LED Brake Lights

[DaveMcKenz]

Thanks, Jerry.
I would also like the $40 more expensive version to have the wider light foot print.
Let me know, and put me down for a set when you get to it.
Dave

[yanik]

I would like a set of the front turn signals for my clear lenses and rear turn signals and brakes? Where is your FS post? I cannot seem to find it.

[APachon71RN]

Yank, they are not yet available but getting closer.

[deputydog95]

Originally Posted by spoke

Our hosts here at PP have it. I also had to buy the gasket between the fixture and lens:

Porsche 911 (1974-1989) - Lights and Lenses - Page 9

I only found the Dansk clear lenses on page 10. Is that what you're referring to?
Where did you find the gaskets on there?

Porsche 911 (1974-1989) - Lights and Lenses - Page 10

I love the idea of a running light/turn signals for safety. I'm too lazy to turn on the headlights on during the day and the probability is high I would forget and kill the battery.

Originally Posted by APachon71RN

Thanks for the heads up Spoke. I am going to also order the Euro Rr lenses in preparation for your Rr Turn signals.

~Andy

Where did you find the clear euro lenses? I'd like to do the same thing once his rear signal kit is available?

Originally Posted by DaveMcKenz

Yes they do, and I think if you have an old one it will be fixed on an exchange basis.
Dave

What is the discussion re the cruise control? I don't understand. I have a set of Jerry's brake lights now and didn't see anything in the directions related to the cruise control or capacitors.

Originally Posted by spoke

Hi Dave,

I'm working on the design for the front turnsignal board now. It's not much different than the ones you have; just tidied up in a couple of places.

The rear turnsignals are a bit more complicated since they involve the side light as well. The benefit of grabbing power from the side light is for cars with red turnsignals where the turnsignal can now be gently lit to be a running light. This gives the car a much wider light footprint at night. Can't do this with amber lenses though. Amber running lights are only allowed in the front of the car.

I've done this side light deletion on 914's for a while now. By turning some LEDs on the turnsignal board to the side of the car, the side light can be removed.

I did this on V1; deleted the side light and pointed 16 LEDs to the side. These are the boards Hiro showed on this thread a couple of pages back. 16 LEDs were overkill; it's like having a red flashlight pointed out the side of the car. If you stand between the car and a wall you can see your shadow on the wall. I used 8 LEDs in the 914's so 8 should be ok. Always better to overdo it than under do it.

On the V2 that I have on my car, I wanted to have more LEDs pointing to the rear and didn't want to delete the side light. I made the little round side light board so I could light up that area and grab power.

To improve contrast of turnsignals when running lights are on, I added a circuit to turn off running lights when the turnsignal is active. Instead of dim-bright-dim-bright....-dim, this one does: dim-bright-off-bright-off......-bright-off-dim. It's quite striking at night.

Not sure at this point which version I want to proceed with. V1 is simpler, less expensive but the sidemarker area is dark. V2 lights the sidemarker area but is more complicated and probably $40 more expensive.

Are there going to be options where we could have red running lights/turn signals out back if we use the clear euro lenses?

[DaveMcKenz]

Deputy,
The early brake light boards did not have enough load to let the cruise control work properly. Jerry added a small resistor to his boards so they work fine now. The symptom I had was dim lighting of brake lights whenever the ignition was turned on.
Dave

[spoke]

Originally Posted by deputydog95

I only found the Dansk clear lenses on page 10. Is that what you're referring to?
Where did you find the gaskets on there?

Porsche 911 (1974-1989) - Lights and Lenses - Page 10

I love the idea of a running light/turn signals for safety. I'm too lazy to turn on the headlights on during the day and the probability is high I would forget and kill the battery.



Where did you find the clear euro lenses? I'd like to do the same thing once his rear signal kit is available?



What is the discussion re the cruise control? I don't understand. I have a set of Jerry's brake lights now and didn't see anything in the directions related to the cruise control or capacitors.



Are there going to be options where we could have red running lights/turn signals out back if we use the clear euro lenses?

Let me address your questions:

From Pelican:
Front clear lens ('74-'89): Part #: 10-8867-390-M350
Gasket for front lens: Part #: 911-631-961-00-OEM

Running Lights:
I'm running the clear front lens and white running lights. I've found with my '86 that the running lights, if left on, go out when I turn the key off. So when I start the car, the running lights and tail lights go on. I don't have to turn on/off every time I drive the car. The headlights do stay on with the car off.

Cruise Control & Brake Lights:
The cruise control unit senses the voltage across the brake lights. If the voltage goes up to 12V (pressing the brakes), the CC turns off. The CC dumps about 8 milliamperes into the brake bulbs. With very low impedance incandescent lights, 8ma causes almost no rise in voltage across the bulbs.

Now replace the brake bulbs with LEDs and there's potential issue. The 8ma is enough to very gently turn on the brake lights. This may cause the CC to either not engage or disengage during operation. Solution is to add a ballast resistor to every brake LED PCB.

