<VV> LED taillights

[JVHRoberts at aol.com]

Since I have been getting MANY requests for this, here goes: 
By the  way, my boat taillights have these in them, and this is exactly how I 
wired  them. 

Crap, I can't find the drawing, but with four components, it's easy  enough 
to describe. 
You need:
1- Luxeon 3 watt Star, either red or red orange. Don't get the Luxeon  
emitter, they are far too troublesome to heat sink properly. 
1- Diode, 3 amp, 50 volt. Radio Shack has these. 
1- Resistor, 10 watt, 10 ohm
1- Resistor, 10 watt, 50 ohm
 
Connect the 10 ohm resistor to the negative end of the LED, and the other  
end become ground.
Connect the 50 ohm resistor to the positive end of the LED, and connect  the 
other end to the taillight wire.
Connect the end of the diode with the band to the positive end of the LED  
(pointing toward the + end of the LED), and the other end to the brake/turn  
wire. 
That's it! 
The LED will not draw it's max rated current of 1400 mA (yes, these run  at 
over 1 amp!) but 1100 mA when you hit the brakes, and about 200 mA when the  
taillights are on, and  the diode will bypass the taillight resistor when  you 
hit the brakes! 
Well, almost. You'll need to find a flasher that'll work properly on the  
lower current. They're out there, and are used on the cheesy LED brake lights.  

You can also use an amber Luxeon, and do the same thing with your front  
lights! The Luxeon part numbers are:

LXHL-LD3C Red. These have the intense red light we all see on LED  
taillights. 
LXHL-LH3C Red Orange. These are a little brighter, and actually have a  color 
closer to the stock taillight color. 
Either of these will look about the same brightness through either a red or  
clear lens. 
 
NOTE! These are eye stabbingly bright. Do NOT look into the beam of  the LED 
directly for any length of time. They are fine with a lens in front of  them, 
but a naked Luxeon is a SERIOUSLY intense light source. 
 
LXHL-LL3C Amber. If you're interested in doing your front lights as well.  
The output is truly amber, and it'll shine through either a clear or amber lens  
with about the same intensity. 

 
See the Luxeon link to choose what you want. They also do ordering  online. 
One other word of caution: The back plate of these LEDs is NOT  electrically 
insulated. As such, make SURE it is electrically insulated from  the body. Also, 
these make a bit of heat, so mount them on a  piece of aluminum with epoxy, 
and mount the bracket on insulated  spacers. These work best when the LED is 
placed behind the lens in  approximately the same position as the filaments in 
the stock bulbs. 

Have fun! 
 

> 
> Maybe... Not sure they would look right... BUT, if  you want to stick just
> ONE LED inside the stock taillight, that will  be SURE to be bright 
> as hell,  see:
>  _http://www.lumileds.com/products/family.cfm?familyId=8_
>  (http://www.lumileds.com/products/family.cfm?familyId=8)
> At 190 lumens  for the red-orange, and 140 lumens for the red, these  will 
be
>  insanely bright, and still have just ONE LED per light. Remember these   
lumen
> values are ALL in the color you want, so, the lens should barely  reduce  
the
> brightness at all, unlike a white bulb.
>  
> If anyone's interested... You'll need two resistors and a diode to  get the
> thing to produce the correct brightness and functions. I have  the circuit 
if
> anyone's interested...
> 
>  John