mrplow123456

So some of you may have read that I want to make my own underglow. I have all the parts priced out and I need to find some either cheaper alternatives or just some better parts. I am doing all of this off of information I have gathered either on this forum, other forums, or just from professionals in certain fields. I am coming to you for any kind of experience that you may working with either electrical or elemental resistance.

First, with the electrical end. One post found on a fish forum, that I for some reason can no longer find, showed how to wire led's to wire and shove it in a tube. With the kit I am making I plan on putting an led at every 2 inches soldering it to a resistor and then both ends to wire. Once the string of leds is completed, I plan on spraying the entire stran with liquid rubber electrical tube to ensure waterproofness. Like professional kits, I want to use connectors for simple wiring so I found some MSD connectors that, however, expensive, are ensured to withstand anything thrown at it. At about $8 for a male/female set with pins it sets the cost of making these underglow kits back a bit.

http://www.msdpowersports.com/connectors.html

Seoncd, the tubing and mounting. So far the best tubing I have found is 5/8" vinyl tubing. It is very cheap, flexible when needed, and has an 1/8" thick wall. I understand the vinyl tends to get brittle and eventually crack but how long are we talking? 6 months, a year, 10 years? After I have the strand of leds put together I am cutting the tube open so I can work around inside of it and drill holes every 2 inches to place the leds through the tubing. Once finished, I will clear silicone all holes and somehow put the tube back together without it coming back apart. Then, I will shove plugs in either end and make holes for the wires to feed through and silicon the end to the tubing. The part I haven't quite figured out yet is a way to mount these to a car and not worry about it shaking loose or have the hanger block much, if any, of the light.

I am pretty much asking what problems do you forsee? what could I find to make this cheaper? or more productive?

lowlife9

can i ask you why not just buy a kit there not that expensive
and they have warranties do you just like building your own stuff????

mrplow123456

Yeah I do actually, it's the way I learn. And I know they are cheap, I think StreetGlo's best leds are like $90. But I have plans for this that I can't do EASILY with other underglo kits. If I end up selling it I also wanna give some of the options like pulsing to the music and some of the other things companies have been doing with their kits. Also I am using high output wide angle leds for a more even and brighter glow. Some of the ones I have seen u can tell where the leds actually sit. So in short its more or less just learning/experimentingand getting what I want that other's can't offer.

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

LED's arent very bright at all... thats the problem I cant get past.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

say no no to glows!

mrplow123456

And that is another reason I am doing my own. Granted that neons are superior in lighting but when leds are mounted so closely to the ground, their lighting qualities are suficiant enough. I heard that manufacturers are only using leds rated between 4k-5k mcd which is barely bright enough to see them. hopefully using 8.5k mcd leds with a viewing angle of 135 degrees will fulfill my needs. I have some friends that are willing to have me throw some short tubes on their bike so I can have a feel for how bright they really are. Hopefully everything comes together as I see it in my head on through most of the numbers on paper. I'm really trying to get some of it started to see how it turns out and I'm trying to mainly figure out the hangers and whether vinyl tubing is satisfactory or not. The last thing I need is to make 5 of these kits just for one person dude to the tubing falling apart.

lowlife9

this is the kit i bought there wide angle super brite multi color leds i also have music control but i dont use it they also srobe 20 diffrent ways evan nite ryder style but i dont use that either this kit is so brite you can see it in daylight it was really easy to install and comes with a lifetime warranty not bad for $85.00 bucks and free shippingps this kit uses impact resistant acrylic with built in resisters

mrplow123456

How is the lighting on them? Anything like the pictures? and is there a harness that plugs into the module? anyway I wanna check these out bc I might just say hell with it and work on my own custon stuff for underglows instead. lol Who are they made by?

lowlife9

dam i forgot the name i got them on ebay im sure three still on there just look for multi color led kit or just led kit and try to find that pick i put up.the briteness is exactly as the pic i couldn't believe my eyes when i turned them on.

lowlife9

all the tubes connect into a harness yes i put the control module rite by my leg on the console for easy access also the clear control module lights up the color that you use so you no whats what.

mrplow123456

I can't believe you actually had me looking on eBay for underglow. No offense to you, but ebay is the last place I want to get stuff like that unless it is name brand. Besides, who needs 7 different colored led underglows? Who needs them to pulse different colors? Yeah sure, it's cool to be able to go up to your friends and be like look what I got and watch what I can do. I prefer simpler things that have more science behind them, if that made sense. I just want plain jane blue led under glow that does nothing other then be on or off. That was one of the reason's I want to make it myself bc then I can just tap into the wires I need and do what I want with it. Sorry for the short rant but I'm tired and looking through ebay for stuff that is supposed to be sorta high tech and all the posters have is just a picture of their supposed ultimate underglow. So yeah til I find UnderGlow that is just simple, has very good lighting qualities, and makes me happy, I am continuing to do it my way. Alright I think the rant is over.

lowlife9

well i hear you about the pulsing i never use it and never planned on it but i do have a white civic so basically any color will work i also got it mainly for the blue but i also like the fact that i do have options if i feel like it but as for ebay i really dont trust them but this product really surprised me regarding qualty i live in connecticut the roads are awful and the winters are worse ive had this product for 2 years without a single problem and im very happy with it expescially for the low cost i paid.just trying to help

mrplow123456

Like I said, I meant no offense to you and I'm glad that you found something of such great quality. Mostly ebay junk is hit or miss. And I hear you on the winters. Pennsylvania ain't all nice and sunny either. Thats part of the reason I'm questioning using vinyl. I found some cheap kits on eBay but I am more of a name brand person. You look at the parts on my call and you can tell that. It just sucks paying for something and then 2 weeks later having it break and then the seller takes no responsibility for it. Sigh I think I'm going to save my leds for the time being and just buy some underglow. I have plenty of ideas for the leds anyways. I still want to do this but soldering over 100 leds and resistors and then all that to wire is not exactly on my to-do list and I need my underglow by May for the car show. In the meantime I must get started on my circuit board for the leds to pulse with the music. Thanks for the information though .

lowlife9

no problem throw some pics up when your all finished .

