LED Reverse

[bigapple]

another thing i guess i could point out is the fact that with a custom board built, the LEDs can aim light in the direction they were designed to... with the plug-and-play 3156 lights with the 57 leds, all it is doing is lighting up the housing... its not throwing the light straight back... with the board i made, every bulb is facing backwards and is throwing light where it should go... i guess thats why the output seems much larger with less LEDs (versus the 57 in one bulb)

 

[Iron-Mike]

my tail lights don't have the diffuser lenses on them. They are crystal clear which is probably why it makes a difference.

I'll take pics of my tail lights during the day so you can see the ones I have, then take a night shot in reverse so you can see the light output of the bulbs.

It was definitely a night and day difference form the stock bulbs.

Sorry to anyone that didn't have the light output they hoped for in choosing the bulbs I linked to in my previous post.

I think the diffuser lenses dim out light... even when I had my stock headlight assemblies I was able to compare brightness to a crystal clear lens and it was substantially different. Same bulb, two different housings... brighter light from clear lens.

Pics to follow probably Friday afternoon if I can get them taken tomorrow night

 

[bigapple]

my tail lights don't have the diffuser lenses on them. They are crystal clear which is probably why it makes a difference.

I'll take pics of my tail lights during the day so you can see the ones I have, then take a night shot in reverse so you can see the light output of the bulbs.

It was definitely a night and day difference form the stock bulbs.

Sorry to anyone that didn't have the light output they hoped for in choosing the bulbs I linked to in my previous post.

I think the diffuser lenses dim out light... even when I had my stock headlight assemblies I was able to compare brightness to a crystal clear lens and it was substantially different. Same bulb, two different housings... brighter light from clear lens.

Pics to follow probably Friday afternoon if I can get them taken tomorrow night

thats def true but it is always better to have light pointing straight out... compare ur high beams to ur low beams... ur low beams r made to disperse the light amongst the housing so it beams down... ur high beams have no cover and shoot straight out, hence brighter and higher light

 

[dennis67]

Since it seems so many of us pulled the trigger on the led 57 light 3156 lights... figured I'd give this message a shot... maybe save someone some money if they might be thinking along the same lines..

I'm not done searching... yet.. and just placed an order for the "3 Watt Luxeon LED 3156" from SuperBrightLeds.com - specs

Probably not worth the $23.95, but.. I was hoping for a little better from a plug n play option..

Also ordered the "WLED-WHP LED Wedge Base Bulbs" 168's for the puddle lamp spot.. so when they come, I'll give a quick and dirty low down on 'em.

 

[BrooklynBay]

I have a 6 watt Dorcy handheld search light with one LED, and it's very bright. I hope that your new LEDs will be good. I'm looking forward to the test results. Here's my product review: http://www.explorerforum.com/reviewpost/showproduct.php/product/292/cat/500

 

[shortstack]

Since it seems so many of us pulled the trigger on the led 57 light 3156 lights... figured I'd give this message a shot... maybe save someone some money if they might be thinking along the same lines..

I'm not done searching... yet.. and just placed an order for the "3 Watt Luxeon LED 3156" from SuperBrightLeds.com - specs

Probably not worth the $23.95, but.. I was hoping for a little better from a plug n play option..

Also ordered the "WLED-WHP LED Wedge Base Bulbs" 168's for the puddle lamp spot.. so when they come, I'll give a quick and dirty low down on 'em.

ya the 3watt should do the trick. they have a few on ebay which have 13 x 1 watt leds 3 forward and 10 around. but only comes in red and amber i think. but those should be way brighter then a regular 3156

 

[dennis67]

Plug N Play LED reverse lights not happening...

Since it seems so many of us pulled the trigger on the led 57 light 3156 lights... figured I'd give this message a shot... maybe save someone some money if they might be thinking along the same lines..

I'm not done searching... yet.. and just placed an order for the "3 Watt Luxeon LED 3156" from SuperBrightLeds.com - specs

Probably not worth the $23.95, but.. I was hoping for a little better from a plug n play option..

Also ordered the "WLED-WHP LED Wedge Base Bulbs" 168's for the puddle lamp spot.. so when they come, I'll give a quick and dirty low down on 'em.

Well.. I got my package today.. with the abovementioned lights.

First pic is "3 watt luxon LED" from superbrightleds.com on the left, the 57 LED light from this thread on the right.

Lame. Disappointing. Expensive. 57 bulb thing wins. Sadly. The 168 puddle lamp was even more disappointing.. not even worth posting the pics.

Looks like the BigApple way of going full custom is the way - plug and play LED's have given more whiteness but less light overall..

This pic is the stock, 5 year old original 3156 bulb next to the 57 LED light.

I'm back to stock. BigApple.. if you ever make a custom, superbright backup led board that doesn't require the housing to be hacked.. lemme know.

 

[bigapple]

Well.. I got my package today.. with the abovementioned lights.

First pic is "3 watt luxon LED" from superbrightleds.com on the left, the 57 LED light from this thread on the right.

Lame. Disappointing. Expensive. 57 bulb thing wins. Sadly. The 168 puddle lamp was even more disappointing.. not even worth posting the pics.

