LED's for dummies

[poita]

Anyone know of good sites with info on LED's

Looking at doing some mods and need an idiots guide.

Just don't understand what resistor's, bread boards, types of LED's to use.

[Nurb608]

Just drive the car god damn it, don't blow anything up :)

[poita]

bleh to you.

this is just a side project to the side project of the main car

[ROCCO]

All show no go.....literally!

[hazrd]

actually... it goes now..

rocco FAIL! :p

[poita]

yer adam is right, it goes now mofo :p :p

anyways......... does anyone know anything about LED's?

[ROCCO]

I don't believe any of you..video or ban!

[MAD-16V]

What are you trying to do?

What do you need to know?

I have done a bit with them in the past.

Feel free to pm me.

[poita]

no big secret mate

looking at doing an LED conversion to the tail lights.

a) mine are pretty dark, worried about the popo
b) the LED ones available from overseas are expensive and look like shit

[guy 27]

so are you trying to achieve something like this?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlVZKtyjkuc

easiest way would be to get led strips and fix them into position inside the lenses.
use white leds for the brake/parkers and orange or white for indicators depending on lens colour.

[sooty]

so are you trying to achieve something like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlVZKtyjkuc

easiest way would be to get led strips and fix them into position inside the lenses.
use white leds for the brake/parkers and orange or white for indicators depending on lens colour.
They look awesome IMO

[poita]

see i dont like that at all, thats what i dont want it to look like.

i was thinking more like this


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gjOIWdM08Y

so have a border for tail lights, then brake will light up middle.
or do it in a staggered pattern

here is a dodgy version of what i mean (x's are leds)

--x--x--x--x--x--x--
x--x--x--x--x--x--x
--x--x--x--x--x--x--

[Shay]

mate, get in contact with alex (mania) he makes things like this for a living...


They look awesome IMO

oh and btw, +1
considering giving this a go.

[guy 27]

see i dont like that at all, thats what i dont want it to look like.

i was thinking more like this



so have a border for tail lights, then brake will light up middle.
or do it in a staggered pattern

ok then. well the wiring is the easy part. its just + and -.
the hard part will be getting them all into location. maybe some sheet metal as a base and then drill the holes out where you want the leds to be.
use holders like (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/100-x-5mm-black-Plastic-LED-Bezel-Holder-Panel-Display-/110556046586?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item19bda764fa) to secure them in place.
wire them all together (probably best figuring out a way to do it so if one blows you can replace easily)
then somehow mount the bracket into the tail lights. probably sikaflex or something that wont melt in the qld heat.

[poita]

so if i ran one long power wire along a length, attaching the + leg from each led into it

then doing the same for the earth it would be fine? what about resistors and shit?
would the led's at the end of the cable not be as bright?

and would these suit?

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/250pc-5mm-White-Super-Bright-Diffused-Led-Free-RESISTOR-/190348373835?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c51a5af4b


sorry for all the dumb questions, such a n00b at this stuff

[guy 27]

If you run each line of the 12v feed you will be fine. I was wondering the same thing when i did my roof. its got 18 leds on 1 source and I could not see any difference in light from the first to the last. (i'm sure you could run each section off the same feed without any issues.)

with those leds, they come with resistors for 12v applications. save yourself the headache and just get some 12v led's (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/40-x-White-LED-Lamp-Light-Set-20cm-Pre-Wired-5mm-12V-DC-/280400978814?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_Toys_Hobbies_Model_Railways&hash=item414933637e)

I went with those pre wired ones in my roof as it made the job a lot easier.

[poita]

yer good call on the pre wired ones :)

[Keep'emRunning]

prewired (individual led with resistor) is easy but not very efficient.

If you know the specs of the led you want to use, you'll be able to wire them in series to reduce the number of resistors (or eliminate them all together). Most DRL's are wired this way to avoid the need for high wattage resistors.

here's a link to a easy calculator...

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

[hazrd]

just a thought

probably try this on a 2nd set of lights, and if u fuk it up, start again, if u succeed, tint them same as the ones on ur car then fit :)

[poita]

prewired (individual led with resistor) is easy but not very efficient.

If you know the specs of the led you want to use, you'll be able to wire them in series to reduce the number of resistors (or eliminate them all together). Most DRL's are wired this way to avoid the need for high wattage resistors.

here's a link to a easy calculator...

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

tbh that makes no sense to me, thats why i need an idiots guide.


just a thought

probably try this on a 2nd set of lights, and if u fuk it up, start again, if u succeed, tint them same as the ones on ur car then fit :)

lucky i have a couple of spares ;)



what about these ones? need something bright

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/100PCS-12V-DC-20cm-PRE-WIRED-5mm-WHITE-LED-SUPER-BRIGHT-/270604897123?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f014f0b63

[Wraith]

so are you trying to achieve something like this?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlVZKtyjkuc

easiest way would be to get led strips and fix them into position inside the lenses.
use white leds for the brake/parkers and orange or white for indicators depending on lens colour.

These and other examples look pretty good, but how do you achieve re-sealing in the 'proper' manner to safe guard against leaking, fogging up etc. once you've taken the OEM assemblies apart ???

I've always wanted to also do some LED head and tail light enhancements but kept away from it because of those reasons...AFAIK can only be done on head light assemblies with front lenses which are removeable, eg. Calibra...

Poita there should be heaps of material on the subject spread over the net, especially on the various types of LED's available, I do remember reading up plenty on it in the past...

Dick Smiths also have a good supply range of LED's the ultra bright ones as well...