The making of high quality LED tails.
05-28-10, 05:42 AM
#1
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The making of high quality LED tails.
Hello folks!
I am currently working on some custom LED tails for a friends FD and figured you folks would enjoy the progress stages of them!
After searching the internet, ebay and tuning shops around town we decided to one off his taillights after he didnt really like any other tail kits offered.
We are using super bright, surface mount LED's, but the point of the project was to leave the taillights looking as OEM as possible. However the turn signals on the outside will fill and empty... I'll try to make an animation to show you what I mean if possible.
In the meantime, heres a rough pic I did in MS paint, hopefully helping you visualize what i'm trying to do...
Driving lights only:
Brake lights "ON"
The outer ring for the turn signal will have 24 super bright SM-LED's on it alone! This will hands down be the highest quality taillight set he can put in his FD in my opinion.
Anyway, here are the circuit boards freshly etched and cut:
Here are the LED's for the project:
Between work and my personal life, updates will be random but I'll try to post regularly and answer any questions that may possibly arise. I'm really excited to give these taillights a makeover and think the results will be amazing!
Time will tell, thanks for the space!
I am currently working on some custom LED tails for a friends FD and figured you folks would enjoy the progress stages of them!
After searching the internet, ebay and tuning shops around town we decided to one off his taillights after he didnt really like any other tail kits offered.
We are using super bright, surface mount LED's, but the point of the project was to leave the taillights looking as OEM as possible. However the turn signals on the outside will fill and empty... I'll try to make an animation to show you what I mean if possible.
In the meantime, heres a rough pic I did in MS paint, hopefully helping you visualize what i'm trying to do...
Driving lights only:
Brake lights "ON"
The outer ring for the turn signal will have 24 super bright SM-LED's on it alone! This will hands down be the highest quality taillight set he can put in his FD in my opinion.
Anyway, here are the circuit boards freshly etched and cut:
Here are the LED's for the project:
Between work and my personal life, updates will be random but I'll try to post regularly and answer any questions that may possibly arise. I'm really excited to give these taillights a makeover and think the results will be amazing!
Time will tell, thanks for the space!
Last edited by spiritgarage; 05-28-10 at 06:03 AM.
05-28-10, 06:10 AM
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So I'm guessing I'm not allowed to make a set? I'm not selling them or anything I just wanted to share it with everyone on here.
Cool link tho, I think that guy just had some factory wing a bunch of sets out from what im reading? Thats pretty much the exact look I am going for. Seemed like my design is going to have a few more LED's tho :P, and also a fading turn signal which I think will be pretty cool!
Cool link tho, I think that guy just had some factory wing a bunch of sets out from what im reading? Thats pretty much the exact look I am going for. Seemed like my design is going to have a few more LED's tho :P, and also a fading turn signal which I think will be pretty cool!
Last edited by spiritgarage; 05-28-10 at 06:20 AM.
05-28-10, 07:17 AM
#4
So I'm guessing I'm not allowed to make a set? I'm not selling them or anything I just wanted to share it with everyone on here.
Cool link tho, I think that guy just had some factory wing a bunch of sets out from what im reading? Thats pretty much the exact look I am going for. Seemed like my design is going to have a few more LED's tho :P, and also a fading turn signal which I think will be pretty cool!
Cool link tho, I think that guy just had some factory wing a bunch of sets out from what im reading? Thats pretty much the exact look I am going for. Seemed like my design is going to have a few more LED's tho :P, and also a fading turn signal which I think will be pretty cool!
I look forward to seeing your progress and wish you success
05-28-10, 07:58 AM
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If we aren't going to press the envelope, who is? Thanks, I really appreciate the support!
Ya I've been through a few different designs before I finally decided on the keeper. Should be quite sexy when its done!
05-28-10, 09:02 AM
#7
oh nice so you're copying my design. here are mine:
gonna copy my light diffuser ring design also? have fun soldering all of those leds. how many solder points is that per set?
yeah i ended up working with a factory to custom make my led rings with surface-mount LEDs since i didn't feel like soldering tens of thousands of connection points.
i'm currently producing a few dozen sets...but it's good to see another DIY person. have fun.
gonna copy my light diffuser ring design also? have fun soldering all of those leds. how many solder points is that per set?
yeah i ended up working with a factory to custom make my led rings with surface-mount LEDs since i didn't feel like soldering tens of thousands of connection points.
i'm currently producing a few dozen sets...but it's good to see another DIY person. have fun.
