[Robert]

What looks like an inneffective red reflector between the two red taillights on the Burgman 400 seems to have been designed to be a light. We took Ann's apart and it has castings for a light receptacle. We pried the lens loose (it's glued in pretty well), and drilled a hole in the back. Then we stuck an LED unit into it and ran the wire out the hole. It was easy to splice it into the license plate wires - and now her Burgman's tail lights up all the way across. If you use the LED pods - then there should be room for 2 - so you could do a driving light and a brake light. We used a 10 LED strip which meant we had to trim the box out to fit it - but we siliconed everything up to reseal it (I've never had an LED burn out, and they use very little electricity).

FYI: We used red LED's, and it made us realize that the tailights on the Burgman were more of an amber. It looks okay having the bright red between the amber lights - but it would probably match better if you used a yellow LED...

 

[ajwood]

There are amber LED's.
If you look at manufacturers specs, you'll see a wide variety in the 900nm range.
An LED that is widely diffused yet very bright is useful. When operating, the
tail lense wouldn't necessarily show red spots from the sources.
Art stores sell translucent material that can be used to further diffuse
an array by cutting it to the size of the inner lense at the Burgy.

What would it look like if you used a white LED array?

If you have some electronics background, a Power FET driving the array
can take advantage of an LED's conductive 'knee' where brightness
is varied much like a transistors 'active region' - not saturated and not cutoff.
Using the same manufacturers identical LED part helps
consistency of all 'knee' regions, diffusion and brightness of an entire array.

Running Light LED brightness versus Stop Light LED brightness are up and down the conductive knee.
Varying LED array voltage just 10 percent can produce full or dimmed brightness with some LED's.

 

[Robert]

There's a diffuser already in the plastic lens. We aimed the LED's down - and it's just a nice even glow. I don't know if they needed to be aimed down to keep from showing spots - our LED rail just fit better that way. You can get some really nicely sealed units made for external vehicular use here:

http://store.tireflysonline.com/motorcy ... opods.html

The 6 LED Electropods come in different colors, are bright, durable, and easy to use. The 8 LED taillight versions come in red only, and they flash (nice touch for brake lights).

The ones we used were a $9 rail of 10 LED's from the JCWhitney catalog, but they are not sealed up like the Electropods. The Electropods cost $29 for a pair.

 

[NormanB]

Forgive me - but I am a techno peasant :withstupid: when it comes to electrickery and as soon as someone mentions Field Effect transistor/thyristor - or whatever - I just wish I had paid more attention in class.

So my question is can I buy off the shelf (like the unit in the link) and just splice in or do I need additional circuitry to manage brightness :?:

 

[Robert]

If you buy the electropod, then you just splice it in... They even sell little splicers that connect the wires just by putting them inside it and squeezing it.

 

[ajwood]

...The ones we used were a $9 rail of 10 LED's from the JCWhitney catalog, but they are not sealed up like the Electropods. The Electropods cost $29 for a pair.

You can get electronic PC Board sealant spray at professional electronics supply stores.
Use tape to cover the lenses of the LED's when you spray coat
both sides of the board.
On the other hand, if the cavity that the array is mounted into is sealed enough
from the outside elements in order to prevent condensation moisture from collecting
inside, then a square of silica beads would dry things out after you seal things up.
Packing stores have Silica pouches
for sale.

You're going to need a custom circuit in order to vary brightness. Each
kind of LED part has unique characteristics that a custom circuit would
control. There are many different types of LED's nowadays.
I got my start by manufacturing LED flashing belt buckles sold out of a gift shop
next door to a disco in 1975.

NormanB,
If you already know that FET means Field Effect Transistor and that Thyristors are for
power phase switching then you're half way to a start.
Hint: The rest is in books.

 

[NormanB]

NormanB,
If you already know that FET means Field Effect Transistor and that Thyristors are for
power phase switching then you're half way to a start.
Hint: The rest is in books.

What like a computer? but you can read it in bed and under the covers with a torch - used to do that when I was a nipper!

 

[ajwood]

My first computer had the brains of a calculator, used IBM punch cards and required a lot air conditioning to work.

Each punch card had pre-printed:
"Do not spindle, fold or mutilate."

If I wanted to store the program, I loaded all the punch cards
onto a hand truck then used the elevator to save time.