Question about LED tail light replacements.

[bb71challenger]

Couldn't you just use the factory flasher if you just wanted the basic setup? Where in the system is the flasher for the lights, under the dash? I just want more brightness, I dont need anything fancy if its going to get too involved.

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Couldn't you just use the factory flasher if you just wanted the basic setup? Where in the system is the flasher for the lights, under the dash? I just want more brightness, I dont need anything fancy if its going to get too involved.

Factory flasher will not work with LEDs. It relies on the design of the factory bulbs to cause the "clink-clink" when the turn signals are on. A electronic flasher does not,which is why it is required with LED brake/turn signals.

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Hey Goody...Those look cool.  Please post up some how-to stuff when you get them finished.And where you got the stuff.  I'd be interested in those. Thanks for posting!!!    R/T

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Will do, they were on the rack at pep boys, at $25/ea i figured I will get them now rather than wait. Sure enough if i waited they wouldn't carry them anymore! 

[ShelbyDogg]

i actually enjoy working with stuff like that and being able to say "yea i made those" plus an anonymous member told me if the materials werent to ridiculously high that they would pay for enough stuff to make two kits if i made one for them. So i would get a set for free, would just take some time. And with a minimum wage job 299 dollars is a full weeks pay check, if not a little more

Add up all of your time, including browsing the on-line electronics catalogs, doing research to find the right LEDs, calculating ohm's law to find the right resistors, cutting, etching, drilling, mounting, soldering, all of the components, getting a PC-CAD software to draw your board etc. then times it by your minimum wage figure and let us know what it totals up to.    I still do things the hard way too, but I get a little smarter the 2nd time I do it.

[70burntorangeT/A]

Add up all of your time, including browsing the on-line electronics catalogs, doing research to find the right LEDs, calculating ohm's law to find the right resistors, cutting, etching, drilling, mounting, soldering, all of the components, getting a PC-CAD software to draw your board etc. then times it by your minimum wage figure and let us know what it totals up to.    I still do things the hard way too, but I get a little smarter the 2nd time I do it.

True, but if i use the prefboard that would eliminate the etching and drilling, and one of the other members send me a ton of electrical info on when they made theirs. This may turn out to be a complete disaster, but live and learn ya know.

[Bullitt-]

True, but if i use the prefboard that would eliminate the etching and drilling, and one of the other members send me a ton of electrical info on when they made theirs. This may turn out to be a complete disaster, but live and learn ya know.

It is a hobby after all... DIY is more interesting than buying ready made IMO.. & SOME of us may need the diversion to keep our minds off the girlie pic sites ... 

[brads70]

It is a hobby after all... DIY is more interesting than buying ready made IMO.. & SOME of us may need this to keep our minds off the girlie pic sites ... 

 

[purple1]

It is a hobby after all... DIY is more interesting than buying ready made IMO.. & SOME of us may need the diversion to keep our minds off the girlie pic sites ... 

Whats wrong with GIRLIE PIC SITES!!!!   

[ShelbyDogg]

SOME of us may need the diversion to keep our minds off the girlie pic sites ... 

I might be going off on a tangent here but too much of one thing (cars) isn't good. You HAVE TO mix it up.

I'm from a Doctor's family and some things in the body have to be maintenanced everyday or you'll get CANCER!

We wouldn't want to get CANCER would we?

[70burntorangeT/A]

It is a hobby after all... DIY is more interesting than buying ready made IMO

Thank you...i know it could turn in to a huge mess and waste of money. But ill never know if i dont give it a whirl

on another not i emailed a guy on some perfboard and he said it would work as long as the led's i bought didnt have a ring. What exactly does he mean by that?

[70burntorangeT/A]

one of my friends whos a semester away from becoming an electrical engineer is going to explain the diagrams to me in english and help me through the first set if i end up doing it

[GoodysGotaCuda]

This flasher seems to be a plug and play for our two terminal sockets. From Checker. I bench tested it, flashes one or both of my LED tails just fine. I wont have it in the car for a few more days, so I can't say 100% i'll have no issues..but looks promising

http://shop.oreillyauto.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=BLZ&MfrPartNumber=FL32&PartType=121&PTSet=A

[conv340]

Heres what I did and what I didn't do ha ha...

The right way is to use a amperage regulator. Not a Voltage regulator. LEDs are wattage controlled and or destroyed. It is a simple circuit two transistors and a couple of resistors. But requires a divisible number of LEDs to make it work 3 to 5 per array. ( at least the way I was thinking )

My problem is I wanted a very specific pattern to line up with the lens bumps on the factory lens. If you hold a led up behind the lens and move it around and in and out you can see the focus change and the hardest part to making it look good is getting the focus right so all the LEDS look even and bright. ( long story short ) I chose to go the less preferred option... LOTS of dropping resistors. One per LED plus one at the end of the string to help make all the LEDS look the same brightness. This way I can use any number of LEDS I want.

So heres what I did. I used the perf board. or prototype board. with copper on one side.( you were all ready talking about that. ) The LED leads line up perfect with the holes. Paint the non-copper side with what ever color you want to see though your lens  before you start soldering things up! You don't want to see PC board its ugly. Mount all the LEDS on the board and every thing else on the back where you cant see it.

I used 8mm LEDs with the brightest MCD rating I could fine 45,000 mcd I used the less Common 8mm because it fit better for the focus thing. depending on the wattage of the LED do you math to figure out what resistors you need. both Resistance and wattage. Remember to base it on 15V not 12V ( The car will be running ) I had 20MA max at 2.3V I Played around with a couple and a amp meter to make sure I stayed under the amperage.  I ended up with a 470 ohm 1/2 watt resistor to put it at max brightness.  Then added a resistor at the end of the sting to drop it just a bit and keep the LEDs cool. Seemed to even out the brightness also. Then I added a larger dropping resistor for the tail lights. You need to run diodes not only between the hi-low but also side to side so your turn signal work.

One of the questions is why go though all the work? So you can say you did it your self is a good answer! I have built everything on "twisted Fish" myself To prove that I could.
The other reason is I didn't like anything else I saw out there. If you just fill a board with little 5mm LEDs and stick it in the factory bucket it doesn't look that good. You have to sit way to close to the lens and the spacing is wrong so you end up with bright and dim spots as you move around the car. ( remember it was made for a single light source. ) I'm not a huge fan of me too products. I like to be different and original. I think thats part of being a MOPAR fan. Any one can build a trick camaro...

Which brings me to another part of my build I had to cut up and make a new backing for the lens to make them look "right" more work ha ha. But I'm happy with the end result as long as they hold up I'll be happy. I'll post more pics when I get to my other computer.

Hope this helps a little I'll try to answer any questions if I can. Unless you have a grand don't ask me to build them for you.  Unless you can do it your-self it takes to much time to be worth it!   

[conv340]

Here a few pics that will give a ida of the build up

[Bullitt-]

   


conv340, I've searched for "amperage regulator" but find little info on this.
Would you please provide a source & part number for what you used.

Wade