GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

[side note - for those of you who had "jeffgtx's 100th post will be about lighting"... YOU WON the pool!]just got done buying my LED lights to try and make teh vibe look like an infiniti from teh back (joke) and i was thinking... it would be nice to be able to make a third brake light that was a nice bar across the mount instead of throwing two LED 'bulbs' in there? seems like you should be able to do it using teh existing bulb sockets and running something lengthwise.i am pretty open on here about my projects (except for one that is in teh works on teh 'low - snicker) becasue what i have liked a lot about this board is the people i have gotten to know through collaboration and troubleshooting. met some pretty cool people, so if anybody can help me with the industrial design aspect, i'd like to see what we can come up with.i started poking around there but was afriad to breeak anything, so i couldnt even get a good look at how much room there is in there after you take the bulbs outFYI, i couldnt find a good bulb replacement guide online (how to get to the lights, etc), does anyone know where it is hiding?thanks,Jeff

Quote, originally posted by jeffgtx »[FYI, i couldnt find a good bulb replacement guide online (how to get to the lights, etc), does anyone know where it is hiding?They hid that information in the owners manual, P. 5-51 in the 2005 version. There was a thread not too long ago http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=11872 , and ragingfish's bulb replacemnet guide at http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=6871

I had to replace the bulb back there not too long ago, and couldn't figure out how to gain access to it. Essentially, instead of unmounting the CHMSL, I went from the outside in and disassembled the thing. Hardly the preferred method, but I couldn't get the thing unclipped like it said in the manual. I had a white 921 LED bulb and threw it in there to see how it would look - far from bright. A red would have been much better, but I just wanted to see what it looked like with some sort of LED inside there. Replaced it with a standard incandescent.I think some LED's back there, a small strip sized so that it can all be contained within the existing housing and use the original lens would be a neat idea. I don't think the existing CHMSL is all that bright - it needs to be more visible, IMHO. The right amount of LED's would do that. Of course, one *could* fabricate a pc board in the shape of the CHMSL, and solder countless LED's on there - several rows. That would be bright. Either way, just tap into the current bulb socket for power...

in http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=8054 , kriswinner was looking into a CHMSL alternative that didn't take up as much of the space in the hatch glass opening, but that was a while ago and we never did hear back if Kris ever did anything about it.

do you even need to 'fab' a board? could not we just use a breadboard... 1 x 20 or something? then wire it into teh socket or get the socket end and wire into that and plug er in?shame on me for not going to the manual for the replacement guide... i figured they would leave that out so i could pay $100 at the dealer.(no love on teh 100th post? )

that should be easily possible. infortuantely, my potential partner in this venture is busy affixing pink decals to his vibe.whats really holding me up is find automotive grade LEDs. no clue where to go...

Go to Allied Electronics, they carry EVERYTHING.alliedelec.comWhat would be great and have a cool factor as well is making that LED strip either light up all the way across for braking or have one half cascading middle to outside along with the turn signal.If you wanted to get fancy you could use bi-colored LEDs so the brake lights are red and the signals are another color.Anytime you work with so many LEDs though you might want to consider socketing them so that you can replace them easily if they burn out.Anybody come up with a housing that would work well for the rear window glass for this project let us know.Quote, originally posted by jeffgtx »that should be easily possible. infortuantely, my potential partner in this venture is busy affixing pink decals to his vibe.whats really holding me up is find automotive grade LEDs. no clue where to go...

(removed)! I'm done with adding pink crap to the car, now it's time to start tinkering around with stuff that lights up again. So I'm game for this project. Let the brainstorming begin!

ok, here is my propose. (inside joke)use these auto grade LEDs in paralellon a breadboard with 12V from teh car, along with a resistor network. 510 ohms?!!?the datasheet for this is DS05.they appear to be no more than 50c each depending what lumens you want, etc, which someone else smarter than m will have to figure out/explain.interested what you guys and colonelpinky, i mean panic, think.http://www.lumileds.com/products/line.cfm?lineId=4

Colonelpinky and the brain... heh! Good find on the LED's! Approximately how many of them would we need, I wonder?The one thing that's my main concern is figuring out a way to ensure the widest viewing angle possible... That may be a bit tricky.

you can put some rear facing so it hits the reflector. the light now doesnt have that wide a viewing angle, because o the black shield.wheres GMJAP and joat when you need em?

