how does a voltage regulation circuit work?

[batmanacw]

I just bought a string of battery led Christmas lights that are unregulated and don't run long on a set of batteries. I want to use them for energy efficient area lighting.

How does a regulation circuit work if i want to try to get more out of them for a shorter time?

They run off 4.5v from 3 AA batteries. How much voltage should it be able to handle?

I am planning on a 9v source.

 

[Mr Happy]

There is not enough information to say. You need to examine the set and determine how it is wired up. How many lights are there? How are the lights connected to the battery? Are there any current limiting resistors? Are there any electronic control circuits between the battery and the lights? Are any LEDs in series with each other?

 

[VegasF6]

White or multicolored? Probably just a resistor. Adding more voltage will increase current draw causing them to fail sooner, and you won't increase run time, especially if you are talking about a 9V battery.
When you say you want more out of them for a shorter time do you mean run brighter for less time?
Or you want them to run longer and be less bright?

If it's the first one, you might try significantly more voltage, say 48V or so. They should be quite bright, but runtime will be measured in milliseconds. (ok that was just a bad joke, couldn't resist though)