Anyone with US-spec tail lights ever try a green bulb?

[mull]

Hi Mull.

 

They look good in the pic, However, I would put some sort of reflective tape as a base before soldering them to the breadboard. just make sure that the reflective tape is not conductive, ofcourse

 

Many time's I've drove by a car, only to notice it a couple of meters in the distance because of it's chrome trim and reflection off the back of the tail lights. So that should be an indication of how well the reflective portion helps at night.

 

Are you sure they are wide enough angle?

 

Also, you'll want to make sure you get 640nm wavelength, as that is the purest RED in LED form, and won't make it look pink, like most DIY (and even some factory) LED tail lights I see on the roads today.

 

That spectrumled fellow seems like the right guy, but perhaps you should message him for more information.

Like I said, the pictures are from early last year (and since I have yet to invent

timetravel) the LED's used are smaller, less bright and have less angle.

 

That's a solderfree bread board by the way, thus all the wires sticking up...

 

I think the new ones should be ok, angle-wise. They're 625-635 nm, so hopefully

they'll be red and not pink, though I guess even a proper pink LED would look

red when passing through a deep red lens? White LED's might prove tricky though.

I got all the LEDs for my Z from http://www.superbrightleds.com/ They have LED replacement bulbs as well as invividual LEDs in a variety of colors and brightness. There is also a wealth of information about LEDs in an automotive application.

Thanks for replying - but please (!) insert more info. You got which LED's? How bright? What angle? For what?

[mull]

FYI, I got a reply from a company who manufacture LED traffic lights and I was

told that the LED's they used were 5mm and had a horizontal angle of 60 degrees

and 20 degrees vertical - strength was (I was suprised to hear) 5.000 mcd.

 

I guess I should be ok with my 45.000 mcd then...

[Careless]

hi mull

 

usually if they're dual angle, they have an elipticall shape to them. so they might be 3x5mm led's.

 

In that case, I would alternate the light spread pattern, so that tractor trailers can see your actions from up high, and so that passenger cars can see your actions from a safe side distance.

 

5,000mcd sounds a bit low, but I'm sure you could use it to its full potential.

 

Spectrum LED informed me to use the brightest led you can find.

 

Clearcorners.com has a bunch of applications, some being way brighter than others.

 

Raff

[deja]

Thanks for replying - but please (!) insert more info. You got which LED's? How bright? What angle? For what?

 

I got bulb replacement LEDs for '85 Corvette tail light sockets. I picked the wide angle ones, 18/100 degrees.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/115x-x12x19.htm

I got 1157 duel lights for the tail/turn and tail/brake lights. They recommend using red LEDS even if you're using a red lens. My lights are recessed about an inch so the wide angle part isn't all that necessary. I got them to be sure the light filled the lens without hot spots, seems to work. They offer a 12, 19 or 24 LED bulb for the 1157s, I can't remember which I got but I think it was the 19. Brightness is 8000, but from what I've read you really can't compare brightness numbers between incandescent bulbs and LEDs on that number alone. Here's a converter that might help.

http://led.linear1.org/lumen.wiz

[mull]

I got bulb replacement LEDs for '85 Corvette tail light sockets. I picked the wide angle ones, 18/100 degrees.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/115x-x12x19.htm

I got 1157 duel lights for the tail/turn and tail/brake lights. They recommend using red LEDS even if you're using a red lens. My lights are recessed about an inch so the wide angle part isn't all that necessary. I got them to be sure the light filled the lens without hot spots, seems to work. They offer a 12, 19 or 24 LED bulb for the 1157s, I can't remember which I got but I think it was the 19. Brightness is 8000, but from what I've read you really can't compare brightness numbers between incandescent bulbs and LEDs on that number alone. Here's a converter that might help.

http://led.linear1.org/lumen.wiz

Thanks for the additional info : )

 

According to that link, 50 LED's at 45000 mcd and 45° would produce about

1000 lumens, which would roughly translate into having a single 83 watt bulb?

I think the LED's will be ok. The 50 is just a trial-and-error shipment anyway

so if brighter LED's are needed, there's always 100 000 mcd available...

[deja]

Thanks for the additional info : )

 

According to that link, 50 LED's at 45000 mcd and 45° would produce about

1000 lumens, which would roughly translate into having a single 83 watt bulb?

I think the LED's will be ok. The 50 is just a trial-and-error shipment anyway

so if brighter LED's are needed, there's always 100 000 mcd available...

 

83 watts? OMG you really think you need that bright of a tail light? Seems like you're going to blind anyone behind you. I don't know if there is a legal limit in Europe. But our DOT regulations are minimum 350 ft. visability for tail lights and 500 ft. for brake lights with no max. I've been behind some cars with LED factory lights that are damn bright

[mull]

Harr harr harr! Aye matey, we're goin' superbright, yarr!

 

The whole LED setup will be hooked up to a LED dimmer that will let me

control the brightness and set it within reasonable limits, of course. From

my point of view it seemed logical to overdo it since I don't know how

much the lenses will darken the LED's in the end.

 

Then again, maybe there's a possibility to hook them up to strobe in case

something breaks down. Or blind tailgaters... Or something, I dunno

[santanawhite]

Hi mull. Did you ever finish your setup. I came across this topic as i had just wondered about the green light bulb thing as well.

[TimZ]

Hi mull. Did you ever finish your setup. I came across this topic as i had just wondered about the green light bulb thing as well.

 

I wish I had seen this thread when it was fresh.

 

I was going to recommend wiring the LEDs in series as much as possible as opposed to everything in parallel with a crapload of resistors. Series is much more efficient for power/current consumption and should be simpler to construct, too. You are limited as to how many you can put in series by the individual voltage drop of the LEDs you use, so you'll probably end up doing a few series strings in parallel. I found this really cool wizard that takes your requirements of supply voltage, number of LEDs, LED voltage drop and current and outputs an actual schematic diagram, complete with series string size and resistor sizing - very cool:

 

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

 

Probably too late to help Mull, but in case anybody else is looking at doing the same...

Edited November 30, 2011 by TimZ

[santanawhite]

Ill definitely will be using that nice little tool too. Thanks.

[santanawhite]

Just to try out the green light thing, i got a bunch of Christmas lights i was putting up and took all the green ones in a bunch and crammed them in the tail light lens. Its not as bright as i thought, the red lens filters out all other colors besides red so obviously its dimmer. But there is a slight yellow/amber huh to it. I'm gonna go ahead and try it with a custom green led array that is a lot brighter. Hopefully i can create amber/yellow turn signals without having the Euro/JDM style lenses. Ill try to update with pics soon.

[KAZU]

I recommend yellow LEDs. Japanese guys chose them under the tail lens of USDM Corvettes.

Make sure that the yellow LEDs are as bright as red LEDs you are going to put. Such yellow LEDs can be available in these days.

I already did full LED conversion with amber LEDs under the amber lens for front lights and red LEDs under the US tail because I could not find the bright amber LEDs suitable for under the red lens at that time.