# Anyone else tinker with LED's?



## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

I have been getting fed up with the CRAPPY offerings for LED taillights for Jetta's so I went and made some LED panels for some stock GLI taillights.








(P.S. Yes I know these are regular 04+ tails. They are my project housings. The LED panels will be transplanted to my GLI tails)
























Coming soon, LED Amber turn signals.
And, we are done.


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## TerryWood02 (Aug 17, 2005)

*Re: Anyone else tinker with LED's? (fixmy59bug)*

Very nice work. I made up a much crappier set 4 years ago using the same method, but traded before i put them to use.


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## Niagara_V_Dub (Sep 25, 2007)

That is awesome, I designed a set while I was deployed. The thing that I couldn't get past is how to rig the led arrays to where the bulbs should connect. Basiclly how to install these without pemanently hacking things. Any help or insight would be great.


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: (Niagara_V_Dub)*

Ahhh, That stumped me at first also. But in the end it is fairly simple. I took the wires around to the back of the bulb tray and plugged them in there. The positive goes to the single contact near the top on the back of the bulb tray. And the ground goes to the 3 contact connector. I can't remember exactly which one is ground.
If you get the correct terminal housings from VW, it makes it sooo much easier to plug in there.


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## Niagara_V_Dub (Sep 25, 2007)

Terminal housing? Do you mean fabricating a new pul and getting a new plug to direct connect. Makes it better than splicing into the wires. Thanks man.


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: (Niagara_V_Dub)*

Either I am misunderstanding me or I am misunderstanding you.
I am talking about getting two of these:








Plus the wire that goes into it so it is a direct plug and play solution. That is for the positive.
For the ground, you would need a 3 terminal housing plus the wire for it.
The part numbers are:
1 wire housing for positive lead (as pictured above): 191-972-701 You need 2 of these (1 for the drivers side, 1 for the passengers side)
1 wire part number 000-979-133 (each end of the wire has a connector, so you cut the wire in half and you will have 2 useable leads)
3 wire housing for the ground lead (no picture available): Part number 1J0-972-924 (I believe)
and another wire part number 000-979-133


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## Niagara_V_Dub (Sep 25, 2007)

*Re: (fixmy59bug)*

That saves me alot of headache, you freakin rock. Now I think I am going to redesign my LED boards though. Not too happy with it honestly. I just smoked my tails so I need to upgrade the light output to offset it.


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: (Niagara_V_Dub)*

Might I ask the specs on the LED's and resistors you are using?
Maybe I can help out with building a reliable board. On my first board (2 years ago), I resistored it for 12 volts and the LED's started flickering in about a weeks time.


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## Niagara_V_Dub (Sep 25, 2007)

*Re: (fixmy59bug)*

I don't have it with me, it is at work somewhere. Possibly gone. But I did it all to 12 volt. What voltage did you do it to?


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: (Niagara_V_Dub)*

Well, LIke I said. When I made my first set, I resistored it to 12 volts. In a short time the LED's started flickering and burning out. That's because when the car is running and the alternator is charging, the electrical system is actually running at about 13.8 volts(sometimes as high as 14.5 volts). The resistors will not reduce any input voltage to 12, It will actually reduce any input voltage only a certain percentage.
So what I did this time, is I found a Voltage regulator that cut the voltage from any input voltage to an output voltage. That way the LED boards never saw more than 12 volts. Then I built the circuits around that. You could do it that way, or you can build the boards around an input voltage of around 14 volts. But bear in mind when the resistors have to dissipate alot of voltage, they tend to get hot and either fail or melt some stuff....
That's why I went the voltage regulation route. The voltage regulator is responsible for dissipating a maximum of 2 volts, then the regulators were responsible for for dissipating 0.8 volts. The leds run at a voltage of 2.8 volts and with 4 in each circuit, the input voltage should not exceed 11.2 volts. Hence the resistor. 
Another thing to look at is the current you are driving the LED's at. That is why I was hoping to get the specs of the LED's and resistors you are using. When you use resistors, you have to account for not only voltage, but current as well. They can be over driven or under driven at the right voltage and cause damage.
The LED's I used were 70mA Red-orange Superflux LEDs. They have a vF of 2.8 each and a maximum current of 70mA. I chose to use a 15ohm resistor, and that set the output voltage right at 11.8 to be split up by the resistors running at a current of approx 55 mA. That way the LED's aren't over driven by current or voltage.


