Lincoln LS custom LED taillights made

mholhut said:
I'm satisfied that it's bright enough, but with the design of the test lense and the various facets that the lense has, you can not see the individual LED's.
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Might could space out the holes just a little to individualize the lights. You see a lot of new cars with that look. The LED's look to be decent sized bulbs though, and I don't know how big of a bulb your working with.
 
mholhut said:
The resistors came with the LED's I bought and I have no idea what Ohm it is. It's color markings are red, red, black, gold... or orange, orange, dark red, gold. Using one resistor for 6 LED's in the cluster.
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Sounds like a 22 ohm resistor (red, red, black, gold) within 5% or a 3300 ohm (orange, orange, red, gold) resistor within 5%. Given the nature of LEDs I bet you have a 3300 ohm resitor, but I might be wrong. Or are you saying you have both and want to know which resistor to use?
 
Boomhower said:
Might could space out the holes just a little to individualize the lights. You see a lot of new cars with that look. The LED's look to be decent sized bulbs though, and I don't know how big of a bulb your working with.
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I'll know more in a few hours. Got to pick up the thicker plexiglas and then I'll test the cluster behind the LS lense. I'm using 5mm LED's, spaced 1/2" apart horizontally and 3/4" vertically. If I switch to 10mm LED's I'd space them further apart. Pics will be up today!
 
TheRebel said:
Sounds like a 22 ohm resistor (red, red, black, gold) within 5% or a 3300 ohm (orange, orange, red, gold) resistor within 5%. Given the nature of LEDs I bet you have a 3300 ohm resitor, but I might be wrong. Or are you saying you have both and want to know which resistor to use?
Click to expand...

I found a chart online and I figure it's a 3300 ohm resistor; I'll see if I can snap a picture. When I'm out today, I may stop by some place that can tell me what it is.

Either way, what should I be using for strings of 6 LED's at 1.9-2.3V. I used one of the resistors for each 6 LED string in my test cluster and let them run all day with no problems. I just don't want them to burn out in a year or two if I'm using the wrong resistor.
 
In theory a LED will last forever unless it gets to many amps, but in our case it depends on the amp rating for the LEDs. With a 3300 ohm resistor you are applying about 4mA (.004 or .003636-) , which isn't very much. If your LEDs had a spec sheet, see if this is within their operating range. As long as it is not over their recommended amperage you should be OK.
 
Here are the specs on the LED's I bought:

Specifications:

Material: InGaN
Emitting Colour: Red
Lens Type: Water clear
Reverse Voltage: 5.0 V
DC Forward Voltage: Typical: 1.9 V Max: 2.3 V
Wave Length: 625-635nm
Luminous Intensity: Tpy: 25,000 mcd
DC Forward Current: 20mA
Viewing Angle: 20±5degree
Lead Soldering Temp: 260oC for 5 seconds
Intensely Bright
If You Have Any Question, Please Contact Us. e-mail: lvehkl@yahoo.com

Electrical-Optical Characteristic (Ta=25°C)

Item Symbol Condtitions Min. Typ. Max. Unit
Forward Voltage VF If=20mA / 1.90 2.30 V
Reverse Current IR VR=5V / / 10 uA
Dominant Wavelength / IF=20mA 625 / 635 nm
Luminous Intensity IV IF=20mA / 25,000 / mcd
50% Power Angle / IF=20mA / 20° / degree

Absolute Maximum Ratings (Ta = 25°C)

Item Symbol Absolute Max. Rating Unit
Power Dissipation PD 100 mW
Forward Current (DC) IF 30 mA
Peak Forward Current IFP 100 mA
Reverse Voltage VR 5 V
Operation Temperature Topr -40~85°C /
Storage Temperature Tstg -10~100°C /
Lead Soldering Temperature Tsol Max. 260°C for 5 sec.
(3mm from the base of the epoxy bulb)
 
OK, here's the poop...

I made a metal template out of an old handicap sign I had. I bought some 1/4" plexiglas to make the new clusters. So, I clamped the template to the plexiglas and drilled the holes for the 12 LED's. Used a dab of plastic cement to secure each one. Wired them up and tested them... they work.

Removed the trunk mounted tail light and removed the red lense again. Inserted the cluster throught the face and ran the +/- wires out the bulb socket. Tapped them into the bulb wires and everything works fine.

