Add Red/Blue LEDs to a Power Wheels riding toy, need parts recommendations.

mtonne

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Hey guys, quick question. My son is into police cars, and I wanted to surprise him by putting in some "undercover" Red/Blue LED strobes/flashers. His jeep has a few good spots for this ready to go, I just need to figure out what parts/sizes, etc to use. Hopefully my image shows up ...

There are two empty reflectors already in the front bumper. I'd like to use those and the false bumper mounted spotlights as hiding spots for LEDs.

There are TONS of parts and options out there, having trouble sifting through all of them.

Thanks!
 

Alaric Darconville

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Re: Adding Red/Blue LEDs to a Power Wheels, need parts recommendations.

Moving out of "Transportation", as a Power Wheels riding toy isn't quite the "transportation" we usually deal with.

Also, your image didn't show up-- it doesn't look like you'd used any
 

Alaric Darconville

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Re: Adding Red/Blue LEDs to a Power Wheels, need parts recommendations.

Also, be prepared to provide the main battery voltage, and any other power sources on the Jeep. I see one model "requires 4 C and 4 AA batteries (sic)" in addition to having a 12V battery for the traction motor, but your son's may be different.
 

mtonne

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Re: Adding Red/Blue LEDs to a Power Wheels, need parts recommendations.

Also, be prepared to provide the main battery voltage, and any other power sources on the Jeep. I see one model "requires 4 C and 4 AA batteries (sic)" in addition to having a 12V battery for the traction motor, but your son's may be different.

Thanks for your help Alaric,

It's just got a 12v in it. Has working headlights so I was thinking of wiring any additional LED's to run off the same switch at the headlights.
 

zespectre

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Re: Adding Red/Blue LEDs to a Power Wheels, need parts recommendations.

If I were doing this project....

1) I'd build a 555 chip timing circuit so the lights strobe in sync.
2) I'd power it from one of those rechargeable USB phone packs (I like to build LED arrays to run on 5v)
3) I'd build in a relay so that the lights ran only when the "vehicle" was moving, OR put in a timer circuit so that they'd shut off after a few minutes because kids lose interest and run off to the next thing all the time.

Now the easiest lighting... the strobes they sell in the auto parts floor
 

DIWdiver

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Re: Adding Red/Blue LEDs to a Power Wheels, need parts recommendations.

mtonne, what's your skill level with building things electronic? Can you wire some parts together on a perfboard? Can you solder wires onto an existing board if necessary? zespectre's ideas are pretty good if you are up to the task (though I'd be more inclined to power it from the 12V in the vehicle). Can you program a microcontroller? What do we have to work with?

Another thing to consider is if these are for your son to see while driving the jeep, or for people to see when in front of it? That could be a large difference in brightness, and thus possibly a different design. I assume you are interested in daylight visibility.

If you want to emulate a real police car, you'll want it so bright people can't see anything else in the area ;-)
 

mtonne

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Re: Adding Red/Blue LEDs to a Power Wheels, need parts recommendations.

mtonne, what's your skill level with building things electronic? Can you wire some parts together on a perfboard? Can you solder wires onto an existing board if necessary? zespectre's ideas are pretty good if you are up to the task (though I'd be more inclined to power it from the 12V in the vehicle). Can you program a microcontroller? What do we have to work with?

Another thing to consider is if these are for your son to see while driving the jeep, or for people to see when in front of it? That could be a large difference in brightness, and thus possibly a different design. I assume you are interested in daylight visibility.

If you want to emulate a real police car, you'll want it so bright people can't see anything else in the area ;-)


Haha to be honest I've done some light soldering. Definitely haven't programmed a microcontroller before but with guidance I might be able to pull it off. I was planning to run the lights off the main 12v battery.
 

FRITZHID

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the easiest way to go about this is to find 12v R/B LED flasher kit for model police cars. they come is sizes from 3v single LED units for small train and R/C cars all the way up to large units for mock police cars and displays.
these will ofcourse be more expensive than a DIY set up but will be easier for someone to install and operate.
 
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