_Modified by fixmy59bug at 3:19 PM 10-23-2008_


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## Niagara_V_Dub (Sep 25, 2007)

*Re: (fixmy59bug)*

That acutally sounds really similar to the setup I was gonna do. I was gonna go with either a volt. reg. or I forget the other name of the device. I gotta crack my books again and figure this stuff out.


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: (Niagara_V_Dub)*

You are probably thinking about a PWM (Pulse Width Modulator) or a Potentiometer.
Even if you go with the PWM, you should still consider voltage regulation.
Of course if you are doing this on a single circuit, I would skip the PWM and use good voltage regulation.
I used a radioshack 7812 voltage regulator. I learned it is not the best choice because the input voltage must be atleast 2 volts above the output voltage. 
If you go with voltage regulation, look for a Sharp Electronics voltage regulator. It may be hard to find and maybe a little more expensive, but it is the best voltage regulator for automotive voltage regulation.


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: (fixmy59bug)*


_Quote, originally posted by *fixmy59bug* »_The part numbers are:
1 wire housing for positive lead (as pictured above): 191-972-701 You need 2 of these (1 for the drivers side, 1 for the passengers side)
1 wire part number 000-979-133 (each end of the wire has a connector, so you cut the wire in half and you will have 2 useable leads)
3 wire housing for the ground lead (no picture available): Part number 1J0-972-924 (I believe)
and another wire part number 000-979-133

Ok, after ordering the part number listed above for the 3 terminal housing, I can confirm the part number is correct. So the part numbers listed above are what you will need. And here are some pictures showing where I was talking about running the wires to:
*Edit* The first picture has been deleted because it is way too blurry to see any detail. in order to see where to get the positive lead from, look at the 3rd picture.
This second picture shows where the 3 terminal wire housing plugs into. The terminal you want to get for ground is labeled 31. Right now I have a female spade connector with heat shrink on it (to prevent shorting). But now that I have the correct 3 terminal housing, I will be correcting it:








Ad this last picture is to show you the orientation of both plugs:
The brown wire up top (that changes to a thin red wire) actually takes the positive signal to the voltage regulator and the small green wire (which changes to a red wire) brings the regulated voltage to the LED panel. The small black wire at the bottom is the ground for the voltage regulator You can see I grounded the LED panel by attaching the ground lead to one of the taillight mounting studs. It works just the same.








Hopefully this helps you with your project.


_Modified by fixmy59bug at 12:08 PM 10-25-2008_


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## Ajlal24 (Mar 7, 2007)

You guys have pics of the back of the circuit board, where all the soldering and good stuff goes on?


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: (Ajlal24)*

The good stuff huh? LOL
I will try to get pics up later. I had a few people ask me for a DIY (which I still have yet to do), But when I do, I will include those pics.


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## Ajlal24 (Mar 7, 2007)

If you're knowledgeable in the field of simple electronics, then this should be a breeze to fabricate...I'm just wondering how you got all the leads soldered together..., or does the board have traces on them to which you soldered them to?


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: (Ajlal24)*

I know what you meant. LOL. I was just laughing because "The good stuff" is usually reserved for something exciting and the fact that you used it for soldering is just amusing to me.
Anyways, Ask and ye shall receive. Here is your money shot of the good stuff:








I ran the positive to the top lead and I ran the negative to the bottom lead. They were ran in circuits of 4, however at the ends, there was not room enough for a full strand so I ran the lead across the back side of the board to complete the 2 ends. It is actually simple soldering as you said.


