led taillight project... pics

[guynlidia2006]

whats a pwm? i like how that sounds... how does it work? how do you wire it up

[cg8798]

A PWM is Pulse-Width Modulation. It is a circuit board that is designed to regulate a duty cycle. They are usually used with train sets when you have that little box to control how fast the train goes. The board has a pot switch that can be adjusted to regulate the current going to a load. So the PWM with regulate how much power goes to the leds. This means that once wired up, you just turn the pot switch and can adjust the led brightness on the spot. And when you put the brakes on it will automatically make the leds bright. It's great because its a trusted system for the leds. Its great at regulating, easy to adjust, and just better for led setups when you do brakes and such.

[youngin3]

What about cold cathodes? Or maybe EL wire? Would those work well?

Maybe that'd look cleaner for Ray. hahah

[cg8798]

when doing led work with brakes or when ever you need to adjust the brightness of leds, its best to use the PWM. It's more uniform and better for the leds. It helps control everything so it will make sure the life of the leds is longer. There are lots of other ways, but IMO the PWM is the best way.

[guynlidia2006]

where did you get yours from?

[guynlidia2006]

so you would need two pvm's per taillight?

[guynlidia2006]

would this do it? would i need two for each or just one for each taillight, thanks.
http://cgi.ebay.com/25-watt-PWM-DC-M...QQcmdZViewItem

[cg8798]

yeah that works but I think that is one that needs to be modified. It runs on a npn system which turns the ground current on and off. Its not the best way with automotive stuff. You would need a pnp setup. You can buy a pnp chip at radioshack and swtich things around. Just takes a little bit. You only need one pwm technically. I only used one on my old car because it just turned the brakes on for both sides together. But with your setup one per side would be better I think. I was told its safer that way.

[airborneparainf82]

Ive been wanting to do my LED taillight project for a while, but I want to get a completely clear cover to replace the normal one, but I havnt looked too much in to finding a place that would be able to do that. but Ill definatly hit both of yall up when the time comes for some advice!

[guynlidia2006]

yeah the reflector in the middle kinda gets in the way of the light pattern.

[guynlidia2006]

would this work best?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=140276927712

would i use one for the running light and one for the brake? or just use one to control the running lights? to me it makes sense i use one for each on both taillights, so i would need 4. Help me out here...

[guynlidia2006]

or this one? what would the correct watts be
http://cgi.ebay.com/DC-Motor-Speed-C...QQcmdZViewItem

[youngin3]

That first one is a kit you have to assemble. Just in case you didn't notice that...

[guynlidia2006]

That first one is a kit you have to assemble. Just in case you didn't notice that...

yeah i saw that, i like the second two plug and play, 80watts should be enough power i think, so i may goi with two of the last one for each taillight

[youngin3]

yeah i saw that, i like the second two plug and play, 80watts should be enough power i think, so i may goi with two of the last one for each taillight

You're going to be waiting a while on shipping too. Those are in China.

I am sure 80 Watts is plenty...

Then again, if each LED is 3 watts, then that's 140 watts for every tail light right, or does that work out differently instead of just plain addition?

[cg8798]

You need to know what kind of power you need. Need to know how many amps your pulling through, how many watts need to be powered. Your setup is not a normal led setup. You have big leds, not superflux or anything. You don't use a pwm for both running and brakes. The point of a pwm is to change over the brightness. When you hit the brakes the pwm with change the current and make the leds brighter. I would do research on how it works before you go switching stuff around on your setup.

[cg8798]

could make your own pwm too

[guynlidia2006]

well to me it looks like if i run two on each side i would have complete control of the brightness etc... and that it would give me the best result.. yeah i would cost like 80 bucks.. i am going to see if i can find any info.. thanks for the info, any other info u have will be great...

[cg8798]

but you're missing the point of the pwm. You don't run one for each running and brakes. The point of a pwm is to change the current amount when it is activated. If you want to control the power for each running and brakes than use a v.reg or something to adjust the brightness. The pwm isn't going to work if you don't set it up right. Again, your setup is made differently. I don't think a PWM will even work with your setup because you are using harnesses and such. Again, don't go adding this without doing research and knowing how it all works. You might end up making them not work at all.

[guynlidia2006]

thats the reason i used a harness, because thats passed my knowledge.. how do u think i should do it..