LED door and side marker lights

[refugeefromcalif]

To run down a 65Ah battery OEM lights will need just 27 hours. My lights will run for over 200 hours.

This must be assuming that the interior lights are not On at the same time or, are also LED's.

George

[Tomcio]

That's a good looking product you have there! I like the way you package it too....very professional

I think the main difference between the two LED kits is not the current draw or the lifespan. I have had my DMC LED kit in my car for almost 5 years now, and I haven't had one go bad yet...and my doors stay open a lot. The thing about the socket LED's that superbrightleds and DMCH sell is the light distribution. The LED bulbs that I have, even though the SMDs are multi directional, only light up a small spot on the reflector. Yours however lights up the entire lamp housing...which looks nice. The spot doesn't really bother me though, not enough to change out the lamps.

What I really like is your LED side marker lamps....nice design.

Michael,
Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate your comments.
The current draw should be about the same for both kits. It really depends on the number of LED chips. My light has 12 LED chips. I don't know how many LEDs they use. As for the lifespan, they use a resistor to limit the current and by design this is a passive component. As you know a resistor cannot compensate for changing voltage so it has to be calculated for the highest voltage it will ever see. That also means the light output (brightness) will change with changing voltage. I chose an active component, an IC that keeps the current constant at varying input voltage. Anything from 10.5V all the way up to 37V is fine and the light output will not change. I guess the low voltage typically experienced in a DeLorean works in favor for those lights. I wanted to make sure that my lights are pretty much bulletproof.
As for the light distribution, well, you're right

[Tomcio]

This must be assuming that the interior lights are not On at the same time or, are also LED's.

George,
Yes, this calculation is for the door lights only. I don't offer any solution for the dome lights... yet
This is a purely mathematical calculation of a perfect or ideal battery going from 100% charge to completely empty. As "perfect" doesn't really exists this is just a way to visualize the difference between OEM bulbs and my LED modules.

[Domi]

I received my Led this Saturday, and all I can say is that this kit is awesome, even the box is a collector itself
Thank You for the nice job

[Bitsyncmaster]

Got the new frosted lens. They do look nice but I'm still undecided if I want the even lighting or the star pattern I get with OEM len. As far as being a safety light probably the OEM lens is maybe more of a warning (not to bump your head).

I did file the sharp edges on my test lens so it would install easy and not cut the already hard rubber of the light.

[Tomcio]

Hello everyone,
The choice has been made for the type of connector that will be used in the upcoming side markers. I definitely did not want to keep the original socket as it is a very bad design prone to rusting out. I had to use something that will be watertight. I have chosen a "super-seal" type connectors. There will be some modification required to the wiring on the car and installation will mean cutting off the original bulb socket and soldering two wires per light. The solution to that will probably be a special barrel connector that just needs to be heated up with a lighter. This solders the wires and shrinks heat-shrink tubing around the joint in just one step. This will make the installation as easy as possible. I will need to test those barrel connector though. I need to make sure they can stand up to the elements.
Here's a picture of the connector that will be used:
superseal.jpg
From left to right:
Plug, yellow sealing rings, pins for both sides, socket.
All wires will be crimped and sealed to make the installation easier.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Hello everyone,
The choice has been made for the type of connector that will be used in the upcoming side markers. I definitely did not want to keep the original socket as it is a very bad design prone to rusting out. I had to use something that will be watertight. I have chosen a "super-seal" type connectors. There will be some modification required to the wiring on the car and installation will mean cutting off the original bulb socket and soldering two wires per light. The solution to that will probably be a special barrel connector that just needs to be heated up with a lighter. This solders the wires and shrinks heat-shrink tubing around the joint in just one step. This will make the installation as easy as possible. I will need to test those barrel connector though. I need to make sure they can stand up to the elements.
Here's a picture of the connector that will be used:
superseal.jpg
From left to right:
Plug, yellow sealing rings, pins for both sides, socket.
All wires will be crimped and sealed to make the installation easier.

I've found those shrink type connectors with internal solder ring require a lot of heat. So they work fine when the wires are teflon (can take the heat) but with PVC insulation, it will melt before the solder flows. Do some testing before you decide on these parts.

[DMC5180]

The Metri-pack (AkA) weather-pack is definitely the best choice for a sealed connector. One word of caution though, If for some reason you ever have to de-pin the housing You need to be creative with a micro screwdriver or get the the actual release tool (pick) Packard 12094429 terminal release tool. I have this tool and find it very useful for de-pinning the LUCAS (church-window) connectors also.

I have to Agree with Dave on the use of solder splice connectors. I actually replaced both front Marker sockets earlier this year. I ended up just soldering and covering the splice with heat shrink.

[Shep]

Just finished taking pictures of the installation of mine. I got the frosted glass lenses as well. Figured I'd post them here for comparison purposes:

Garage lights off:



Garage lights on:



LED's disconnected:



The "four dot" effect you get with the OEM lenses is drastically reduced. It's not eliminated entirely (the first picture shows it most accurately), but frankly it's a hell of a lot more evenly distributed than anything you can get with the OEM lenses. Very satisfied with this product. And I finally don't have to worry about disconnecting/reconnecting the bulbs and/or battery any time I go to car shows! Definitely worth every penny

I have to agree with Michael, the packaging was very professional. It looks like something DMC would've handed out at employee outings back in the day. It gave me a spot to put the OEM bulbs too.

[Tomcio]

That is a very nice review Shep. Thank you.
I would like to note one thing. The color of the lights, because of the limitations of the digital cameras, looks a little pale. In reality the LEDs that I have chosen for this project comply with US and ECE colors for outside automotive lighting.

US regulations are:
Amber 590 - 600nm
Red 610nm and above

ECE regulations are:
Amber 588 - 595nm
Red 610nm and above

The LEDs used are:
Amber 592nm
Red 622nm
So, they are within limits for wavelength (color). The color with the OEM lens is a little deeper but overall light output is slightly lower.

It would be great if we could get more reviews with pictures from others. I still have 25 sets left I would love to see them go so I can move on to other projects.

One of the members emailed me with an idea of using two lenses together to get even better light distribution while keeping the stock look. The main reason why I used the custom lenses was to get the colorless and technical appearance seen in the last two pictures in the post above. The DeLorean is black and white and the only color is in the lights. I always wanted to remove the color from the car. The idea for two lenses will keep the stock look and not the colorless idea that I had in mind but it does provide very interesting results. Here's what it looks like:
01.jpg02.jpg
Those two pictures show the same light but with different camera settings. The picture on the left is closer to reality. The four points of light are still visible but barely. One drawback of this setup is that overall light output appears slightly lower compared to the OEM lens alone. This might be due to the fact that the light is evenly distributed without "hot spots" and just appears slightly dimmer. I will try to get some measurements with my lux meter to confirm this.
To get this effect I trimmed the frosted lens small enough so it sits just below the OEM lens but big enough so it's a tight fit and the lens doesn't rattle around.
What do you think? If anyone is interested I can have the lenses laser cut to the new size.