their assistance.
Robert

Good Morning Robert. thanks for the explanation, i understood but now i need to develop the concept in order to understand what i would like to for my boat. I suppose that i will back to you because any way by backgraund is mechanical and i have few ideas about electrical topic. Thanks Robert for now. Ciao Fulvio

Hi,
The first thing to understand is that different colours require different voltages eg white =3 volts red = 1.5 volts.
So using a 12 volts dc battery you will need to included a resistor to drop the voltage to suit the led being used.
There is a lot of info on the Internet on how to calculate resistance value.
With reference in how to wire them, just wire them in parallel in groups that you want to switch. Supplied from the battery via a fuse.

With reference to general lighting on the boat you could wire 4 white leds in series , this would remove the need for resistors. This works by dropping 3 volts across each leds.
Note leds are polarity sensitive so make sure they are connected correctly.

There is lots of info on the Internet,
Some model boat shops sites have the info you require.
Get back to me if you need more assistance
Robert.

please see https://model-boats.com/wiki/38750

Good Morning Hillro. My name is Fulvio and i write from Italy. After 20 years with RC airplanes now i would like to add a new hobby the RC Boat. Based on it i have a new project that is to renew an original ELKE HF408 Graupner. My wish is to add the lights on the model. I will utilize a 6 Volts lead-acid battery. I will use a Graupner Speed 280 brush motor. But the topic are the leds. I would like to switch on and off the lights by a regular servo (small one) that by the rotation of the arm can open and close the contact for the lights. I would like to make 2 lines, one leds line for the light on the boat (in order to give light on the bridge and inside cabin and the second leds line for the navigation lights. In this case i will use 2 servos. Now the topic is the follow: can you suggest some solutions? can you tell me some information's on the utilization of the leds? How to connect more leds tougher? Better to do a electrical split where to arrive with main power and then split different lines? Can i connect the leds after the battery and before the ESC? All the above questions is because i do not have absolute experience on the topic and also on the boats. Thanks for your support or the help of somebody else. If some body has pictures on the topic are welcome. Thanks Fulvio

Hi Bombero
I used lots of LEDS on my RMS Olympic and they were wired in parallel in several banks to allow for the different current required for different size Leds 3mm and 5mm. You will need a voltage reducer to provide the max 3v required and as others have indicated some Leds require lower voltages. They all require a current limited source to prevent instant destruction of the junction. I used the LM317 voltage reg chip in four separate units (two for port and two for starboard) and connected this through a remote controlled 12v switch which allowed me to dim the lights when on display. There are many cheap voltage converters available so you don't need to build your own. I attach a pic of the units and the model FYI. It's 9ft long and has Led's in each porthole. I can provide details of the electonics if you are interested. Good luck
Dave 976

Hi
You could try a voltage reducer from component shop, that way you remove the resistor.

Strained my eyes Googling it.

https://www.componentshop.co.uk/led-exp/
This gives you some idea what's required

HI yes sorry I wrote diode instead of resistor, not sure what you need resistor wise but pre wired diodes normally have coated wiring.

First, what is your supply voltage.
Leds the colour of the led determines it's driving voltage.
White led requires 3 volts to light it.
If you have a 6volt dc supply , you can connect two in series which gives three volts across
There is quite a lot info on the Web about this and the use of resistors to drop the voltage required by the led.
It's using ohms law to calculate the resistor size but you need the find the spec for the led.
Led are polarity sensitive as well.

LEDs must have a dropping resistor, to keep them from destroying themselves by overdrawing .02 ma, each. Three LEDs, in series, will have a different size dropping resistor, than a single one. As to series or parallel connection, all in parallel, could be dropped by one resistor, of a slightly higher wattage(usually not a issue), mostly a decision on how complicated the plan becomes. Someone mentioned using a diode, did they really have a diode? A diode has a drop of about 1 1/2v, no resistance, and isn't a help in this decision. Does this help? kb

You likely already know, LED's are polarity sensitive so if some don't light reverse it's polarity.

HI They are wired like that on my model railway station platform lights. Run on 12 volts through a resistor to illuminate three lights. I did buy a three volt power supply in the end. If like mine the wires are coated with enamel.

As long as the resistors are first from the battery I can't see that series or parallel makes any difference.

You could cheat and get a string of white lights from poundland with a 2 x AA battery holder

A couple of points here. is it really bare copper wire, or is it magnet wire, the stuff used to wind motors. if it is the latter, it is coated with an epoxy to prevent it from shorting out. it you really do have bare copper wire, then yes you can replace it with insulated wire. I use 32 gauge multi- strand wire. it come in three different colors, is easy to work with, BUT it is quite expensive for what you get.
Next, when the instruction say to group the LED's in threes, how are they suggesting that you wire them together? In parallel or in series? You may be able to determine this by finding the value of the resistors supplied and matching that value to either the parallel or series vales of the group of three LED's.
There are advantages and disadvantages to wiring LEDs in series and/or parallel. But it really is your choice. You can also do a combination of series/parallel. There are plenty of circuit diagrams and LED calculators available on line that will help you figure out how to accomplish what you want.

please post photos