LED Taillights, Custom Made for the 914 Options

[effutuo101]

Great. Another thing to spend money on for my car.
Nice work! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

[monkeyboy]

Can't wait to see these work! Awesome!

[Spoke]

Received the alternate boards today. This one uses lower power through hole 5mm LEDs. This board will be easy to build since the through hole devices are easy to solder.

[mikesmith]

(please let me know if you'd rather I didn't clutter your thread with stuff like this)

I figured it'd be interesting to mock something up using 'smart' LEDs; this is 88 WS2812s behind a 'euro' lens. Currently just running some static patterns, but fully logic controlled so they could literally do anything.

My phone does a bad job dealing with how bright they are, so it gets hard to distinguish red from amber, but in person it's quite clear. You'd have the most flexibility with the clear 'italian' lenses, since then you're not limited to the colours you can display in each region.

 IMG_0102.MOV ( 2.36mb ) Number of downloads: 153


(hmm, not sure how to inline a video that's hosted here...)

[Spoke]

Those WS2811s look pretty cool. I looked for them online but couldn't find them at findchips.com so see how expensive they are.

I tested the side LEDs to see how they would work for the side light. I used 6 LEDs. The result wasn't much different than the single small bulb.

Single Small Bulb



6 SideLEDs. The LEDs give a more spread out light. Not bad but not better. More efficient LEDs would work better. These LEDs max out at 20mA. There are 50mA 5mm LEDs which would work better.

[Spoke]

I built up one of the 5mm LED lights. Pretty easy to build with the through-hole LEDs and large resistors. The sideLEDs were not populated on this board.

[Spoke]

The 5mm LEDs are a good bit brighter than the brake lamp. The light from the LEDs is more focused than the lamp.

I tried to get some comparison pics of both lights.

Here's a view looking straight at the light from about 12 feet away.

Lamp



LEDs

[Spoke]

This shot is with the brake light pointing up towards the ceiling.

Again the lamp light is more dispersed than the LED. The LED is quite a bit more concentrated.

Brake Lamp



LEDs

[Spoke]

This shot is most telling of the difference in output.

The wall is about 12 feet away and I am about 6 feet away from the lights.

My outline is somewhat noticeable with the lamp but nothing like the light produced by the LEDs.

Lamp:



LEDs:

[Cairo94507]

This is so sweet! I love watching these come together. Can't wait to see a completed set installed. You could leave a stock taillight on one side and the LED taillight on the other for easy comparison. This project is making terrific progress. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) This truly will be a 914 saver.

[mikesmith]

That shadow contrast trick is pretty neat.

Re: the WS2812 LEDs, they tend to run about $0.20 each in quantity. I bought these on a strip backing and mounted them to some Depron loosely secured to the back of the lens (I did say it was a mockup 8).

[CptTripps]

Can't wait for a set. Great work!

[Spoke]

I mounted the one 5mm LED brake light tonight.

I made 3 small brackets and attached to the inside of the brake fixture.

Before attaching the brackets to the fixture, I had to determine the plane on which to place the PCB so that it would be perpendicular to the vehicle. The LED light is concentrated 90 degrees from the mounting surface of the PCB. We want the majority of the light to be focused directly behind the vehicle.

I applied the piece of tape while the fixture was mounted on the car. Since the rear of the car is slightly rounded, the tape and plane of the PCB is not parallel to the surface of the fixture.



After determining the angle of the PCB, I drilled pilot holes and secured the brackets with 3/8 inch #6 screws.

[Spoke]

A 1057 base was soldered onto the pigtail from the PCB. This will make removing the PCB quite easy. This board is a test platform and I don't expect it to remain in the vehicle forever.

I still have the other high power LED design to build and test.



The board mounted in the light fixture. The board fits quite nicely. It probably could have been a few millimeters taller but will do the job quite nicely.

[Rleog]

Great to see this coming together. Very nicely done.

[Spoke]

Here's some comparisons of the brightness of the brake light. As before in the office, there is no comparison to the light output directed behind the vehicle.

The 1057 lamp is bright and shines some light rearwards but the LEDs illuminate rearward big time.






Also a video of the brake comparison:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQx6pgGpsoI



Here's the running light comparison. Not sure if they are too bright for running lights. They are definitely pulling more current than I designed them for. I may tune these down a bit.

[Speedmster]

Thats a pretty big difference. Looks good!

[StratPlayer]

Bit to bright

[Rleog]

Well....Duh!

I looked at the 1st pic above, then wondered where was the pic showing the regular 1057 bulb. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)

Then I realized, after looking at the lower pic, that the 1057 lamp was also lit. What a contrast. I think you have a winner here.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)

[stugray]

Sorry, I didnt read the whole thread but curious:

Have you tried single CREE XRE type of LEDs shining backwards towards the reflector?

I build LED lighting for reef fishtanks (THOUSANDS of watts) and some for local grow operations (I live in Colorado ...wink, wink....).

I have built some pure red
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i366.photobucket.com-10819-1387653737.1.jpg)

Or trying to match the Sun's spectrum in strips:
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i366.photobucket.com-10819-1387653737.2.jpg)

Or "spotlight" types:
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i366.photobucket.com-10819-1387653737.3.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i366.photobucket.com-10819-1387653737.4.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i366.photobucket.com-10819-1387653737.5.jpg)

The drivers I use are meanwell AC-DC constant current, but you could easily use the Buckpuck DC-DC versions.