Reverse light options?

[NSFW]

I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

 

How many lumens do the stock reverse lights put out?

[1-3-2-4]

I think the bulb it's self is like 125lm un-shielded give or take a few but with the optical and lens fixture it sucks up a few too..

 

my JDm tails just came in I did a few tests I did a stock vs LED test picture..

 

one thing I noticed is LED placement is key to make sure it's bright.. just mounting it where the stock bulb holder locks in was not as bright.. so I put the LED in where the hole is for the fixture and it's much brighter..

 

however placement two will require me to cut into the fixture.

 

I think this LED is putting out around 220lm right now...

 

with a 3A driver I should be able to hit around 880lm for each LED.

 

I will post my pictures in a few I need some food to reeeeechhharge!!!

[1-3-2-4]

some pictures

 

LED is where the bulb socket goes

 

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/8048/jdmled1cu5.jpg

 

Stock bulb vs LED driven at 1A

 

note how the LED is not focused/ aligned right

 

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4434/jdmled2cd6.jpg

 

 

 

LED moved to the 2nd location and focused/ aligned head on.

 

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/9675/jdmled3hp7.jpg

[1-3-2-4]

well both LED's are in I wont set them fully until I get the higher current driver hard to tell how bright it is when its sunny outside.

 

the best thing is with that opening under each bulb I did not need to cut where the stock bulb holder twists into so should I ever go back to stock I'm good!

 

 

With Flash

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/4097/ledinflashug3.jpg

 

 

Heatsink in the back keeping the bulb socket holder

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/2963/hsledrb9.jpg

 

looking at LED head on

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/2299/ledcloseup2mn9.jpg

 

LED shining on the wall

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/1428/ledreflectql0.jpg

[PeterJMC]

Wow, nice work! But it looks like you have to hack open the headlight housing with your setup to get the reverse light housing to fit in there.

[1-3-2-4]

Wow, nice work! But it looks like you have to hack open the headlight housing with your setup to get the reverse light housing to fit in there.

 

 

believe it or not the area was already open I guess it's to keep it from over heating.. I had to cut very little of the plastic away.. I think the pieces are still on the floor in the living room.

 

let me show you how it looked before I cut into it.

 

the heatsink is only 40x40mm

 

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9281/stockhp4.jpg

[PeterJMC]

believe it or not the area was already open I guess it's to keep it from over heating.. I had to cut very little of the plastic away.. I think the pieces are still on the floor in the living room.

 

let me show you how it looked before I cut into it.

 

the heatsink is only 40x40mm

 

 

Ahh... unfortunately on the '05 + rear headlight housings we don't have that opening for the rear headlight housings

[TSiWRX]

^ Yep, not the same design - ours has a little relief, covered by a metal tab, which, I'd imagine, must be for some kind of heat-shielding purpose. The JDM is actually the same way.

 

Still, this is a very interesting project!

[1-3-2-4]

another thing is with the 05+ models they don't have anything to spread out the light so putting this LED in one with a clear lens it would be a large hot spot.

 

I was not sure what to expect so I went with the widest angle LED I could find

 

one thing I'm trying to figure out now is (at least for the front) is where can I tap into a 12V power source but not drain the battery when the car is off?

 

doing an LED turn signal i'd need to wire the LED driver to a 12V+ area since connecting it to the turn signal would not cause the lights to dim when the parking lights are on and I turn on the turn signal..

[TSiWRX]

another thing is with the 05+ models they don't have anything to spread out the light so putting this LED in one with a clear lens it would be a large hot spot.

 

Would a supplemental reflector assembly be feasible? Or would that just be counter-productive?

 

How about an optical collimator lens at leach "quarter," capped with a reflective foil top cap?

 

Dunno - just brainstorming.

 

one thing I'm trying to figure out now is (at least for the front) is where can I tap into a 12V power source but not drain the battery when the car is off?

 

doing an LED turn signal i'd need to wire the LED driver to a 12V+ area since connecting it to the turn signal would not cause the lights to dim when the parking lights are on and I turn on the turn signal..

 

I think you may need to look to the previous-generation guys, for specific knowledge with the vehicle. I'm unfortunately totally unfamiliar with the wiring of that generation.....

[1-3-2-4]

Would a supplemental reflector assembly be feasible? Or would that just be counter-productive?

 

How about an optical collimator lens at leach "quarter," capped with a reflective foil top cap?

 

Dunno - just brainstorming.

 

 

 

I think you may need to look to the previous-generation guys, for specific knowledge with the vehicle. I'm unfortunately totally unfamiliar with the wiring of that generation.....

