[DIY] LED High-mount brake light
Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!
Aim:
To change boring/ugly stock incandescant high/centre-mount stop/brake light into sexy/safer LED light :D
Required:
1- LEDs - Depending on the size/length of your light will determine how many you'll need. I used 13x 10mm high brightness 10,000mcd LEDs
2- Soldering iron and solder
3- PCB (typically called vero board)
4- Resistor, once again depending on your LEDs will depend on what value you'll need, I used a single ceramic 10W 18R resistor
5- Two part expoxy (Glue)
6- Short offcuts of 18AWG cable (anything that will carry 1-2A)
Optional:
PCB holder - gives you an extra two hands for soldering!
Cable clips (plg and skt set)
Steps:
1- Take out you old high/centre mount brake light fitting... different cars will vary, on the euro its a real b*tch, just try not to snap anything (like i did :p)
2- Once out remove the red lens from the reflector (if possible - on the euro it is easy, just undo four clips)
3- Measure the inside of the reflector to determine how many / what configuration on LEDs you can use. I decided to use a bar of 13x 10mm LEDs... fits perfectly into the euros holder
4- Cut up a piece of vero board to the required size, in my case a strip approx 12mm wide, 200mm long, i left three full tracks on the board, these will later be used for powering the LEDs
5- Insert the LEDs into the vero board, be cautious of polarity, i wired all my LEDs in parrallel, so all the +ves went on one track
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1678Medium.jpg
6- After soldering in all the LEDs, solder in your resistor(s) in series with the LEDs. To calculate what resistance is needed, see notes and erata at the bottom of this DIY
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1681Medium.jpg
7- I then soldered on the two power leads and a connector (this is not necessary, however, it will make it easier if you ever need to remove the fitting)
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1683Medium.jpg
8- At this point it may be a good idea to test if the LEDs all work
9- Place the LEDs and board inside the original reflector housing, being careful to line them facing what will be directly rear once installed back in the car
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1686Medium.jpg
then i used a hot glue gun to fix them in place (notice the glue i used to fix the housing i broke :thumbsup: lol)
EDIT: During summer the interior of the car actually got so hot that the hot glue melted lol appon checking my housing the other day i found the lights had droopped out of place, i now reccomend using a two part epoxy glue, this will stop that from happening
10- Clip the lens back on, or if you broke the clips, glue it back on :D
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1688Medium.jpg
11- Place the entire fitting back into the car, making sure its correctly secured, connect the wires, and there you have it, your brand new LED stop/brake light!
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...1690Medium.jpg
12- As you can see in the pic below, the LEDs are alot brighter than the stock incandescant globes, they also light up ALOT quicker than filament globes, meaning fellow motorists now have more time to react to your braking :D safety safety safety
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...editMedium.jpg
Night time shot, sorry its over developed, was using crappy digital camera on auto:
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...Untitled-1.jpg
Notes and Erata:
Calculating resistor values required
Use this simple formula: R=(V-Ve) x (1000/vf)
Where R is the resistor required, V is the base voltage (calculate for 13-15v typical), Ve is the voltage drop of the LED (usually 2-3v) and vf is the current draw of the LED in milliamps (varies between 20-80ma).
Example:
240 = (14-2) x (1000/50)
When using LEDs in parrallel, just add there current draw together to give you the total value needed. when wiring in series, add the voltages together.
