LED Brake/Taillight Group Buy Options

[Spoke]

This is a group buy of what I have referred to as the 5mm LED rev 2 Brake/Taillight PCB.

These are hand assembled one by one, tested, and will be delivered as they are produced. I have made a list of folks who have shown interest in purchase from my other thread. That list is in the next post.

No need to re-request purchase if you are on the list. I will PM each member in turn. I will not request payment until your PCBs are to be assembled.

The list is in chronological order and purchase requests will be handled in order. Please be patient. If you requested boards in that thread but are not on the list, please PM me and your name will be inserted appropriately.

If you haven't previously requested a purchase and are not on the list in the next post please respond to this thread.

Many folks are familiar with work done to develop LED brake and turnsignal lights from the LED developmental thread. See the last few pages for current info as I've tried several different configurations before arriving at the 5mm rev 2 PCBs.

LED Taillight Development Thread

This 5mm rev 2 PCB is available in 3 different configurations:

1) Brake Light: RED LEDs: Price: $90/pair
2) Turnsignal: RED LEDs: Price: $90/pair
3) Turnsignal: AMBER LEDs: Price: $90/pair

Shipping:
CONUS: $10
Outside CONUS: Determined at purchase.

Each pair includes:
2 PCBs with 56 rearward facing 5mm LEDs each.

Turnsignal configuration has 8 extra side-facing LEDs to replace the small side running light. Side LEDs will be AMBER color to match your taillight lens.

Brake: Pigtail with 1157 base to plug directly into existing bulb socket.
Turnsignal: Pigtail with 1156 base (turnsignal) and 5007 base (small side light)

6 clips for each pair to mount the boards to existing taillight housing for plug-n-play installation.

1 year guarantee

Electrical Characteristics:
Brake/Turnsignal: 0.35A @ 14V (4.9Watt) each PCB
Taillight: 0.06A @ 14V (0.8Watt) each PCB

Brake Configuration:




RED Turnsignal Configuration:



Actual Boards and clips:

[smj]

Hey Spoke - panels arrived a while ago, finally got them in this weekend.

Inserting the bulb-bases was indeed problematic. My fingers are either too fat or not fat enough, any progress was due to applying force to the wires within the base. Fortunately things look solid in terms of the epoxy potting in there. Same as Andy the bases wanted to deform when I tried to use any sort of pliers, but they're still intact. I also didn't bother to pull up this thread, so it took me a while to figure out which of the plastic bits to use where, but I'm pretty sure I got that settled. And they seem to be working well, held up to a bumpy drive just fine.

Mine blink... interestingly. One problem might be pre-existing, can't tell yet. A previous owner put slant-nose fenders on the car, and installed CIBIE lights behind the fog/horn grills. It seems like maybe the driver's front turn signal is wired backwards, in terms of the running light vs. indicator lines. If I compare which filaments are lighting under different conditions, it's opposite to the passenger side. So I'll have to revert to bulbs to see if it's a new problem, then check wiring if it's pre-existing.

Anyway in the video I shot, instead of the right turn signals blinking alone, it looks like the hazards are on - though I think the left indicator is going at lower power when that's the case. The left signal is operating at half speed when they're activated...

Leaving that glitch aside until I've got more time, the LEDs look good. Shot a little video, unfortunately from too low - but since this is a 914, I had jack stands handy, so that's what I set the phone on... I've got the amber turns behind red housings at the moment, but expect to be getting amber lenses at some point.

video

[Spoke]

Hey Spoke - panels arrived a while ago, finally got them in this weekend.

Inserting the bulb-bases was indeed problematic. My fingers are either too fat or not fat enough, any progress was due to applying force to the wires within the base. Fortunately things look solid in terms of the epoxy potting in there. Same as Andy the bases wanted to deform when I tried to use any sort of pliers, but they're still intact. I also didn't bother to pull up this thread, so it took me a while to figure out which of the plastic bits to use where, but I'm pretty sure I got that settled. And they seem to be working well, held up to a bumpy drive just fine.

Mine blink... interestingly. One problem might be pre-existing, can't tell yet. A previous owner put slant-nose fenders on the car, and installed CIBIE lights behind the fog/horn grills. It seems like maybe the driver's front turn signal is wired backwards, in terms of the running light vs. indicator lines. If I compare which filaments are lighting under different conditions, it's opposite to the passenger side. So I'll have to revert to bulbs to see if it's a new problem, then check wiring if it's pre-existing.

Anyway in the video I shot, instead of the right turn signals blinking alone, it looks like the hazards are on - though I think the left indicator is going at lower power when that's the case. The left signal is operating at half speed when they're activated...

Leaving that glitch aside until I've got more time, the LEDs look good. Shot a little video, unfortunately from too low - but since this is a 914, I had jack stands handy, so that's what I set the phone on... I've got the amber turns behind red housings at the moment, but expect to be getting amber lenses at some point.

video

Steve,

It does look like there's some interaction between the 2 sides of your turnsignals. At about 1:00 into your vid both turns flash at a lower power than just the left or hazard. Might be up front as you suspect where the wiring issue is.

The turns flashing at a lower intensity is a sign that the voltage to each light is about 1/2 of what it should be. They're barely brighter than the running light intensity.

Try removing the front bulbs or disconnecting the wires to the front bulbs to see if it heals itself.