Oh yeah! I never thought about that. That would work fine.

ok gimme your credit card and i will buy some i will see if i can get a sample or something.

OK, I've hurt my brain enough trying to figure it out, what is a CHMTSL?

That would be the third brake light up there in the back window. Center high mounted stop lamp.

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »OK, I've hurt my brain enough trying to figure it out, what is a CHMTSL?LOL glad I wasn't the only one! I just surmised they were talking about the third brake light but had no clue what that meant...

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic » Center high mounted stop lamp.(removed) is wrong with calling it a 3rd brake light?

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »(removed) is wrong with calling it a 3rd brake light? kind of like when i call the sheet hanging in my living room to keep the air conditioning in the room the "anti-convection apparatus" (sp?)

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »OK, I've hurt my brain enough trying to figure it out, what is a CHMTSL?Had me confused for a while also, but I figured it was a typo and they really meant CHMSL. Couldn't figure out the significance of the T, unless it was center high mounted tail stop light, but that seemd silly because I've only seen CHMSLs on the back ends of cars, a CHMFSL up front would be interesting but probably not of much use except to alert police that you hit the brakes when you saw them.

hey, if youa re going to comment in this thread, its to help us figure out resistor values!!i was always told is was center high mounter third stop light, hence a T.

Quote, originally posted by jeffgtx »ok, here is my propose. (inside joke)use these auto grade LEDs in paralellon a breadboard with 12V from teh car, along with a resistor network. 510 ohms?!!?the datasheet for this is DS05.they appear to be no more than 50c each depending what lumens you want, etc, which someone else smarter than m will have to figure out/explain.interested what you guys and colonelpinky, i mean panic, think.http://www.lumileds.com/products/line.cfm?lineId=4that manfacturer has a design guide at http://www.lumileds.com/pdfs/protected/AB20-3.PDF a CHMSL example begins on page 24

wonder how i missed that. oh i had dowloaded ab20-1.well, its not exactly in plain english, but i will see if i can understand it.forgot to call for samples today, will try again tomorrow.

Quote, originally posted by jeffgtx »hey, if youa re going to comment in this thread, its to help us figure out resistor values!!I thought I had a valid question that was on topic.

i was talkin to joat, it was joke... its cool.

So what is the goal?Will you be integrating turn signals as well as the brake light into this?I would like to do this to mine as well.I would rather have a wider thinner housing than the current one with a longer string of LEDs though.

the goal is to replace bulbs with LEDs. i do not plan to make any housing modifications, but will provide as much info to those who do.i am currently awaiting my sample kit to arrive. will probably take a week.

Keep me in the loop once you get the samples in! Hey, did we ever figure out what value resistor to use? I haven't looked at the specs yet for these, been a slacker! Ohm's Law is about the only darn thing I remember from electronics skool so maybe I could figure something out.Maybe there was one other thing I remember... I learned was that smoke is what electronics really run on, since as soon as you let the smoke out, that stuff is broken.

If you guys REALLY want LED stop lamps...just trade in for a G6 coupe or convertible! Both get LED stop lamps from the factory.

heh! That's going to be the LED mod for Kari's Vibe - trading it in on a G6 coupe or something. lol!I'm committed to purchasing my cheapo $20K Hyundai that I can't really even afford.

i have a friend playing around witht he formulas from teh design guide joat pointed out.but it may be moot, as one of teh samples i am getting is some high intensity LED he told me about that i can;t find on the website. that could be the one i have been looking for.