Custom LED Light Builds - Updated February 6th 2013!

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woody90gtz
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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by woody90gtz »

Ok, one strip per lens row...that sounds better.


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by el_roy1985 »

Kind of what I wanted to make for me Z. Only with amber top lights for the turn signal. Just not sure how to make that look good without finding euro lenses.


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by DTMAce »

You would have to have Euro lenses to do that, and you would have to create the 3rd circuit, so your turns/hazards were separate from the brakes.


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by heavywoody »

So for those of us who already have the circuit wired in and working for Euros, would we need to do anything with your kit other than install it?


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by 3X00-Modified »

Its so easy to set up euro blinking with the wiring already present in the car :) One wire needs to be added.


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by heavywoody »

And if you're good, you can make it looks like a factory install ;)


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

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heavywoody wrote:So for those of us who already have the circuit wired in and working for Euros, would we need to do anything with your kit other than install it?
Nope.

If I build you a kit, I would need to know if its going into Euro tails, or regular tails though. Cause I can make it with Amber for the top section of lights. But customizing the way the light lights up would be pointless, so Euros would be cheaper.

However if it was a US tail with the Euro wiring, then you can do all kinds of freaky patterns.... LOL


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by heavywoody »

Sweet! How can I help speed the project up? LOL... I'm excited.


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by DTMAce »

I need money! That is my biggest hold up. I will have to buy some red and amber LEDs to start. Going to be approx 305 just for the startup lights, as I can only buy the brighter ones in 200 inch rolls (300 LEDs) at the moment. White I can buy in 20 inch sections or 200 inch rolls, and the prices are the same per inch.. Let me figure out how much they will cost for your tails, try to get you some sort of price.... Will post it here in a bit. Did you want to do the white for reverse as well, or use conventional bulbs?


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by heavywoody »

Ideally I'd like to have LED's in the reverse lights as well, but that depends on the throw of the light so I can actually see backing up. If the light throw is terrible, no sense, ya know?


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by 3X00-Modified »

We have a few LED's here we use in light sources that would be GREAT for a backup light... Hell they would put some headlights to shame... Granted they need a very large heat sink and fan to keep cool... LMAO.

Ace where are you getting your LED's from as well? I feel that they can be had for much cheaper which should drop the price some.


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

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3X00-Modified wrote:We have a few LED's here we use in light sources that would be GREAT for a backup light... Hell they would put some headlights to shame... Granted they need a very large heat sink and fan to keep cool... LMAO.

Ace where are you getting your LED's from as well? I feel that they can be had for much cheaper which should drop the price some.
http://www.superbrightleds.com Prices have been pretty decent, and they have good quality stuff. I know there are some cheaper shittier brands out there, but I try to avoid them for that reason. Yeah, I have to stay away from the high wattage ones, they will melt stuff, especially in a light like these. But these newer strip lights should be good and bright, vs the ones I had been using which averaged 100 bucks for a 300 LED roll. These newer ones are 150 for the same count, probably 3 times the light the others are. I won't use them in side markers, way too bright for that, but anything else is game. LOL
heavywoody wrote:Ideally I'd like to have LED's in the reverse lights as well, but that depends on the throw of the light so I can actually see backing up. If the light throw is terrible, no sense, ya know?
I am using 24 LED bulbs now, and the throw is good with those, so these would be a bit better me thinks. Considering the number of LEDs would be decent, especially if we did a two strip pattern for reverse.

I have some preliminary prices for you, off the top. Been sitting here figuring it out. Here is a breakdown:

Amber LED prices for both sides:

$27 for single strip per row
$48 for double strip per row (except the first row)

Red LED prices for both sides:

$45 for single strip per row
$90 for double strip per row

White LED prices for both sides:

$18 for single strip per row
$33 for double strip per row (except first row) (recommend this option, better for throwing light)

Other items:

Resistor kit to simulate actual bulb load - $20 bucks. (based on 5 bucks a resistor)
Bulb bases for turns, brakes, and backup lights. $3 bucks. (based on .50 a base)
Plexiglass 1/8" panel molded to fit light - $10 (based on $5 bucks a side and I have to custom make them)
Wire, Solder, diodes, other various misc to create light, lower lighting level for running light, etc (approx) $17 bucks.

