Sold on LEDs

[SteveJ]

Dave, I haven't taken my deep dive to try to figure out why I needed both changed to get either circuit to work. It is on my list, though. I'm curious about whether or not I can develop a plausible explanation.

[ZCurves]

Why, do you suspect, did the first flasher unit not work? Glad to hear you got it working though! Very excited to see the results.

The old school flasher units required a higher resistance, since LED have practically none there is a faster flash. Make sure to replace both the Turn-Signal Flasher relay and the Hazard Flasher relay with current electronic units.

[SteveJ]

The old school flasher units required a higher resistance, since LED have practically none there is a faster flash. Make sure to replace both the Turn-Signal Flasher relay and the Hazard Flasher relay with current electronic units.

To be precise, the LEDs consume less power, so less current is flowing through the circuit and therefore the flasher unit. Since power is proportional to the square of the current, there isn't enough heat produced in the flasher to deflect the switch.

What I found curious is that replacing one flasher for an electronic flasher did not make it where either the turn signals or hazard lights would blink. Both flasher units had to be installed to get either circuit to blink. I was under the assumption that the flashers were independent of each other electrically, so I assumed that replacing one flasher would allow either the turn signals or the hazard lights to blink.

[Zs-ondabrain]

Sounds like you're becoming the resident LED expert. Guess this means I can take a break for a while...

I decided to do the LED thing a few years back and have gone nuts on it all. The only 2 incandescent bulbs on the whole car are the license plate lights. I made my Map light LED array, my dome light circuit board, custom cut 4) 12 LED sidemarker lights from the Kenworth Shop, Custom made the LED plates on the Tail lights and front markers and tore the gauges apart to remove the green lenses and paint the insides silver before installing "SuperbriteLED's" and MSA white face gauge overlays. I used the the White Wide angle ba9's in the dash.

5mm super whites in the map and dome light boards

5mm 18K mcd Red LED's in the brake light boards

5mm 12K mcd Yellow LED's in the front marker boards\

Blazer 12 vdc 3 light (per side) LED electronic flasher

12" white Cold Cathode tube lights (4) underdash and domelight area

Maxxima* 12 LED clearance lights 2) red 2) amber for the sidemarkers

Alpena White Flexible LED strips just above the front bumpers for that Audi look.

H4 6000K HID headlights in Autopal housings.

Here's a couple shots but I really need to redo them now that I'm finally figuring out this new camera from last year....

Dave

Edited December 14, 2010 by Zs-ondabrain

[SteveJ]

Dave, what I love about these LEDs I used is that they are just drop in replacements. I really like how your tail lights turned out, but frankly, I'm just too lazy to try to go to the lengths you did. Anyway, given what I've seen and read about the parking light circuit, I can't overemphasize the value of a solution like this. To me it's even easier to implement than your relay solution.

The dash lights are on the list for me. I just need to get smarter on taking out the gauges.

[ajmcforester]

Dave, I like the work you did. Don't ever get NJ tags. I'm hoping Steve's looks a lot less obvious.

Dave, how was it making the LED boards?

[Zs-ondabrain]

I use 1/8" Black ABS plastic. Then I use a counter sinking bit on my drill press at an exact depth to allow the LED's to squeeze thru the plate and sit further into the plate, which in turn allows more LED body to be pushed thru the opening.

Then I sand the plate face smooth, spray glue the face and regular aluminum foil for a reflective surface, cut out each hole then load the LED's into the board. Bend the leads so the grounds all connect with each other then wire in the resistors (2 LED's per resistor).

The larger plate has 2 mounting screw in the middle and the smaller board has 2 screws also, one on each outer edge. Then I take 2) 1157 bulbs and break the glass out of them, unsolder the leads and clean the inside out. Then I wire in the ground, brake and parking light wires and back fill with hot glue. Then all you have to do is plug them in like a regular bulb into the socket.

I also repaint the center of the chrome strip, polish the lenses and reglue before reassembly. And it's basically the same thing in the front. The sidemarkers are more of a plug and play deal but also do the hollowed out bulb base so things can go back to stock if I (or the customer) ever decide otherwise.

Yes, it takes a lot of labor and many hours of plate cutting, drilling, wiring, soldering, polishing and gluing and screwing, BUT it's all worth it in the end to have a STOCK looking taillight that lights up the road behind you and has a look like no other Z. I haven't had a customer complain about people not seeing their car yet. And better yet, other people CAN see the Z's better. No excuses of "I'm sorry Officer, I didn't see his brake lights"

And with a 100,000+ hour lifespan, they'll be around long after I'm gone. Especially since they are typically underpowered due to the Z's bad wiring.

Below, you can see the front markers on an angled plate, with the hollowed out bulb housings and aluminum foil. I have to glue in the front plates for lack of a good screwing surface. I also use one of the reflectors from the taillights, rebend and installed into the reverse light section for better light output from the 1156 bulb. (Customers Euro taillights)

Dave

Edited December 14, 2010 by Zs-ondabrain

[FastWoman]

Dave, I'll just mention, since you're making your own, that an LED enthusiast friend of mine lost most of the LED lighting in his RV when a voltage regulator went bad. His off-the-shelf, mass-marketed LED lights used drop resistors, and just a bit of an overvoltage can result in a fatal spike in current.

I have another LED enthusiast friend who manufactures LED lights for marine use. He uses transistors instead of drop resistors to limit current through the LEDs. That way you regulate current with a resistor on the base of the transistor, and voltage spikes aren't nearly so consequential (with respect to the entire supply voltage, rather than with respect to the top end of the voltage range above the forward bias voltage of the stack). Food for thought.

[ChrisZ]

Sarah, why not use a 78XX as voltage regulator then.

Chris

[SteveJ]

I finally took some pictures of the taillights. I swapped the incandescent bulbs from the right to the left to reduce the influence of any exhaust soot affecting the perception of the lights.

In my opinion, the 1157 incandescent bulbs are SLIGHTLY brighter. However, I have some LED 1157 equivalents with more LEDs. They do require taking apart the taillight to install since the LED bulb is larger than the opening for the socket. The 67 LED equivalent does seem to be a little brighter, though.

Considering the drop in current flow through the circuit, I'm still VERY happy with the results.

[Zealous]

Sorry if i missed this earlier but could you point me to a good source for and explanation of installing the electronic flashers? I am thinking of doing this myself

[Zs-ondabrain]

Almost all the auto parts stores carry the correct Electronic Flashers, now-a-days.

If you have regular bulbs, non-LED, then just grab a standard 2 prong Electronic Flasher. I think I installed a "Blazer" HD Elec. Flasher (3-bulb) in the 72' Green Z as it was all stock lighting. Only cost about $9.

If you have LED's in front and rear, then you'll need to get an LED specific Electronic Flasher. They typically have 3 pins and the 3rd pin needs to be Grounded.

Dave

Edited December 27, 2010 by Zs-ondabrain