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More questions about making LED tail-lights...

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1.6K views 20 replies 4 participants last post by  jamgood96  
#1 ·
Okay, I've been doing some thinking about this. Now, someone had said not to hook the LED's up in series, cause if one goes, they all go. That makes sense. So do I hook each seperate LED up to it's own resistor? I had another thought. What do I do to seperate brake lights from parking lights? Do I need differnet LED's or different resistors or what? Now how am I going to hook all of these up? I was thinking of getting one of those kits at Radio Shack for making PC boards. Would that work? Also, I didn't really find crap for selection of LED's at Radio Shack. Where else should I look? I know, some of you are probably just think why not just use the round LED tail-lights or just live with what you've got. Well, I'm bored and feel like tinkering;) Hehehe...

"James and the Giant Jeep"
1993 Wrangler 4.0/5spd, Herculined Interior, D44s Soon
 
#2 ·
I just came across this. Looks pretty sweet, UNFORTUNETLY it's $189.05!!! That's outrageous. My thought was where are the resistors?? It doesn't look like there's any room what-so-ever. The weird thing is, I'm actualy starting to think I might be able to do this:) Hehehehe...

Image


"James and the Giant Jeep"
1993 Wrangler 4.0/5spd, Herculined Interior, D44s Soon
 
G
#3 ·
LED's when one goes they will all go. The only way to burn one up is two much voltage and it will get all of them usally. There's nothing to brake they last just about forver. I install them on jobs, some over 18 years ago and I have never replaced one yet. I use them at work for 12 or 24 volt quick power indication. Look in the yellow pages for a Electronic Equipment & Supply Whsle & Mfrs. They will have the LED's and bread boards. Also there is the bakealite board that can be used but you will have to soider or crimp the LED's.The lites will have one lead + positive for the stop and one for the parking. The ground is the body. Hook up one wire to the first + positive LED of the 8 string and the other - lead to the body ,or a short wire to ground. The other + positive lead hook up the next LED string of 8 and hook the - lead together with the other. Also start another string of 8 to the back up light as noted above. I have seen some new clear LED's at a Raido Shack. Hope this helps.

79 CJ5 258 firecracker red
 
#4 ·
So you think I could get away with putting them in series, since they last so long? I didn't quite understand the part about having on lead + positive for the stop and one for the parking. Don't LED's just have 2 wires coming out of them? So how do you get them to be brighter for stopping and dimmer for just parking lights? How many LED's do you think I should neen to get them bright enough? Any ideas? Should I use ALL white LED's or just white for reverse lights, and red behind the red lense? I'll probably have a few more questions and I hope that's okay, swcobb? Thanks!

"James and the Giant Jeep"
1993 Wrangler 4.0/5spd, Herculined Interior, D44s Soon
 
G
#5 ·
yes. the old wires from your standard bulb. When you put your foot on the brake 12 volts dc will be on one of the leads. When you turn on your parking lights the other lead will have 12 volts on it. When you have your lights on and your brake on both will be on and this is what makes it look brighter. I dont know about any except the red ones but there's lots of differnt ones out there now. Some now have the ability to have three in one LED. It will be trial and error on which one will look the best. LOL

79 CJ5 258 firecracker red
 
#6 ·
Oh, okay... I get how the brake and parking light thing works. So do I hook one of the leads up to a set of LEDs, and the other lead to another set, or what? What makes the LEDs brighter for the brake lights? Also, how do I go about making this setup? Since I don't need any resistors, I just put them on a bord or what? Any idea how many LEDs I could run off of the 12V line for the tail-lights?

"James and the Giant Jeep"
1993 Wrangler 4.0/5spd, Herculined Interior, D44s Soon
 
G
#7 ·
yes. nothing except for the element it self. Look at one and you can see the difference. one is longer that the other which draws more current and makes it brighter. For this set up I would try 7 to 9 for brighter or dimer.The more you put on the brighter it will be. They all light at the same level. More {wrong it just wont light if you put to many in line}or less then you will need to put resistors in line with them. One thing you could try is a small adjustable resistor in line with them to use less LED's. Bread boards would work fine. Plug the LED's into the holes in series then the ground lead to the body or a short lead from the body. The + positive lead we talked about before hook them in to the first LED.

79 CJ5 258 firecracker red
 
#8 ·
I'm not quite following you on some of this/wwwthreads_images/icons/frown.gif What exactly were you talking about when you said "nothing except for the element it self. Look at one and you can see the difference. one is longer that the other which draws more current and makes it brighter"? You were talking about a small adjustable resistor. Could I use that for the parking lights, so that they'd be dimmer. And then just run the LED's regulary for the brake lights? Make sense? Hope I'm not annoying you with these questions:) No what numbers do I have to go by? Just the voltage of the LED's, or anything else? What I mean is there any other numbers in the specs of the LED's that I need to consider before wiring them?

