Anyone know how to either make your current Halo Rings Brighter, or Re-Place them with Brighter Ones?
There are a bunch of different LEDs on superbrightleds.com but which would be the best to get (Brightest, in White), which Resistor would be needed on each, and how and where would you Solder it in?
Thanks a lot.

to get brigther halos you need to replace the leds in there.
now one option is to get a cold cathode halo kit and just wire that in.

i will assume you know how to split a headlight open and get to al these parts, if not use the search here for seperating a headlight.

but on to the LEDs
i used white for mine but you could technically use any color you wanted

when you crack the lens open and remove the old halo ring be sure not to damage it and also take note of the leds that are there as you will want the same size foot print to eliminate any fabrication issues.

some varients of Halos have a circit board in the base, and others just have wires.
just remove all of it as we will just wire them in.
once you have your leds picked out (you need 2 per ring, one pointing each direction) make sure they fit and do any modification to the ring you need to. to seal them in, i used a quick set epoxy. now to make things easier i soldered tails onto my trimed leds and THEN epoxied them in.

remember to put the resistor on the POSITIVE lead before the first LED

as far as the resistor goes, it depends on which leds you get, as you need to know the voltage rating and the current rating. i wouldnt rely on the old resistor as you have no way of knowing the watt rating of the resistor or the ratings of the led's

so how do you figure it out?
enter mind numbing physics

remember E=IR?
Electromotive potential = current * resistance
or
Voltage = Amps * Ohms

since we are using automotive voltage we assume a 13v inputvoltage and we have 0v at the ground. from that 13 v we need to subtract the voltage rating of the leds and we are then left with the voltage drop across the resistor.
my examples i used a v rating of 1.2v and a curent rating of 50ma.
*note V=IR only works when the current is expressed in Amps, so remember to convert the miliamp rating to amps ie .05

13v- 1.2-1.2 = 10.6v

10.6 = .05 * R
solve for R

10.6 / .05 = R
212 = R

so the Smallest resistor we can use is 212 Ohms

said easier:
Supply Voltage - LED Voltage Rating / Current rating of LED = Smallest resistor to use

if the ohm ratign falls outside standard then go to the closest HIGHER rating. and start form there.
you can make it dimmer by using a larger resistor but note that the effect isnt truly linear. ie if you used a 224 Ohm resistor it wont quite be half as bright.

now to make sure you dont burn out the resistor you need to find the Watt ratting needed. this will tell you the watts disipated by the resistor.

W=IE
Watt = Voltage * Current

so for our example:
W = 10.6 * .05
W = 0.53

so for our example we will need a resistor that is at least 212 ohms and is rated above a half watt.

i use http://www.digikey.com/ for my electornics

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One of THE best and brightest LEDs out there are the Lumiled superfluxes. They require more mA than the standard LED, but they are superbright, and their structure allows them to run very cool. If you place them in a hot area (like a headlight), any LED will have a shortened lifespan - so it might be best to fashion up a light pipe (maybe from an acrylic rod) so that the LED is located outside the headlight housing.

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I'm actually in School right now to become an Electrician. So everything you said is Quite familiar to me.. Those Formulas were given to me back in like 102, we go up to 112 and then take Associates Classes.. I'm at the beginning of my Associates now, so I've pretty much forgotten everything by now. Haha.
But I'm gonna' try and grab the Brightest LEDs that I can find, probably like at a Radio Shack or something and then go from there. Mine are pretty much Blue right now, and that pissed me off from the begining since I Ordered White.
Thanks a lot!

Erik P.
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