Thought you guys may want to see how I've wasted my spare time these past few months. I converted my taillights to full LED, as well as the centerpiece. I custom made a controller for lighting effects. The controller let's me do special effects (see video) on top of the regular brake/marker/left and right signal effects. Now when I signal left, the 24 arrays in the tails make a wave to the left.

Tails with lights on:


Brakes:



Center piece:


Completed, with red lens on:


New 3rd tail light:


Controller:


Installed controller:


video:
http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k134/ez1_03/?action=view& current=ezled_0002.flv

^you have to take out the spaces between "&" and "current"

Thats Amazing! Great job!

Evan B
02 Explorer
97 GS- sold
90 GSX-sold
Stamford CT
EvMan2345@aol.com

DAWM! i want a set!!! :'(



I WANT A SET RIGHT NOW!! you just tell me how much eh?! HOW MUCHHHH!!!!!!!!

MUDA-FAWCKING AMAZING...IM SPEECHLESS...I DK WHY IM TYPING IN ALL CAPS!

Originally posted by edxmon
DAWM! i want a set!!! :'( I WANT A SET RIGHT NOW!! you just tell me how much eh?! HOW MUCHHHH!!!!!!!! MUDA-FAWCKING AMAZING...IM SPEECHLESS...I DK WHY IM TYPING IN ALL CAPS!

LOL. these lights are worth more than the rest of the car, ha ha. took me forever!

dude mad probs...that's usually something you see on bikes and all. great job and i know a write up is what alot of people are going to want!

later

damn that's pretty sick with the controller and all. You're gonna have to have some sort of write up on this for people, unless of course you don't want anyone copying it.

I would just like to make a little strip of LED's on the top of my center tail light piece this way I can eventually put a turbo wing on and not have to worry about finding the 3rd brake light inside the hatch.

that looks absolutly amazing . you definitly have to do a full writeup .

you can make some nice money from this man..that's awesome lighting

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G ! ! !

That is craziness. I am not a fan of the controller thing, but they just look amazing dude.

Personally, I would make another set of these, and slap them on ebay. I gurantee you could make $500+ on a set of those dude.

haha wow that video is cool. if you were to ever sell this as a kit, i would jump right on it. if not then please post a write up :)

I couldn't get the video to work but are you on HIDplanet.com?? I remember seeing a set of LED tails on an eclipse over there and they were amazing!

dude im begging you! tell ME (us) how we can even BEGIN to do something like that i have 3 sets of tails to mess with, but i cant even imagine how to begin the wiring, im no electrician thats for sure.

Can i give you points just because you did this? gosh darn i want them SOOO BAD!

EDIT: FAwk it, ima start buying books and such, i just cant resist... i need to find out how to, and start doing this ASAP
sorry if imtrying to copy cat, but damn the sexiness factor is off the charts! :thumbsup

Looks great, azdave would be proud.
-Todd

....*speech less*.....

Wow, thats sick.

Originally posted by MitsuEclipseGS
Looks great, azdave would be proud. -Todd

yea i was just about to mention azdave....lol

me too, those are the shit though

very nice job. I personally wouldnt have done the center piece, but great job regardless. Definitely post a write up.

Dave told me he was wondering when you were going to share this with the world. Good show, Erik. They look tight.

To the guy who said you could easily make $500 on them, he's likely got more than that in just the LEDs he bought to make it; not to mention the cost of the controller, wires, solder, shrink tube, and labor. This is easily a $1000 project, imo.

Again, it looks amazing, Erik. You do us proud. :thumbsup

Originally posted by DR1665
To the guy who said you could easily make $500 on them, he's likely got more than that in just the LEDs he bought to make it; not to mention the cost of the controller, wires, solder, shrink tube, and labor.

Aren't the LED's themselves cheap as shit? eh, nm, I see it all depends on what kind you get and that they'll vary a lot

How about a little write up and where you sourced the materials? This would make a great winter project for me.

Great work Erik. When do we start on mine? :)

one of you bastards needs to get into detail and make the led's spell out eclipse in the center taillight, then i will be impressed =) haha either way looks great.

Originally posted by DR1665
Dave told me he was wondering when you were going to share this with the world. Good show, Erik. They look tight. To the guy who said you could easily make $500 on them, he's likely got more than that in just the LEDs he bought to make it; not to mention the cost of the controller, wires, solder, shrink tube, and labor. This is easily a $1000 project, imo. Again, it looks amazing, Erik. You do us proud. :thumbsup

That was me Mr.Dre...

You can get like 100 LED's off ebay for like $15 shipped :)

Yea I doubt it costs $1k to get the parts. The labor would be KILLER though.

they look amazing, well fucking done! Just tits.

think you could do a writeup?

