My LED Bumper Light conversion

cdoyle said:
Just wondering, did you say the running boards can be opened up, by baking them?

Chris
Click to expand...

Chris,

I added lights to my stock unlighted running boards in this thread. I am not familiar with the stock light housings. They should probably pop right out of the running board end cap. There is probably a clip on the backside holding them in.

I used side marker lights for mine and I managed to carefully cut the silicon around the lens and it popped off. No baking required. Although these were cheap aftermarket lights, they look good after a little work.

Tom
 
Pennywise said:
I was assuming that you were talking about the lights on the running boards, correct?

Tom
Click to expand...

Yes, if they can I'm going to redo mine with more LEDs. I haven't really looked at them, so not sure how they are put together.
 
Noloc said:
You really should considering making kits. I'd definitely pick one up. That's a sweet mod!!! Nice job.
Click to expand...
I've actually thought about making some extras of the custom led modules that I made for my vehicle, but I think that in the end it wouldn't be worth it. Am I right, cdoyle?

These are not extremly difficult to make. Once you know the circuit, its just soldering until your fingers go numb. For the door lights I made, I roughly estimate the parts to be about $5.00 per light. That is $20 just for the parts for 4 door led modules. Would you guys actually spend $20 plus time/labor to put the lights together. Probably not, but if you enjoy doing small projects and have some time, this is a great, cheap, functional way to spend an evening.

Or maybe I just need to get a life...

Tom
 
Pennywise said:
I've actually thought about making some extras of the custom led modules that I made for my vehicle, but I think that in the end it wouldn't be worth it. Am I right, cdoyle?

These are not extremly difficult to make. Once you know the circuit, its just soldering until your fingers go numb. For the door lights I made, I roughly estimate the parts to be about $5.00 per light. That is $20 just for the parts for 4 door led modules. Would you guys actually spend $20 plus time/labor to put the lights together. Probably not, but if you enjoy doing small projects and have some time, this is a great, cheap, functional way to spend an evening.

Or maybe I just need to get a life...

Tom
Click to expand...

Ya that's sort of how I felt, I just don't think many woudl want to spend the money on it, espeically since it's pretty easy.

Since I used superflux LEDs you have to buy a tube of 60 from futureelectronics (you want to make sure you get them all from the same bin, and future electronics are). So it comes to about $40 with shipping and handling just to get the LEDs. then the time of soldering, and any other parts I would need.

I would have to charge over $60 just to make it a little worthwhile.

It really is an easy project, I think anyone coudl do it, if they have some patients with the soldering.
 
cdoyle,

I have been having a small problem with my converted running board lights and wanted to see if you had experienced anything similar.

I have 12 leds total in each light (4 circuits each consisting of 3 leds in series with the current limiting resistor). I have seen no need to use a diode or a regulator, so that is pretty much it. I have wedged it into the light enclosure, siliconed it all up to keep out the water and installed them.

Months go by and they work great. Then one day I noticed that one set of 3 is flickering randomly. I tried tapping on the lens, but didn't seem to do much. It looked as if it could have been a weak solder joint or something similiar. I took it out, removed the perfrboard and started relowing the solder, which didn't seem to do much. As a last resort, I started replacing the leds and sure enough, it started working fine after one of the leds were replaced. I didn't think too much of it, but this has happened 3 other times with different lights and different circuits. It is becoming rather annoying having to change the leds every other week or so.

I would think that if a led were to fail, the led would just go out, which would result in all 3 series leds to go out. I simply cannot determine why they were flickering. Any thoughts?

Keep in mind that only one circuit out of the 4 is flickering in the light, so it isn't a power or ground issue.

I have also been thinking about etching my own boards as opposed to all the ugly jumper wires on the back of the board. I feel that the traces would be more reliable than the wires upon wires, but from what I have read, it takes some time to do. The kits can be purchased relatively cheaply so I figured that I could try it out and see what happens.

One last question. Have you coated the back of the board at all to prevent oxidation, like a conformal coating used on consumer pcbs? I wanted to see if this stuff was avaliable in a spray can for small applications such as this. I don't know if moisture has anything to do with this problem, but the coating probably wouldn't hurt .

