The Best and Brightest Domelight Available
 

This is a project I've been working on for a few weeks now and thought I would finally share it with you guys. I really didn't like the idea that in order for me to have blue lighting in my car, I would have to sacrifice usability and utility. If you've ever tried to find/read something in pure red/blue/whatever light, you know it's difficult at best. I decided to remedy that problem by creating a dual function domelight.

After waiting a couple of weeks, I finally received my proto-boards, reflow soldered the components, and retrofit it into the domelight assembly. There are a total of 24 PLCC LEDs that are used for accent lighting. The 6 main LEDs are Luxeon Rebel LEDs and run up to 900mA each.
http://i.imgur.com/Mr8k1LQ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SuI4L63.jpg


For the Accent function, the domelight is simply left in the "DOOR" position. A voltage controlled pulse width modulation circuit ensures that the LEDs are dimmed as LEDs should properly be dimmed. Every single product offering currently available for this vehicle does not properly dim the LEDs and simply relies on the stock voltage drop. This leads to a domelight that seems to just instantly turn off after dimming just a small amount. My domelights accent LEDs dim 100% linearly. There is also built in thermal shutdown protection, over-current protection, and over-voltage protection.

http://i.imgur.com/mlIBmHL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RVsSGH4.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0OcjZ6F.jpg

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhA-6GIDAz0&feature=player_detailpage"]Daybright Domelight Accent Function - YouTube[/ame]

For the Main LED function, the domelight is simply switched to "ON." The main LEDs are truly the best part about this project. I designed the board where I can easily choose any amount of light output between 100 Lumens, all the way up to 1400 Lumens of total output. For comparison, a stock HID bulb outputs ~3200 Lumens. I ultimately narrowed it down to 3 stages:

Stage 1 - 500 Lumens
Stage 2 - 900 Lumens
Stage 3 - 1400 Lumens

The comparison photos were all shot at the exact same F-Stop and ISO. Enjoy.

http://i.imgur.com/uZmojEM.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JnpldxN.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/aLxUYQs.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QFuETLu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/R5PL3lg.jpg

Another upside to this design is the Accent LEDs can be any color, and the main LEDs can be any color. This includes cool, neutral, warm white, plus deep red, red, red-orange, amber, green, cyan, blue, royal blue, purple, etc.

-Acree

Do u sell these man? Plz pm me price I want!!!

Have you tried driving for over 30 minutes then having a passenger turn the light on for a few seconds to simulate maybe dropping something? I ask because setting 3 and maybe 2 seem incredibly bright, so bright possibly to temporarily have that after glow from your eyes being used to the dark then hit with light for a flash. Definitely interested in setting 1 though if you're ever going to sell them!

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

I have absolutely considered that. That is why I've been testing Stage 3 in my personal car for a couple of weeks now. We recently took a trip down to Austin and had a good amount of driving at night. My girlfriend and I found ourselves using it more than we thought we would.

Saying that, there will without a doubt be people who find Stage 3 absolutely too bright. Personally for me, I did not experience any issues with retaining night vision or being distracted while driving while my passenger was using it.

I would consider making these if there were enough people who were interested.

-Acree

Combine these with some LED strips to go in the footwells with color matching the accent LED's and I think you've got a winner on your hands.

price?!?!

Awesome, well thanks for doing the R&D. Last thing you want is someone to blame you for an accident. You should get a POLL going to get a better idea of your interested numbers. I know I am. Is it possible your LED diodes aren't chinese?

That's a good idea. I added a poll to the thread.

The accent LEDs are sourced depending on their spectral luminosity and peak wavelength. Considering the difference between great LEDs and poor LEDs in this package size is typically $0.25/unit, I never skimp in the selection. I can't tell you whether or not the LEDs are sourced from China. My supplied is headquartered and warehoused here in Texas.

For the main LEDs, they are sourced from North America as well.

-Acree

Stage two :) not too bright just right~~~ judging from your picture haha

What were you using to switch between the different stages? I was thinking about the same problem of getting bright lights when I need it vs not blinding myself all the time at night.

I was thinking of getting the brightest panel I can get my hands on and put in some dimmer circuits, either a simple pot or a PWM. If I can get that same dimmer switch used for the instrument panel (parts # anyone?), and put that up besides the dome switch.

The main LED stage brightnesses are set once installed. The board design is flexible where I can use the same board layout for all 3 stages, but once assembled, the Main LED brightness is set. Therefore, a user would have to order a Stage 1, 2, or 3.

-Acree

Stage 3 gives me a headache...

When does the circle of 6 LED's light? Or is that one of the stages?