Drove at night again and felt very confident that I was actually seen. Again great job!

If this group buy is still Open I want a full set for Red Tailights.

I'll PM you.

Tomeric got his and told me i NEED to get them...

Glad to hear the good reports. Keep me posted if you run into any difficulties.

The group buy is still open although the name "group buy" is misleading. The only thing bought in groups are PCBs and parts. Each of these boards are made by hand, soldering one LED at a time. (It beats watching DWTS).

I'm working through the list of folks who want the lights. If you've spoke up here I will get to you.

It's been taking about 2 weeks from payment to shipment for a set of boards. I won't ask for payment until I'm ready to build your boards.

Thanks for your support.

This isn't a want, this is a MUST buy. Otherwise, you will covet my taillights.

A couple of items about the turnsignal LEDs:

ITEM 1.
Has anyone using the turnsignal LEDs have issues with your blinker? I've heard from one person that the blinker doesn't work if the running lights are on.

This makes some sense as with the running lights on, when the blinker turns off, the LED array basically looks like an open circuit because of the steering diodes used to isolate the running light brightness from the turnsignal brightness.

If this is an issue, you may need to install an LED-ready blinker. I tried to search for a thread here that discussed the part-number for the LED-ready blinker but couldn't find it. If anyone can find the thread or the p/n please let me know.

My blinker doesn't seem to suffer from this issue. Here's my car with running lights on and turnsignals on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG8-TevjczE



ITEM 2.
For those of you doing AMBER turnsignals: For running lights I light up the LED array as dimly as possible to simulate the bleed-through of the OEM side marker bulb to the turnsignal lens and to give the car a larger light-footprint at night.

One member doesn't like the amber lens lit up for running lights and disconnected the side marker/LED array from the running lights. Does anyone else want the LED array off for running lights?

For RED turnsignals there should be no issue with the LED array being on for running lights as these are red and not unusual to have red running lights on the rear of the vehicle.

Only issue I have is the lights not blinking. This is likely due to the lower voltage draw, and me needing to use LED relays. The issue I have is that the flasher relays I have int he harness are 2-pole, and the replacement LED relays are 3. Looks like they have a ground on them. I need to work this out with DrEvil before I can expect them to flash. Unless there's a resistor I can use or something.

Finally got around to installing my set.


Two things:

- The new bulb sockets are a bitch to get in and turned. I ended up using pliers and completely mangled the thin metal. I hope i never have to take them out again.
In hindsight, i should probably have used some dielectric grease.

- The lights looks great, however, the brightness falls off sharply as soon as you look at them from any kind of angle.
Probably not a problem at night but i can see this being a problem during the day since in most other cars, people sit much higher and if they're close (think commuter traffic) they probably can't see my taillights at all.


I'll have to do some more testing on this ...

Apologize for slight hijack-
Looked into replacing the bulbs in my wifes Mercedes E320 with LEDS. Between the need for a resistor, the resultant heat, throwing trouble codes etc. Never did it. I think keeping the bulbs and wiring in a strip of LEDS around the inside of the lens might be something I may try to increase visibility.

I remember seeing the development thread, but apparently missed this GB thread

I'm seriously thinking about getting these (with amber turn signals) as the original lighting does lack brilliance

I'm subscribed now, so I'll pop back in in the near future. It looks like you've got a good backlog right now anyway.

Awesome 'possum

They can be a little tricky to install as there is not much material to grab onto. I've found putting a finger in the open end of the socket provides enough grip to install. The brake bulb is the most difficult since it is keyed. I'm glad that you didn't use a hammer or drill or other power tool...



These do have a tight 1/2 power angle of dispersion of 15 degrees. There exists another LED in the same family with a 23 degree 1/2 power angle but it is available in very limited quantities. The stock lens will disperse the light a bit more.

Did you have any issues with the turnsignals not blinking?

Nope, the turn signals works just fine ...

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

Mine aren't blinking...just staying "on" all the time. I think I need a different Relay, which I purchased, but haven't put in yet. Now, I have a completely different wiring harness, so you shouldn't let that deter you from buying these. Spoke has an awesome product here.

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.

One more thing that was brought up in the other thread about the euro lenses.

Currently, with the "euro" version of the LED lights, the blinker portion is always dimly lit as soon as you pull on the light switch (doesn't matter to what position).

That means i now have yellow "running lights" at all times, which is not only illegal in the US, but also in Europe.


We'll see how long it takes for me to get pulled over for this ...

Is there an "at home" remedy to cut the power to the turn signal LED's? I assume they are getting power from the side facing LED group. I think those being lit would be fine, but if we find the whole turn signal board being lit is a problem, is there a simple circuit we can disable to eliminate that function but still have the side LED's lit? Just asking because I installed mine today (even though the car is not yet ready for the road) and am seeing the same as everyone else. I don't have a problem with them yet but I have not used the car yet to see if it caused confusion with other drivers. I don't think any of the LEO's around these parts could care less about the legal issues of the lights, so that is not my concern.

Yeah, that is some good information to have. I wish that thread would have come up before doing the LED boards.

For any further amber turnsignals, the LED array will not be lit up with the running lights, just the side facing LEDs will be lit. They should bleed just a tiny amount towards the rear of the car.

