O2S simulators? LED brake lights?
Joined: Mar 2003
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From: San Fernando Valley, CA
Originally Posted by MacGyver,Oct 11 2005, 05:28 PM
LOL, not even close... but are you trying to tell us something? 
Theres nothing wrong with SMDs. Fact in point, ALL of my current products use SMD LEDs, including the windscreen lights. Only 2 LEDs are used with the windscreens, and I'm sure owners of the latest edition can attest to their brightness
When people think of surface-mount LEDs, they think pinpoints of light only bright enough to light up a cellphone, but that's the cheap stuff. I don't use cheap stuff
And that's why my products are never as inexpensive as the stuff you'll find at AutoZone, Wal-Mart, or Circuit City. I have some SMD LEDs that suck down 25W and are blinding to look at in bright sunlight.
What, don't you guys trust me YET?!
Theres nothing wrong with SMDs. Fact in point, ALL of my current products use SMD LEDs, including the windscreen lights. Only 2 LEDs are used with the windscreens, and I'm sure owners of the latest edition can attest to their brightness
When people think of surface-mount LEDs, they think pinpoints of light only bright enough to light up a cellphone, but that's the cheap stuff. I don't use cheap stuff
And that's why my products are never as inexpensive as the stuff you'll find at AutoZone, Wal-Mart, or Circuit City. I have some SMD LEDs that suck down 25W and are blinding to look at in bright sunlight.What, don't you guys trust me YET?!
As for Part 2: I don't doubt your skills, it's just unusual seeing surface mount compared to the bulb-type everyone else is using.
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Joined: Oct 2000
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From: Columbia, MD
Originally Posted by alexf20c,Oct 11 2005, 08:31 PM
You mentioned the LEDs you're using are dual-filament, and the "HI" will be a 21W filament. If 25W blinds you in the daylight, what will 21W do to you at night?
The stock bulbs are dual filament... 5W for the running lights, 21W for the brakes themselves. As rworne mentioned, comparing LEDs to incandescent bulbs is a tricky matter, and most won't even try if they know what's good for them.
Bulbs radiate light in 360 degrees (close enough), whereas LEDs generally radiate at something less than 180 degrees. Look at the bulb of a flashlight (outside of the reflective housing) and it's bright, but you can get away with it... look directly at the focused beam coming from the flashlight and you'll be seeing spots for a while. Look at an LED from the side and you'll see a dim glow, but look at it straight on and you'll be seeing spots again (at least for the ultra-bights). That's due to the optics of the LED, with the common terminology being "viewing angle" (which I won't get into here).
I chose a viewing angle that directs light directly backwards to be plenty bright in the noonday sun, but give off enough around the edges to still be noticable from the side at night. I will go a little bit brighter than stock for daytime visibility, but I can't go too far else nighttime viewing will all but blind people (and thereby have them run into you).
My latest estimates put the power draw at 4W for full power and 2W for normal driving. I may increase this some if I'm not happy with the brightness. Either way, during braking you'll only be pulling as much power (or less) than a stock bulb with the running lights on... 8-10W mine versus 42W stock during braking.
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From: Saint Augustine
Originally Posted by MacGyver,Oct 11 2005, 06:33 PM
$5 off to anyone who can tell me what is sold in the box the PCB is propped up against
or 
Dan what is the diameter of the PCB, and is that the back or front side
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From: Columbia, MD
Originally Posted by Treedriver,Oct 11 2005, 10:03 PM
Dan what is the diameter of the PCB, and is that the back or front side
<-- getting closer... <-- if only I could guarantee my job wouldn't check at some later date... Diameter, not including tabs, is just a hair over 4.5". Depending upon the mounting tab locations for the red reflectors, I may be able to get away with increasing the tab length only, rather than shrinking the board. If I'm forced to shrink it anymore, I will need to lay the whole damn thing out again, as each circle will need to scrunch in a bit... and I'm NOT looking forward to that again. If this was a square board, things wouldn't be as bad, but trying to line everything up on a polar coordinate system is a PITA. If I didn't take the time, the LEDs would look out-of-round and people would hate it.
