Alternate Flashing LED's

[Stormvet]

OK, I have seen a lot of post on here about flashing LED's for police & fire vehicles. Keep in mind I am definitely not an expert in electronics! I searched for some circuitry on alternate flashing LED's and came up with the following:

2 - 470 Ohm, 5% Tolerance resistors
2 - 39K Ohm, 5% Tolerance resistors
2 - 10uF / 16V Capacitors
2 - Transistors (Radio Shack #2N3904)
2 - LED's (you pick the color)

When properly assembled, these components will make alternate flashing LED's and are quite impressive in an X-MOD. The attached pic shows both lights on but they do alternate and look x-tremely cool!

I have a few pictures of the wiring of the components but do not have the photos of them in my RSX yet.

If anyone is interested I will find the link to the website again and post it.

Good luck with your MODS!
:bled:
http://home.kc.rr.com/stormvet/X-MOD%20Lights%20006.jpg

[TypeZer0]

wow, that circuitry looks quite simple. ph2t has been working on one (dunno the status of it now) and he was using an OP-AMP to generate a square wave to make it flash. coudl you post teh schematic or the link to the site with the schematic? how fast does it flash>

[Stormvet]

I will search for the schematic and post it today. The LED's on my RSX flash at a rate of about 1 cycle per second (this rate is determined by the 39K Ohm resistors and can be changed easily).

Here are some pics of the LEDs in my RSX (Not a lot of mods yet).

http://home.kc.rr.com/stormvet/P7030031.JPG
http://home.kc.rr.com/stormvet/P7030032.JPG
http://home.kc.rr.com/stormvet/P7030033.JPG

[Stormvet]

I found the schematic again. It came from this websit:
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/circ/flash2.htm

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/circ/flash2.gif

[dragon4450]

i wonder how hard it would be to add a 3rd led into that and make it flash aside from the rest of them. you know like have a random flashing patern for 3 leds.

[Chettaman]

That is a great pic of how you wired it up, but how do you do it? Is possible to get a step by step guide on how to wire this up and what differences the different capacitors and resistors make? Thanks.

[Stormvet]

I'm going to be doing another one for a buddy so I will take step by step notes and photos when I do it.

Should be pretty soon (within the next week).

Thanks!

[richh]

quick question... do the led's simply alternate left, right, left, right? or is there a point where they are both on before one turns off?

[TypeZer0]

the transistors act like on/off switches and from what i can tell, they won't turn on together

[Stormvet]

They alternate left and right. They are never really "ON" together. There may be a little bit of bleed over while the light is going away (hence the picture where they look like they are both on) but they are not.

I hope this helps.

[truckian]

Are you supposed to use 39Kohm or 3.9Kohm resistors. Because at Radioshack all they had were 3.9Kohm resistors.

Edit: also, how do you power the lights? Do you somehow hook them up to the car battery? Pics would be appreciated.

[Stormvet]

You might need to check a couple of different Radio Shacks. The resistors are supposed to be 39K Ohm. I ended up using 33K Ohm resistors because the RS I went to did not have the 39K except for in an assortment pack for $11.99

As for the power... I hooked it up to the power leads coming up to the motor plug and it worked as follows:

on High Trim the lights would alt flash as they are supposed to. The lower setting made the lights flash much faster (almost strobe). This is the reason that I am working on an alternate power source. I originally configured this for a 9V circuit but there is no room under the body for a 9V. The obvious would be to reduce resistors to allow for less voltage (6V) but I want to ensure that there will not be a change in the flash rate from high to low trim. Therefore; I am still searching for an additional power source (aside from the battery pack of the XMod).

I hope this information is helpful.

[wasuri]

WOW! im going to have to do this now. Since the skyline has the 2 different lights in the back (backup lights) it would be really cool to have two of them! Maybe even a backup light that works when you backup? hmmm a project bc?

[HotCar]

for an alternate power source u could use two 3v watch batteries(panasonic cr2016), i took apart a LED keychain that was really bright and that is what powered that. it gives you 6v of power, but takes up less than .5 cm of space.

[TypeZer0]

one of those shoudl be fine, 6 volts kills some led's

[Deity]

hah cool.....now you need some stickers on the side that say "rice police"...that would be sweet..

