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New Thrid Brake Light

DanMan2k06

DanMan2k06

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Damascus, MD
So I've been slowly getting things together to retrofit all my lighting to LED's, and started with my third brake light. I'm using 5mm red/orange superflux's and 330ohm resistors for this application. The pictures suck because of the angles/diffused cover. In person everything looks ridiculous.
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looks pretty nice. Where'd you get the LED's? I have some really bright LED's also, but the ones I have are like standard LED's, not ones that hold in like yours. Also did you just cut the PCB or what?
 
I got the LED's from a dude off of HIDplanet.com forums, those guys go nuts with these things. They come from bestofhongkong I believe. I got 180 of them for $39 :) The superflux ones are ideal, because they can handle higher heats and are a LOT brighter than standard 3 or 5mm LED's. Some car manufactureres uses them.

And yes I did cut the PCB board. After soldering the posts down I simply held up the board to the housing and taced around it. Then cut out the extra via dremel. Very easy.
 
Well you inspired me. I went to Frys (electronic store) and purchased a PCB & a new soldier tip.

I have two lines of 7 wired up. And they are pretty bright. These are not ordinary LED's, these are ultra high power led's. I have blue / white / red. Bought them for a fish tank before, and I actually have a grow lamp made of the white LED's. It's pretty cool.

I noticed you have 9V battery powering it. Is it 9v's coming out of that light? I don't have my jeep around atm, but I figured it'd be a 12v.

These are the LED's i have (well same spec) http://cgi.ebay.com/5mm-50-Red-LED-...ryZ26207QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
Alright here's what I got... I think i'm going blind these fuckers are bright, but I want to add more... maybe add another line and extend it further so i'd have about 28 or so. Even then, I like the super-flux's more and I am def thinking about just scrapping this and going with a setup like yours. I'm worried about them catching fire... although they've been on for like 5-10 min now and they are 'warm' and not getting any hotter... it seems

Here's the pictures of what I have... once my gf gets back around 10PM I'll try and put them in the jeep. (She was in a accident so since i have 3 vehicles i'm letting her borrow it (it's the only automatic i have)
PCB is about 4" across, and maybe 1" tall
IMAGE_066.jpg

I work free for cheeze-its!
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In the darkness
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maybe you should brush a layer of epoxy over the back when its all done, just to make it waterproof.. even if one drip gets back accros the board you could damage some leds
 
spcustoms said:
maybe you should brush a layer of epoxy over the back when its all done, just to make it waterproof.. even if one drip gets back accros the board you could damage some leds
Click to expand...

Yeah def. I know they make this 'liquid electrical tape' my dad has a ton of it. Maybe a good coat of that will work just as well.
 
danman2k06 I like how you cut that back part off... I tried something similar with leds in mine, but tried to split the grey plastic from the red and cracked the whole damn thing in half
 
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thanks for the idea i just put a replacement led bulb in and it looks gay. now i know what to do. all my other bulbs are led except dash and of course headlight im replacing my current h4s with hid bulbs which i was leary of doing because of the low price ive seem them at on ebay but i saw some in person and they are very bright but you lose the high beam. which i dont need as ive got hella "worklights" each has 2 55 watt bulbs per fixture and apc ion fogs with 55 watt bulbs
 
Anyone know what the tail light mAh is (or Ah). The bulb is rated at between 2 Amps - 500mAh. I tried testing it, but I think my multimeter is broken (it said it was only 5mAH....)
 
bjoehandley said:
Hey Tenny, are you using Deans Solder? Looks good btw!

Are you guys using anything special like a resistor?
Click to expand...

Yes, I am using Deans Solder. Best stuff I've come across. I got it for my RC Cars, but found it so good that i use it for everything else now.

I have no resister on mine, but I still don't know how much power is coming out of the brake light. I have a better multi-meter at work I'll use on it. Then I'll assess the situation then on what I need to add, but right now it's just in a simple series circuit.
 
YES!!! use resistors... otherwise they won't last long. You can run them in series but car voltage isn't one of the most stable. I used (6) 1/4watt 330ohm resistors. You can find LED calcultors all over the net. As for the back, I used gorilla glue to put the two pieces together, and then black silicone allllllll over the backside of it. It's probably submersable... however i did drill one small hole at the bottom so that moisture could escape.



Are you guys using leaded or rosin core solder? I've heard rosin core is the way to go as far as automotive applications, but leaded sure is easier to work with. With the rosin I literally have to touch the iron to the solder, and thats with a 100w iron...
 
all my other bulbs are led except dash and of course headlight im replacing my current h4s with hid bulbs which i was leary of doing because of the low price ive seem them at on ebay but i saw some in person and they are very bright but you lose the high beam. which i dont need as ive got hella "worklights" each has 2 55 watt bulbs per fixture and apc ion fogs with 55 watt bulbs
Click to expand...

I hope you're not talking about an H4 HID kit. Those things BLOW. Not only will the cheapo ballasts/bulbs burn out quickly, but the ouput from H4 bulbs sucks to begin with. Let alone an HID H4 in a reflective housing... I've learned the only way to get HID light is a retrofit with Hella, Bosch, Phillips, Matsutisha, etc. parts. And USE PROJECTORS!!! otherwise the light is completely scattered and the glare is unbelieveable. I'll post up some comparison pics.
 
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DanMan2k06 said:
YES!!! use resistors... otherwise they won't last long. You can run them in series but car voltage isn't one of the most stable.
Click to expand...
Yeah I realize the car voltage isn't the most stable, but mine should be able to handle upwards of 16volts before it starts to get into any trouble. I still haven't put mine in yet, I need to find a good way to hold it. I was going to put it through the reflector like yours, but I didn't like how the light looked as much that way, so I think I won't be doing it like that, probably just get some plastic to extend it, unfortunately it will look kind of stupid w/o the reflector when it's off.

DanMan2k06 said:
Are you guys using leaded or rosin core solder? I've heard rosin core is the way to go as far as automotive applications, but leaded sure is easier to work with. With the rosin I literally have to touch the iron to the solder, and thats with a 100w iron...
Click to expand...
Deans Solder is leaded.
 
Yea I'm slowly changing my mind on the diffused reflector look, I'm thinking about getting another one at the local yard, and polishing the texture out. Swapping it into the existing housing could be tricky though...
 
DanMan2k06 said:
I've learned the only way to get HID light is a retrofit with Hella, Bosch, Phillips, Matsutisha, etc. parts. And USE PROJECTORS!!!
Click to expand...
What am I missing?
How do you plan mount the projector in the standard 6054 housing that the XJ has?
 
Hehe that my friend is a trick. You have to get some cheapo, ebay h4 housings, and open them up. Once opened up you can mount the projector inside the housing, put some chrome bezels/shrouds in to hide it, and seal everything back up. Heres a few pictures.

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Sorry if they're huge.
 
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