So I have become absolutely fascinated with this person's custom LED lights:
http://www.impression-cba.com/my_bb/process9.htm

I want to do something similar with my lights, however I have absolutely NO knowledge of how to accomplish this sort of work. For those here who work with LED's....where would I find the supplies to get this done? Are there any books are good websites outlining proper installation, resistors, etc.?

Thanks!

 

I'm limited in my knowledge of led's but
here ya go.
http://www.oznium.com/led

go there for info on led's, read the FAQ's. You can buy them there too, along with the cathodes(read up on the cathodes to determine whether or not you need them) at a pretty reasonable price. You can get the circuit board from radio shack, soldering iron you will need, also available from radio shack, and solder. He used Silicone for other mods he did like the turn signal mod and such.
Hope this helps. I like the idea myself... maybe I'll try it one day too.
Later

 

Thanks for the link....definately some good info to be had. I'm still thinking this isn't a DIY mod that I can accomplish myself. Hoping to find someone locally who can do the labor if I supply the parts. I have a great idea for something pretty nifty, but there is no way I can carry out that idea.

 

That doesn't look all that hard to do. Soldering isn't as hard as one might think it is.

 

veroboard, protoboard, or breadboard (all pretty much the same thing) can be found online, or at an electronics store.

i don't personally like radio shack, but if that's all you can find.. then sure.

ebay seems to have a selection of supplies (including leds) to purchase

to set up an array.. you can use this as a guide:
http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

there is also good led related info at:
http://www.hidplanet.com/ you have to register for the forums, and there is an led section

you'll mostly need this to figure out what you want to do as far as stop/tail/turn functions, or you can pm me as well as i'm doing a taillight project myself.

 

thats right... Soldering isn't hard at all :D

 

It isn't the soldering I'm worried about. The whole figuring out the proper way to wire them up, where/how/when to use resistors/capacitors/etc, and of course getting an even layout itself by hand.


Then again...the more I read this stuff, the more ballsey I get about giving it a shot. Thanks again for all the links.

 

This site was VERY helpful.

Do you have any suggestions for properly setting up a veroboard/protoboard/breadboard by hand? My main concern is not being able to produce an even pattern.

 

Well the boards have holes in them evenly spaced out. You can pop your leds in there without soldering them in and make sure thats how you want it before you actually solder. You can cut the board to the shape you want too.
Try it out.
Thats the fun in modding... trial & error. When it works, you can say "I DID THAT!" :D
And if you do enough research, you can do it right the first time.

 

True.

Last question for a bit: The array models that I look at on the above link include about 3-5 resistors. Given that they are going to be enclosed in a small space, would there be any issue with extreme heat building up and causing some melting issues within the tail light assembly?

 

typically, those electrical components, including leds, do not heat up significantly to produce any problems.

they will however possbily heat up if you use the wrong (too low value) of a resistor... allowing too much current.. blah blah or if you wire it wrong... and possibly turning your leds into SEDs (smoke emitting diodes) and then after the smoke goes away... us electrical guys call them friodes...

melting issues shouldn't be too much of an issue. there was however that one individual who had his aftermarket LED tails warped because of extreme AZ heat.. ... leds still worked though, pretty sure.

anyway... from what i can tell.. (i just looked over this pic again...)

those are NOT resistors, but diodes... they are protecting the circuit from reverse current. there are no resistors and they have 6 leds wired in series (wiring about 4 is enough to not need resistors for a 12V source, assuming the led's forward voltage is 3V) but an automobile can vary from 9-16V... so well... what he did was fine.

for this one.. he did use 4 leds in series... and is using diodes again

 

Very helpful Squall! :D
So you're saying that guy probably didnt need diodes because he has so many leds in his array?
I'm interested in doing somehting like this as well.
Thanks

 

^^ didn't need resistors... i don't see any in those pics... just diodes.

just make sure you don't add too many in series.... led's will have a fun time trying to light up bright..

on the safe side, i'd double check the voltages and current. make sure they're adequate enough for all the leds...

if i were to do it though... i'd just copy him..

 

a diode allows current to flow in one direction only.

They got LEDs that are ready for 12v.

I can't read japenese so I dunno if he talks about hooking these into the stock wiring?

Why wouldn't you do these in parallel instead of series?? IMO you'd get better with parallel, unless there's some reason not to.

I have not looked at the tailight connectors, but could you bite into the tailight harness power/ground with vampire taps? How does it connect to the stock ___'y?


I say buy like a couple of 50 pack of LEDs and a solder gun and go for it.

 

^^ this set up is a series/parallel circuit. with 4-6 leds in series in each branch, and then those branches in parallel

the 12V ready leds, are just leds with resistors connected in them already and you would need to tap them all into a 12V source.... meaning.... ALOT of wires having them ALL run in parallel...

having each series branch hooked up this way and then running those branches in parallel is much more better and cleaner to do... as far as hooking it up.. yes.. of course to the stock wiring. as far as how you want to hook it up? doesn't matter... as long as they're connected. taps, rigging the stock housing.. whatever..

 

Fantastic information...I almost feel with my novice soldering skills that I can get this accomplished.


Riddle me this....

What type of board is this guy using? I've searched the internet, and pretty much all the protoboard/veroboard is that tan/brown color with a copper backing to make the circuit. Looks like this doesn't use the board itself to connect the circuit...or I could be wrong.






EDIT:
I translated the site and found the creater called it "universal board". Still can't find any info on this. I like the fact that it is a mirror/black surface. Definately would like some more info on this particular product if anyone has any info.

 

looks like he put a black vinyl or something over the veroboard and poked holes for the led spots.

if that's what you're asking.

and he's using wires to connect the leds... no veroboard has a circuit already traced.. you make your own..

 

holy shiste.
I see the series/parallel - that's pretty nice - but does it say what loads he is drawing from this? Are they so low it doesn't matter?
Is this right??- he's got 4 series circuits of 4 LEDs per, in a parallel fashion - total of 20 LEDs? If they're 3v LEDs - thats 12v per series circuit, yes?

If that's all correct then I see what he's doing and yes you need those diodes and LEDs only draw some mA of power and this should rock and I'm gonna make some too.

 

yeah.. he put a diode on each branch.

i'd just copy what he did.. his design looks good.

 

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...totyping+board

go nuts!


here's like what he has prolly:

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/level.itml/icOid/444