Nick
97RS

i wounder what it would look like with talon tails, has the yellow with yellow leds, and have the red lit up all the time and when you hiut the brakes...hmmmmm

Originally posted by donnyb373
i wounder what it would look like with talon tails, has the yellow with yellow leds, and have the red lit up all the time and when you hiut the brakes...hmmmmm

GO FOR IT!

Looks amazing..Good job EZ!

Originally posted by eclipse982nrRST
That was me Mr.Dre... You can get like 100 LED's off ebay for like $15 shipped :)

Well, let me put it this way, I've seen azdave's set up from just about start to finish. I've spoken with him and heard him explain the set up dozens of times. He is not using $10 LEDs. Hell, the single 5W white LED Dave has lighting up his entire engine bay right now runs $10/each. Dave has easily got over $1500 invested into his tail lights. Easily.

You can think whatever you guys want, but I can assure you the only way you're going to get lights like these for under a grand is if you buy the parts to do it yourself, and even then, expect to pay more than $500 for it.

:shrug

EDIT:
I do think it's funny, however, that Erik would blur out his tag when you consider how he has the only Eclipse in the entire state of Kalifornia with lights like that on the back. :P

okay, I just spent like 5 minutes addressing everyone's questions. and when I go to post - it all disappears. :wallbash

Originally posted by cs82685
damn that's pretty sick with the controller and all. You're gonna have to have some sort of write up on this for people

the only problem is that the write up would be a small book. there is a lot of detail involved, and a lot of things need to be addressed simply for safety and reliability. you wouldn't want to do all this work to simply have it all burn out in a month

maybe I can write up a primer or something... if I get enough motivation

Originally posted by oragon
you can make some nice money from this man..that's awesome lighting

and I know who I'd sell them to. all those suits driving 85thousand dollar beamers. one of those new BWMs over the weekend was swerving to get close to my car at stoplights, lol. he just kept staring. :squint I bet I could sell them some stuff for good money.

Originally posted by eclipse982nrRST
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G ! ! ! That is craziness. I am not a fan of the controller thing, but they just look amazing dude. Personally, I would make another set of these, and slap them on ebay. I gurantee you could make $500+ on a set of those dude.

I'm proud of that controller. it's the first microcontroller I've ever made. and it works without going up in flames. I celebrated when I first lit it up

$500? ha ha, no. Let me just mention the cost of the LEDs, for one thing. yes, there are cheap ebay/chinese LEDs out there. but you will find that they all light up at different intensities and different colors. if you want your arrays to look the slightest bit decent and homogenous, you will be very disappointed. imagine putting all that work into this project, and your cheap LEDs burn out in a few months.

I bought color matched/voltage matched LEDs from lumileds. same kind used in Cadillacs. very high quality, meaning they cost at least 40 cents a piece. multiply that by 877 LEDs used in this project. some places sell these LEDs for $1/piece.

the labor is what kills you. you'd really have to twist my arm for me to do this kit for less than $3000. and that's if I like you. :) I'm sure I could speed up the process now that I know all the details and what works. but still - we are talking literally hundreds of hours

Originally posted by clipse_2005
I couldn't get the video to work but are you on HIDplanet.com?? I remember seeing a set of LED tails on an eclipse over there and they were amazing!

yea, both Dave and I

Originally posted by edxmon
dude im begging you! tell ME (us) how we can even BEGIN to do something like that i have 3 sets of tails to mess with, but i cant even imagine how to begin the wiring, im no electrician thats for sure. Can i give you points just because you did this? gosh darn i want them SOOO BAD! EDIT: FAwk it, ima start buying books and such, i just cant resist... i need to find out how to, and start doing this ASAP sorry if imtrying to copy cat, but damn the sexiness factor is off the charts! :thumbsup

that's the spirit! start reading up on electronics books. yea, you can give me points if you want. I'll give everyone and their momma a hundred points today b/c I'm done with this project. celebrate :afro

Originally posted by Sorry_i_Win
very nice job. I personally wouldnt have done the center piece, but great job regardless.

the center piece was a must-have for me. I think they should have been lit up somehow straight from the factory. even Dino has a center piece light mod on the main page.

Originally posted by 96rs-t
Great work Erik. When do we start on mine? :)

when do we start on my HID retrofit? :7

Originally posted by donnyb373
i wounder what it would look like with talon tails, has the yellow with yellow leds, and have the red lit up all the time and when you hiut the brakes...hmmmmm

someone should definately do this.

