Dare82

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You rather buy a bulk so that you don't have to wait the next time you need led's...led's are addicting...you use one and you will think of a thousand ideas for other items.

Mercruisin

Amen to that Dare82!!! LEDs are addicting. And I would go as far as to say that if you have em', you'll FIND uses for them. This guy on ebay sells in bulk. So, I think the least you can get is a pack of 25 (he actually sends 26). But bring them to track meets, or to the parking lot where you and your friends go to rip around, and I bet you'll have no problems pawning off extra ones once everyone see's your pimped out ride.

Ok, I just checked ebay, and the write up says that he ships Worldwide for free. If youre serious about getting some stuff from him, you should email and ask if they'll for sure ship to you, and just check if its still for sure free (though I dont see why it wouldnt be).

T6Y5

Thats really nice! If I had a electric onroad I would make it have some concourse stuff.

Dare82

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You don't need an electric car, mine is nitro powered. You just need separate batteries or you'll drain out your car battery quickly.

Mercruisin

exactly right. you dont need anything super to run LEDs. you just need to have high enough voltage. your voltage will dictate the wiring, and also the efficiency of your system. you CAN run them off of your receiver pack, just splice them in after the receiver switch so when you turn on your receiver, it turns the lights on. dont look at the limitations, use your imagination and creativity (or someone else's) and get er' done!

Dare82

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Also, you must use resistors when using LED's, unless the voltage is exactly the same as what your LED requires! There are different resistors for different colors of LED's, so you must find a chart.

Mercruisin

The majority of LED's that you would use for underglow or RC lighting consume between 10 and 25 milliamps. its an easy equation to figure out what kind of resistors you need. just take your voltage, divide it by the current and you'll come up with the right resistance value. resistors come only in certain preset values, but can be changed by different parallel combinations of resistors, or by filing out a groove in the centre of the part and then putting varnish over the filed part. if you need some help, i would be glad to help you out on this one. if you have too much current (like with no resistors) your LEDs might work for a while, but will likely burn out before long. i would say that the most important thing is that you have to get the right voltage. different colours work on different voltages. the way that LEDs work is the same as normal diodes. current can only flow one way (unless the voltage is so high it jumps the gap), and a certain amount of voltage is needed to "turn on" the diode and allow it to conduct. i could go into total technical detail, but i guarantee that i would totally lose about 99% of the people that read this. the highest forward biased voltage for LEDs is really bright white ones at 3.7 volts. this means that it needs at least 3.7 volts to even turn on. so you cant just use 2 AA batteries. a 9 volt works fine. if you really want to do a nice job, i would suggest getting a digital multimeter so you can measure exact values of resistors and current. i know, more money for more tools. but if you plan to do any kind of electronic work on things, its a VERY useful tool. a lot easier to read the big numeric display rather than trying to figure out the value of a resistor from the colour bands. to do a good job, you need a little knowledge, but in the end you'll be happier and it will last forever. hope this helps people out.

happy lighting!

Dare82

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Although I am only fourteen years old, I understand alot about electronics already! Well, not that much..but I have been messing with LED's for two years now. But yea, he's right^^^ Different LED's have different requirements, which means different resistors for each color. If you don't have the exact, you can combine two resistors for the correct amount.

Dare82

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mercruisin, how did you diffuse the led's? I didn't really understand your statement made in the post where you explained it. I'll be buying 50 blue led's for my car!

Mercruisin

ok, when you cut lexan with a saw or router or anything, the cut edge goes foggy. this acts as a diffuser since the light beam coming out of the LED cant just pass straight through like a polished edge. it works because the surface isnt smooth (even though it may seem smooth), so it acts like millions of tiny prisims. if youre not cutting it, you can easily create the same effect with some 220 grit sand paper. you can go heavier, but it'll just make gouges in it. doesnt really matter.

Dare82

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oOo! Ok, thanks! I'll try that approach, and I actually bought 100 10,000mcd leds! Not 50!

Dare82

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Mercruisin,
Sorry to bother you again...Can you take close-up pics of how you mounted your underglow...I'm having trouble thinking of a way to mount it because I don't have a custom frame. Thanks!