[Spike88DS]

are you going to paint it if you are here are a few idies

1 paint it black with white with black doorslike a police squad car
2 paint it fire red

[MidWestRacer]

Wow! Those will look great on my *next* project after I finish my Porsche GT-1 Project. I'm thinking of doing either a new Crown Vic or Impala and have it totally copped out. That light mod will look sweet on whichever body I use. Thanks for the help

[Stormvet]

Go for the Impala! That would look sweet!

I'd love to see some pics of that project.

I'm looking into what it would take to do an F150 SuperCrew but I think I'm going to have problems with the wheelbase. What do you think... a set of 1/24 scale 36's (am I going to have trouble finding rims??? LOL).

Good luck with your projects!

[MidWestRacer]

OK, I have paused my GT-1 project and have switched to a military-style Humvee (w/ the slant back). I just finished making the basic chassis for it (huge 1/24th scale) and now I have to save money to get an XMod, some blue LED's, and those other parts (I'm thinking cop-style Humvee :D ). Because of how huge this thing is compared to the tiny little XMods, I'm going to have more than enough space for some crazy upgrades (ie Command Logic lights, a few pairs of blue/red flashers, battery upgrades, etc.). Also, I'm trying to find some huge tires for it (probably taller than an XMod) and I'm going to make a custom "live" axle in the rear (solid axle) with a four-point type suspension (y'all 4x4 truck people know what I'm talking about) and probably the same in the front ... It's going to be insane! When I made the chassis earlier tonight, I made this real thick (I think it's like 1/4" thick) bumper on the front for when I crash into walls or w/e. Those police flashers will look great on this once I do a nice Police-Style black & white paint job w/ the stickers and all. I'll try to get some pics soon for y'all, I'll make another topic under Mods & Projects for it.

[ninja828]

so just originally where specifically did you hook up your LEDs to for the power source? i think i missed it....or i can't read:rolleyes:

[Stormvet]

The lights were originally hooked to the positive and negative leads that come up on the top side of the motor. The only problem is, if you want to change motors you have to de-solder the connections.

[Stormvet]

Originally posted by MidWestRacer
OK, I have paused my GT-1 project and have switched to a military-style Humvee (w/ the slant back). (I'm thinking cop-style Humvee :D ).

Being a former MP I can't wait to see this project. Good luck and I hope things turn out the way you are anticipating!

[MidWestRacer]

Here's a couple pics of the Humvee so far. The pics w/ just green is b4, the pics w/ green & black is what I've painted so far. The brass/green piece is the chassis so far (green parts are now black).

[MidWestRacer]

The black didn't show up too well. It's the front fenders, sides of slantback, gas cap, and hood vents. The white is filler where I cut down some spots for minor aerodynamic purposes.

[MidWestRacer]

Look in my GT-1 topic in "Mods and Projects" for new pics of the GT-1, Humvee, and anothe car .... (to find out, you'll just have to go look ;) ) Here's a preview pic of the Humvee as-is rite now: BTW, the black parts will be black, and the currently-green parts will be white once I'm done w/ the body filler.

[tparty]

I found a 1/25th scale crown vic police body ... how hard would it be to adapt to the 1/24th scale xmod chasis?

[funkytones]

"1/24th scale xmod chasis?"... xmods are 1/28 ;)

i tried making this circuit and it didnt work... when i would power it up both leds just stayed constantly on... hmmmm...

[MidWestRacer]

Tparty - XMods are 1/28th, and you'll have to buy the squad and test-fit the body onto the XMod chassis to see how well the wheel base fits. If your XMod is not at it's longest wheelbase, I suggest you extend it then test fit it to see how much you need to trim and all that. What company makes the squad you saw? I'll have to keep my eyes open for it.

[Stormvet]

Originally posted by funkytones
"1/24th scale xmod chasis?"... xmods are 1/28 ;)

i tried making this circuit and it didnt work... when i would power it up both leds just stayed constantly on... hmmmm...

Try turning your LED's around (switching the leads) one at a time. I had that same problem the first time I put it together.

[ninja828]

what do u mean when you refer to the "leads" again?

[Stormvet]

Originally posted by ninja828
what do u mean when you refer to the "leads" again?

Basically, change the polarity going through the LED.
Desolder the positive and negative leads going to the LED and switch them around.

