donricouga

iTrader: (2)

I posted some pics of my new 42 LED sidemarkers(white) i made. Just wanted to see what you guys think and if I should have them on with the headlights or with the turn signal. Thanks

http://www.350zmotoring.com/forums/s...967#post352967

ssc

iTrader: (1)

i think those would look very nice.

ares

iTrader: (2)

I dont have an account can you host the pics here? Id go with the headlights though.

donricouga

iTrader: (2)

Here you go Ares

donricouga

iTrader: (2)

Any more opinions ?

Tackett

hit it in the head Fred. Looks good.

Acree

iTrader: (29)

it would require you to rewire the whole thing, but you could do it both like mine. since yours are all white, i would say leave them on constantly, not connected to a signal. what mcd rating are your LEDs?

donricouga

iTrader: (2)

Yours look really good. I guess everyone here agrees that they should come on when headlights are on and stay on. To answer your question, my LED's are 12,000 MCD. They don't look excessively bright though

Acree

iTrader: (29)

nice choice. that's what mine are. you will get a hell of alot of complements on them. i was at starbucks 2 days ago and a guy told me he like the LEDs.

donricouga

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the input. I just finished the second sidemarker tonight. I will put it on my car on sunday as I will be out of town till then. Hopefully I can take some pictures to show you guys.

JDMZ33

iTrader: (121)

Lot of hard work wiring them up... Make sure they don't get wet!

donricouga

iTrader: (2)

Well I hope so too. At least the humidity shouldn't get into the sidemarker themselves because i sealed them with silicon gel. I don't really know how to prevent water getting in there though. Any tips?

ZZZealous007

those are beatiful!
Can you guys tell us the specs on the LEDs you are using?
size? brightness? price? seller?

also how did you make the holes? drill press, dremel?

donricouga

iTrader: (2)

Bought these
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

They are really good quality surprisingly enough.

I bought some nice sanding stones, like dremels, from walmart. I think they were $4. They were big and got the job done and fit perfectly into my electric drill. This allowed me to sand the inner ribs of the sidemarker so I can fit that many led's

To drill the holes I used a regular electric drill but added a stopper on the drill bit so that it only goes in just enough to make a hole. This saved me the time of having to remove the backing of the sidemarker. I got those at lowes and it was about $5.

Overall this was a time consuming project. It took me about a total of 20-30 hours of labor. I did it slowly over a period of two weeks. I think if i did it again, i could probably do it in 10-15 hours for a pair

Any more questions let me know

ares

iTrader: (2)

you shouldnt have any problems with those LEDs; I used to purchase those overpricedd imported suckers from superbrightleds... man 1 out of 5 was DOA. finally ordered from another place in hong kong(not yours, atleast not the exact same name but I know over there alot of times one factory supplies a couple of companies) 1000leds havent found one dead yet. ussually brighter; color much more consistant. and tons cheaper. I was able to drop my prices by like 40% cause LEDs were costing pennies instead of dollars.

as for the sealing. Ive tried so many things... even tried those metal backing plates that strictlyZ used back in the day. All things considered it aint pretty but you just cant beat a big heap of silicone... just be careful you dont get any sneaky holes/airpockets in there. its not the prettiest method but you cant see anything anyway; and IMO function over form if you cant see it.

I used to use the stopper but I got the feeling it was intended for use farther up on the bit; itd always get jammed up. finally went out and got a drill press much easier, faster, and more precise. drill wouldnt walk at all; holes always straight up so the LEDs fit in snug straight up. good stuff; no reason for all that for 1 set though.

only thing Id suggest; little late now and not a big deal if you wire them in triplets. no 2 leds are alike; and they have varying consumption and output. by wiring them in triplets you hopefully average out their inconsistancies rather than letting each single LED pull its own amount. I also assume in the final setup theres a resistor somewhere? has to be lol or theyd be fried. but the perk of triplets you can work with a much smaller resistor; less load on it anyway. not that its likely to be a problem one way or another, but all things considered it would be better, though like I said not really an issue anyway.

Acree

iTrader: (29)

triplets is how i did mine. don- listen to this man. he is wise in the LED art. taught me a few things.

donricouga

iTrader: (2)

Thanks both for the compliments and suggestions. I put alot of gel on the backing so hopefully it will be properly sealed. I do have a high wattage 15 ohm resistor at the end. I probably should have wired them in parallel with 3 in series but I wired in full parallel, these LED's look all just as bright and no inconsistencies. Plus if one dies in the future, the other 41 led's still light up !
I actually fried one led while soldering. Probably forgot the heat sink on that one but it was easy to take out.
Ares,
Where did you buy your drill press and how much ? I might make a couple more eventually.

pics coming soon ...

ares

iTrader: (2)

woah double check that; by my calculations you should have used a resistor in the 400ohm range. 15ohms put your LEDs at 600mA. that cant be correct because they would have all blown up before you ever took that photo lol.

I got my drill press from pepboys actually, its no great brand but they were having a sale on it for like 80$ I think. its pretty stout like half horsepower electric motor, belt drive with 5 speeds. works very well.

donricouga

iTrader: (2)

sorry. I took that picture with simply a 9 V battery and a 10 ohm resistor. here are the specs of each LED's

3.5 V
20 mA of current
I will tap into the parking light wire. I assume this is between 12-14 V ??
If I am correct, I only need slightly less than 15 ohms for a 42 leds in parallel.
Am i not correct ?

ares

iTrader: (2)

nope with the wiring setup you have you would need the same resistor for a single LED as for all of those; that being about 550ohms.

at 9volts you should have used a 275-300ohm resistor! your at about 400mA at 15ohms on 9volts. double check your resistor they should have surely fried at that current level. within like milliseconds lol. 400mA is WAY out there.