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom
 
Pennywise said:
cdoyle,

I have been having a small problem with my converted running board lights and wanted to see if you had experienced anything similar.

I have 12 leds total in each light (4 circuits each consisting of 3 leds in series with the current limiting resistor). I have seen no need to use a diode or a regulator, so that is pretty much it. I have wedged it into the light enclosure, siliconed it all up to keep out the water and installed them.

Months go by and they work great. Then one day I noticed that one set of 3 is flickering randomly. I tried tapping on the lens, but didn't seem to do much. It looked as if it could have been a weak solder joint or something similiar. I took it out, removed the perfrboard and started relowing the solder, which didn't seem to do much. As a last resort, I started replacing the leds and sure enough, it started working fine after one of the leds were replaced. I didn't think too much of it, but this has happened 3 other times with different lights and different circuits. It is becoming rather annoying having to change the leds every other week or so.

I would think that if a led were to fail, the led would just go out, which would result in all 3 series leds to go out. I simply cannot determine why they were flickering. Any thoughts?

Keep in mind that only one circuit out of the 4 is flickering in the light, so it isn't a power or ground issue.

I have also been thinking about etching my own boards as opposed to all the ugly jumper wires on the back of the board. I feel that the traces would be more reliable than the wires upon wires, but from what I have read, it takes some time to do. The kits can be purchased relatively cheaply so I figured that I could try it out and see what happens.

One last question. Have you coated the back of the board at all to prevent oxidation, like a conformal coating used on consumer pcbs? I wanted to see if this stuff was avaliable in a spray can for small applications such as this. I don't know if moisture has anything to do with this problem, but the coating probably wouldn't hurt .

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom
Click to expand...


Hi,
I've found that some of the cheapy LEDs do tend to fail more then the higher quality ones. My dome light in the back did the same thing that yours did. Would just randomly flicker on/off.

I think what happens is the specs on the LEDs aren't really what they say they are. So if you run them at max, you might actually be overdriving them and they overheat.

I redid it, and went under the max rating this time and they seem to be working pretty good now.

Also make sure when you design your circuit you take account for the voltage of the truck when it's running. I always just use 15V as my source voltage when using the calculators. That will help ensure your LEDs are protected against any voltage spikes.

I've never etched my own boards before, but I know a lot of people over on HID Planet do. There have been a few posts there about it.

For sealing up the back of the board. I've used some epoxy in the past if I thought it might get wet. seems to work, but a little messy. If you find something that can be sprayed on. Let me know :)
 
cdoyle said:
Hi,
I've found that some of the cheapy LEDs do tend to fail more then the higher quality ones. My dome light in the back did the same thing that yours did. Would just randomly flicker on/off.

I think what happens is the specs on the LEDs aren't really what they say they are. So if you run them at max, you might actually be overdriving them and they overheat.

I redid it, and went under the max rating this time and they seem to be working pretty good now.

Also make sure when you design your circuit you take account for the voltage of the truck when it's running. I always just use 15V as my source voltage when using the calculators. That will help ensure your LEDs are protected against any voltage spikes.

I've never etched my own boards before, but I know a lot of people over on HID Planet do. There have been a few posts there about it.

For sealing up the back of the board. I've used some epoxy in the past if I thought it might get wet. seems to work, but a little messy. If you find something that can be sprayed on. Let me know :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. I guess I never thought about the fact that I was getting like 100 leds for $.01 off of ebay. It actually stopped flickering today, but it will start again in a couple days. I may tune the current down when I redo it again. I also may look into using a pwm circuit so they could be dimmed when desired.

Thanks so much for the information and if I could find a spray coating, I would be happy to pass it on.

Tom
 
Pennywise said:
Thanks for the information. I guess I never thought about the fact that I was getting like 100 leds for $.01 off of ebay. It actually stopped flickering today, but it will start again in a couple days. I may tune the current down when I redo it again. I also may look into using a pwm circuit so they could be dimmed when desired.

Thanks so much for the information and if I could find a spray coating, I would be happy to pass it on.

Tom
Click to expand...

