ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

So I know Caseoane went above and beyond building this thread and his results are great for the tail lights, but has anyone tried AngelEyes for the headlights for the pre2006? I've been doing a lot of research and found these, but not sure if they would work properly, as they've shown them on apparently a 2006+?

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...006-sc430.html
http://www.shoppmlit.com/catalogsear.../?q=sc430&cat=

Caseoane

UPDATE MARCH 2016 - DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS MOD!

Hopefully no-one has tried my Angel Eyes mod, because a year later, the angel eyes have stopped working. Not sure if it's the heat on the LEDs or that I just bought crappy stuff, but the result is that they only partially light up now (which makes me think they weren't really COB Leds).

I ended up removing the whole thing and gifting myself a set of 2006+ tail lights, which look absolutely awesome.

If someone is interested in fixing my mistake, I have a set of 2002 tail lights with all the wiring in, including resistors....

Scarletti

Heat does kill LED's.

The more powerful ones often have Aluminium backing to act as heat sinks. However even with that you'd need the heat to bleed off somewhere. Possible some of the damage was done last Summer as the glass lens/enclosure would act like a greenhouse.

BUT I suspect direct heat is only half the story (perhaps 1/3rd of the story). I think the Voltage/Current has killed them...

LED's (even the ones acting as backlights for TFT TV's/Monitors, OLED's etc) are de-rated to give them much longer lifespans. Power = Light & Heat.

A 10% reduction/de-rating in apparent brightness can give 30-40% more lifespan.

Perhaps if you (or someone else) did the mod again try putting a DC-DC regulator in to power them and make it "current and voltage limited" (and turn it down a notch)? (that's what LED Strips and other proper installations do).

Silly question, but the 12v line in the SC430 you're coming off... is it measuring 14.4v when the engine is running? Incandescents can cope with that but you ****** the LED life if you give them too much unregulated voltage. You'll never discover this on the bench whilst testing it takes weeks/months to take effect.

Edit: I note the item says it's tolerant upto 30vdc and has a current limiter inline? Even so, comments stand. I'd put my own Regulator inline and derate them.

Caseoane

Scarletti,

thanks for the comment, that makes sense. I did put resistors in, but of course, that doesn't lower the voltage.
I'm in no mood to try this again, but if someone is, I hope they learn from my mistakes.

Mind if I ask you a related question, since you know what you're talking about? Is LED flickering also caused by excess voltage? I put for DRLs and they flicker like a strobe. I added a 50W resistor, and they STILL flicker. It's driving me nuts.

Should I lower the voltage that gets to them? They don't flicker when I hook them up to an independent battery.

thanks!

cs

Scarletti

To a limited extent,

Two things spring to mind, not sure you can do much about them.

Firstly, do other people see the same flickering in the same way?

Other than that I think:
1. It's the Voltage Regulator. Could be cheap & nasty, or it could be misbehaving when hot?
2. The LED brightness is being governed by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) IE turned on/off rapidly by the controller, certain values may give a strobe/flickering effect. PWM can be used to reduce brightness and/or save power (IE turn half of the LED elements on then the other half. Do that 25 times a second and it saves Juice and most people wouldn't notice).

Apart from the heat issue, not sure what else you could do apart from return those DRL's and get an alternative make/model (which may or may not have a better Regulator/Controller).

Good luck!

Scarletti

I've done a search for "LED/DRL/flickering" and it's a known issue.

I would have suspected this is a 2006+ issue as the early SC's didn't have a full CANBus like modern cars. But you have a 2002 so scratch that thought!

$19.99 for a Lexus SC430 from this shop (+15% Easter discount to come off this). R4 is the option you want. Seems they have videos and installation guides on the site too.

Caseoane

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I had done a search in the forum, too, but didn't find a consistent answer: for some people they flicker, for some they don't, for others only slightly, for some a resistor fixed it, for others, not...

Either way, it seems I was misinterpreting the issue, wasn't I? The problem is not too much voltage, rather, it's not enough voltage...

R4 decoder on order... will report back when they get here.

Thanks again, Scarletti!

Scarletti

more like inconsistent voltage.

No guarantee that will fix your issue of course! (but sounds promising!).

Like most searches, it's knowing the keywords to search for and I find google a better way than doing it within the various forums (IE add site:https://www.clublexus.com to the end of your google search EG for this example LED DRL flickering site:www.clublexus.com)

Fingers crossed!

Caseoane

Good point on the search method. I limit the site for other things, but it never ocurred to me to do it here...

Caseoane

Scarletti - the decoders worked! Just put them on and no flickering from the LEDs... just a sharp, clear, steady, almost divine light coming out of my DRLs :-).

Thanks again for all the help. Now on to improve the handling (rear swaybar is next).

cs

Scarletti

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

Caseoane, glad it worked out! I know you've done a lot of research and testing with these halo stop lights! I'm still following your thread and DIY. I have an extra set of tail lights and have the rings you recommended from out past convos. Wondering if you could throw up a wiring diagram to show which wires you've piggy backed off and which function they give you (illuminated with headlights lights or with stop/brake function)? And as we discussed previosuly, no dash warning lights, right? Oh yea did you remove the old resistors in adding this new decoder? If so maybe a diagram with them drawn in. Thanks buddy!

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

Also Caseone, Not sure if you wanted to update, but your first post still states that they failed and that we shouldn't follow the DIY. Not sure if you want to post a sit rep to the first post.

Caseoane

Thanks... I would still not try it. Maybe if you can figure out the voltage regulator, you can preserve the angel eyes, but this mod is too much work and too irreversible, to take that risk.

Hope all is well! :-)