HOW TO: Make Your Own LED lights

MarkClements

I ordered a two PCB kits from USN_GUY.

This is what I got:

It came nicely packaged in a padded envelope with two anti-static bags that contained all the parts I needed. It had the two PCBs, the LEDs and resistors.

All I had to do was solder them up and GO! The boards came pre-drilled and labeled. The only thing that might be confusing to a new person is figuring out which side of the LED is positive. The entire process took about 15 mins from start to finish. It took me longer to find my wire than to do the actual soldering. (ignore the black perfboard with the gen2 lights. Those are my own creation....)

I ordered a white board and a red board. I was really impressed with how quickly it all went together.

The LEDs he sent were very bright head on, but as expected, off-axis isn't that great. The whites seem to be a little better in that aspect.

Here is a short video of a bar I made in about 30 mins. I would paint everything before I installed, but you get the idea.

I think if you are new to electronics and are looking for a super quick and easy way to build your own lightbars, this is a great way to go. Good job USN_GUY!

noxin

Mark, how would you compare these to the bars you made in terms of brightness and off-angle viewing?

I forget which one it is, but one side of the LED has a flat spot, and that's consistently negative. Also, before cutting, the negative is the short side. A simple note in the package could resolve any confusion.

USN_Guy

I will be making a directions sheet to send with future shipments.

I'll post something in the forsale forum when i get more pics and price figured out. in the mean time PM if you are interested in one/some

MarkClements

[quote:9ece14d26f=\"noxin\"]Mark, how would you compare these to the bars you made in terms of brightness and off-angle viewing?

Posted: Thu 8-May-2008 10:25 Post subject:

Looking good guys, keep it up. Nice PCB's btw, if I do say so myself.

Posted: Mon 12-May-2008 22:50 Post subject:

Ok guys I ordered my LED's on the 1st and I just got them today ten days to ship. Not so bad. I am still waiting on the resistors but in the meantime I was looking at the LED's. Now I need to know which post is positive and which is negative? I have the superflux ones like these http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=7623967103 Any body know? Or doesnt it really matter. I am using them for a negative switched flasher so I dont want to do it wrong if it will make a difference.

Posted: Mon 12-May-2008 22:54 Post subject: Re:

[quote:f3d648c832=\"usdemt\"]Ok guys I ordered my LED's on the 1st and I just got them today ten days to ship. Not so bad. I am still waiting on the resistors but in the meantime I was looking at the LED's. Now I need to know which post is positive and which is negative? I have the superflux ones like these http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=7623967103 Any body know? Or doesnt it really matter. I am using them for a negative switched flasher so I dont want to do it wrong if it will make a difference.

Posted: Thu 15-May-2008 02:12 Post subject:

Has anyone ever thought of trying and making some sort of takedown light with this method? I'm thinking I'm gonna mount my bar in the windshield, and was toying with the idea of getting the brightest white LEDs I can to mount as takedowns. I know they won't be as bright as the multi-watt Gen 4s, but some 280,000mcd white 10mm Gen 1s just might work as a cheap alternative...

Posted: Thu 15-May-2008 09:22 Post subject: Re:

[quote:f19bc72a28=\"MarkClements\"] It definately DOES matter http://nhl4353.sinaman.com/Superfluxdraw.BMP positives on the left, negatives on the right.

Posted: Thu 15-May-2008 12:18 Post subject: Re:

[quote:af92bb0ee9=\"Turbocharger\"]Has anyone ever thought of trying and making some sort of takedown light with this method? I'm thinking I'm gonna mount my bar in the windshield, and was toying with the idea of getting the brightest white LEDs I can to mount as takedowns. I know they won't be as bright as the multi-watt Gen 4s, but some 280,000mcd white 10mm Gen 1s just might work as a cheap alternative...

Posted: Fri 16-May-2008 07:21 Post subject:

Yes.. that is sweet!

Posted: Fri 16-May-2008 08:18 Post subject:

I know you are making these units with a certain kind of led, but could you use a high power led like: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320230982047

Posted: Fri 16-May-2008 08:24 Post subject: Re:

[quote:214fc0a34e=\"bmwm517\"]I know you are making these units with a certain kind of led, but could you use a high power led like: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320230982047

Posted: Fri 16-May-2008 08:47 Post subject:

What kind of power do Whacker and Axixtech put out, in terms of wattage? Is it anything near 5W?