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05-28-10, 09:33 AM
#10
Ahh it's led's configured in a circular pattern. For him to copy he would have to be duplicating the exact set-up. Led's used, circuit board configuration, wiring ect. I wouldn't say copy! I would have said hey so your making a similar set-up as to mine? Now your not making it seem like someone is copying. The word copy just sounds confrontational that's all.
05-28-10, 09:42 AM
#11
My LED tails are the only tails available that use a "light diffuser" as part of the design. The diffuser helps to spread the light so you don't see individual LEDs. So yes, if he were to use some sort of light diffuser it would be copying. I don't care though - it's not like I have a patent on it haha 
well it's just interesting that less than 2 weeks after i launch my group buy, this new member is posting a thread saying he wants to make nearly the exact same thing while going about it via the exact same route, without ever mentioning mine.
i'm not saying he shouldn't do it. i'm all about DIY. i say go for it. but you have to admit, this new guy with 8 posts who has no rep on this site sure is coming in at an interesting time to start making tail lights nearly identical to mine.
Here's my original post to show what I mean:
Ahh it's led's configured in a circular pattern. For him to copy he would have to be duplicating the exact set-up. Led's used, circuit board configuration, wireing ect. I wouldn't say copy! I would have said hey so your making a similar set-up as to mine? Now your not making it seem like someone is copying.
i'm not saying he shouldn't do it. i'm all about DIY. i say go for it. but you have to admit, this new guy with 8 posts who has no rep on this site sure is coming in at an interesting time to start making tail lights nearly identical to mine.
Here's my original post to show what I mean:
Alright so I mentioned my new project in another thread, but I thought I would start a new thread to get feedback on what I've got going so far. [...] While I love the look of the '99 style, I think the tails could be updated a little bit. The goal of this project is to add a functioning LED design to the tails while still retaining the '99-style appearance.
Here's what I'm aiming for:
Here is what I would like the tails to look like with the parking/headlights turned on, but without the brakes on (turn signals are only on for illustrative purposes - pretend the hazards are on...):
Once you press the brakes, the center circle lights up brighter:
Build/construction ideas:
I've been thinking of ways to build these. I want it to be a professional/clean looking as possible. I've had experience wiring LED's and soldering circuit boards in the past, so I looked into the option of having custom PCB's made.
There are several places that offer "design it yourself" PCB software so I picked one that seemed good and started designing a board to mount the LED's. I've never designed a circuit board before, so for a first timer I think this came out pretty good:
On the left is the 80mm circle, on the right is the 75mm circle:
Also, since the PCB design uses a 3-pin connector, the inner/outer rings are independently powered (inner ring power, outer ring power, common ground) - this means one ring could be lit up all the time, with the other ring coming on only with the brakes, depending on how you wire the harness.
Here's what I'm aiming for:
- Near stock '99-spec appearance when lights are off.
- Twin LED circles (80mm for the brake circles, 75mm for the turn signal circles)
- Center circles still light up like '99-spec
Here is what I would like the tails to look like with the parking/headlights turned on, but without the brakes on (turn signals are only on for illustrative purposes - pretend the hazards are on...):
Once you press the brakes, the center circle lights up brighter:
Build/construction ideas:
I've been thinking of ways to build these. I want it to be a professional/clean looking as possible. I've had experience wiring LED's and soldering circuit boards in the past, so I looked into the option of having custom PCB's made.
There are several places that offer "design it yourself" PCB software so I picked one that seemed good and started designing a board to mount the LED's. I've never designed a circuit board before, so for a first timer I think this came out pretty good:
On the left is the 80mm circle, on the right is the 75mm circle:
Also, since the PCB design uses a 3-pin connector, the inner/outer rings are independently powered (inner ring power, outer ring power, common ground) - this means one ring could be lit up all the time, with the other ring coming on only with the brakes, depending on how you wire the harness.
Well, I decided that I'm definitely going to try to etch my own PCB's, at least for a prototype.
I ordered some double-sided copper clad FR4 laminate tonight. I ordered ten 6"x6" pieces (that was the smallest order I could get). Also, I'll pick up some ferric chloride solution at RadioShack later this week. Since I have a laser printer here at home, I'm going to attempt to make my own PCB's using the method that I linked to above. :fingers crossed:
I really want to try to make my own so I can see exactly how it looks in real life before I order any sort of professionally-made PCB's. It's one thing to imagine what it will look like (e.g. the pictures in the first post) but another to see how it looks in reality.
The copper clad laminate should be here by next week - hopefully the LED's and resistors too. Then the fun part begins...
