# Homemade LED Light Bar



## zachattack923 (Dec 10, 2011)

I work in a machine show part time while going to school to be a mechanical engineer. My boss gave me a project for one our frequent customers. 
the customer is sending me 10 lights and i have to make 5 light bars for use on Quads, Dirtbikes and Jeeps, thus each bar will have 2 lights in it.

this is the diagram i received along with a long phone call today






the light bars will be made of steel so they can be welded anywhere 

the system will have to run on 12v and have a quick disconnect clip

the lights he is send me
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/5-cree...drop-in-led-module-52-7mm-42mm-8-4v-max-35241
the mod for making them run on 12V
www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?272061-SKU-26106-5xCree-15W-driver-schematics-12V-mod
what i need to know:

what type of resistor do i need to buy(a link would be nice)?
he wants me to change the spring looking things to wires, i assume i can take them off and solder on wires, and that one will be + and the other -
Can i do that?

For the modification for 12v does anyone have a good picture of how to do it,ect?

And do you think it will work? i get paided as long as they turn on, i dont think they will work as well as the 9in Vision X Low Profile Xmitter i have on my jeep. 

If you dont think it will work can you link me to a thread were some one makes some thing similar that works well.

Zach


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## fefrie (Dec 22, 2011)

Looks like the leds have a built in regulator since it can run at a variable voltage from 2-8 volts.

I did something similar in this thread:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...convert-LED-bike-light-DIY-to-Scooter-LED-DIY

In that thread, I put in a graph of the driver and emitter voltage.

If you can test the driver to find the maximum driver voltage that will give you the maximum emitter voltage, that that's the most efficent voltage to run the regulator without creating excessive heat.

In my case, it was around 6V, so running 2 lights in series, I could run them without a resistor and in series so that each LED was getting a near optimum 6-7v each. (each regulator could handle 3-12volts)

So in your application, I would guess that if you ran the lights in series, you would be fine without a regulator, since voltages won't go over 16v in a vehicle, but since you don't know what the optimum voltage is for maximum emitter power, you may be slightly under volting the lights, but that would only be a 5-10 loss in max brightness, but the difference probably wouldn't be noticeable.


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## SemiMan (Jan 1, 2012)

If this really does use the AS2001, I would not recommend it for any automotive application even after the mod. The IC is only rated at 15V and will likely die a quick death due the voltage spikes (common) on the input. It may work fine for a while, the just die.

Semiman


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## Singewald (Mar 27, 2012)

You can gain manual control of the lights by tapping power from an unused position in the fuse box and inserting an adjustable power switch or toggle between the LED lights and the LED power supply.


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## bshanahan14rulz (Mar 27, 2012)

You may want to regulate the voltage first. I thought I heard that spikes up to 40V were not unheard of. Relays can cause some serious funk if you don't protect the rest of the circuit from the collapsing emf


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## TEEJ (Mar 27, 2012)

You guys realize the OP has one post from December..this one?


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