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*FV-QR*

All I used was perfboard from radio shack that had the copper rings already in place. It may not be the prettiest board or job, But Hey, I am not making these to be in a beauty pageant. LOL.


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## Ajlal24 (Mar 7, 2007)

If It Works...It's Purty...


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: (Ajlal24)*

Ugh.... After much work, experimenting, burning of the fingers, spending of the money, and more work, I finally have the turn signals and rear fog completed to go along with the brake lights.
All that is left to do now is the running lights and the reverse lights.
Running lights should be simple, but the reverse lights will pose a slight problem.
See, since white is not a normal "color" (White is actually an absence if pigment), it is very difficult for electronics (including lighting) to produce white. And as such, there aren't very many QUALITY, stable, and dependable white LED's. There are some companies that are just starting to make some quality white LED's but extensive testing has yet to be done.


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## nater (Apr 10, 2000)

*Re: (fixmy59bug)*


_Quote, originally posted by *fixmy59bug* »_
See, since white is not a normal "color" (White is actually an absence if pigment), it is very difficult for electronics (including lighting) to produce white. And as such, there aren't very many QUALITY, stable, and dependable white LED's. There are some companies that are just starting to make some quality white LED's but extensive testing has yet to be done.

Well, to help you find an answer to that it might be worth looking up some of the new Cadillac's - as a couple of them have a nice rear backup LED. And as you said, it's not actually WHITE, similar...has a slight blue hue to it though. 
Very nice looking. Let me see if I can find a picture...

EDIT: Cadillac CTS found here...but no actual PICTURE of the white LEDs. 


_Modified by nater at 11:20 AM 12-21-2008_


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## Armani (Jan 28, 2004)

*Re: Anyone else tinker with LED's? (fixmy59bug)*

Nice work!! Congrats, on the setup. I was wondering why no one was actually trying to build their own circuit boards. Keep us posted. So far so good!
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: Anyone else tinker with LED's? (Armani)*

Well, I gotta say, I like the board design I came up with for the turn signals and the rear fog. It puts the voltage regulator inside the taillight housing so it is more of a plug and play design instead of tapping power from the board, taking it to a separately mounted voltage regulator, then returning the regulated voltage to the array.
It is kinda hard to explain. Maybe I will mock something up just to show what I did. I know people would be interested so (those that are capable) can duplicate it.
With any luck, this design will be VERY stable and I will never have an LED failure.


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## nater (Apr 10, 2000)

*FV-QR*

Keep posting up photos....as you progress...


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: FV-QR (nater)*

Well, my LED license plate lights failed. 
=^)
Unfortunately they only lasted 3 nights. But then again, they were just kinda thrown together without a voltage regulator.
But as for the rear fog and turns, I will get more pics as soon as i can. Probably wednesday since we got off work early. 
Ohh by the way, nater, I tried calling Cadillac today and asked them about the reverse light bulbs on a CTS and he checked form 2002 all the way through 2006 and the guy insisted they were 3156 incandescent bulbs......


_Modified by fixmy59bug at 11:35 PM 12-22-2008_


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## nater (Apr 10, 2000)

*Re: FV-QR (fixmy59bug)*


_Quote, originally posted by *fixmy59bug* »_
Ohh by the way, nater, I tried calling Cadillac today and asked them about the reverse light bulbs on a CTS and he checked form 2002 all the way through 2006 and the guy insisted they were 3156 incandescent bulbs......

_Modified by fixmy59bug at 11:35 PM 12-22-2008_

Yea, I'm pretty sure it's MY 2008 when they started. Oh well...


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## Twiztid_Tom (Jul 24, 2008)

*Re: FV-QR (nater)*

i found all the stuff for my led projects here: http://www.superbrightleds.com


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: FV-QR (Twiztid_Tom)*

really? What kind of LED's did you use?
If you are gonna say the pre-made "bulb replacements" like these:








Then those have NOTHING on the LED panels I made.
If you mean you built panels like I did above, I would love to see what you did just to compare the build differences or similarities.


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