Hello I am making advertising lightboxes that are powered by a motorbike alternator AC like the headlights and tail lights. The bikes are typically old and in a bad state (i live in Cambodia). I use a bridge rectifier to switch AC to DC. Which works fine to power the 5630 LED strip lights (about 1.5 meters - 2 amps) WHEN the bike is moving. The problem is when its idling the LEDs have a horrible flicker. I first tried adding a 10000uf capacitor and that didn't help then i added a voltage regulator to keep 12v but that also didn't help. Finally I made a circuit with a bridge rectifier, a 16v 5f super capacitor bank and a voltage regulator. This works like a dream to kill the flickering however it makes the bike's headlight very dim.
The problem as I understand (bearing in mind i know very little about electronics) is that the super cap is drawing all the available power 4+ amps by my multimeter. But the LEDs only need about 1.8 amps. How can I make the circuit pull only the power it needs. I thought once the cap was full it would pull less amps but that does not seem to be the case it just sits on 4.4amps. Is there some kind of current limiter I can add to the circuit? I considered using a bridge rated at 2amps but i suppose that would just burn out? Would a resistor in parallel help?
The problem as I understand (bearing in mind i know very little about electronics) is that the super cap is drawing all the available power 4+ amps by my multimeter. But the LEDs only need about 1.8 amps. How can I make the circuit pull only the power it needs. I thought once the cap was full it would pull less amps but that does not seem to be the case it just sits on 4.4amps. Is there some kind of current limiter I can add to the circuit? I considered using a bridge rated at 2amps but i suppose that would just burn out? Would a resistor in parallel help?