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eyetzr 
Samba Member
Joined: October 09, 2013
Posts: 1425
Location: Toronto, Ontario. Canada
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 Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 6:42 am Post subject: |
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| Most of the guys with bikes up here have been running the strobe brake light thing for a while. I asked a police officer about them & he thought that it was the best idea they have seen on the road. I would think that unless you have them on the front of your car & as previous said, take it to court & let the judge decide if you should keep the people behind you a safe distance. I will not follow a guy with burnt out tail, brake lights. Same as not following the bike with the blinking brake lights. Run what gives you a better piece of mind |
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ALLWAGONS
Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2000
Posts: 4188
Location: Pasadena CA/DTLA soon China
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| Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 9:19 am Post subject: |
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| eyetzr wrote: |
| Most of the guys with bikes up here have been running the strobe brake light thing for a while. I asked a police officer about them & he thought that it was the best idea they have seen on the road. I would think that unless you have them on the front of your car & as previous said, take it to court & let the judge decide if you should keep the people behind you a safe distance. I will not follow a guy with burnt out tail, brake lights. Same as not following the bike with the blinking brake lights. Run what gives you a better piece of mind |
Ditto,
even though when a mob of Yahoos (bikers) are in front of you with a whole bunch of blinking lights, they do blind you!
_________________
I'd be UNSTOPPABLE if not for Law Enforcement and PHYSICS.
I recycle old cars and parts, other than when I rot, that's as Green as I am going to get.
Thanks to my Tesla driving neighbors, I feel more relaxed driving my SUBURBAN and old VW's.
NON INFLUENCER APPROVED |
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ataraxia
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 4504
Location: Illinois
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| Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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Now that everyone has forgotten about this thread, I have received, installed and tested the CuLayer bulb.
Jim (the designer/builder of the bulb) sent me a functional sample so that I could evaluate the brightness and fit.
First:
It DOES fit here:
-Brake light section in the early tail light housing (up to 1969).
-Front indicator 'bullet' housing (1961-1963, 64/65 N models, 68/69) The bulbs can be made in Amber and White for the front application.
It DOES NOT FIT here (diameter is too large):
-Running light section in the early tail light housing
-Turn indicator section in the early tail light housing
-Front 'wrap' housing (64/65 "S" and 66/67)
Now, the pictures:
Time of day: dusk, garage lights on (two 100w LED bulbs in garage door opener). Bulb is in the brake light portion of the housing-brake pedal is engaged to illuminate the bulbs.
In the first photo, you can see that the left side is definitely brighter and the CuLayer bulb is so bright that it created glare in the photo. I took over 30 pictures with varying shutter speeds and settings-the posted photos are the clearest of that group.
Second photo: Turned off the garage light.
Third photo: Garage light turned off. Right about where the engine stand is should be the light from the incandescent bulb-you cannot really see it as it's overwhelmed by the CuLayer bulb.
Fourth photo: Garage light turned on. Still see the light on the left-not so much on the right side.
I plan to take additional photos in daylight...because, let's face it, everyone can see brake lights in the dark. I'd like to see how the bulb grabs attention during the day.
The issue of light bleed between the running light and the brake light: I attempted to get photos of the running lights with the brake lights on at the same time but the glare from the CuLayer bulb and my less than stellar photography skills didn't yield a decisive photo. When the running light is on and the brakes are engaged, the brake light drowns out the running light to the point that you can't really see it anymore. Not a huge issue, per se, but the light bleed is significant. I will conduct some additional tests in the coming days with the turn indicators/brake lights and plan to apply some of my theories about correcting the light bleed.
Overall, I'm very satisfied with what I see so far. The CuLayer bulb is significantly brighter than the standard bulb. When I was kneeling down behind the car I couldn't look at the tail light because it was so bright.
I think the idea of the strobe/flashing 3rd brake light paired with these bulbs would get the attention of the person following. |
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JeeJeeJason
Samba Member
Joined: May 23, 2014
Posts: 234
Location: Bay area, CA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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| ataraxia wrote: |
Now that everyone has forgotten about this thread, I have received, installed and tested the CuLayer bulb.
Jim (the designer/builder of the bulb) sent me a functional sample so that I could evaluate the brightness and fit.
First:
It DOES fit here:
-Brake light section in the early tail light housing (up to 1969).