The first brake and 3rd brake LED boards I made did not have a ballast resistor. All boards now have the ballast resistor consistent with CC. Even one LED board with the ballast resistor is enough to satisfy the CC. They all don't need the resistor.

Here's all the scenarios:

1) Don't have CC: no problems

2) Have CC: w/LED brakes (w/o ballast resistor); w/o 3rd brake light: CC may or may not work; Brake LEDs turn on very gently with car running w/o running lights on. I will add the ballast resistor; you ship boards to me and I'll ship them back.

3) Have CC: w/LED brakes (w/o ballast resistor); w/3rd brake light bulb: 3rd brake light bulb satisfies CC. Adding 3rd brake LED board with ballast resistor will satisfy CC.

4) Have CC: w/LED brakes (w/o ballast resistor); w/3rd brake LED: If one of the boards has a ballast resistor, you're ok. If none have a ballast resistor, I will add the ballast resistor; you ship boards to me and I'll ship them back.

If you have my LED brake LEDs and don't know if you have an issue, easy way to check is to start the car with running lights off and see if the brake LEDs are on very gently. Do this at night. You can also check to make sure the CC still works.

Having the brake LEDs on gently is not an issue in itself. With running lights on, the brake LEDs will be much brighter than with just the leakage of the CC.

Now the 3rd brake LED is different. The 3rd brake light should not be on at all w/o the brake. It is the most important brake light and must be off or on, not on gently.

If you have these issues, contact me and I will add the ballast resistors. You ship boards to me and I'll ship them back with the resistor.

Clear Euro Lenses:
Clear lenses do not matter. The LEDs themselves are amber, red, or white. If you want the Euro amber turnsignals on the rear, we build the boards with amber LEDs. If you want US-spec red turnsignals on the rear, we use red LEDs. Red rear turnsignals allows us to gently light these up for running lights at night for a larger visual footprint of the car.

[DaveMcKenz]

Hi guys,
I got Spoke's front turn signal and ordered the clear lens and gasket from out host. Actually I could have use the old gasket by just cleaning it with soap and water. I found clear side marker lenses on ebay from Rennspeed. I reused the old gaskets and moved the faceted diffusor from the old to the clear. I used an amber LED bulb from superbrightleds.
I am happy with the updated(?) looks.
Dave

[deputydog95]

Originally Posted by spoke

Let me address your questions:

From Pelican:
Front clear lens ('74-'89): Part #: 10-8867-390-M350
Gasket for front lens: Part #: 911-631-961-00-OEM

Running Lights:
I'm running the clear front lens and white running lights. I've found with my '86 that the running lights, if left on, go out when I turn the key off. So when I start the car, the running lights and tail lights go on. I don't have to turn on/off every time I drive the car. The headlights do stay on with the car off.

Cruise Control & Brake Lights:
The cruise control unit senses the voltage across the brake lights. If the voltage goes up to 12V (pressing the brakes), the CC turns off. The CC dumps about 8 milliamperes into the brake bulbs. With very low impedance incandescent lights, 8ma causes almost no rise in voltage across the bulbs.

Now replace the brake bulbs with LEDs and there's potential issue. The 8ma is enough to very gently turn on the brake lights. This may cause the CC to either not engage or disengage during operation. Solution is to add a ballast resistor to every brake LED PCB.

The first brake and 3rd brake LED boards I made did not have a ballast resistor. All boards now have the ballast resistor consistent with CC. Even one LED board with the ballast resistor is enough to satisfy the CC. They all don't need the resistor.

Here's all the scenarios:

1) Don't have CC: no problems

2) Have CC: w/LED brakes (w/o ballast resistor); w/o 3rd brake light: CC may or may not work; Brake LEDs turn on very gently with car running w/o running lights on. I will add the ballast resistor; you ship boards to me and I'll ship them back.

3) Have CC: w/LED brakes (w/o ballast resistor); w/3rd brake light bulb: 3rd brake light bulb satisfies CC. Adding 3rd brake LED board with ballast resistor will satisfy CC.

4) Have CC: w/LED brakes (w/o ballast resistor); w/3rd brake LED: If one of the boards has a ballast resistor, you're ok. If none have a ballast resistor, I will add the ballast resistor; you ship boards to me and I'll ship them back.

If you have my LED brake LEDs and don't know if you have an issue, easy way to check is to start the car with running lights off and see if the brake LEDs are on very gently. Do this at night. You can also check to make sure the CC still works.

Having the brake LEDs on gently is not an issue in itself. With running lights on, the brake LEDs will be much brighter than with just the leakage of the CC.

Now the 3rd brake LED is different. The 3rd brake light should not be on at all w/o the brake. It is the most important brake light and must be off or on, not on gently.