It is pretty simple to disable the amber LED array from the running lights and still have the side facing LEDs. The side facing LEDs alone should bleed very little towards the rear of the car.

See the attached pic for resistor R2. Remove this resistor and the LED array is disabled from lighting with the running lights. R2 is easy to identify as it is smaller in size as the other resistors.

There are 3 basic ways to remove R2:
1) Using 2 solder irons, heat both sides of the resistor and remove. If you have a single wide solder iron, it may be possible to lay the iron so it contacts both sides of the resistor at the same time to remove.

2) If you don't have a solder iron or can't get the resistor removed with a solder iron, you can simply crush the resistor with a pair of pliers. It may seem crude but it will work. The resistor is constructed on an alumina ceramic substrate which will shatter if compressed with a pair of pliers. Needlenose would work best. Just clean up the resistor fragments after breaking it and you're good to go.

3) Ship the boards back to me. You pay shipping to me and I'll pay shipping back. I will reimburse your shipping cost since this was my mistake.

BTW, those with red LEDs should not suffer from this legal infraction as the red running lights will only make the light footprint of the car larger at night.

Thanks, now I know how to disable it if I don't want the amber lit. Great product either way though. Thanks again for doing these. I do like them. Now get to work on a solution like this for the front lights.

Thanks for the tip on R2. I'll run it as-is for now, but it's good to know i can fix this if i have to ...

Installed mine yesterday. Took about one hour (yes I am slow ). Used a pair of needle nose pliers to turn the small side plug-in, fingers didn't seem to want to fit in there, just be gentle. I used a little bit of Dielectric grease on the plugins for both lubrication and corrosion protection purposes.

Click to view attachment

Everything thing seemed to be working just great with no problems.

it to see the fireworks last night.

Spoke did a fantastic job with these.

Great to hear Rick. Using the dielectric grease on the bulb sockets is a good idea. I've plugged in various bulbs and LED boards multiple times into the sockets on my car that I don't have issues with plugging these boards in.

I've now contacted everyone on this thread who indicated interest in these LED boards.

If you were interested and didn't hear from me, please check your PM inbox or contact me via PM.

Thanks to all who purchased and hope these keep you safe and happy motoring.

PM received and Paypal sent

And



Great job, Spoke.

Finally my ladylike slender fingers come in handy...

Fitted these today, took me 15 mins - very simple install and the bayonets were a lot easier to put in than I thought they'd be (see previous ladylike finger comment). Overall, very happy with them. Great job Spoke.

Pictures were taken during the day in my parking garage.

Before:
Click to view attachment

After:
Click to view attachment

Interested in a set if you are still doing them, PM sent...

I'd like a set of Red Driving Lights and a set of Amber Turn Signals too.

Should I PM you?

PM sent. We're on summer vacation now so taking a break until the fall. I will contact you later. Thanks for your interest.

Hey Spoke,
I installed my LED's this afternoon… easy as pie. I've only seen them in bright daylight, and I'm very pleased with the improvement. I got a big atta-boy from the wife too. She agreed it's a wise upgrade. Thanks again,

-Dave

The Postman delivered mine today

Hoping to get them installed soon

Thanks Jerry!

I also got mine today, but it will be a couple of weeks before I can try them out.

Just seeing this today. One thing you should consider is to make the side markers Red on the amber turn signal boards.

Worst experience ever is following a US spec 914 with Euro lenses slapped on over the stock bulbs at night. There is not supposed to be any amber/yellow light on the rear of the car, (except for turn signals) and that includes side markers. Just by changing the side LEDs to red you will solve this. I have about 5 red LEDs replacing my little side marker bulb and the effect is great! It lights up the whole amber turn lens red. When the turn signal amber LEDs flash the light goes from dim red to bright yellow and back to dim red. Much better than before.

Like Andy said, it's only a matter of time before someone notices, usually at the worst possible moment, ala Murphy...

Thanks for the R2 advice, just updated mine.

A couple quick notes:

- One of my brake assemblies had the T and B wires backwards (in the plug). Not a difficult fix, but just to let you know you had a QC escape.
- I had one too few of the long brake clips, one too many of the long similar turn signal clips, and three too many screws. (None of these are issues, your sizing of the boards is spot-on so they are snug fit without extra clips).
- Inserting/removing the bayonet adapters is quite easy if you jam a finger of appropriate size into the adapter and pretend you're inserting your finger. Little side guys are a bit difficult if you have big fingers, but I have had mine in and out several times whilst tinkering.
- The extra-long turn signal/marker clips benefit from a dab of silicone adhesive once everything is OK. Not too much, so you can still yank them out, but just enough to stop them from popping off.

Well that sucks about the wires. I test all of these for functionality but the high/low settings must have slipped by me. Glad you could fix it. PM sent about the clips.

BTW, I enclose a couple of extra screws with every set since these little things have a way of getting lost during assembly and installation.

I recall reading this at the start but forgot about it.
VERY NICE. I agree these look to be a must have from just the increased visibility standpoint.
When you are back from your break count me in for a set.
Thx

hey Spoke,

are you still making these?

There's a newer thread:

LED Stuff
Hurry if you want some. I think he might be almost done. PM him too.