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Well of course as thread starter I couldn't not do it
...and I love love love them. I dismantled the lights, put a string of red LED's around the outside to give a halo glow. Then I cut some drinking straws to mask each of the original RV leds, and plastidip-ed the reflector black. The rim LED's are the tail lights, and the orginal RV lights are the brakes. The only sad thing is it is really difficult to take a photo of LED's with a digital camera, it just washes them out. These photo's look pink, but IRL they are a beautiful blood red. Could not be happier, and for about $10 a light plus another $2 in ebay's finest 12v red strip leds i'm a happy man. Keep sneaking out to the garage to put my lights on
'Halo' lamps.
It looks like one is brighter. It is not. And they are very red, not pink as this digital image suggests.
How did you get the lens off with out breaking or cracking it? and what was the reasoning for painting the reflector black?
How did you get the lens off with out breaking or cracking it? and what was the reasoning for painting the reflector black?
Unlike the OE lenses, these ones came apart with a little teasing. I started with a Stanley knife to make a little gap and then fingernails were just about enough to do it. The sealant is more like silicon bathroom sealant than the super strong / super permanent adhesive used on the OE ones.
Reason for painting the lens black is personal preference. The new lenses are a little lighter than OE, and with the white (it was white, not chrome and reflective) 'reflector' it made the taillight a little pinky when off. With a black reflector they show a darker stealthier red when off, but still v.bright when on. LED's don't really send much light backwards so frankly the reflector didn't do much anyway.
Did the black paint make it so that they don't look lighter in the middle of the light? Mine look dark around the edges and lighter in the middle and I'd like it to look darker in the center.
Did the black paint make it so that they don't look lighter in the middle of the light? Mine look dark around the edges and lighter in the middle and I'd like it to look darker in the center.
The black paint did make it darker in the middle. The white reflector doesn't go all the way to edge anyway (see images in this thread), so painting it makes it darker in the middle.
By the way, I say 'paint' but actually I used flexi-coat, similar to plasti-dip. The reason I used that is it is non-permanent (can be peeled off) and it is definitely non-conductive. You are spraying directly onto electrical components since some electronic resistors are exposed.
I was going to say pop in and check mine out since you are MI, but I see you are waaay upstate compared to me in metro-Detroit.
I was thinking of using plasti-dip on them too. Will do the extra ones first since I already have them installed. I used to live waaay down there over by Metro Beach, still go down all the time to see our grandson.
Yeah it was me. Seems my company internet is blocking the links. I can see them on iPhone connect to cell data, but not if connected to company wifi. Weird...
Yeah it was me. Seems my company internet is blocking the links. I can see them on iPhone connect to cell data, but not if connected to company wifi. Weird...
Mine has been doing that a*lot* lately. Work wifi pics are blocked but cellular data is fine. Damn IT dept
Well of course as thread starter I couldn't not do it
...and I love love love them. I dismantled the lights, put a string of red LED's around the outside to give a halo glow. Then I cut some drinking straws to mask each of the original RV leds, and plastidip-ed the reflector black. The rim LED's are the tail lights, and the orginal RV lights are the brakes. The only sad thing is it is really difficult to take a photo of LED's with a digital camera, it just washes them out. These photo's look pink, but IRL they are a beautiful blood red. Could not be happier, and for about $10 a light plus another $2 in ebay's finest 12v red strip leds i'm a happy man. Keep sneaking out to the garage to put my lights on
'Halo' lamps.
It looks like one is brighter. It is not. And they are very red, not pink as this digital image suggests.
What $2 strips did you use? I want to make sure I get the ones that will fit before I tear into these to modify.
Mine came in today. Nice & bright! Took a small video
Sorry for the delay - I got these ones: http://a.co/8Nnu70x
One reel is plenty for all four lamps (and a bunch of spare). Just a warning though, I will probably put a voltage regulator on them before summer. Your car puts out more than 12v (13.5v or slightly more typical) which may blow these leds eventually. With a regulator you could drop the V down to 11v max without any discernible drop in lumens, and the strips would last much longer (probably the life of the car).
/Andy
Sorry for the delay - I got these ones: http://a.co/8Nnu70x
One reel is plenty for all four lamps (and a bunch of spare). Just a warning though, I will probably put a voltage regulator on them before summer. Your car puts out more than 12v (13.5v or slightly more typical) which may blow these leds eventually. With a regulator you could drop the V down to 11v max without any discernible drop in lumens, and the strips would last much longer (probably the life of the car).
/Andy
Couldn't the same be said of any LEDs on the car, including these trailer LED tail lights themselves, interior LEDs, etc.? Is a voltage regulatory necessary for every LED installed on these cars, or are these red light strips more susceptible to damage for some reason?
Last edited by ArmchairArchitect; 02-11-2018 at 01:28 PM.
Couldn't the same be said of any LEDs on the car, including these trailer LED tail lights themselves, interior LEDs, etc.? Is a voltage regulatory necessary for every LED installed on these cars, or are these red light strips more susceptible to damage for some reason?
All the other LED's in the vehicle, including the ones in the RV tail lights are supplied with regulated voltage, and use the more robust domed LED's (unlike these flexible surface mount ones). These LED's from Ebay are cheap as chips and not really built to withstand the rigors of voltage spikes and bouncing around, but with a bit of regulation they'll be fine (YMMV).
10-08-2017, 03:15 AM
