My LED projects, LED tail lights, interior lights, other

[ROLO]

no not yet. being lazy lately

please keep me informed when you start that project.. Thanks man.

[kaabob]

Misha, have u considered changing the 3rd brake light on the 03-05 with LEDS?  I figured this would be the easiest mod if I ever attempted...

Also, the original guide on v6performance calls for just the LED+resistors (calculated from http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz).  Are your new projects based on the same components (what's "Dave's optidrive?")
I'm thinking I'll be using these LEDs (http://cgi.ebay.com/20-PCs-5mm-5-Chips- ... 1|294%3A30) for the 3rd brake light.

TIA!

[AV6NHBP6SPD]

Misha, have u considered changing the 3rd brake light on the 03-05 with LEDS?  I figured this would be the easiest mod if I ever attempted...

Also, the original guide on v6performance calls for just the LED+resistors (calculated from http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz).  Are your new projects based on the same components (what's "Dave's optidrive?")
I'm thinking I'll be using these LEDs (http://cgi.ebay.com/20-PCs-5mm-5-Chips- ... 1|294%3A30) for the 3rd brake light.

TIA!

wasnt realy considering since oem spoiler has led 3rd brake light. but. if you want to do something then i would consider getting philips superflux leds (thats what used by oem manufacturers.)
original guide is for interior where reliability is not as important as safety lights,  Dave is guy on Hidplanet who makes circuit board for controlling brightness on tail lights but you only need it if you using lights for dual purpose (running and brake)
3rd brake light doesnt need it, i would recomend to use voltage regulator which keeps constant 12V to your leds, this is safer and not effected by voltage spikes that could damage leds after a while.

i still use ebay leds but only for white, everything else i use philips lumileds or cree p4 leds.

by the way, those ebay once are ok but quality might be great, red is only used with clear lense. for red lenses red/orange type leds are used, they apear red through red lens but almost twice as bright as pure red leds, but you not gona find this kind on ebay

have to find and post pics of 3rd brake light i did for my friends prelude

[kaabob]

Thanks for the quick reply, it cleared things up a bit.

Where did you purchase the lumileds? I'd rather go with trust than risk ebay.

The prelude - did it require a dremel to take the lens off? I'm guessing since it resides in the interior it shouldn't.

One more... Radioshack (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062600) has a +12 V regulator @ 1amp.  Does this mean I don't need resistors or do I need to some how modify the calculations from led.linear1?) Sorry I'm not a engineer... just picking up bits as I go along.

Thanks again =)

[AV6NHBP6SPD]

u need voltage reg , it does not replace resistors. you will need resistors still.

usualy you can get leds from HID planet, but if you dont need a lot, im sure you can buy some from me, they are .40cents each (red/orange), i did get radio shack voltage regs but didnt use them, got voltage from Dave again (Sharp regulators) but radioshack is fine for what you doing. needed Sharp couse of circuit board design

figure out how many leds you need and how you gona make your brake light

no didnt had to dremel anything in his light, it all comes apart, just plastick clips, just like our brake light, ill post pics when i get home if i dont forget

[kaabob]

So I pulled out my third brake like, and it seems like I can fit a perfboard 22mm x 211 mm in there.  At 7.62mm each, I can fit 27.6 Superflux LEDs next to each other.  I'm guessing this is not realistic, so I'm thinking 24 LEDs across instead.  Using the calculator at 12v source, 2.5 forward voltage, 55 mA forward current, I should make 6 arrays of 4 LEDs each and a resistor of 39 ohms 1/4 watt.  In your experience, do you think this is reasonable?

Mebbe I'll get 24? And get one of those cool perf boards you have that's black/silver instead of the orange-brown one from Radioshack.

[AV6NHBP6SPD]

get 1/2W resistors, little safer. each led takes up 3x3 hole space, you might not be able to put them side by side but 4 side by side should works fine, black and silver i did it myself with paint and sharpie, behind light i doubt you gona see anything but id paint it black anyway on mounting side of leds so its kinda blackhoused

[kaabob]

I was thinking of putting all 24 in one row, and wiring them in 6 series of 4 LEDs each. Wires would be above and below the row of LEDs.  Prob going to go out to RadioShack today and pick up a perfboard.  Do you have LEDs and a voltage regulator on hand that i may be able to mooch off of you?

[AV6NHBP6SPD]

i have leds but you better get voltage regs from radio shack since im sure they are cheaper then from me