If you have these issues, contact me and I will add the ballast resistors. You ship boards to me and I'll ship them back with the resistor.

Clear Euro Lenses:
Clear lenses do not matter. The LEDs themselves are amber, red, or white. If you want the Euro amber turnsignals on the rear, we build the boards with amber LEDs. If you want US-spec red turnsignals on the rear, we use red LEDs. Red rear turnsignals allows us to gently light these up for running lights at night for a larger visual footprint of the car.

Thanks for the quick reply. My car is still at the shop in Orlando so I have no idea what's what at this point.

So... if my car has CC and I just got my 2 LED brake boards as well as a LED 3rd brake light board from you a few weeks ago... They should already have the resistor and I should have no issues with the CC? Theoretically?

If you wanted to have amber euro signals on the back, like I plan on doing on the front, wouldn't you have to go with clear euro lenses on the back as the factory ones are red and wouldn't show the amber?

Not my car, but as a reference:

[DaveMcKenz]

Yep. The LED's are so monochromatic, that very little light is transmitted outside the LED color. Therefore little light would be transmitted by an amber LED through a red lens. Clear is OK though.
Dave

[deputydog95]

Originally Posted by DaveMcKenz

Yep.

Is that a yep to both my questions? Lol

[DaveMcKenz]

Sure. lol

[APachon71RN]

I think this is an option - Part #: PEL-TMP-9447BE

Originally Posted by deputydog95

Thanks for the quick reply. My car is still at the shop in Orlando so I have no idea what's what at this point.

So... if my car has CC and I just got my 2 LED brake boards as well as a LED 3rd brake light board from you a few weeks ago... They should already have the resistor and I should have no issues with the CC? Theoretically?

If you wanted to have amber euro signals on the back, like I plan on doing on the front, wouldn't you have to go with clear euro lenses on the back as the factory ones are red and wouldn't show the amber?

Not my car, but as a reference:

[deputydog95]

Originally Posted by APachon71RN

I think this is an option - Part #: PEL-TMP-9447BE

That absolutely would be an option.

But if you go with clear up front do his amber/white turn signal/driving light combo, it would probably look better to do the clear euro style lens on the rear. Then again no one will ever be able to see the front and back at the exact same time so maybe no one would ever notice

[APachon71RN]

Does there exist a Clear tail light lens or a Red (Brake)/Clear tail light lens?

~Andy

Originally Posted by deputydog95

That absolutely would be an option.

But if you go with clear up front do his amber/white turn signal/driving light combo, it would probably look better to do the clear euro style lens on the rear. Then again no one will ever be able to see the front and back at the exact same time so maybe no one would ever notice

[deputydog95]

Originally Posted by APachon71RN

Does there exist a Clear tail light lens or a Red (Brake)/Clear tail light lens?

~Andy

All i see on pelican (page 8) is all red, or red with yellow. I don't see all clear or clear with yellow.

Porsche 911 (1974-1989) - Lights and Lenses - Page 8

It has to exist though. There's too many ricers out there ( like myself) that also own porsches

[APachon71RN]

I plan on getting Jerry's front LED turn signal boards and will run clear lenses so that I have DRL and turn signals. I am trying to keep a theme in lighting so I am undecided on going with Euro Amber tail light lenses and V1 or keep my Red Tail Light lenses and enjoy V2 for Jerry's rear turn signals and which would better go with the front.

I also plan on converting to an HID system to which I am also undecided. I like the Singer style but the light output from the JW Speakers is insane.

~Andy

Originally Posted by deputydog95

All i see on pelican (page 8) is all red, or red with yellow. I don't see all clear or clear with yellow.

Porsche 911 (1974-1989) - Lights and Lenses - Page 8

It has to exist though. There's too many ricers out there ( like myself) that also own porsches

[faverymi]

On the flebay

[deputydog95]

Originally Posted by faverymi

On the flebay

Those would be perfect with yellow LED turn signals out back if you used the clear signal lenses up front too.

How did you search that? I looked there and didn't see anything clear related to 911's. Just 996 and 997's.

[APachon71RN]

Porsche 911 69 89 Clear Rear Signal Tail Light Lens Blk | eBay

[spoke]

Originally Posted by deputydog95

So... if my car has CC and I just got my 2 LED brake boards as well as a LED 3rd brake light board from you a few weeks ago... They should already have the resistor and I should have no issues with the CC? Theoretically?

All LEDs received after 10/20 have resistors. There are no CC issues with LEDs with resistors. Any before that do not have resistors.

If you wanted to have amber euro signals on the back, like I plan on doing on the front, wouldn't you have to go with clear euro lenses on the back as the factory ones are red and wouldn't show the amber?

As Dave mentioned, if you want amber Euro lenses on the rear, then we'd build the boards with amber LEDs. If you decide later to switch to red rear lenses, you could still use the amber LED boards but some of the frequencies of the amber would be filtered out by the red lens.