I ordered some double-sided copper clad FR4 laminate tonight. I ordered ten 6"x6" pieces (that was the smallest order I could get). Also, I'll pick up some ferric chloride solution at RadioShack later this week. Since I have a laser printer here at home, I'm going to attempt to make my own PCB's using the method that I linked to above. :fingers crossed:
I really want to try to make my own so I can see exactly how it looks in real life before I order any sort of professionally-made PCB's. It's one thing to imagine what it will look like (e.g. the pictures in the first post) but another to see how it looks in reality.
The copper clad laminate should be here by next week - hopefully the LED's and resistors too. Then the fun part begins...
05-28-10, 10:06 AM
#12
That's the problem, your assuming he went to your thread and saw your concept and now he's making his own. This forum is full of projects that are similar in taste. You see this thread here is over a year old:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...&highlight=led
So obviously your not the only with that similar circular design. Based on the circuit boards he is already showing it would appear to me that he's be in planning of this for sometime don't you think? Just because you started a tread 1st doesn't mean he has to give you props for a similar idea you obviously got from elsewhere.
05-28-10, 10:23 AM
#13
t-von i'm not an idiot, and i'm not making assumptions. i'm making implications. do you know the difference? and yes i am implying that he saw my original thread.
yes of course led tails have been done before. i never said otherwise. LOL
look at that link you posted. do any of those look like my tails? no, they don't - those are completely different designs done in a completely different way. what i'm saying is that the OP is on route to re-create my tails, both in the style/design and the build.
i just find it highly unlikely that someone would come along wanting to produce a nearly identical design via a very similar process, for a rather uncommon car, WITHOUT seeing my tails / design thread - it's been on the first page of this forum for the past few months, and has nearly 16,000 views.
i said this guy should "go for it", just as i have told others who said they want to make their own.
yes of course led tails have been done before. i never said otherwise. LOL
look at that link you posted. do any of those look like my tails? no, they don't - those are completely different designs done in a completely different way. what i'm saying is that the OP is on route to re-create my tails, both in the style/design and the build.
i just find it highly unlikely that someone would come along wanting to produce a nearly identical design via a very similar process, for a rather uncommon car, WITHOUT seeing my tails / design thread - it's been on the first page of this forum for the past few months, and has nearly 16,000 views.
i said this guy should "go for it", just as i have told others who said they want to make their own.
05-28-10, 10:31 AM
#14
Theorie
While I highly doubt he saw your thread, it doesn't matter. The one thing you will realize when you work with enough start up companies like I do is that there truly are very few unique ideas. It is a question of who actually implements those ideas successfully.
Get off the guy's back. The design you came up with is not unique either for fwiw.
While I highly doubt he saw your thread, it doesn't matter. The one thing you will realize when you work with enough start up companies like I do is that there truly are very few unique ideas. It is a question of who actually implements those ideas successfully.
Get off the guy's back. The design you came up with is not unique either for fwiw.
05-28-10, 10:48 AM
#16
WOW. I LOVE GOOGLE.
http://www.hondamarketplace.com/show...6#post40076476
A previously banned scammer, "I heart honda" returned as "LEV". He was just banned again, watch out for this guy. He scammed me, several people on HT, and a few on CRXFurm.
William Lewis a.k.a. Billy "LEV" is a known scammer! Previously known as "I heart honda".
i heart honda's Paypal is "spiritgarage@gmail.com" here: http://www.hondamarketplace.com/show....php?t=2405436
Google spiritgarage and this comes up: http://www.r6-forum.com/forums/archi...p/t-89001.html
which lists: xaviainflames@yahoo.com
LEV Lists the paypal "xaviainflames@yahoo.com" here: http://hondamarketplace.com/showpost...45&postcount=1
http://www.myspace.com/billythekid18
(814) 222-0003
(412) 378-5260
spiritgarage@gmail.com
classifiedjdm@tmail.com
billythekid18@comcast.net
xaviainflames@yahoo.com
Other aliases:
i heart honda
lovinmyhonda
spiritgarage
classifiedjdm
billythekid18
ColdUncleBill
http://crxcommunity.com/viewtopic.ph...25503&start=75
http://www.hondamarketplace.com/show...2450204&page=4
http://www.hondamarketplace.com/show....php?t=2500995
http://www.hondamarketplace.com/show....php?t=2450204
http://www.hs.facebook.com/ColdUncleBill
http://www.myspace.com/billythekid18
http://twitter.com/BillyTheKid18
http://www.teknotik.com/jdmrides/for...ber.php?u=8357
http://www.r6-forum.com/forums/member.php?u=51932
http://www.okcupid.com/profile/THEBillytheKid/
http://www.metacafe.com/channels/billythekid18/
Same username, from PA, same email address...same guy? I hope not.
http://www.hondamarketplace.com/show...6#post40076476
A previously banned scammer, "I heart honda" returned as "LEV". He was just banned again, watch out for this guy. He scammed me, several people on HT, and a few on CRXFurm.