Posted: Fri 16-May-2008 19:31 Post subject:

When is this going to be a sticky? I am sick of looking for it. Pretty Please Admins

Posted: Fri 16-May-2008 19:38 Post subject:

Bookmark. Watch topic for replies. Search function. It's pretty simple, really.

Posted: Fri 16-May-2008 23:41 Post subject:

Ha thanks Pimp I just thought a Sticky Would be so much easier. Anyway now to the important stuff. I got my resistors today and my LED's last week so of course I had to put something together. But since I havent done this before I might as well challenge myself So I made my own version of the Chameleon. Here is the wiring diagram I made up. I really wasnt sure if it would work until I plugged it in. And a view from the back so you can see how I actually did it. Now I have a B/W Chameleon that really works pretty good. Here is the front. If you look you can see the difference in the LED's from one color to the other if you look at the dot in the center. And of cours it wouldnt be complete without a video to show how it looks. I dont have my ULF44 yet mainly because I havent ordered it yet So i just used a double pole switch to wig wag it back and forth. I turned off the lights not to make the LED's look brighter, they are plenty bright, but so you could see how the lights blend together and it actually looks like a pretty decent Chameleon. Its hard to se the difference in the colors which is mainly my camera but if you look you can see it. This was just a trial so when I actually make the two I want it will look much better. The resistors are not even so that they dont touch and short out but other than that the layout of were the power and ground come in needs to be set up better. Also if you look at the picture of the back you can see that i left a little piece of the wire insulation that was becuase it was jsut to close for comfort. But I found that if you bend the posts so that all the blue are up and all the white are down you can easily just solder one bar across each and not worry about them contacting. Also look at the end of the video you can see the LED's light up very dim. I left that on there to show how little power they actually use as the current that lit them was what was traveling through my fingers when I would touch the contacts and bypass the switch. I couldnt figure out why they were glowing till i realized it was just touching the contacts could give it enough power to glow.

Posted: Sat 17-May-2008 00:35 Post subject:

Looks good usdemt. I like the idea of the split colors....

Posted: Sun 18-May-2008 10:30 Post subject:

I know some of you guys were looking for some stuff to seal up the lights for exterior use and I found a good solution for that. I got some of this off ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=270134944936 It works great. Its a two part stuff but it is easy to work with and is perfect for electronics. The people who sell it are also easy to work with. They have it in clear and black in all different size containers. It dries flexible and with a smooth glossy finish that seals out the elements. O and did I mention its is cheap! I got almost a gallon of it for forty five dollars shipped. And no I dont sell the stuff or am affiliated with it in any way. I just read what I wrote and it kinda sounds like an advertisement.

Posted: Sun 25-May-2008 00:40 Post subject:

Anybody have 25 amber superflux LED's they can part with? I am a little short and I dont want to wait two weeks to get more butI might have to.

Posted: Wed 4-Jun-2008 11:44 Post subject:

I just got done with a new visor light for the Silverado since I had to sell the last one. I went with the 3/4\" aluminum bar instead of the 1\" steel bar this time. Less LEDs, but its still good and bright. Its has six segements, but runs off of a 4 channel flasher for now. I wired it so that I can get a six channel flasher later. Right now the flasher is set to 'random' but I'm going to pick either the left/right wig wag style or a 'chase' pattern.

Posted: Wed 4-Jun-2008 13:39 Post subject:

Lookin good Mark, I like how you have them hooked up double on inside edge of each section

Posted: Wed 4-Jun-2008 13:43 Post subject: Re:

[quote:2c3e3a9cc7=\"USN_Guy\"]Lookin good Mark, I like how you have them hooked up double on inside edge of each section

Posted: Wed 4-Jun-2008 14:17 Post subject:

wow mark that lightbar looks good, nice video joe

Posted: Fri 13-Jun-2008 20:34 Post subject:

That bar is absolutely sick. Great Job.

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