So here's some pictures (assuming I get them to show up here) of my LED clear corners that incorporate the blinkers. I know its probably not the same as the ones from clearcorners.com, but I also felt like spending $50 instead of $305 on mine. They just need to be mounted a little better on the inside, connect the wires, glue it back up and then done! It has been a pretty fun project so far besides the lead solder fumes. I'll get some videos and pictures of it installed this weekend.

Front side of the circuits:



Back side of the circuits:



Completed front minus some small mounting things and being sealed back up:



Completed back minus being sealed back up:



All lit up! The bottom row of LED's will only be on with the blinkers, but for testing this works.




Until this weekend, enjoy.

[edit]

Here is the weekend update, installed and all! Sadly, the turning function could not be installed right now because we are in the middle of a snow storm, so everything is wet on the car. I don't want to be splicing wires when everything is wet. Once it gets drier, the quick splices will be in, and finished.

Passenger side installed:



Driver's side installed:



With the stock corners, my camera could barely even pick up and light reflecting on the wall. With the LED's in, it is much brigher. Anything brighter might really annoy some other drivers....



Until the dry time... enjoy

 

coo.

 

Looking good. Where did you get your supplies?

 

Digikey for all the LED's. Local hardware store for basically everything else.

 

OK, spring finally stayed for a day so I finished this project up. Here are the final pictures and videos. A schematic, layout, and parts list to follow in the next post. On to the show!

Driver Side Parking Light Only:


Passenger Side Parking Only:



Passenger Side Parking + Blinker Video

Driver Side Parking + Blinking Close up

Passenger Side Parking + Blinking Close up

The last video looks different just because of the angle and the amount of light the camera let through at that point. Both actually look identical. And they should because they were built identical

 

OK, here's the parts list and the layout. If you really want the actual PCB123 file, let me know. I'd have to figure out what I'd have to all send because I had to make a custom footprint for the flux LED's. Anyway, here is goes:

Bill of Materials (this is for a complete set):

8x 47 Ohm 1/2 Watt resistors
32x Lite-On LTL911SYKSA LED's
Some sort of breadboard/anyboard or the PCB below.

Schematic For Each Side

Board Layout

That board layout outline probably has to be reduced. All the components inside fit fine, but I didn't have actual measurements on hand when I made the outline. Basically it just needs to be smaller than an inch in height.

Also be aware this schematic only works FOR THESE PARTICULAR LED'S! The basic idea is the same for any LED, but the value (47 Ohm in this case) would have to be changed in accordance with any other LED you select. Any questions on this, just ask.

 

How did you find out which resistors to use?

I'm looking at getting some NTE30041's which have an If of 20ma and a type forward voltage of 1.86. I want to hook up 6 in series. By my calculations, each one would have a resistance of 93ohms. So to use this on a 12v source, I think I would need a 42ohm resistor. Is that correct?

Tech sheet on the LED's
http://www.nteinc.com/specs/30000to3...0037_43_45.pdf

 

I started off by using the datasheets, but to get an even more accurate answer, I used a power supply that has a built in current meter while trying different resistors. I also used 14.4V as my test voltage, not 12V. I was within probably 15-20 ohms of my datasheet estimate. One thing I did notice with my LED's, my forward voltage ended up on the higher end of the range (my voltage was about half way between the "typical" and "max" value).

Your values are correct as it is set up right there. One thing to be aware of. If you are not using a voltage regulator, you have to use 14.4V in your calculations instead of 12V.

Have you tested those LED's at all yet? I think you might find they aren't bright enough unless you have a lot of em. They have a decent mcd rating, but they have a very small viewing angle. If you've tried em out and think they look fine, awesome, it is just something I noticed while looking at the datasheet.

 

I'm not going to be using them for the sides. I'm planning on putting them in the middle of my stop led circles and use them as turn signals (1 circle per side). I haven't bought the LED's yet. A shop in town has them for .99 for a pack of 3. I wanted to do all the research before purchasing anything. Currently my shopping list is a dremel, new soldering iron (current one is butane), LED's, Circuit boards, resistors, etc.

Thanks for reminding me about the 14.4, glad I asked. I figured if I worked with the lowest voltage on them, then I would have even leave way for when the car was on.

P.S. I was planning on buying 30+ leds, just in case

 

If you plan on using those LED's as turn signals, I'd STRONGLY recommend trying them first. You definitely don't want them to be too dim if its actually part of the lighting system used as a safety feature. I really highly recommend using flux LED's, they have a high viewing angle and generally high light output. Lite-on and lumileds make decent ones. I just got 100 LTL911SEKSA LED's from http://www.digikey.com for around $30. I am going to be using them in a sequential rear turn signal. I have an 04 though, so different than yours.

For the 14.4V issue, the LED's will still work when the car is off, but they will just be slightly dimmer. It is better to do it that way rather than having them at full brightness when the car is off and then overdriving them when the car is on.

 

I was not able to view the video... can you help me out?

 

nice

 

Download vlc media player
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

It will work then (I just watched it this way )

 

I just tried them again, they seem to work fine. Mine defaulted to windows media player and had no issues.

 

can you buy leds like this with the correct size to fit in your side marker, that you dont have to solder and you can just wire it up