Joined
·
924 Posts
Over the next few weeks, I will be building a DIY LED array to put in DRLs inside the housing for our headlights, in the spot below the headlights where DRLs exist in the Korean Market. (The spot in the picture of the Cadenza on this forum) 
My main concern is white brightness - I want to make sure that you can see the lights, brightly, in the daytime, as DRLs. I had previously purchased the exLED Premium Power LEDs interior kit (Link: Premium Power LED Lights.)
I was amazed at their brightness. I started looking at the LEDs themselves that exLED uses, and it turns out it is a unit that they manufacture. It has some great characteristics, primarily it's low current draw (50 mA), brightness (72 lumens), low temps (doesn't get hot to touch at all) and price ($.90 each). (Link: exLED Premium Power LED 1 Color)
To test this led in the daytime, I took out a unit of my interior kit, wired it to the battery, and tested it in direct sunlight. It was still very bright, and was clearly visible - exactly the brightness I wanted.
They also have amber versions of this LED, and I will have these DRLs function as switchbacks. So when the turn signal is activated, the white turns off, amber blinks, and then white comes back on after the turn signal is complete.
I ordered up a lot of parts, and am in the final process in designing my array. I find myself second guessing the array design, and would appreciate any feedback.
Some notes about my LED array:
1. The width of each LED is 3.3mm (tiny!), and 15mm long (still pretty small)
2. I estimate the DRL opening to be about 270mm long, and maybe 18-20 mm wide (narrowing at the ends)
3. Because the width is so narrow, there is a lot of room to arrange these LEDs
4. Vertical installation of the LEDs for all is not really practical due to electrical connection issues (I will get more into that as the build progresses)
5. I'll be soldering these from the back, and use a solid copper wire to both make connections horizontally, but also give structure to the array so I can bend it into shape in the headlight housing
6. I still don't know how I will "finish" the array on the outside - meaning either no cover, a translucent white cover (similar to the eyebrow positioning lights), or a clear plastic reflector style cover that I will fab up.
The picture below shows some design options. Yellow squares represent 5K white LEDs, and silver is the amber LEDs.
Any design preferences, or other ideas?
Poll up top!
My main concern is white brightness - I want to make sure that you can see the lights, brightly, in the daytime, as DRLs. I had previously purchased the exLED Premium Power LEDs interior kit (Link: Premium Power LED Lights.)
I was amazed at their brightness. I started looking at the LEDs themselves that exLED uses, and it turns out it is a unit that they manufacture. It has some great characteristics, primarily it's low current draw (50 mA), brightness (72 lumens), low temps (doesn't get hot to touch at all) and price ($.90 each). (Link: exLED Premium Power LED 1 Color)
To test this led in the daytime, I took out a unit of my interior kit, wired it to the battery, and tested it in direct sunlight. It was still very bright, and was clearly visible - exactly the brightness I wanted.
They also have amber versions of this LED, and I will have these DRLs function as switchbacks. So when the turn signal is activated, the white turns off, amber blinks, and then white comes back on after the turn signal is complete.
I ordered up a lot of parts, and am in the final process in designing my array. I find myself second guessing the array design, and would appreciate any feedback.
Some notes about my LED array:
1. The width of each LED is 3.3mm (tiny!), and 15mm long (still pretty small)
2. I estimate the DRL opening to be about 270mm long, and maybe 18-20 mm wide (narrowing at the ends)
3. Because the width is so narrow, there is a lot of room to arrange these LEDs
4. Vertical installation of the LEDs for all is not really practical due to electrical connection issues (I will get more into that as the build progresses)
5. I'll be soldering these from the back, and use a solid copper wire to both make connections horizontally, but also give structure to the array so I can bend it into shape in the headlight housing
6. I still don't know how I will "finish" the array on the outside - meaning either no cover, a translucent white cover (similar to the eyebrow positioning lights), or a clear plastic reflector style cover that I will fab up.
The picture below shows some design options. Yellow squares represent 5K white LEDs, and silver is the amber LEDs.
Any design preferences, or other ideas?
Poll up top!
Attachments
-
100.8 KB Views: 369