"James and the Giant Jeep"
1993 Wrangler 4.0/5spd, Herculined Interior, D44s Soon
 
2
#10 ·
Wow, it's getting deep in here jam! I just got through reading the link you posted, it has good info. Pay particular attention to the selection of the "droppping resistor", both it's value and power rating. Too small a resistor will allow too much current into your diode and possible blow it, too much will not allow it to light.
I did not see where the author was going with the series discussion. You can only hook so many led's in series, as the voltage drop across each one will start to add up, though the current will be the same through all of them.
As to the park and brake difference, I'd put, say 40 lights in the mount. Have about 20 of them light up when the parking lights are on and have all of them light up then you hit the brakes (i.e. the other 20 hooked to the brakes, since the parking ones will stay on when you hit the brake).
You definitely need to start with a prototype and practice!
As to acquiring led's, call up led manufacturing companies and ask for samples! They will all send you 5 or 10 samples no problem, expecially if you have them shipped to a company address. Buying them from radioshack at a $2 a pop will add up. You want the ones with the most lumens per mA.
Also, remember that led's are light emitting DIODES! They have an anode and cathode terminal and are polarity sensitive.
Keep us posted on your progress! If you are having problems finding specific resistor values let me know and I can mail you some (we have quite a bit here at work).

/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif Big Ed
'88 YJ, 4" susp,3" body,35's,283 Chevy V8,TH350,4.11's,D30,D35c
 
1
#12 ·
If there's any Truck Chrome shops or Truck stops with chrome sections look there. I've seen LED setups made of regular lites. They just replace the bulb and fit in the lite socket. Be carefull where you get them and check them out GOOD. I spent several hundred$$$ replacing all the lites on my 18 wheeler with LED's. Only to have them start dropping like flies from bad board construction. Panellite is one of the most reputable on the market now. Don't know there website but shouldn't be that hard to find.

Keith


C-Ya.....................kh
 
#16 ·
Make it simple? Nah, I'm bored;) I think this is going to be good for me. Just last night I learned a lot about electronics and how it all works.

"James and the Giant Jeep"
1993 Wrangler 4.0/5spd, Herculined Interior, D44s Soon
 
#18 ·
Oh, great, thanks! So you're gonna beat me to it, eh? Not fair! Now everyone's gonna think that it was your idea!!/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif Oh well, mine will be better!!! Hahaha... J/K. Good luck and post some pics. And keep me better informed than everyone else!/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif

"James and the Giant Jeep"
1993 Wrangler 4.0/5spd, Herculined Interior, D44s Soon
 
#21 ·
It's holding up pretty good IMOP. I used the Herculiner stuff. I swear I will never do it to a Jeep again! MAN! What a pain in the a$$. I took everything out of my Jeep, including the seats and sport bar, and then taped EVERYTHING off that I didn't want to get it on. Cause once it's on, it doesn't come off. I used the scotch brite pads on everything. The hardest part was getting up underneath the dash, around the bottom of the doors and the lip all the way around the tub. I did notice the other day that it's flaked a little on the passenger side floorboard. No biggy, I just need to touch it up. I would of liked to do another coat, but me being the dumba$$ I am, I spilt the frikin container and lost a good amount. I got 2 coats on though. Make sure you stir it constantly(a drill works best) and work in a WELL ventalated area and wear a resporator. For the short time I didn't wear one, it gave me a headache for a week straight! Another suggestion is to get those rubber Husky floormats in the 4wd parts catolog. This will help with cleanup after playing in the mud. The floorliner doesn't clean up real pretty. Also, be prepared for a STRONG odor for a LONG time! I put 5 air freshners in and it didn't help. It just smelt like cherry-herculiner:) I suggest doing it during summer when you can have the top off for extended periods of time. I could probably go on and on about what to do and what not to do, but I'll keep this short. If you want more tips, e-mail me and I'd gladly give you any advice I can. I learned a lot about what I'd like to do again if I did it. Take your time, strip the tub out and PREP IT WELL! Tape anything you don't want the stuff to touch. I also did it around the lip of the tub where the softtop channel sits on. Gives it a nice look when the doors and top are off. Good luck!!

"James and the Giant Jeep"
1993 Wrangler 4.0/5spd, Herculined Interior, D44s Soon
 
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