My time involved in creating each of these:

Labor $75

Shipping cost:

$15 bucks anywhere in the US.

So to make it easy, here is the estimated totals for a single strip and a multi strip version of EURO TAILS ONLY:


Single Strip of LEDs per horizontal row for a EURO TAIL:

$230 US.

Double Strip of LEDs per horizontal row for a EURO TAIL:

$311 US

Price for the standard US tail light version is the same, just has no amber LEDs. The per LED cost is the same, so same price. You can also mix and match, using the various prices for the single/double strips if you like. No problem. Just let me know, I can get you a correct total for the choices.

Once I get a chance to build the customizing circuit, will have that as an extra option, otherwise I can hardwire the panel to whatever pattern you would like for those with standard US tails. Customizing a Euro tail is useless, due to the colored lenses.

I really need to find someone that can make the lenses in clear, so we can do amber/red or whatever the hell we wanted.. lol


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by heavywoody »

DTMAce wrote:
heavywoody wrote:Ideally I'd like to have LED's in the reverse lights as well, but that depends on the throw of the light so I can actually see backing up. If the light throw is terrible, no sense, ya know?
I am using 24 LED bulbs now, and the throw is good with those, so these would be a bit better me thinks. Considering the number of LEDs would be decent, especially if we did a two strip pattern for reverse.
So you are using an LED bulb in the backup lamps now... and this is why I ask.

The bulbs (LED or incandescent) use the backside of the lamp as a "reflector" bowl. If you put strips on plexiglass in front of this bowl, the only thing throwing light is the LED, which I'm concerned wouldn't be strong enough to display enough light behind the car to actually see when backing up.


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by 3X00-Modified »

Since the tails are colored why are you spending the extra money for colored LED's as well? Isn't that somewhat overkill? Just a thought.


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Re: Custom LED Light Builds

Post by DTMAce »

Yeah, and that reflector is useless to me right now with the LED bulbs, as all the light is thrown at the rear from this bulb. It does not light up the "bowl". Neither do the red LED bulbs I currently have. If you seen pics of my rear tails lit up, you can see the light is actually more or less focused right at the lens. In fact you can see in the daytime just spots where the red LED light bulbs are. At night the fill is better, but this is the main reason why I want to do the strips. It will fill the lens better, and still put out plenty of bright light to be seen, even in daytime.

My LED bulbs that I bought were Narrow angle, and all the LEDs were pointed away from the socket. None point to the sides, and the bulb is not curved or radiated with LEDs. They all just mount in circles facing the tail lenses. So they do not emit light from the sides that would need reflection from the bowl areas. I could paint the bowls flat black, and I doubt the light would change much.

Here is at least one pic to explain:

http://art.cariboucomputers.com/beretta/choice5sm.jpg

See how my red LED bulbs look? The white does the same thing. Hell last night I was thinking to myself about how bright the backup lights looked when I got home after my late evening fire meeting. I really doubt you would have to worry. But as I said, either way its not a problem. Reverse lights have to built on a separate panel with its own circuit. Its independent of the red or red/amber sections. So you can always test it either way and see which is better!
3X00-Modified wrote:Since the tails are colored why are you spending the extra money for colored LED's as well? Isn't that somewhat overkill? Just a thought.
That's an excellent question.

Here is your answer. Typically the white cost more. Not only that, you have to filter the white to red. You get a better brightness by using the color that matches, as all of the color output can be utilized, not only a portion of it. Don't ask me how they come to that, but basically, when looking at lumens of a white light, then filtering out all but the red bandwidth of light, you get less lumens than you would if you bought a red light to start with. When made to emit that color, they can produce more lumens of that color than a white one of the same rating filtered.

In the case of these LEDs I am quoting the lights with, all the colors are the same price. So that doesn't apply. But in many instances, the white LEDs do cost more than colors.


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