FAQ Automotive Lighting - Other Lighting

LED Lamps Design and usage

Neon

Whats available in neon are mostly for show use in blue, green and red. I still have not found any 4" amber neons.

Cold cathode

Cold cathode flourscent light (CCFL) works very similar to Hot Cathode Fluorescent Light tubes used at home and commercially. CCFL tubes does not have a heater built into the electrodes, which makes it possible to manufacture tubes in much smaller diameters. HCFL tubes are normally around 25mm in diameter. CCFL tubes can be as thin as 10mm. Driver curcuits are much simpler and life is higher (10-20000hours). They turn on almost instant, but it takes around 30 seconds to reach full brightness for new tubes. Tubes that has been used for a while seem to reach full blast earlier, around 10 seconds. These can be used evrywhere light is needed on a car. Places like underneath dash (to lit up leg room), trunk, and underhood is possible places to mount them. Traditionally, cars are equipped with 5-10W miniature bulbs to illuminate these areas.

There are various suppliers for CCFL tubes. You will find that from around 2003 various PC systems were other large users of CCFL. "EL-Wire-cheap" was a revolutionary trustworthy online retailer. They do no longer exist, however, vibelights.com sells the same products for great prices. Herman would use 2 tubes of 12" length for jaw dropping trunk lighting. The kit is called "Dual-12" and cost USD 12.50.

ANGEL EYES

• 3/8 inch acrylic rods can be heat bended in a circle. In each end insert a high brightness white LED. For double the light, make 2 half circles and insert 4 LEDs instead of 2. To get the light to hit the rod, it need something to light up: Create small vertical cuts on the back with 2-3mm spacing. A dremel with a circular cutting blade is excellent to do this job. To create the best optical contact between the LED and the rod, use a 100% transparent glue or silicone.
• White 12" spaced white LED flexible arrays from Radiantz.com can be mounted around a projector headlight to make a similar appearance. Picture shows a Audi A6 projector unit embrased by the LED array inserted into a Nissan Maxima headlight. Thanks to multi talented "MGB" for these pictures.


• Home made LED array. In general, any kind of LED will do. There is a few things to consider. Colorwise, I would choose white and not the blueish white to keep the cops happy. I'd say the more LEDs you solder in there, the better will it look like a continous circle. Look for LEDs that have as high opening angle - at least 30 degrees. LEDS tend to be bright straigth ahead and very dim to the side. Also note the maximum current you can send through a LEDs at certain tempratures. A typical hi-power LED can take a max 30mA of load at room temp. On a hot summer day, inside temp of a headlight can go up to maybe 50-100 degree Celsius, all depending. At that temp, max load is maybe 10mA. So look for LEDs that can run as high current as possible at elevated temperatures. If its labled for automotive purposes, its usually a high temperature span on it.


• The brightest of them all are the CCFL tubes. There are preformed tubes on the marked in various diameters to suit headlights on trendy vehicles. Even thou diamter seems to fit your vehicle, it does not mean that final result will be as great as OE BMW. Be prepared to customize headligt slghtly to get the ultimate looks. Wires need to be hidden as well. Example of such CCFL tube is the Umnitza one