-Front indicator 'bullet' housing (1961-1963, 64/65 N models, 68/69) The bulbs can be made in Amber and White for the front application.
It DOES NOT FIT here (diameter is too large):
-Running light section in the early tail light housing
-Turn indicator section in the early tail light housing
-Front 'wrap' housing (64/65 "S" and 66/67)
Now, the pictures:
Time of day: dusk, garage lights on (two 100w LED bulbs in garage door opener). Bulb is in the brake light portion of the housing-brake pedal is engaged to illuminate the bulbs.
In the first photo, you can see that the left side is definitely brighter and the CuLayer bulb is so bright that it created glare in the photo. I took over 30 pictures with varying shutter speeds and settings-the posted photos are the clearest of that group.
Second photo: Turned off the garage light.
Third photo: Garage light turned off. Right about where the engine stand is should be the light from the incandescent bulb-you cannot really see it as it's overwhelmed by the CuLayer bulb.
Fourth photo: Garage light turned on. Still see the light on the left-not so much on the right side.
I plan to take additional photos in daylight...because, let's face it, everyone can see brake lights in the dark. I'd like to see how the bulb grabs attention during the day.
The issue of light bleed between the running light and the brake light: I attempted to get photos of the running lights with the brake lights on at the same time but the glare from the CuLayer bulb and my less than stellar photography skills didn't yield a decisive photo. When the running light is on and the brakes are engaged, the brake light drowns out the running light to the point that you can't really see it anymore. Not a huge issue, per se, but the light bleed is significant. I will conduct some additional tests in the coming days with the turn indicators/brake lights and plan to apply some of my theories about correcting the light bleed.
Overall, I'm very satisfied with what I see so far. The CuLayer bulb is significantly brighter than the standard bulb. When I was kneeling down behind the car I couldn't look at the tail light because it was so bright.
I think the idea of the strobe/flashing 3rd brake light paired with these bulbs would get the attention of the person following. |
This is great. Thanks for posting this.
Will his bulbs fit 70s type3s? |
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W1K1
Samba Member
Joined: March 04, 2004
Posts: 4919
Location: Southern AB
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| Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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What was the light like from the side of the car?
I have a couple strobes and some led bulbs on order from superbrite so i'll do some pictures and video comparisons.
_________________
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/jim_martin_engine_build.php
1973 super
1965 squareback 1500E
1971 bay window westy- subi swap |
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Brent
Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2010
Posts: 1614
Location: San Tan Valley, AZ
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ataraxia
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 4504
Location: Illinois
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 4:15 am Post subject: |
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| JeeJeeJason wrote: |
This is great. Thanks for posting this.
Will his bulbs fit 70s type3s? |
I don't know if it'll fit the later style housings as I don't have one for testing.
I will pull the bulb and post up the dimensions either tonight or tomorrow.
| W1K1 wrote: |
What was the light like from the side of the car?
I have a couple strobes and some led bulbs on order from superbrite so i'll do some pictures and video comparisons. |
The light from the side is very bright-although not as bright as from the rear. There's no question the brakes are engaged. I'm going to attempt a video/better photos with some daylight in the next day or two. My work schedule is keeping me from doing more in the daylight right now.
My DD (2008 Mazdaspeed 3) has LED tail lights from the factory and these CuLayer bulbs are easily 2x's brighter.
I'm going to pay for this bulb and order the second one...I'm convinced that these are what I want. I can't find anything else in 6 volt that will work this well. Finding bright 12 volt bulbs is much easier, although nothing I found was this bright, so my search for brake lights is over. I easily had $60 in the 'wrong' bulbs collected (I sold most of them to my neighbor who is restoring an old Ford).
Daylight photos will follow in the next day or two.
Last edited by ataraxia on Tue Jul 29, 2014 6:01 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Soul
Samba Member
Joined: May 05, 2004
Posts: 168
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 4:29 am Post subject: |
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Do I spy a couple of tube amps on the shelf in the background? That's my other vice.  |
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ataraxia
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 4504
Location: Illinois
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 5:51 am Post subject: |
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| Soul wrote: |
| Do I spy a couple of tube amps on the shelf in the background? That's my other vice. |
Nope - just Type 3 car parts...they're taking over the garage. |
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t3kg
Samba Member
Joined: June 14, 2006
Posts: 2712
Location: Los Angeles
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ataraxia
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 4504
Location: Illinois
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 8:32 am Post subject: |
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| t3kg wrote: |
| ataraxia wrote: |
It DOES fit here:
-Brake light section in the early tail light housing (up to 1969).