Oh, and that's the front side, or the side the LEDs will be stuck to. I didn't show the back side simply because there's not much back there to see, component-wise. To aid in installation, I designed this puppy to be as slim as possible, so the entire piece will be thinner than 5mm front to back. I couldn't get that with through-hole LEDs.
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From: Saint Augustine
Dan
are the tabs on the PCB going to drop into the slots in the housing? I am guessing you want to make the cut near or on the "step" that is outside of the housing?
I will be on vacation the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd, want to get together then?
Wayne
are the tabs on the PCB going to drop into the slots in the housing? I am guessing you want to make the cut near or on the "step" that is outside of the housing?
I will be on vacation the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd, want to get together then?
Wayne
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From: Come see me after class.
Originally Posted by MacGyver,Oct 11 2005, 09:03 PM
Nope on the frozen fish... think libations
The stock bulbs are dual filament... 5W for the running lights, 21W for the brakes themselves. As rworne mentioned, comparing LEDs to incandescent bulbs is a tricky matter, and most won't even try if they know what's good for them.
Bulbs radiate light in 360 degrees (close enough), whereas LEDs generally radiate at something less than 180 degrees. Look at the bulb of a flashlight (outside of the reflective housing) and it's bright, but you can get away with it... look directly at the focused beam coming from the flashlight and you'll be seeing spots for a while. Look at an LED from the side and you'll see a dim glow, but look at it straight on and you'll be seeing spots again (at least for the ultra-bights). That's due to the optics of the LED, with the common terminology being "viewing angle" (which I won't get into here).
I chose a viewing angle that directs light directly backwards to be plenty bright in the noonday sun, but give off enough around the edges to still be noticable from the side at night. I will go a little bit brighter than stock for daytime visibility, but I can't go too far else nighttime viewing will all but blind people (and thereby have them run into you).
My latest estimates put the power draw at 4W for full power and 2W for normal driving. I may increase this some if I'm not happy with the brightness. Either way, during braking you'll only be pulling as much power (or less) than a stock bulb with the running lights on... 8-10W mine versus 42W stock during braking.
The stock bulbs are dual filament... 5W for the running lights, 21W for the brakes themselves. As rworne mentioned, comparing LEDs to incandescent bulbs is a tricky matter, and most won't even try if they know what's good for them.
Bulbs radiate light in 360 degrees (close enough), whereas LEDs generally radiate at something less than 180 degrees. Look at the bulb of a flashlight (outside of the reflective housing) and it's bright, but you can get away with it... look directly at the focused beam coming from the flashlight and you'll be seeing spots for a while. Look at an LED from the side and you'll see a dim glow, but look at it straight on and you'll be seeing spots again (at least for the ultra-bights). That's due to the optics of the LED, with the common terminology being "viewing angle" (which I won't get into here).
I chose a viewing angle that directs light directly backwards to be plenty bright in the noonday sun, but give off enough around the edges to still be noticable from the side at night. I will go a little bit brighter than stock for daytime visibility, but I can't go too far else nighttime viewing will all but blind people (and thereby have them run into you).
My latest estimates put the power draw at 4W for full power and 2W for normal driving. I may increase this some if I'm not happy with the brightness. Either way, during braking you'll only be pulling as much power (or less) than a stock bulb with the running lights on... 8-10W mine versus 42W stock during braking.
towel
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 3,962
Likes: 7
From: San Fernando Valley, CA
Hot cocoa sampler? Free Guinness towel?
(I also read FARK)
So this isn't a plug and play solution, it requires cutting?
Not that it's a problem, but cutting will be much better looking (stock-looking) than a tiny blob of lights. If this works, then the sidemarkers and front corners go LED too.
(I also read FARK)
So this isn't a plug and play solution, it requires cutting?
Not that it's a problem, but cutting will be much better looking (stock-looking) than a tiny blob of lights. If this works, then the sidemarkers and front corners go LED too.