• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

LED for exterior lights (sans headlights)

Freq

Freq

Active member
Joined
Mar 8, 2005
Location
VolvoSpeed
So I thought as fun side project I'd try to create a set of LED break lights, turn signals, etc. If possible it would be a bulb replacement or a drop in kit. Something with as little modification as possible. I believe the voltage running into the sockets is 12v (please correct me if I'm wrong). I'm not sure how many LEDs would be enough to put out enough light to be safe, legal, and attractive (IE worth the time).

I got an LED flashlight for Christmas which has 9 LEDs and enough power to create a nasty bleach for a few minutes, so I shouldn't need more than 9 per light. I'm thinking 6 to start, and adding more if I need to. So if the power going to the light is 12v, the LEDs I'm looking at (wide-angle red LEDs from Radio Shack) have an average load of 1.7v, and 20mA current, then the circuit would look like this: [[Positive]] - [[100Ohm resister, 1/8W]] - [[LED]] - [[LED]] - (etc.) - [[Negative]]

Radio Shack's website says each LED is 800mc, so 800mc x 6 = 4800mc = 4.8 candelas. It's a nice amount of power, but I don't know how it compares to a normal tail bulb. If that's not enough I can create a parallel circuit which would double the LED count and double the candelas (9.6).

The other issue I'm afraid of is that the LEDs aren't going to look like a solid mass of light, it's going to look like 6 dots. I know if you roughen up one side of the plastic lens it will make the whole thing glow. Does anyone have experience with this?

Has anyone else tried this or do I get to play pioneer? I hope the lights are still on my scrap yard's 744 once I have the money to start doing this.
 
check out the LED conversion forum on hidplanet.com it will help you out a bunch
 
RvolvoR said:
check out the LED conversion forum on hidplanet.com it will help you out a bunch
Click to expand...

Holy crap, thanks a lot. I didn't realize I'd have to make the circuit stable at 14.4v. That saves a lot of time and effort. Once income tax rolls around :-)oogle:) I'll start working on this.

You have to register to the forums to see the information, so I'll post the diagram here in cast yous guys want to try it, too.

They're saying to use 16 LEDs with a 3700mc brightness and a 70 degree viewing angle. The 16 LEDs was for corner lights, so I assume the same number would be used for blinkers. Not sure about break lights. Suppose it depends on size. We'll see.

[|Positive|] -- [[LED]] -- [[LED]] -- [[LED]] -- [[LED]] -- [[330 ohm resistor]] -- [|Negative|]
[|Positive|] -- [[LED]] -- [[LED]] -- [[LED]] -- [[LED]] -- [[330 ohm resistor]] -- [|Negative|]
[|Positive|] -- [[LED]] -- [[LED]] -- [[LED]] -- [[LED]] -- [[330 ohm resistor]] -- [|Negative|]
[|Positive|] -- [[LED]] -- [[LED]] -- [[LED]] -- [[LED]] -- [[330 ohm resistor]] -- [|Negative|]

The [|Positive|] symbols are the same wire. It's a 4x4 array, but writing it out in ASCII isn't something I really wanted to do. Same with [|Negative|].
 
Dude, i dont want to burst your bubble, but you can get all those lights and side markers and basically any light bulb around your car in 12led mode... With the existing socket to top it off.... Im just not sure its worth your time and effort to make these :(
I'll go buy 1-2 to show you what im talking about maybe i just didnt understand what you were saying :)
 
mblue240 said:
Or you could just go to superbrightleds.com and buy them, much easier than making all of them yourself.
Click to expand...

SuperBrightLEDs.com says that the drop-in LEDs aren't going to be as bright as the bulbs you're replacing. You'd have to create a larger array to get a brighter result.

LED bulbs are generally not as bright as standard incandescent bulbs, they have many advantages over filament bulbs (longer life, faster on/off times, lower power consumption, more vivid colors) but brightness is not one of them.
They are generally not as bright but some of them with large numbers of LEDs, will appear brighter than filament bulbs.
As an exception, our new 3 Watt and 5 Watt Luxeon LED car bulbs are as bright or brighter than most standard filament car bulbs.
Click to expand...

Also, I like soldering shat together. :) And I'm looking to spread the light throughout the lens rather than just from a single spot so it has a more uniform glow.
 
yes, thats why i got the best led bulbs. they have a tun of led's and spred the light everywhere. there are led's on every part of the bulb.
 
^^^^^ Link? ^^^^^ I heard that when you replace your turn sigmals with LED's they will blink hella fast.
 
YURPLES said:
So where is a good place to by the direct replacement led bulbs?
Click to expand...

In canada we have this place called Canadian Tire and they have em all for all cars its like a giant tool store with a huge car section. WHere you get your car parts :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top