led's in hearts UPDATED WITH PICS

joshbuchan · Last edited by joshbuchan on Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:29 am; edited 1 time in total

I am missing the heart tail light brackets/bulb holders and was thinking of making my own. At the same time I thought why not convert to LEDs and incorperate a signal into the tail light for saftey.

what I need to know is the formula for figguring out what size of resistor I need for say 40 individual leds in series on 12 volts

vanBoven · Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 5:59 pm Post subject:

just a thought if u put them in series then if one goes out the whole thing is out, just a thought, i would like to do that for my snowflakes though so i would be interested to see yours when done.

joshbuchan · Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 6:14 pm Post subject:

good call, parallel it is Cool

Ninamashr · Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 7:50 pm Post subject:

I am planning on making some LED inserts for snowflakes. They will only work as brakes and turn signals. Here is a plate I had laser cut so I can solder the led's in the right position. Then I will transfer the soldered LED assy to a clear piece of 3/32 acrylic cut exactly like the plate. It will fit between the glass lens and the red reflector. The original brake and turn signal lights will work the same, these LED inserts are just added insurance to make you more visible when braking and turning.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

If enough people want them, I'll start to make some available for sale.

Confused

_________________
1957 Karmann Kabriolet "Franky"
1957 Allstate trailer

r_sunada · Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 10:56 pm Post subject:

Would it be possible to use the 3 center LED's as the tail light? Or would it not be bright enough? And use the rest/outer LED's for brake and turn signal?

joshbuchan · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:56 pm Post subject:

lostone · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 2:18 pm Post subject:

http://www.lambertenterprises.com/

try these guys out, used them many times. most are twice as bright as conventional bulbs.

Bert
_________________
Bert
63' sedan
69' sedan(RIP)

j-dub · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:26 pm Post subject:

I have never used them but have seen lites that are LEDs but use the standard type light sockets. Similar to the picture bellow but smaller.

_________________
1957 Oval rag
"POLICE STATION TOILET STOLEN ... Cops have nothing to go on."

joshbuchan · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:33 pm Post subject:

to get the full effect of leds you need to use a lot of them not just the little conversion screw in ones. these ones are more along the line of what I think i'll do........ http://www.lambertenterprises.com/

the individual led bulbs are super cheap at an electronics store and I have acess to that green circuit board material, we'll see how they turn out.

ScreaminJimmy · Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:19 pm Post subject:

Well, curiosity got the best of me and I went and plunked down $18.39 for a pair of those LED brake light bulbs for my ’56…the ones that are a direct replacement for the standard 1157 dual filament bulb. With the original plastic diffuser in place behind the glass lens, the LED was, as expected, even more pathetic than the original incandescent. Only a small circle of light showed up in the middle of the lens, and even that was almost invisible when viewed from a slight angle.

HOWEVER…

After some experimentation with an old lens out of the junk box, I discovered that removal of the plastic diffuser and a quick re-paint of the silver reflector works WONDERS. Now the LED's show through the entire lens and is approximately twice as bright as the original in both tail and brake light modes, even when viewed at an angle.

I highly recommend this upgrade if your car is a driver, even occasionally. Definitely worth $20 and a couple hours of your time.

By the way, I also have a cheap J.C. Whip-me LED third brake light in the rear window. It’s barely noticeable until it comes on, but man, it’s BRIGHT. I shudder to think how many times this $6 part has saved my hiney.

Later,
_________________
James
56 bug
79 Westy

joshbuchan · Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:52 pm Post subject:

i've got half way through this project, I made some plates out of 1/8" copper like the ones pictured above. drilled a pattern in them to take 28 high intensity red led's. just to see how bright they were I quickly made my circuits (a bunch of series strings then all connected parallel) and just about blinded myself Shocked

I was seeing spots for a couple mins Cool

I just gotta figgure out if I want to do a printed circuit board for the connections or just a bunch of soldering.

I decided the glass lense will act as both the running and brake light and then the top heart lense will become a signal to assist the semaphores and hopefully keep me from getting side swiped or something cause some idiot doesnt know what a sema is.

I'll try and post some pics in the next week on my progress if anyone is interested.

Russ · Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 10:31 pm Post subject:

Josh i would definatly be interested in seeing what you come up with.
This is what we are looking at
give it a chance to load as it is a very large page.
http://autolumination.com/1156_1157.htm
My wifes boss uses them in his jags and has been very happy
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Cruiser pedals for sale (see my ad's)
55 hardtop finally finished
65 beetle done:)

vanBoven · Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:16 am Post subject:

if u could post pics that ould be great

joshbuchan · Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:39 am Post subject:

holy crap russ there are some crazy bulbs on that site! which ones does your wifes boss use?
Going that route probably would have been cheaper, I have $50 in loose led bulbs alone. but hey I enjoy screwin' around with this kinda stuff ........... well that's what I keep telling myself Confused

i'll definately post some pics of what i'm doing.

Russ · Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:11 am Post subject:

honestly he has more money than me Laughing

i think he bought an assortment and tried them out.
i think i will pick a pair and try them on the 57 my wife drives dailey and see if they help at all.
the 55 (will be picked up sunday from the body shop) and i definatly want something for the tiny egg lights
keep us posted Josh
_________________
Cruiser pedals for sale (see my ad's)
55 hardtop finally finished
65 beetle done:)

Rad-Ride · Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 9:23 pm Post subject:

HerrrKafer · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:30 am Post subject:

Really neat project, I'm definitely interested in seeing pics too. And I, personally, would go with etching circuit board and making it a super clean installation.
_________________
Evan H.

joshbuchan · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 12:02 pm Post subject:

Alan Willis · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 12:12 pm Post subject:

I have a question,Why not use a resister on the parking circuit for the LED's? You can install a diode so it won't backfeed the brake or signal circuits. If you're going hi-tech,why not go all out? Thats how the park/brake lights work in my new Bimmer...
_________________
die schwarzen Schafe #666

joshbuchan · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:38 pm Post subject:


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