-Front indicator 'bullet' housing (1961-1963, 64/65 N models, 68/69) The bulbs can be made in Amber and White for the front application.
It DOES NOT FIT here (diameter is too large):
-Running light section in the early tail light housing
-Turn indicator section in the early tail light housing
-Front 'wrap' housing (64/65 "S" and 66/67) |
I don't think there's much of a chance they would fit in Type 34 taillight housings, unfortunately. It would be great if he could develop a smaller version for tighter spaces. Even half of this brightness would be a huge step up. |
I plan to post up the dimensions shortly so other applications can be checked for fit.
Quite a lot of the size is circuitry so it may be tough to make them smaller.
Additional photos I took yesterday that show the fit in their respective housings:
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ataraxia
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 4504
Location: Illinois
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 1:06 pm Post subject: |
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I wound up with the time to conduct further testing.
The rear of the car is facing South during partly sunny/partly cloudy conditions.
Light bleed isn't an issue during the day, although it is slightly more apparent that the bulb isn't a typical 360° LED bulb as it's possible to see that the light source is concentrated in the middle. The incandescent bulb on the right fills the reflective surface with light consistently, while the CuLayer bulb focuses its light directly to the rear. It looks much less concentrated in person than it appears in the photos. Again, I'm not much of a photographer.
With running lights on:
For a 6 volt bulb, I'm happy with the light output-even if it is a little too 'centered' to look like an incandescent bulb.
Dimensions:
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JeeJeeJason
Samba Member
Joined: May 23, 2014
Posts: 234
Location: Bay area, CA
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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Yup, that will work on later models as well.
Thanks for posting up the dimensions! |
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ataraxia
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 4504
Location: Illinois
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 1:32 pm Post subject: |
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| JeeJeeJason wrote: |
Yup, that will work on later models as well.
Thanks for posting up the dimensions! |
Forgot to post up overall diameter: 38.12 mm |
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W1K1
Samba Member
Joined: March 04, 2004
Posts: 4919
Location: Southern AB
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 1:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Soul wrote: |
| Do I spy a couple of tube amps on the shelf in the background? That's my other vice. |
I have an 80's luxman LV103 collecting dust in the basement
_________________
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/jim_martin_engine_build.php
1973 super
1965 squareback 1500E
1971 bay window westy- subi swap |
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JeeJeeJason
Samba Member
Joined: May 23, 2014
Posts: 234
Location: Bay area, CA
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Just a thought, but what if you put a 3M diffuser / diffuser tape over that bulb to make the shape less apparent and light up more uniform? |
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Yabbadubbadoo
Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2012
Posts: 914
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| Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 4:05 am Post subject: |
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Nice post on the bulbs Ataraxia.
Great comparison work and good info about the sizing.
The bright spot is definitely better than not being seen.
_________________
Sydney, Australia.
66 Type 3 Fastback |
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ataraxia
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 4504
Location: Illinois
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| Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:37 am Post subject: |
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Last night I found three more suppliers of 6 volt 1156/1157 (ba15s/ba15d) bulbs and have ordered samples for testing purposes.
As you can imagine, 6 volt bulbs are very low demand item so no one is really interested in manufacturing them.
I contacted two other vendors with promising 6 volt bulbs but after deeper discussion, it turns out that their supplier has no real interest in manufacturing them any longer.
The samples will take 2-3 weeks for delivery and I'll post up the results. |
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t3kg
Samba Member
Joined: June 14, 2006
Posts: 2712
Location: Los Angeles
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ataraxia
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 4504
Location: Illinois
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| Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 10:37 am Post subject: |
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| t3kg wrote: |
Thanks for doing this research. All of the 6v LEDs i've been able to find are low power and probably not even as bright as incandescent bulbs.
I've been wondering about the products these guys sell:
http://www.dynamoregulatorconversions.com/ |
I stumbled upon their site a while back and my curiousity was piqued, although with the currency conversion and shipping, the costs are simply too high to take a chance on them.
The 6 volt lighting is such a niche product within LED manufacturing that I've found most of it through motorcycle LED bulb suppliers. |
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