TOPIC:

agemax wrote:

next question.......how and where?
thinking of trying to install them in the original headlights but not sure how.
or i could fit them in the front of the chassis, just under the front of the body but then they would be at an angle and not point forwards.
Hmmmmmmmm decisions decisions

I like the idea of fitting them in the lights ... theoretically, the only thing the insides of the shell are doing is providing a fitting for the self tapping screw that holds them on ... if you dremelled off the front face of the light & removed the insides, you could use a bolt (with the head inside the shell) to hold them on, leaving plenty of space inside the shell for a LED ... make a reflector cone & hold the LED in with Milliput, paint it silver, fit a small round of perspex as the lens & it would look like a very scale headlight ...

A simpler alternative might be to space out the existing lights from their mounting points a little (a 10mm plate with a couple of holes in it?), flatten off the angled front of the "mirrors" a little, drill through from the back & fit the LEDs there ...

Look forward to seeing the result, whatever you do - I've long thought it's a shame Tamiya never thought about light buckets for off roaders

i have a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel!!!!!!!

Just a couple of additions/comments from me - (1) If you open up a receiver & look at the back of its board, you'll find that all of the +ve pins are linked together, all of the -ve pins are linked together, but the signal pins will have individual tracks, & it's possible that the 'BATT' connection will only have 2 of the pins connected to anything at all (The +ve & -ve) - this is the easy way to decide which pin does what, without frying anything. It also means that if you want to take power out to power something other than a servo, it doesn't matter which channel you use (As long as you don't use a channel you need for something important eg steering/throttle). (2) Yes, 5v is great for LEDs, but you HAVE to limit the CURRENT (Amps). Use a resistor in line with the LED to limit the current to a value below it's maximum rating (Some have them built-in & will be listed as '12v LED' or 'LEDs for RC cars' or similar. A 1k ohm resistor is about right for 7.2-12v, so start with that for 4.8-5v & gradually reduce the resistance to get best brightness without the LED getting hot or destroying itself. You should connect the LEDs in parallel, & fit 1 resistor to the common +ve feed to them. Note that different colours/brightness-ratings require different resistance values too. Note also that the LED leads are different lengths - the long one is +ve, also if you look at the LED guts, the dish-shaped bit it the -ve (However there are the odd infrared ones out there which are reversed...). (3) A better/safer way to get your 5v for powering lights etc is to just use a LM7805 chip - only has 3 pins (+ve in, -ve, 5v out), is rated 1 amp & will cost less than 1gbp. It's also a good way to find those extra amps for powering multiple or high torque servos when the receiver BEC can't cope...

ok i know i have 4.9v coming from the rx socket that only has a red and a black lead, + =red, - =black. i have tested it with a meter.
i have bought 12v led's with a 5v resistor included,(well, actually 50 of them).
i have read up on fitting led's and from what i can gather the resistor needs to be fitted to the negative side of the led. for what reason i am not sure but that seems to be the common suggestion.
what is a LM7805 chip and what do i do with it?
sorry for my ignorance

on my wild one, i have used Nkko Hardtrax spotlights. they foi leds in them well and can fit on other cars
get a hardtrax of ebay which doesn't work and use it for parts like tires (they are really good)

12v LEDs - fantastic, no need for external restors, they should be built in & will work on anything up to 12v (They were designed for automotive applications). Obviously check this to make sure - stick one across a 9v PP3 battery & make sure it doesn't get hot (Long LED lead to + OR dishy looking thing to -). If you do fit an external resistor, it doesn't matter if it's in the - lead or the + lead, as long as it's in-line with & not across the +/- (in series, not parallel). An LM7805 is a voltage regulator chip - you can stuff up to 30v (I think) into it & it drops it to 5v. They use a micro version of it in receivers & call it BEC... They do other versions too eg LM7812 is for 12v. They can get warm when working with large voltage drops or if you drag a lot of current through them, but this won't happen if you're only driving LEDs off a 7.2v supply. Dunno if I'm allowed to post email addresses here, but if you get stuck, email me at eddrick@planet357.fsnet.co.uk. I've probably got a datasheet for the LM7805 showing size, connection details & ratings if you want that too. It's ignorant to not ask if you're unsure, & it's the only way to learn new stuff

ok so i got one headlight built. was really hoping to make it look like a proper headlight using the internals from a small single led flashlight, using the reflector and the glass but there is just no room in the headlight "bucket" to fit it all in, so here is what i did.
firstly, i cut the front off the headlight and dremmeled out all the plastic inside.
then i fitted the led into a proper holder, drilled a hole in the back of the bucket and sat the led holder in and bonded it with epoxy. the back of the holder pokes out the back of the headlight so replacing the led if needed is possible.
i then "found" a dished steel washer which happens to be the exact same diameter as the headlight and the internal diameter the exact same as the led holder.
when fitted it holds the led holder securely central.
oops, i forgot. i bonded in a piece of 3mm threaded bar in the bottom so the light can be secured into place using a 3mm nut and spring washer.
it is fitted with a rubber mount which i found in a bag of servo parts, this raises the light to clear the white sticky out bits next to the headlight.
obviously its just rigged up to a 9v battery for now and when the other one is built i can wire them up nicely and fit the plug to go in the receiver to power them.
ok, now time for pics......
1. side view (ignore the battery)

2. the front view

3. the light on (blurry pic, dont think the camera liked the bright light!)

4. the bits i used to build it

Nice work

Some very cool detail modding again.
Turning into a great one-off Hopper.

here is a slightly better pic.ooh its gonna be so bright with 2 of them.