[ninja828]

ahhhh....ok thanks for clearing it up

[ninja828]

okay, i did it the first time, but when i tried the setup again a second time, it didn't work. i didn't have time to go to Fry's so i picked up the following at my local RS:

1) 2xLED( one red one blue)
2)2x10uf/16v capacitor www (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?MSCSProfile=745D84CBF04D14A48AA6FF9C89 D722C0BA68C1B04FE384678A5285FCD6E056B17AF21627FDAB E316B90B3C038D68EBD6B7F9F3BD1712EAA9951ACB2590A05C 6517EFE46941FEFDD1985D4EFD6321F5E70B4DE9B6C1D45512 A2E2690A6961FCE4F73ECDBB6BE9D47DC495FEF926D089360D D348CB5B5EC9D15814AEE17D4A623D72D84C17C7F555DB&cookie%5Ftest=1&catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=272-1436)
3)2x 33k ohm resistor
4)2x 330 hom resistor
5)2x 2N2222 transistor

after soldering everything toghether and using a 9v for the power source, the LEDs just stayed on......no flashing. can anyone tell me what i'm doin wrong here? funkytones, if you got it to work, could you hit me up on aim and tell me how u did it?thanks

[Stormvet]

Originally posted by ninja828


after soldering everything toghether and using a 9v for the power source, the LEDs just stayed on......no flashing. can anyone tell me what i'm doin wrong here? funkytones, if you got it to work, could you hit me up on aim and tell me how u did it?thanks

I hate to say it but I would suggest tracing everything back through each side of the circuit very carefully. You may not have one of the connections done properly.
The other thing that I'm not 100% certain about is the 2N2222 transistors. Most transistors should work but they could be the culprit.
You could test this theory by lowering the voltage being supplied to the circuit. Try dropping down to 6V or so.

Just a couple of suggestions for you. Not sure if they will solve your problem or not. Good luck!

[funkytones]

nope... i got it almost all resoldered after i took it back apart... but one of the wires broke off one of the trans right next to the main part of it... so i have notheirg to solder it too... so i have stoped short of doing anything till i get another one...hehe... but still workin on it...hehe... tommorow i'll hit up RS...

[funkytones]

well i went another route... and went out on a limb... and look where i am... check out my car now:

http://www.rcpics.net/view_single.php?medid=19139

lol ;)

[TypeZer0]

looks sweet. did you setup three separate circuits or somehow combined it into one?

[Stormvet]

Originally posted by funkytones
well i went another route... and went out on a limb... and look where i am... check out my car now:

http://www.rcpics.net/view_single.php?medid=19139

lol ;)

That is AWESOME!!!!! Great Job!
Now, can you submit a post on how you did it? I'd love to see all of the details on that one.

Thanks!

[danny_v_l]

woop woop thats the sound of the police woop woop thats the sound of the beast

[ninja828]

oh wow u got it! and dam that's NIIIIIIIIIIIICE! well.......mine is still not workin properly. my blue led goes one, but my red one starts off ok then fades to off...... i've been looking over that schematic and what i did for at least a week now AND I STILL CAN"T GET IT! i got the right transistors (2n3904).....still didn't work. i was wondering......hey, funkytones, are you using the 10uf 16v tantalum capacitor or is it an electrolyte one like in the stormvet's pics?

[funkytones]

actually i scrapped making that circuit up above... i went to somthing totally different...hehe... look me up on aim and i'll might fill ya in ;)

[TypeZer0]

that's cool and all but i think we would all appreciate it if you posted it here for all of us to read. don't forget that this is a place to share information :D

[ninja828]

hm....hey stormvet, are you sure that the capacitors should be 10uf 16v, not 10uf 35v?

[Stormvet]

Originally posted by ninja828
hm....hey stormvet, are you sure that the capacitors should be 10uf 16v, not 10uf 35v?

Well, the one's that I used were 10uf 16v. And that is what the schematic called for.

[shadowblade]

Originally posted by funkytones
actually i scrapped making that circuit up above... i went to somthing totally different...hehe... look me up on aim and i'll might fill ya in ;)


Heck, I'd even pay for a scematic like that. That is awesome!!

[truckian]

Does it matter the voltage of the LEDS?