ProjectMayhemR

iTrader: (1)

I remember when I thought neon was cool.... I was 14 years old. Guess what else I thought was cool when I was 14... yeah that's right euro lights, body vinyls, and wings. Keep trash off of your car.

mrplow123456

You know one thing I learned on this forum and most other forums is that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I will never say the way you work on cars or build cars or however you want to look at it is wrong or ugly. I may voice my opinion on a lip kit or purchasing rims that look just like factory ones or whatever but thats not what I am after right now. I am simply asking for peoples advice on the use of the above mention materials and how well they hold up.

Thank you for your input, regardless, but the truth of everything related to cars is definitely in the eye of the beholder. Euro Tails can look very nice on any car as long as the tails were designed correctly and not some ebay junk. The same goes for wings. Yeah steel wings are overly excessive but hell I saw 2 cars last weekend where I was both shocked and impressed with how it looked on the car. And vinyls is something on a whole other page and I am not getting into that atm.

Please understand I'm not trying make enemies just simply defending my beliefs as I will never tell you what parts should and shouldn't be on yours. Thanks now you got me in a fighting mood. I'll be back I gotta find some little kids.

lowlife9

well honestly when i first got the kit i loved it now they kind of got old for me i barely use them anymore if not at all mainly because there's to many pigs around looking to fill there quotas

mrplow123456

Yeah thats one thing I'm afraid of but I don't plan on using them much while driving around. It's mainly for shows, hanging out with friends at the nearest Sheetz's, or just to demo for others. I'm not saying I'm not going to use it on the roads but THAT is not the reason for getting them. I think that that is the reason so many people hate them is bc everyone has them and always uses them. Oh well.

lowlife9

when i did use them on the road i kept one finger on the kill switch kept me out of a couple tickets

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

oh they are lol. superflux leds are a good 4-6 lumens each, which are used in oem led tails. then you get even brighter if you step up to hi power leds. a single 1w led can produce between 40-100 lumens depending on the color. higher watt leds go up to several hundred lumens. thats a ton of light considering a small 194 bulb produces 30 lumens. you could easily make underglow just using superflux leds, which do not require any cooling or heatsinks. they are very wide angle and bright. or if you want white leds, go for the new cree P4 which are not as bright but still plenty if you use a bunch. i have 10 red superflux in my door marker lens and you can see the light a mile away at night. you can get a very even glow if you leave enough space in front of them to spread out the light.

mrplow123456

Yeah I'm gonna have to agree with gear on this one. I am using pretty much regular leds and they are decently bright. I haven't had a chance to play with the superflux yet though. Do they come just like led's or have resistors built in? I am looking for cheap and bright leds. Whats the overall price for one superflux?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

they are just like leds except square and have 4 legs (only 2 are required to light it). you can get genuine superflux in tubes of 60 usually for around $15-20 if you know where to look. check hidplanet.com for sale forums or post a 'want to buy'. they are max of 70ma current, usually around 2.5V forward voltage, and usually regular 1/2 watt resistors work fine so long as you have enough hooked in series.

heres a small array of red-orange superflux

mrplow123456

Ah yeah I remember seeing these. You used them for your brake lights or something. Can't remember exactly what but the pics were very bright. What are the other legs for? dimming so you can use it like parking and brake lights? And what kind of solder do you use? Mine is a little too thick and pretty much just makes messes of things atm.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

just regular electronic solder from radioshack and a 30w iron. the other legs are extras, for better connection i guess and maybe better heat transfer. they really dont get that hot tho.

Lonwel

this is a noob's opinion and story so only take it for what it's worth, nothing!

i bought twenty feet of wiring conduit drilled two hundred holes put my led's in the holes then hot glued them in, then tied the led leads in series of four creating something that only needs a twelve volt source but i'm a scarty cat and used a 1ohm resistor on each just so i don't push too much current through and did that like 50 times then i had underglow i used steel sheet metal and real coarse screws to hold them into the rubber body plugs just inside of the body lift rail or w/e you call it (it's the thing with the two factory lift points on it between the wheels and ran the wire through the rear stopper below the trunk into the passenger compartment. i've been running them for about three months, and have yet to see snow but i'm hoppin they'l live through Canadian winters. So that's a noob's opinion talking to you in english clas. peace

Lonwel

this is a noob's opinion and story so only take it for what it's worth, nothing!

i bought twenty feet of wiring conduit drilled two hundred holes put my led's in the holes then hot glued them in, then tied the led leads in series of four creating something that only needs a twelve volt source but i'm a scarty cat and used a 1ohm resistor on each just so i don't push too much current through and did that like 50 times then i had underglow i used steel sheet metal and real coarse screws to hold them into the rubber body plugs just inside of the body lift rail or w/e you call it (it's the thing with the two factory lift points on it between the wheels and ran the wire through the rear stopper below the trunk into the passenger compartment. i've been running them for about three months, and have yet to see snow but i'm hoppin they'l live through Canadian winters. So that's a noob's opinion talking to you in english clas. peace