-You can distinguish the individual LED's.
-They are brighter than the OEM bulb so the should shine better through tinted tails.
-The multi facets of the red lense and the chrome reflector bounce the light around.

The sun is pretty direct on the back of the car right now so it's difficult to see how good/bad they compare in the daytime... I'm waiting for a few shaddows to fall before I look again and snap some pics.
 
Here's some quick pics, which don't do it justice. I wonder if the LED lights screw with the way the camera takes pictures...

The reflections from the outside suck and I kow they're crooked... I haven't permanantly installed them yet. The blue tape is holding the red lense to the light housing.

led1.JPG


led2.JPG


led3.JPG


led4.JPG
 
mholhut said:
Here are the specs on the LED's I bought:

Specifications:

DC Forward Current: 20mA
Click to expand...


Sound like you should be in the clear with the 3300 ohm resistor. You might even be able to use a 600 ohm resistor and have brighter LEDs (that would put you right at 20mA on a 12V system). Of course that might smoke them to.
 
Have you seen the new infiniti m45 those tails would look sweet in the ls. 2 circles coming together in the middle.
 
Have you seen the sequential LED kit for classic mustangs? That is cool. It could possibly be fit to the LS only using two bars instead of three like the old Mustangs had.
 
Well, to tell the truth... I think my faith is waining in this project. I think with LED tail lights, you'd want to distinguish the individual LED's light output. But, with a retrofit like this, it's not what I'd be looking for. You'll still get the instant on/off that the LED's provide, but it doesn't look good behind that convoluted lense... if it were a clear red lense, it'd be alot better.

After ripping apart the lenses, cutting the plexiglas, drilling the holes, installing and soldering the LED's, wiring the clusters, installing them in the lenses, etc. etc. etc.... I just don't think it's worth the hassle.
 
Do you think that the smoother lense of the 03 and up LS's would be better? I know the ridges on the tail lights may be causing the problem. I can send the tail light lenses to the company that makes the clear side marker lenses and have them mold a set of clear lenses. That might take a while but it is a thought.
 
GrayGhost1 said:
Do you think that the smoother lense of the 03 and up LS's would be better? I know the ridges on the tail lights may be causing the problem. I can send the tail light lenses to the company that makes the clear side marker lenses and have them mold a set of clear lenses. That might take a while but it is a thought.
Click to expand...

I've never seen an '03+ set of tail lights up close. The three horizontal ridges distort the LED's and the chrome inner portion of the housing looks funny with the LED's. For this to look right, I think the LED's would have to line up with the ridges. The way they are now, you can't see all the LED's from different angles. Clear lenses might be the way to go, but now we're crossing into that "non-DOT" area. If the lenses were clear, I'd install the LED's through the back of the housing which would give more surface area and would hide all the wiring. I'm not sure what to do.
 
BanginLS said:
can u sand down the lense and get rid of the ridges?
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No, it's just the way the lense is molded. Ideally, a smooth red lense would be ideal... that way you can see the LED's undistorted.

BanginLS said:
doesnt look bright enough.. maybe u can add more..
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Yeah, the camera doesn't do it justice. Remember, those 12 LED's are replacing one litle #161 size (I think) bulb as a running light. The LED cluster I made is brighter than the OEM bulb. I planned on using 26 LED's for the directional, and 27 LED's for the brake light... more than double the running light's LED's.
 
Here's some other pic's I took the other night... The last one definitely shows that it's brighter than the other bulbs so it's sufficient for a running light. Looks better at night IMHO.

led1.jpg


led2.jpg


led3.jpg
 
Two things. 1.) I think that the LEDS are to0 spread out and need to be closer togather.
2.) The LEDs don't seem to be parellel to the LS emblems. That might add the illusion of distorted light we are seeing. Also that might be the light in conflict with the lenses and the angle of light we see. Maybe
 
Mike,

Don't get discouraged. You've done a great job with this project. Things like this will be trial and error. The LED's do look noticable in that last picture and don't look that distorted to me. That was a good trial lens. Once you get the lights I'm sending you'll have more to experiment with.
 
if u put them closer together it will all look like one bulb, doesnt that defeat the purpose of LEDs?
 
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