Originally posted by DR1665
I do think it's funny, however, that Erik would blur out his tag when you consider how he has the only Eclipse in the entire state of Kalifornia with lights like that on the back. :P

"You never know who's watching Brian" - Tanner :P

Originally posted by ez
$500? ha ha, no. Let me just mention the cost of the LEDs, for one thing. yes, there are cheap ebay/chinese LEDs out there. but you will find that they all light up at different intensities and different colors. if you want your arrays to look the slightest bit decent and homogenous, you will be very disappointed. imagine putting all that work into this project, and your cheap LEDs burn out in a few months. I bought color matched/voltage matched LEDs from lumileds. same kind used in Cadillacs. very high quality, meaning they cost at least 40 cents a piece. multiply that by 877 LEDs used in this project. some places sell these LEDs for $1/piece. the labor is what kills you. you'd really have to twist my arm for me to do this kit for less than $3000. and that's if I like you. :) I'm sure I could speed up the process now that I know all the details and what works. but still - we are talking literally hundreds of hours

Haha! Jo0 bitches = t e h p w n 3 d.

how many LED's in per piece? Like if one were to just do the lights and not the centerpiece, how many LED's?

allow me to ask this:

I am a complete, and i mean COMPLETE novice in electronics:
How much easier would this become if i just wanted to have the basic function on these lights? (dim when on, brighter when steping on the breaks, and when using turn signals) As soon as i get those books, anf have the theory right, would it be ok if i start asking you about the stuff once i get onto the hands on?

Originally posted by edxmon
allow me to ask this: I am a complete, and i mean COMPLETE novice in electronics: How much easier would this become if i just wanted to have the basic function on these lights? (dim when on, brighter when steping on the breaks, and when using turn signals) As soon as i get those books, anf have the theory right, would it be ok if i start asking you about the stuff once i get onto the hands on?

Lol, paint your car first!

HOW DO YOU KNOW IT HASNT BEEN PAINTED ALREADY?!




P.S. no it hasnt been painted :P hahahaha. But i got good excuses...ummm family keeps asking me for money, and well i let them borrow it. plus i wanna get alil more buffer cash JUST incase :)

Originally posted by edxmon
allow me to ask this: I am a complete, and i mean COMPLETE novice in electronics: How much easier would this become if i just wanted to have the basic function on these lights? (dim when on, brighter when steping on the breaks, and when using turn signals) As soon as i get those books, anf have the theory right, would it be ok if i start asking you about the stuff once i get onto the hands on?

That would be relatively easy, and something I think you could do if you just read up on electronics like you said earlier. I'll help you out as you get ready for the project. read up on pulse width modulation and how it works with LEDs to control dimming. that will be the principle mechanism you will use to switch from brakes and night markers, signals

As for the earlier post, asking how many LEDs per tail, I don't have my schematics here but I'm guessing about 273 LEDs per left and right tail.

did you use red leds or white?, im prderign supplies and stuff to try this but inthe first 2 pics it looks liek your lenses are clear, and you used red leds.......

Originally posted by ez
Thought you guys may want to see how I've wasted my spare time these past few months. I converted my taillights to full LED, as well as the centerpiece. I custom made a controller for lighting effects. The controller let's me do special effects (see video) on top of the regular brake/marker/left and right signal effects. Now when I signal left, the 24 arrays in the tails make a wave to the left. Tails with lights on: Brakes: Center piece: Completed, with red lens on: New 3rd tail light: Controller: Installed controller: video: http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k134/ez1_03/?action=view& current=ezled_0002.flv ^you have to take out the spaces between "&" and "current"

LOL at nightrider

looks good man

lol, good one Erik. A retrofit would be cake for you having done this amazing work you've presented us with, but I would definitely help you if you needed it.

he he Curtis, that effect was MANDATORY.

I can post another video of the daily driver effects if some of you want. The left and right signals are just like the knight rider effect, except that the light doesn't go back in forth, just one direction. I was in stop-and-go traffic yesterday on the freeway and a tuner pulled up to my side - he saw my signal and asked where I bought the lights


In regards to a post further up, I got most of my electronic components from Digikey. I recommend them, they have fast shipping and excellent tech support.


thanks for all the compliments

ez do you know of any good sites/books to learn how to do this stuff ? btw i gotta say it again man . AMAZING .

congrats man! I dont know how you guys can keep all the details neat and still put effort into sharing lol...im so lazy...

EDX, read up on PWM like EZ said, head over to hidplanet's LED section. It should point you to the right sites.

What pic are you using EZ?

its the best when they ask where did you buy em...you give em the "are you retarded" look and say, did it myself...and drive off lol...

I would have told them Autozone is the place to get them, and would have gave them a thumbs up just like this - :thumbsup

very nice work, i know that kind be a peta to do, major props.



Also if you don't mind me asking where did you get your supplies and what did you mount the leds to, a bread board? I ask cause i was thinking it would be a cool project for the winter to do a basic function led conversion.