For years I've been running 12v fluorescent tubes as rock lights. When it is very dark out they work well as they put out a nice soft glow instead of harsh light in a single spot like the old school 55 watt lights people used to use.
Over the Years the tubes have been putting out less light and one of them finally burned out. I was paying $10 per tube which was a great deal. I can no longer find them at Ace hardware for $10. When I do find them at other stores they run $25+ which isn't worth it.
Last year I picked up a couple strings of LED pucks from horsepowerjuice (yes, they sell LEDs too Got the LEDs here) thanks to Pirate4x4.
I finally got around to installing them. They are waterproof and are SMD LEDs. Even though they "look" like they are wired in series they are actually wired in parallel while in the string of 20 (how they come).
You just cut off the wires from one side and then you need to do something ito insulate them. I can't find my liquid electrical tape so I need to pick up another bottle. Once I have that I will cover the wires I cut off AND cover all of the splces with it.
Here is a shot of one of the 12v tubes that was mounded just outside of the frame. You can see the metal above the tube has a rise in it. That rise/fall is where I will install the new pucks.
Old Rock Light by maniak_az, on Flickr
Here are a couple of the pucks installed on that piece of metal that goes up/down. I put them here so they are facing down and towards the end of the vehicle. I figure this way I will get more coverage from them.
photo (49) by maniak_az, on Flickr
Since they are small I mounted one in belly of the X, just behind the xfer case. That should help cut down on the shadows under the rig.
photo (48) by maniak_az, on Flickr
Here is a shot right as the sun was going down. You can see the light from the LED pucks but you can't even tell that the fluorescent tube under the front is even on.
IMG_0570 by maniak_az, on Flickr
Now that it has gotten darker out (still not black) you can see the light from the front tube. It just isn't bright enough anymore.. It used to be better but no where near what the LEDs do.
IMG_0586 by maniak_az, on Flickr
The back of the rig has 2 facing down and then one facing forward. They are all on the rear most cross member. I won't have any problems seeing what I'm hung up on now..
IMG_0583 by maniak_az, on Flickr
I still have a little bit of a dark spot just in front of the rear tires.
IMG_0584 by maniak_az, on Flickr
I also want to figure out how I can light up the front suspension (in the wheel wells etc). I also may add 2 more to cut down on the darker area in front of the rear tires. It isn't bad but since I have more LED's and they don't take much power I might as well use them.
You can see how I grounded the LEDs.. I just put the ground wire right to the screw holding them on. For power, I already had a power line running from a switch/relay combo that circles the vehicle. I just cut off the old lights, extended the wire when needed and hooked up the LEDs.
The old Tubes pulled 13 watts each. I don't know how many watts/amps I'm pulling with the LEDs. Once I have them all installed I'll hook up a meter and check.
~Mark
NOTE: Click on the pics for the bigger versions...
EDIT: Site that carries these has changed domains.. New link for the v1 lights (what I have) is http://under-glow.com/products/rock-lights-80-lm-v1-pack-of-20?variant=4437136196 The v2 lights are twice as bright (160 lumens).
Over the Years the tubes have been putting out less light and one of them finally burned out. I was paying $10 per tube which was a great deal. I can no longer find them at Ace hardware for $10. When I do find them at other stores they run $25+ which isn't worth it.
Last year I picked up a couple strings of LED pucks from horsepowerjuice (yes, they sell LEDs too Got the LEDs here) thanks to Pirate4x4.
I finally got around to installing them. They are waterproof and are SMD LEDs. Even though they "look" like they are wired in series they are actually wired in parallel while in the string of 20 (how they come).
You just cut off the wires from one side and then you need to do something ito insulate them. I can't find my liquid electrical tape so I need to pick up another bottle. Once I have that I will cover the wires I cut off AND cover all of the splces with it.
Here is a shot of one of the 12v tubes that was mounded just outside of the frame. You can see the metal above the tube has a rise in it. That rise/fall is where I will install the new pucks.
Old Rock Light by maniak_az, on Flickr
Here are a couple of the pucks installed on that piece of metal that goes up/down. I put them here so they are facing down and towards the end of the vehicle. I figure this way I will get more coverage from them.
photo (49) by maniak_az, on Flickr
Since they are small I mounted one in belly of the X, just behind the xfer case. That should help cut down on the shadows under the rig.
photo (48) by maniak_az, on Flickr
Here is a shot right as the sun was going down. You can see the light from the LED pucks but you can't even tell that the fluorescent tube under the front is even on.
IMG_0570 by maniak_az, on Flickr
Now that it has gotten darker out (still not black) you can see the light from the front tube. It just isn't bright enough anymore.. It used to be better but no where near what the LEDs do.
IMG_0586 by maniak_az, on Flickr
The back of the rig has 2 facing down and then one facing forward. They are all on the rear most cross member. I won't have any problems seeing what I'm hung up on now..
IMG_0583 by maniak_az, on Flickr
I still have a little bit of a dark spot just in front of the rear tires.
IMG_0584 by maniak_az, on Flickr
I also want to figure out how I can light up the front suspension (in the wheel wells etc). I also may add 2 more to cut down on the darker area in front of the rear tires. It isn't bad but since I have more LED's and they don't take much power I might as well use them.
You can see how I grounded the LEDs.. I just put the ground wire right to the screw holding them on. For power, I already had a power line running from a switch/relay combo that circles the vehicle. I just cut off the old lights, extended the wire when needed and hooked up the LEDs.
The old Tubes pulled 13 watts each. I don't know how many watts/amps I'm pulling with the LEDs. Once I have them all installed I'll hook up a meter and check.
~Mark
NOTE: Click on the pics for the bigger versions...
EDIT: Site that carries these has changed domains.. New link for the v1 lights (what I have) is http://under-glow.com/products/rock-lights-80-lm-v1-pack-of-20?variant=4437136196 The v2 lights are twice as bright (160 lumens).
