LED taillights for Gen 1.0 (w/pics of housings now)
by made in china » Fri Sep 08, 2006 12:34 pm
Updated 9/9
OK. The process of designing the PCBs and figuring out a viable way of inserting LED modules into the OEM Gen 1 taillight has led me to settle on the "G35" Style. However, G35 lights are more of a circle, and these are just partial arcs, so I hope the G35 name doesn't seem cheesy.
Anyways, I submitted the PCB designs for quote and I have received pricing. I don't require people to step up NOW and want them because I am cool with selling a qty of 9 over the period of a year...I hope thats realistic enough. But since the Solara is not a Scion or Honda product, the demand isn't very high, honestly. Therefore all units will need to be made by me, and the price reflects that. Yes I know you can get a set black headlights for like $180 on eBay, so why should these tails be so much more?? Well, because other aftermarket stuff is made in Taiwan and I need to make these here in the USA. SO buy American damnit!
Another point I wanna make....you could use vectorboard (breadboard is what hobbyists call it) and attempt to stuff LED's into that then attempt to stuff it into your tail lights. But vectorboard is only 0.100" spacing, which is standard. The inside of our tails is non-standard, and arc shapes need to be planned carefully. The LEDs have to be placed and sorted about the PCB in non-standard measurements to get the best appearance. And also the PCB size and shape needs to be ideal so it will follow my method of installation and orientation within the tail light for best finished appearance. The PCBs will have the outer facing surface silkscreened bright white for best appearance and light management. A green or tan colored PCB would look horrible behind a red lens. Also, the PCBs are stuffed to the limits with square, clear high flux automotive grade LEDs to offer maximum finished appearance (these LEDs have a highly reflective looking housing when off, so they aren't so obvious in your tail lights) and best performance (brightness and color).
OK, blah blah. I will be ordering the PCBs with a 4 week lead time. I am also ordering up a vectorboard and components for one taillight so I can do a functional mock up and check my components values and math. That way I'll be sure the turn signals flash at normal speed, the brake light out indicator stays off and the contrast between dimmed running lights and full on brakes is correct.
BTW, for now I am deleting the option of rear fog light for the sake of keeping this project feasible.
The entire kit uses 8 PCBs. 4 for each side. Each tail light receives 1 horizontal amber LED bar, 1 minor brake LED arc (the outside arc shape), 1 major brake LED arc (the inner arc shape) and the 4th PCB is a small interface PCB that will provide for the wiring breakout to each LED module and the OEM connector, the load compensation resistors and the dimming circuit.
Installing the PCBs will require careful cutting of the tail light housing's backside to slide in the PCB. The PCBs will be solidly mounted using ears that snap into mounting holes that will be drilled. This will ensure solid mounting and proper alignment of the PCBs. The PCBs will totally cover the small back doors that are cut open to allow the PCB to be snaked into the housing. There will be no chance of leaking, and the tail light will never be broken open or baked.
Pricing will soon be locked in at around $100 for blank PCBs with no components (8 will be used for a pair of taillights), $250 for a set of assmbled PCBs...and I'll probably offer the turn key service for between $400-450 with cores so you can have a plug-n-play option. I hope most people will choose the latter so I can make a little profit and ensure that everyone's tail lights come out looking the way I intended.
G35 style:
OK. The process of designing the PCBs and figuring out a viable way of inserting LED modules into the OEM Gen 1 taillight has led me to settle on the "G35" Style. However, G35 lights are more of a circle, and these are just partial arcs, so I hope the G35 name doesn't seem cheesy.
Anyways, I submitted the PCB designs for quote and I have received pricing. I don't require people to step up NOW and want them because I am cool with selling a qty of 9 over the period of a year...I hope thats realistic enough. But since the Solara is not a Scion or Honda product, the demand isn't very high, honestly. Therefore all units will need to be made by me, and the price reflects that. Yes I know you can get a set black headlights for like $180 on eBay, so why should these tails be so much more?? Well, because other aftermarket stuff is made in Taiwan and I need to make these here in the USA. SO buy American damnit!
Another point I wanna make....you could use vectorboard (breadboard is what hobbyists call it) and attempt to stuff LED's into that then attempt to stuff it into your tail lights. But vectorboard is only 0.100" spacing, which is standard. The inside of our tails is non-standard, and arc shapes need to be planned carefully. The LEDs have to be placed and sorted about the PCB in non-standard measurements to get the best appearance. And also the PCB size and shape needs to be ideal so it will follow my method of installation and orientation within the tail light for best finished appearance. The PCBs will have the outer facing surface silkscreened bright white for best appearance and light management. A green or tan colored PCB would look horrible behind a red lens. Also, the PCBs are stuffed to the limits with square, clear high flux automotive grade LEDs to offer maximum finished appearance (these LEDs have a highly reflective looking housing when off, so they aren't so obvious in your tail lights) and best performance (brightness and color).
OK, blah blah. I will be ordering the PCBs with a 4 week lead time. I am also ordering up a vectorboard and components for one taillight so I can do a functional mock up and check my components values and math. That way I'll be sure the turn signals flash at normal speed, the brake light out indicator stays off and the contrast between dimmed running lights and full on brakes is correct.
BTW, for now I am deleting the option of rear fog light for the sake of keeping this project feasible.
The entire kit uses 8 PCBs. 4 for each side. Each tail light receives 1 horizontal amber LED bar, 1 minor brake LED arc (the outside arc shape), 1 major brake LED arc (the inner arc shape) and the 4th PCB is a small interface PCB that will provide for the wiring breakout to each LED module and the OEM connector, the load compensation resistors and the dimming circuit.
Installing the PCBs will require careful cutting of the tail light housing's backside to slide in the PCB. The PCBs will be solidly mounted using ears that snap into mounting holes that will be drilled. This will ensure solid mounting and proper alignment of the PCBs. The PCBs will totally cover the small back doors that are cut open to allow the PCB to be snaked into the housing. There will be no chance of leaking, and the tail light will never be broken open or baked.
Pricing will soon be locked in at around $100 for blank PCBs with no components (8 will be used for a pair of taillights), $250 for a set of assmbled PCBs...and I'll probably offer the turn key service for between $400-450 with cores so you can have a plug-n-play option. I hope most people will choose the latter so I can make a little profit and ensure that everyone's tail lights come out looking the way I intended.
G35 style:
Last edited by made in china on Sun Oct 01, 2006 2:03 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Gettin' pirate eyed.......
2002 BSP SE V6 5 Speed
TRD RSB
5000K HID Headlights
3000K HID Foglights
Gen 1.0 Tails
Optitron Lexus Cluster
2002 BSP SE V6 5 Speed
TRD RSB
5000K HID Headlights
3000K HID Foglights
Gen 1.0 Tails
Optitron Lexus Cluster
- made in china
- Regular SolaraGuy Member
- Posts: 230
- Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 2:02 pm
- Location: Seattle WA