 

 

well the thing is you want to diffuse the light so it just wont look like a bright beam in the middle.. maybe a possible optics on the LED to get a wide beam and also softens the light as well. but I never got any of those and I don't know if it would fit.

 

I'm waiting for Luxdrive to get back with me to let me know if it's ok or not use use a LED driver on a turn signal that flashes on and off 80 times a min.

 

I wont be cutting into my JDM headlights lol too much money and it helps the reflector is curved so I get a good beam spread..

 

bad news is damn Amber Luxeons are almost $9 each...

[1-3-2-4]

some other news I heard back from LuxDrive the one that makes the LED driver and they said it's ok to use the driver on a turnal signal that will flash on and off 80 times a min.

 

so that helps out a bunch!

 

This is pretty fun but it's not very cheap front LED's alone with the drivers and all is going to be like $50 :-/

[CRAZY KEN]

...this was what I was aiming for but the LED has to be able to shine 360 not directional in order for it to work correctly in our housing. I went ahead and picked up a set of ERF (50 watts halogen) bulbs for $2 each...best bang for the buck...hell of a lot brighter...now I count to 10 mississippi just to be on the safe side everytime I reverse....no problemo...I can see at night with my windows up. Cool mod!

 

Thanks everyone,

 

CRAZY KEN

[1-3-2-4]

lol that's pretty bright and yep the way the newer legacy does it needs the whole housing to work right..

 

when I was planning this I did not have the tail lights so I had to ask people and people did not know what I was talking about so that's when I broke down and brought the lights myself to see and hope if I was right.. I was worried about the light filling in the whole reverse lights.. but that's when I saw it was not as wide as I thought and I was safe.

 

this new 3A driver I ordered I heard gets hot pretty fast.. some tests show the IC chip is at 110F within a few min.

[1-3-2-4]

little update

 

I ran into an issue with the new LED driver I made a mistake I think.. I went to test the lights with it and it was very bright so i was like ok I screwed the heatsinks down so they wont jiggle around. went to turn on the power and bam no lights at all!

 

seems like I fried the board for the lights $30 I wont be able to buy another until first week of Jan or so because of other projects iam working on but it was about 10% brighter.

 

Also because of how small that driver was (about the size of a nickle) I might see if the guy can do the wires for me and in the meantime Im going to see if I can have a custom one made from another company.

 

 

next project is making a temp sensor for the 2nd Gen legacy it has a range of -67 to 256F going to be using a OLED 16x2 LCD where it will be mounted is going to be something else.

[TSiWRX]

Dangit! Steep learning curve!

 

Keep up the good work - we all have our fingers crossed for you, I'm sure!

[DrSpeed]

How did this end up?

 

Still thinking about HIDs...need to figure otu which lamp would be the best application, ie minimal dremeling in the tail light housing.

[TSiWRX]

Hey DrSpeed -

 

I haven't tried this, but it looks interesting:

 

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1808645

 

What he did with the LEDs holds to simple flashlight principles, and should work as he'd photographed.

 

What he did with the Philips 50W, though, we'd have that with the ERF, but if you do any extended reversing, it's not recommended, based on the first-person tales/warnings of others here.

 

1-2-3-4's last activity was 3/16, so, hopefully, that means that he's still here, and that his project is still in-the-works.

[ArcTec34]

hey all,

 

SSC P7 LEDs are great, I run mine at 2.8A for my flashlight and get about 900 lumens. They produce a wicked amount of heat, though. that might have been your issue. If you're only pushing 1A through them, look into using CREE XR-E R2 binned LEDs. I use them from 700mA and have given them 2A before, in the 700mA-1.3mA range they're much more efficient, less heat, easy to work with. I am using one in my trunk right now..

[TSiWRX]

^ Get on with your projects, bro!

 

How were finals?

[ArcTec34]

Never ending... this semester flew by with never ending work =[ and look, its time for finals, yet again. haha. but yeah, My car is back to normal after a slight "mishap", and... I'll get bored soon and find something fun to do to to my car yet again..

 

 

^ Get on with your projects, bro!

 

How were finals?

[berkshire40]

i dropped in the silverstar backup lights i got at advance auto. they look a little blue in the housing but they are bright as hell backing up, and clear white light too.

[TSiWRX]

^ What's your reverse light application/designation?

[BAC5.2]

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1818798&highlight=unique+mods&page=7

 

Post 159. I didn't do a direct link, because ALL tinkerers should browse through that thread.

[TSiWRX]

^ That's the same person I linked to in post #68. above, which references his personal/dedicated thread with more details.