Mercruisin

ok, i'll take them for you tonight, though i dont think it'll help you out much. the majority of frames are too narrow, or dont have any space. best bet might be to just velcro them onto the sides of the body.

Dare82

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eh?...I don't want to put them on the side of my body...its just too fragile and the velcro doesn't stick to paint that well. But don't worry...I'll probably think of a way to do it...(I usually think of something...)

Mercruisin

here's some pics. dunno if they're gonna help you out. you could always make up some mounting brackets for them.

Dare82

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Thanks! That helped me alot!

Mercruisin

glad to be of service.

Dare82

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Question again...so the light actually doesn't shine directly on the ground?? My plan was to have it shine directly on the ground...but I noticed your's wasn't...Does this make a significant difference?

ThaMatrixHazU

two suggestions .... since you already have so many coats of silver, a black backing isn't going to make it look grey. The GT I did, using baby blue, I backed with several coats of white, then several coats of black, and it didn't change the look of it at all, basically I like the look of the black backing so when you look inside the wheel wells everything is black ... preference.

You could always try making a little aluminum reflector to mount above your lights to make them shine down more. Kind of like a little half circle or something that could be mounted about the lighting tube. You could either use plastic and wrap it with foil, or thin aluminum sheeting would work. This is kind of what I'm doing to fabricate some mounts for headlights, so that I get the most visibility and reflection for them.

just a thought! I like what you've got though ... it looks really good!

Do you run your car with the under glow lights on? I was just curious how easy those lighting tubes are to break if you're running it down the street.

Mercruisin

hey matrix, who's lights were you referring to?? if it was mine, theyre not tubes, theyre strips of 3/8 lexan with holes drilled in the top and mounted flush in a slot cut in the frame. theyre indestructable really. LEDs will take quite a beating, and as you know, lexan is right next to bulletproof. i think the worst that could happen is that the leads of he LEDs could get hit by something and get ripped off. as for something to cover the lights, i'm still looking for some black wire loom that's small enough. there's no need for reflecting these LEDs since theyre hella bright anyways.

Dare82

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And if you're talking about my lights, no, I don't run with them on. The velcro already ripped off the body creating a clear spot in the accord so I don't want anymore trouble. Thats why I want to make one that will stay on the car instead of hanging loosely on the body. I actually might try using Plexiglass to do the underglow. Plexiglass is also very strong too!

yikes!

hey i know this post is a little old... and this is my first post... and i dont know anything about rc cars except what i have read on the net... BUT. i have used this technique with other things to get the "neon glow look".
first get some fishtank airline tubing. you know the clear tube that connects fish tank pumps to bubblers, filters etc.
cut it to the desired length of your neon. heat up one end in hot water and slide your 5mm led into it. its a tight fit but it does go in and the tighter the better. fill the airline with water. make sure there is no air in the tube and slide another 5mm led into the other end. this one is a bit trickier. now you have your own custom length flexible neons. they can be attatched with double sided tape, silicone, cable ties or anthing else you can think of.
They work on relatively the same principal as fibre optics. the water conducts the light and gives a nice glow.
tips: using baby oil instead of water is good because it wont evaporate or shrink(this actually happens) it also disperses the light a little more nicely. Put a dab of super glue or somthing on the ends where the led and tube meet so it wont slip out.
hope this helps some future led neon modders!

allen0622

I get all my LEDs from www.LSdiodes.com most are .045/each and resistors are 5/$1 orders come pretty quick and they were quite helpful. There's a a tutorial about hooking them up and the different ways you can do it. http://www.lsdiodes.com/tutorial/ Here's a resistor calculator, nice to use especially with multiple LEDs http://metku.net/?sect=view&n=1&path...calc/index_eng

Dare82

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Wow..nice idea Yikes! Too bad I can't try it yet, I'm already starting on my new underglow kit. But I MIGHT try it if my plan doesn't work. Thanks! Nice chart you got there Allen0622. You can try getting led's on ebay. There's this guy in Hong Kong that sells them in bulk for very cheap. I got 100 blue ones for only 20 bucks! Free Shipping too!

losiracer753

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how did you do that really stupid question