Just remember a PWM isn't really dimming the LEDs, it just turns them on/off really fast.

The LEDs are actually running at the max the entire time. It just looks dim depending on how fast you have them turning on/off.
 
cdoyle said:
Just remember a PWM isn't really dimming the LEDs, it just turns them on/off really fast.

The LEDs are actually running at the max the entire time. It just looks dim depending on how fast you have them turning on/off.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I have been doing a fair share of research, both on the web and talking to fellow coworkers. Many people say that they can notice the flicker of the leds. My guess is that PWM makes more sense with filament based bulbs since the on/off time is in the millisecond range. With the LEDS being almost instant, the PWM method may not be the best way to perform the dimming. I will have to try and find more non-PWN dimming circuits for leds. I guess I could always find a potentiometer that could vary the resistance, but it seems like there should be a better way. If you have any ideas or links, feel free to send them along.

Thanks,
Tom
 
Pennywise said:
Agreed. I have been doing a fair share of research, both on the web and talking to fellow coworkers. Many people say that they can notice the flicker of the leds. My guess is that PWM makes more sense with filament based bulbs since the on/off time is in the millisecond range. With the LEDS being almost instant, the PWM method may not be the best way to perform the dimming. I will have to try and find more non-PWN dimming circuits for leds. I guess I could always find a potentiometer that could vary the resistance, but it seems like there should be a better way. If you have any ideas or links, feel free to send them along.

Thanks,
Tom
Click to expand...

I know many over at HID Planet will use a PWM and voltage regulators for tail light conversions. Mostly because superflux LEDs running at lower current ratings may not all light up equally. (some might be brighter then others) . But I did my bumper lights with just a resistor, and they all lit up the same. I think if you buy all your LEDS from the same bin you're OK (buy them from future eletronics and each tube of 60 will be from the same bin)

Ya you can use a POT to help dim the lights. Are you looking for somethign that you can dim on the fly?
 
cdoyle said:
I know many over at HID Planet will use a PWM and voltage regulators for tail light conversions. Mostly because superflux LEDs running at lower current ratings may not all light up equally. (some might be brighter then others) . But I did my bumper lights with just a resistor, and they all lit up the same. I think if you buy all your LEDS from the same bin you're OK (buy them from future eletronics and each tube of 60 will be from the same bin)

Ya you can use a POT to help dim the lights. Are you looking for somethign that you can dim on the fly?
Click to expand...

I'll have to read some of those forums again and see what I could find.

I thought it would be nice to be able to adjust the brightness on-the-fly. I've noticed that several times when I'm out camping, these lights are bright, especially in the darkness of the forests. I would like to have the ability to tone them down a little. I thought about just putting in an on/off switch, but I'd still like to have them on, just dimmer.

Thanks for your help,

Tom
 
LED mods

That is a sweet mod. I always thought those were reflectors only.

All these LED mods look nice and cheap. They provide the most

bang for your buck. Inexpensive but looks outstanding. I just

have to learn how to solder and all that stuff.


2005 Sport v6 4x4
 
These LED mods really look nice. I wish I could do it too and wish my IQ number was higher than the number of US states!! :beer:
 
You keep saying how easy it was... well, what's the chance that you could write up a 'how to for dummies' for how to do this? :bigok:
 
This is a great thread. however, if you are like me (electrical IQ of 5) and couldn't fab this bumper LED light, there is an option that is virtually plug & play!! It will COST YOU though!

LED REAR 4RUNNER BUMPER LIGHT

It currently goes for $248 (+shipping), but that's a steal for me only b/c I don't have the know-how (even though there are clear instructions on how to do it here). Comes in the usual red clear plastic or transparent plastic. Apparently all you have to do it trim some plastic off the bumper so it fits properly. Has anyone purchased this item (Japan)?
 
clear lenses

Hi, I am wondering if you know how to make or where to buy a clear lense for this reflector, i Want to turn them into reverse lights or really bright lights to back up to something and see by.. for example, camp site where you can see how to pitch your tent...

Please help me find what I need.
Thanks
 
Nope nope. I've seen that but not what I'm looking for. I just want clear lense to replace the red ones.
 
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