William Lewis a.k.a. Billy "LEV" is a known scammer! Previously known as "I heart honda".
i heart honda's Paypal is "spiritgarage@gmail.com" here: http://www.hondamarketplace.com/show....php?t=2405436
Google spiritgarage and this comes up: http://www.r6-forum.com/forums/archi...p/t-89001.html
which lists: xaviainflames@yahoo.com
LEV Lists the paypal "xaviainflames@yahoo.com" here: http://hondamarketplace.com/showpost...45&postcount=1
http://www.myspace.com/billythekid18
(814) 222-0003
(412) 378-5260
spiritgarage@gmail.com
classifiedjdm@tmail.com
billythekid18@comcast.net
xaviainflames@yahoo.com
Other aliases:
i heart honda
lovinmyhonda
spiritgarage
classifiedjdm
billythekid18
ColdUncleBill
http://crxcommunity.com/viewtopic.ph...25503&start=75
http://www.hondamarketplace.com/show...2450204&page=4
http://www.hondamarketplace.com/show....php?t=2500995
http://www.hondamarketplace.com/show....php?t=2450204
http://www.hs.facebook.com/ColdUncleBill
http://www.myspace.com/billythekid18
http://twitter.com/BillyTheKid18
http://www.teknotik.com/jdmrides/for...ber.php?u=8357
http://www.r6-forum.com/forums/member.php?u=51932
http://www.okcupid.com/profile/THEBillytheKid/
http://www.metacafe.com/channels/billythekid18/
05-28-10, 11:15 AM
#18
Wastegate John
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Lol
Damn, It's amazing the info you can find on google. Good find Theorie. Why would someone use the same forum name on different forums if they have those intentions? Seems kind of dumb.John
Edit: If you look at the pic with the money there is probably only 2 $100 bills and the rest are $20's haha
05-28-10, 11:18 AM
#19
i mean like i said, i'm all about people doing the DIY thing!
i've told numerous people in my led-build thread to go ahead and make their own and hit me up if they have any questions!
there was just something really fishy about this guy...and im glad i found that info as fast as i did. i mean, do we really need a confirmed internet scammer joining the forums, when the guy doesn't even have an rx-7 in the first place? lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1plPyJdXKIY
i've told numerous people in my led-build thread to go ahead and make their own and hit me up if they have any questions!
there was just something really fishy about this guy...and im glad i found that info as fast as i did. i mean, do we really need a confirmed internet scammer joining the forums, when the guy doesn't even have an rx-7 in the first place? lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1plPyJdXKIY
Last edited by GoodfellaFD3S; 05-28-10 at 11:58 AM.
05-28-10, 11:20 AM
#20
Original Gangster/Rotary!
iTrader: (213)
Scammers and thieves tend to be pretty stupid.... the intelligent people usually find honest ways to make money. Besides, look at the picture posted above. Speaks volumes to me
Btw, I have zero tolerance for these kinds of people. They don't belong in our community, and I'm going to be heavy-handed in dealing with them. You've got to prove yourself, and there have been many issues lately of people with 10-50 posts ripping members off for large sums of money.
Btw, I have zero tolerance for these kinds of people. They don't belong in our community, and I'm going to be heavy-handed in dealing with them. You've got to prove yourself, and there have been many issues lately of people with 10-50 posts ripping members off for large sums of money.
05-28-10, 11:25 AM
#21
Not so, many have done it before you, here's one:
http://www.lighter.net/products/rx7brakelights/
The diffuser ring... that may very well be a first that I have seen incorporated with this overall concept.
05-28-10, 11:28 AM
#22
YOUR design?
Not so, many have done it before you, here's one:
http://www.lighter.net/products/rx7brakelights/
The diffuser ring... that may very well be a first that I have seen incorporated with this overall concept.
Not so, many have done it before you, here's one:
http://www.lighter.net/products/rx7brakelights/
The diffuser ring... that may very well be a first that I have seen incorporated with this overall concept.
apparently you guys aren't seeing the difference between a TYPE of tails, and a SPECIFIC DESIGN.
Yes, many people have made LED tails. Duh. I never claimed I was the first.
My design is different from all the others, and if you can't see that then you need to get your eyes checked.
