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Intake lighting idea?


sl3196

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I was thinking of puting a red neon in my wizair box. How hot do neons run? Also I want to hook it up so in turns on when the lights turn on, would I just tap into the headlights somewhere? I think this would look pretty damn cool! TIA

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i wasn't talking about that anyways :lol: . i was saying buy the leds off ebay the color you want then line in inside edge of that box with them that should look cool 8)
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LED's much better than neon (less power, smaller, etc.) Get some of those superbright JUMBOs from the 'Shack.
you can get ultra bright 5mm leds in red off ebay for cheaper then from radio shack :lol:
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=26207&item=7508105976&rd=1 here are some 8 mm ones in red that won't be noticable since they have clear lenses.

you can wire them up in series or run a positive and negative wire then hook the leds to that. i would do the seperate led method where they are connected to a positive and negitive wire.

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clear caped diodes are always going to be better quality then the red capped ones (color of cap obviously depends on what color you buy)

 

make sure you have a resistor in your circuit. I forget the minimum resistance you can run, so you don't blow the diode, but eh...

 

as for power, i dunno, to lazy to think of a good place to get it from...

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hey sl if you want the diagram i'm drawing up for you so you can decide which method of wiring the leds up you want to use. hit me up on aim or msn sometime.
Alright. I'll probably be on later tonight.
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as for power, i dunno, to lazy to think of a good place to get it from...

 

I'm thinking I may just make a switch somewhere so the lights don't have to be on for it to work. Not sure yet.

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hey sl if you want the diagram i'm drawing up for you so you can decide which method of wiring the leds up you want to use. hit me up on aim or msn sometime.
Alright. I'll probably be on later tonight.
i just finished it i think the top one is the one you should use it looks like crap too :lol: but you get the idea of it :oops:
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Cold cathode tubes for computer modders run very cool, and I'd just about bet they run off 12V already, just wire it in and you're done.
Got a link to these?
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It depend's on how you wire the LED's. For example If you wire 6- 2V LEDs in series with a 12v source, you don't need a resistor. However in a car you should design it for at least 13.5 V which is what the voltage is nominally.

 

As an example, I will assume the LED requires 2V and 20 mA.

 

For a series chain, add up the # of LED's you plan on using. and multiply that by the voltage across each LED (4 leds @ 2V each = 8 V). Subtract this number from your source voltage (13.5V - 8V = 5.5V). Now take that voltage and divide by the current for the LED to get the resistor value (5.5v/ 20mA= 275 ohms). Get the next value up from this and connect it in series. The power of the resistor should be (5.5V * 20 mA = 0.011W) so a 1/4 watt will work. And we have lights....

 

Parallel is more tricky but possible. Would be best to parallel a bunch of series chains to keep the resistor size and power rating low.

 

Glock

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It depend's on how you wire the LED's. For example If you wire 6- 2V LEDs in series with a 12v source, you don't need a resistor.

Glock

 

Ha, that is funny. :lol: Don't do it. :nono: If you try to send that much current through the LED's in series, you will burn out the junction of the first LED almost instantly. The resistor is the current limiter. Also, the LED's will get progressivly dimmer along the series.

 

In retrospect, just use the cold cathode idea. It will put out more 'flood' light than a bunch of LED's and will look better. LED's are more directional, and even mounting an array will give you more of a disco ball effect than an even flooding of light.

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I'm pretty sure that if you used the parallel idea the LED's will progressively get dimmer, but in a series this does not happen.

 

Go to forums.bit-tech.net they have calculators and guides and crap made exactly for this. It is for computer stuff but its basically the same. Go to the modding tutorials and look up this or the electronics section.

Your best bet is to find an electronic component store, usually in the industrial/commercial area of your city or town for LED's at a hell of alot cheaper price than Radio Crap and a better selection of colours and sizes!

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using the parrallel idea is the way to go just put resistors in the positive lead off the led to protect them from 12volts it should have the same current straight through the wire. how do you think the led Light bars they sell light up the same?

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