DIY Sequential Taillights for approx $20

[pkauf]

Originally Posted by Highlifeman

Ok, here are updated schematics of both the MOSFET design (which no one has successfully built yet) and the relay design, confirmed to work by brettsimons.

The green wire it mentions is for the passenger side taillight and has a white stripe, for the driver's side the wire is yellow with a black stripe. Those wires need to be cut and attached to the labeled connections on the circuit. The other connection should be tapped into a black wire without cutting it.

Digikey parts for MOSFET design:
4x 2SK4017Q-ND
2x 296-21753-5-ND
2x 1N4001-E3/54GICT-ND
2x 445-8552-ND
2x DJA15CT-ND
1x 438-1019-ND
2x RT50J-5.0-ND
2x HM934-ND
2x A100204-ND

Parts for relay design:
2x PB891-ND
2x 296-21753-5-ND
6x 1N4001-E3/54GICT-ND
2x 445-8552-ND
2x DJA15CT-ND
1x 438-1019-ND
2x RT50J-5.0-ND
2x HM934-ND
2x A100204-ND

The box I selected may be overkill and puts the price around the $50 point for everything, but I figured a waterproof box would be a good idea. However, the one from Radioshack shown earlier should work fine and save money. You may also be able to get by with a 35 W resistor to save some money, but I would recommend a heat sink on it if you do, and don't blame me if melts...

Another stupid question. Looking at my relay, i have NC/NO/pins labeled (2 and 5)/and "1 COM". Looking at the diagram, I assume the 2/5 pins represent the pins attached to the diode. Is the COM pin unused? It looks like the lightbulb goes to NO, and both the power wire (green from connector) and the 5 ohm resistor goes to the NC pin?

[sjmautoprod]

Here's the prototype on a perfboard...

[pkauf]

Originally Posted by sjmautoprod

Here's the prototype on a perfboard...

You have a pic of the back side?

[pkauf]

Originally Posted by sjmautoprod

Here's a quick video showing the timing of the circuit that we put together. The relay chosen is nice and small, too.

I'm breadboarding this first, and I noticed you are using a couple of LEDs to simulate the lights. Can you give me an idea of the connections for those leds? It appears you are using some resistors . . . Sorry for the newbie questions, just wanted to make sure how i could test it. Also, what could I use for the power source to do this type of test?

[Highlifeman]

Originally Posted by pkauf

Just starting to work on building my circuit - any tricks to getting the relay pins to match up on the breadboard? Seems like there really isn't a wait to get it through the holes correctly . . . The 555 (the socket I got) fits perfectly . . .
I am just making sure that bending the pins is the way to go, or is there a trick?

That's weird that they won't line up, but you will be fine bending them as long as you're careful and don't break them.

Originally Posted by pkauf

Another stupid question. Looking at my relay, i have NC/NO/pins labeled (2 and 5)/and "1 COM". Looking at the diagram, I assume the 2/5 pins represent the pins attached to the diode. Is the COM pin unused? It looks like the lightbulb goes to NO, and both the power wire (green from connector) and the 5 ohm resistor goes to the NC pin?

COM is the top connection on the relay in my diagram; sorry I forgot to label it. The power wire connects to the COM, and only the resistor goes to NC. You are correct about pins 2 and 5, and the light bulb going to NO.

[pkauf]

Thanks to Highlifeman for all his help!!! Now on to building them . . .

[Blues45th]

Any locals wanna help me. I have no electrical skills at all.

[sjmautoprod]

Originally Posted by pkauf

You have a pic of the back side?

Umm, sure! Nasty, point-to-point wiring, but, the real-deal would be a custom board...

[IOM Black Diamond]

Originally Posted by sjmautoprod

Here's the prototype on a perfboard...

Very nice job

[pkauf]

Originally Posted by sjmautoprod

Umm, sure! Nasty, point-to-point wiring, but, the real-deal would be a custom board...

Thanks, not too Nasty. I just started moving my breadboarded version to a similar setup. Taking my time, i'm sure the back will look similar!!

Paul

[SmokeScreen45th]

Originally Posted by sjmautoprod

Here's the prototype on a perfboard...

Nice!!

[IncrediblyX]

Looks like no one is having any luck with the MOSFET design. So I think I'll go with the relay version. Are there any problems to date? I'm going to support my local economy by going to Radio Shack. Thanks to all of you in the research and development. Good job!

Am I missing anything? What are the substitutes if these can't be found?

Radio Shack Shopping List
2x = RELAY GEN PURPOSE SPDT 5A 12V
2x = IC OSC MONO TIMING 8-DIP (555 TIMER)
6x = DIODE GEN PURPOSE 50V 1A DO204AL
2x = CAPACITOR CER 10UF 25V 10% RADIAL
2x = TRIMMER 100K OHM 0.1W TH (variable resistor)
1x = PC BOARD 4"X5" UNCLAD 0.1"
2x = RESISTOR 5.0 OHM 50W 5% TO-220
2x = CONN IC SOCKET VERT 8POS TIN
2x = BOX ABS 3.5X3.5X2.4" GREY

Also to add to the list: wires, soldier, soldier wick, flux, heat shrink tubing

[sjmautoprod]

FYI: Yesterday, when we were installing our new RS head lights, we found that too much current will cause a Bulb Out error. This was for the stock turn signal bulbs plus load resistors. Swapping the LED bulbs back in cleared it up.

This means that you don't want the load resistor connected when the relay/MOSFET turns on the outer lamp.

[brettsimons]

Originally Posted by IncrediblyX

Looks like no one is having any luck with the MOSFET design. So I think I'll go with the relay version. Are there any problems to date? I'm going to support my local economy by going to Radio Shack. Thanks to all of you in the research and development. Good job!

Am I missing anything? What are the substitutes if these can't be found?

Radio Shack Shopping List
2x = RELAY GEN PURPOSE SPDT 5A 12V
2x = IC OSC MONO TIMING 8-DIP (555 TIMER)
6x = DIODE GEN PURPOSE 50V 1A DO204AL
2x = CAPACITOR CER 10UF 25V 10% RADIAL
2x = TRIMMER 100K OHM 0.1W TH (variable resistor)
1x = PC BOARD 4"X5" UNCLAD 0.1"
2x = RESISTOR 5.0 OHM 50W 5% TO-220
2x = CONN IC SOCKET VERT 8POS TIN
2x = BOX ABS 3.5X3.5X2.4" GREY

Also to add to the list: wires, soldier, soldier wick, flux, heat shrink tubing

No problems so far! And the relays they have at radio shack don't do what we need so if you look back at my post, you'll see how we modified our relay to have the load resistor create the same resistance as the bulb for only during the delay from when the is power supplied to when the bulb actually turns on. Also, unless you want to figure out the resistor setup you need, you can use the setup I have since it works but it is 5.9 ohms if I remember correctly and it isn't the most direct approach since I tried to keep my cost down by only buying resistors that I needed that didn't have from my original run to radio shack for this project.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2