I have begun the process of developing LED tail lights for the '97-'99 Maxima. I would like this thread to stick to useful information for those attempting to make their own tails. I am intending on having the LED boards professionally produced if and when I am satisfied with my hand made prototype. If you are interested in purchasing them, or any other product that comes to be in this thread, down the line I would prefer you send a PM or e-mail rather than posting in this thread. I want to keep the information here organized.

Links:
HiDPlanet.com
Don Klipstein's LED Main Page
LED center
Easy PCB Fabrication by: Thomas P. Gootee
Lumileds




1)My first step was to bust open a spare set (broken) of tail lights to get the dimensions I needed. I chose to use the inner dimensions of the reflectors because i felt it would give me the perfect shape and size with a little bit of play for mounting later on. After I took the picture above, I added a second piece to the turn signal so that it would follow the contour of the light. If you want a large picture with measurements that you can use to make your own templates (without destroying a set of tails) PM me.

2)If you do not have fairly good electrical knowledge (amps, volts, ohms, series/parallel) you should do some studying before you go any further. I was happy to realize that I knew, for the most part, what was going on circuit-wise.

3)I downloaded a few free PCB (printed circuit board) design programs and found ExpressPCB to be the simplest to use. I will not be sharing my designs. Like I said, I plan on having these manufactured for sale.

4)The lesson for today is: know exactly what parts you are going to use before you start designing. I had a design that looked great on paper (and probably would have worked for what I intended to do) but will not work. I have been informed that using standard 3/5 MM LEDs is unsafe due to daytime visibility. I will now be using Lumileds SuperFlux (see links) LEDs. I find it very helpful to have the actual dimensions of the LED rather than guess-ti-mating the layout.



5)This morning I printed out the design i had for the outer tails and glued them onto some cardboard to test fitment. Everything looks good, but there are some places I'm going to have to modify the housing. The inners are on hold until I find out what I'm going to use for white LEDs. The voltage drop and current will be different than the colored bulbs, and I have learned my lesson about designing without the required specs. As you can see the designs have gotten much more intricate, party due to the switch to 2 sided boards.

6)I had to change the design once again. I will be using adjustable voltage regulators to keep the power supply at 12v. If you are using SuperFlux LED's (which you should be) this means you have to work in series of 4. I also found some natural white SuperFlux knock-offs on Ebay that had some decent reviews on hidplanet.com. They are rated at 3.6v forward voltage and 100mA forward current, which means you have to make series of 3. If you need to find out how to wire your lights check out the series/parallel wizard at www.ledcenter.com.

7)I ordered professional boards. For you DIY guys check out the link on easy PCB fabrication.

Toward the end of the week I will start assembling my prototype boards. Stay tuned for more...

 

space holder...

 

pm sent . . .

 

What u dont like my thread anymore :-P

 

ha ha. i'm still involved in that one too. i just want a thread where i can log the build. since i am a first timer i figure i will encounter the same problems as anybody else.

 

yes tru dat my brotha from anotha motha haha

 

sub'd to thread for further information...

 

well today i changed my designs completely. i have finished designing the bigger 2 of the 3 outer boards. between them they have 120+ SuperFlux LEDs. these should be extremely bright but, more importantly, have even light dispersion. i should be done with my designs by tomorrow.

 

What is the viewing angle of the LED's?

 

120 on the superflux's.

 

120 degrees?

 

looking at the tech sheet there are 30/40/70 degree models. i'll probably use the 70 to get even light dispersion.

 

minor update.

 

Cool

5am LED Tail light Insomia, FTW

 

Wow looks promising... Nice job dude.

 

ill take 2 paris!!

 

Whenever your ready to sell those tail lights let me know I want them for sure.

 

if things go as planned i could be taking pre-orders in as little as a week.

 

so, whats the low down? Are you planning on selling the lights complete and installed or are you gonna sell just the boards and then the purchaser would have to install them?
What about the signal lights in the rears? Available as an upgrade with the proper voltage regulator so they don't double flash? What about if a purchaser dosn't want the white reverse lights in led? What if they don't want the signal lights as a led assembly?

Just curious as to what your plans are? What sort of price range do you think we are looking at?
I'm ordering some stuff and if these look like I think they might, and work as good as I hope they do, I'll probably order a set of these and forget about the rest of the Stillen kit.

 

you will need a led flasher to stop the rapid blink.

 

i haven't decided exactly how i am going to offer them. i was originally thinking naked boards, loaded board, and complete retro-fits using new oem tails (after i had a few loaded boards assembled). i hadn't considered offering the signals/reverse lights as upgrades but it is definately something i'm going to consider. i will not sell anything that doesn't operate properly, and i'm doing everything i can to make the boards as pnp as possible. i'm unsure about the price. right now i'm still developing the units, and making prototypes is a lot more exspensive than production models. i have collected most of the parts for the prototype boards and have spent about $600 ON ONE SIDE. that number is not meant to give you an idea of how much they are going to cost, but rather an idea of the drastic difference between prototype and production costs. right now i just want to focus on getting a product of outstanding quality put together. once that is taken care of i will focus on the sales aspect.

 

definately sub'd