Looks like the BigApple way of going full custom is the way - plug and play LED's have given more whiteness but less light overall..

This pic is the stock, 5 year old original 3156 bulb next to the 57 LED light.

I'm back to stock. BigApple.. if you ever make a custom, superbright backup led board that doesn't require the housing to be hacked.. lemme know.

yea i tried to make one that would just plug rite in but it would have had to be pretty compact to fit in there... the only thing i really had to hack off were the little pieces pointing inward... the main circle where the thing spins in is still there

 

[Sandy]

(left is old; right is new; the old looks non-existant)

That is a lot of light from 9 LED, Nice job.
Always good to do it yourself, if anything goes wrong you know where you stand.

The second pic, is that mounted in the lens assembly ?

How did you connect the power, did you use something that connected to the existing socket or hard wired ?

Again good work, maybe a separate write up with clearer pics of each step, parts list and with values you used for resistors, etc; if possible how about some measurements used for the project board.

Send it to Rick for entry in the a section so everyone can read without comments.

 

[bigapple]

That is a lot of light from 9 LED, Nice job.
Always good to do it yourself, if anything goes wrong you know where you stand.

The second pic, is that mounted in the lens assembly ?

How did you connect the power, did you use something that connected to the existing socket or hard wired ?

Again good work, maybe a separate write up with clearer pics of each step, parts list and with values you used for resistors, etc; if possible how about some measurements used for the project board.

Send it to Rick for entry in the a section so everyone can read without comments.

yea the second pic is inside the light housing

well to connect power, i soldered two copper wires to each end and made a connector with a piece of the computer board that plugged into the old socket... it eventually became too oxidated though so i cut the housing off and used the positive and negative wire to connect it more directly

i dont really know what ur talking about... whats the A section? if u want a direct writeup thats fine i just need some clear info on where to post it haha

 

[shortstack]

^^^^^ you should've put a new bulb to compare with the new led board

 

[Sandy]

i dont really know what ur talking about... whats the A section? if u want a direct writeup thats fine i just need some clear info on where to post it haha

Sorry bout that, I didn't finish the input.

There is a project section or maybe an electrical project section that you could have a write up put in and that no one would be able to make additional post.

Just me thinking again, smoke...

Nice job, I might try to add something like that to the interior, maybe using less LEDs.

Please post up a list of parts and their discriptions,
Thanks for the idea.

 

[bigapple]

Sorry bout that, I didn't finish the input.

There is a project section or maybe an electrical project section that you could have a write up put in and that no one would be able to make additional post.

Just me thinking again, smoke...

Nice job, I might try to add something like that to the interior, maybe using less LEDs.

Please post up a list of parts and their discriptions,
Thanks for the idea.

alrite well i mite post up on that section later but heres EXACTLY what i did

products used...

18 10mm 265000mcd LEDs
6 8ohm 1/4 watt resistors (not positive)
1 large computer board (radioshack)
1 soldering iron
solder
1 hot glue gun
1 dremel (with cutting discs and a grinding stone)
wire cutters
one spool of copper wire
wire strippers

first i put globs of hot glue where i was going to put my pieces... i put a drop and then pushed the resistor or the LED thru the holes to make it stick (worked much better than glueing after putting it in)... once all the rows were made (1 resistor and 3 LEDs per row), i bent the ends to make them touch to make a line and soldered each one... i cut the remaining wire off with wire cutters... then i used the dremel to cut the small area out with the LEDs and resistors... i stripped two small copper wires and put them on each end to connect with the light socket... i cut the wires that held the socket on and stripped those wires to connect to the wires from the LED board... that finishes up the electrical stuff

i took off the entire taillight and had to use the dremel with a grinding stone to cut out enough area for the LEDs to fit in... once i cut a large enough circle i put hot glue around the hole and pressed the board against it to seal it enough... it sticks and hasnt budged since so i believe hot glue is enough (as opposed to super glue)

if anyone needs anything further let me know

 

[Sandy]

alrite well i mite post up on that section later but heres EXACTLY what i did

products used...

Thanks

 

[CJExplorer]

3157 LEDS 2 Red 2 White

I dont know if you guys are still looking for LED bulbs but i have some for sale on explorerforum http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207479

I dont think they are as bright as the hand made ones, but i sold my all clears on ebay and dont need these.

anyways Take a look

 

[Bill Kemp]

OK, I just ordered some of the 57LEDs bulbs in amber 3157.
Will let you know about brightness in the next couple of days.

Its been a looonnng couple of days.

Put them in this weekend and IMO they are as bright as the chrome covered amber bulbs I had in the turn signals. Of course the chrome coated bulbs were a bit dimmer than the standard amber 3157s so the LEDs are real close to the standards.
All-in-all they look good & work good. I like them.

 

[seth247]

Ok I want to do this mod but I must be doin something wrong

Wikipedia says the equation for the resistor is supply voltage-ledvoltage drop/led operating current. For the LEDs I wanna get that means:
14.4-3.4/100=0.11! Does point eleven ohms sound abit low to anybody else?

Ok nevermind I was counting miliamps as amps should have been 14.4-3.4/.100=110ohms
That sound about right?