custom LED brake light

[Doug Meek]

Hello
Don’t know if this should go here but…
I cast aluminum, and had an idea for a custom brake light. I would like too use LED’s for the light but I have no idea how too wire them. Can I wire them just like tungsten light’s positive too negitive, in a chain with one ground and one positive end, or should I wire a string of less then 12v lights, and wire them positive too positive until I reach 12v? I am using the radio shack 5mm LED’s with built in resistor. I will need 19 in total

 

[Optical Inferno]

I'm sure Schienmann has his answer as a macro for just such occasions. Please look at the other threads in this forum regarding what you are wanting to do.

Unless you are willing to spend $100,000+ on optical design and research and an additional $30,000-$50,000+ on certification and testing, don't bother. It's illegal.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Doug,

Welcome to the forum!

If you think the electrical part is complicated, just you wait and see how complicated the OPTICAL part is.

Sure, it's fun to play with LEDs and lenses and wires and all that, but a brake lamp is a safety device. We like to think that we can, with just a little bit of coaching, build something like this, but it's rather ill-advised to try to proceed down this path. If you want to build something with 19 LEDs, you could make a perfectly dandy task light with white LEDs, or a high-efficiency light for a cabin that helps preserve your night vision with red LEDs. Just don't try to build something that could get people injured or killed because it wasn't done properly.

 

[-Virgil-]

The other posters have it right -- homemade brake lights are not safe or legal, and Rule 11 of this board prohibits advocating illegal or dangerous activity.