LED taillights, Choose a style Options

[scottb]

these are great. now if we can get something for the front turn buckets too!

had some toothless hag scream at me today to signal just as she almost hit me (i was signaling by the way) but it goes to show our front lights are rather dim.

fronts and rears for me!!!!

[Gint]

QUOTE (jimtab @ Oct 2 2005, 09:38 AM)

QUOTE (Gint @ Oct 2 2005, 05:31 AM) QUOTE (smooth_eddy @ Oct 2 2005, 02:00 AM) Hmmmmmm, why would someone want to do this in the first place?  What is wrong with the regular bulbs?   Am I missing something? Because anything that can make a 914 MORE visible is a good thing. How many times has someone not seen you while you're driving a 914 where you suspect they would have in another larger car? Happens to me all the time in a 914. Almost every time I go out. Gint, I don't think the answer is more lights. After all look at all the cars with DRLs now and the dipshits still run into each other. What needs to happen is to remove the distractions to paying attention....a good start would be NO CELL PHONES while the car is moving...damn little is that important. Also, no shaving, eyebrow plucking, complicated eating and drinking, watching tv/dvd, reading, beating the kids/wife/pets/etc. Just pay attention. My .02

You have an excellent point, but unfortunately, I can't remove other's distractions or there ability to overcome them. I'll take brighter lights and anything else I can get.

[smrz914]

Ok I'll start working on the front ones too. I'll grab the front buckets next time I'm home.

[effutuo101]

Thank you for your comment. I feel that we could probably build a resistor in line to reduce the brightness. I got caught behind an ambulance today with LED's. They flickered twice before coming on full bright. It really caught my attention. Something to think about.
Chris

[db9146]

I like the LEDs.

Just a thought...any way to add an additional diffuser in front of the rear lens to "soften" the distinct pattern of the LEDs? Are you making the LED panels for the turn signals as well?

[neo914-6]

Paul,

Let me know if you find a combo stop and turn board...

[smrz914]

effutuo101,

That is a great idea with the initial blinking but the implementation would be difficult. I think that Scions have that feature on the high mount stop light. I threw around the idea of building arrays that would be run off a PIC chip that is programmable. That would open up a whole bunch of doors but I would be starting from scratch pretty much. Possibly a future thing. I really want to get something working right now.

[smrz914]

Let me try and clear some things up with visuals. I hope this helps.

Pic 1
This is that back of you housing removed from the car.

[smrz914]

Pic 2
This is the inside of the housing with all the stock guts

[smrz914]

Pic 3
Here are the stock guts partly removed from the housing. In the picture above you can see the screws that hold it in.

[smrz914]

pic 4
Here is the LED array in the housing.

[Crazyhippy]

QUOTE (jd74914 @ Oct 2 2005, 09:48 AM)

QUOTE (jimtab @ Oct 2 2005, 10:38 AM) What needs to happen is to remove the distractions to paying attention....a good start would be NO CELL PHONES  while the car is moving...damn little is that important. As of yesterday in CT you cannot talk on a cell phone and drive at the same time (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smilie_pokal.gif)

That started along time ago... That's the reason for the new law (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/beer3.gif)

[smrz914]

Pic 5
This is a detail shot of the major housing modification that you have to do.

[smrz914]

And another shot of the same mod

[smrz914]

OK last pic for now.

This is where the mod is for all arrays. You need to trim the top of the towers (green lines) so that the lens seats properly on the housing. This holds the printed circuit board in place too.

[MattR]

QUOTE (skline @ Oct 2 2005, 10:23 AM)

Santa Monica has a law against phones while driving, I wish more cities/states would adopt that law. It really is a distraction that will eventually kill thousands.

That law is hardley enforced. I was in Santa Monica on thursday and almost everybody was on the phone.



Those LED lights look cool and I think they would be sweet for racing applications to shed a few pounds.

[TonyAKAVW]

The Luxeons do produce a lot of heat. I would think the 1 watt LEDs can probalby get away with a double sided PCB using lots of vias under the package. Keep as much of the back of the PCB a copper ground plane and that should be okay. the 5 watt emitters probably require some more effort. Maybe for a future product idea.. But you could potentially machine out a rather large hole in the PCB and a matching aluminum heatsink that protrudes through it from the back and bolts on the the board. 5 watts from a single LED is a heck of a lot of light. You could probalby make a cluster of 20 of them to replace the headlights. Unfortunately, a set of those would set you back several hundred dollars (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif)


-Tony

[smrz914]

I know they are working on LEDs that can replace headlights. Some Audi's already have LED driving lights but they arn't nearly as bright as headlights need to be. Anyways back on topic.

[smrz914]

Racing applications are a possibility but I don't think you would save that much weight (but i'll make a special set for URY914). The guts of the taillights arn't the heavy part.

[SpecialK]

Here's something you may want to consider since you already have the circuit figured out.

As I said earlier, I was looking into doing the very same thing. Since I'd already had a little CAD experience I was looking at single sided copper clad perf boards, and etching kits...

Etching kits [one source I looked at]:

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/cate...EK-5&type=store


You simply (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif) create the grid pattern of the perf board, layout the circuit that you've already figured out, print (the "printed" part is the copper you want to retain on the perf board [CADsoft freeware works]) onto the peel and stick perf board paper circuit paper, and soak in the etch solution.

Another site:

http://www.bcae1.com/circuitboardetch.htm

Good luck!

-Kevin