Blue illuminated star in the grill
-
Hey Everyone! Enter your ride HERE to be a part of this months Ride of the Month Challenge!
21 - 38 of 38 Posts
Its beautiful. Its not overly done. Very classy!!
I cant get the role of the acrylic though. This is to "guide" the blue light to the edges and to have some edge effect? I am a lazy boy. What if we just somehow insert this little LED filament light behind the star and around the circle? No need to remove the grille I hope.
![Light Lighting Visual effect lighting Font Line]()
you think the method can work?
regards
Bryan
I cant get the role of the acrylic though. This is to "guide" the blue light to the edges and to have some edge effect? I am a lazy boy. What if we just somehow insert this little LED filament light behind the star and around the circle? No need to remove the grille I hope.
DC3V Light Accessories LED Bead LED Filament Flexible Filament Lamp Parts | eBay
The real color of the item may be slightly different from the pictures shown on website caused by many factors such as brightness of your monitor and light brightness. Length: 130mm,300mm. Color: Warm White/Red/Green/Blue.
www.ebay.com.au
you think the method can work?
regards
Bryan
Attachments
It's only 3V, so you'd need some resistors to take down the power from 12V. Those could get hot, so probably some heavy-duty ones.
Also, the circumference of the star is about 55cm, so both of them are to short. But if you're ok with only part of it light up like that, then sure, why not!?
Also, the circumference of the star is about 55cm, so both of them are to short. But if you're ok with only part of it light up like that, then sure, why not!?
EDITED THE computation after I got the listed values fir the current:
They can be wired in series. They will get longer. When that happens its 6V You need. These things use very little current, it is listed as 40mA (thats gonna be very bright). if the led is 3V then the resistor will need to dissipate 9V*40mA = 360 mW. the common small resistor is 1/4W(250mW). there are small common1/2 watt resistors available you can us.
They can be wired in series. They will get longer. When that happens its 6V You need. These things use very little current, it is listed as 40mA (thats gonna be very bright). if the led is 3V then the resistor will need to dissipate 9V*40mA = 360 mW. the common small resistor is 1/4W(250mW). there are small common1/2 watt resistors available you can us.
EDITED THE computation after I got the listed values for the current:
Off the back of napkin computation…. 2 in series will result in a 6V LED strip. Assuming current draw is 40mA, you will need a (12-6) / .040 = 150 ohm resistor. This will heat up with 6*.040 = .24 Watts of heat. smallest off the shelf resistors are .25 W. .24W will get a mildly warm but nothing to worry about.
in practice you will probably need 3 or even 4 of these wires, you want to insert them through the 3 ”propellers” as well. You also will want less than 40mA through those LED because it will be too bright, in my opinion.
I am hoping there is enough space in the hollow mercedes symbol to insert the wire. this way you dont need to drill holes on the grille, the acrylic however is a tough job. I”m trying to find a way to avoid making that.
yours turned out so beautiful. But blue might not work for my r171 as my headlights are still yellowish hallogens. So i might go for warm white,
regards
Bryan
Off the back of napkin computation…. 2 in series will result in a 6V LED strip. Assuming current draw is 40mA, you will need a (12-6) / .040 = 150 ohm resistor. This will heat up with 6*.040 = .24 Watts of heat. smallest off the shelf resistors are .25 W. .24W will get a mildly warm but nothing to worry about.
in practice you will probably need 3 or even 4 of these wires, you want to insert them through the 3 ”propellers” as well. You also will want less than 40mA through those LED because it will be too bright, in my opinion.
I am hoping there is enough space in the hollow mercedes symbol to insert the wire. this way you dont need to drill holes on the grille, the acrylic however is a tough job. I”m trying to find a way to avoid making that.
yours turned out so beautiful. But blue might not work for my r171 as my headlights are still yellowish hallogens. So i might go for warm white,
regards
Bryan
Sounds good! If you ever DO do your version, make sure to take lots of pictures and create your own DIY thread!
I'm not going to touch mine any more, I have a lot of other things that I'd like to do on the car and this was quite a lot of work.
But keep in mind that you shouldn't do blue anyway - see my very first post and the warning in there. I didn't think about that initially (I just think blue would look good
), but had I known I would most definitely go with some kind of white.
I'm not going to touch mine any more, I have a lot of other things that I'd like to do on the car and this was quite a lot of work.
But keep in mind that you shouldn't do blue anyway - see my very first post and the warning in there. I didn't think about that initially (I just think blue would look good
), but had I known I would most definitely go with some kind of white.EDITED THE computation after I got the listed values for the current
@Turbo master of stars. just researching. what’s your opinion on this feasibility? It seems there is enough room to squeeze these 2mm thick led filament around the circle (and importantly outside of the clips). This will lift the star a bit allowing light to show. These LED wires are really flexible like jello. They are made of silicone. Then I will just snap the logo back! hopefully this will avoid the need to make that acrylic star which looks like a pain to build unless you have a milling machine at home. I will use 3 wires of 30cm each. Each “propeller“ should be about 8.8cm long and 1/3 of the 55cm radius is 18.3 cm. So thats about 27cm. 3 wires in series is 9V, a 75ohm resistor will reduce the voltage nicely. (you can increase the resistance if too bright, (I would use a 100 ohms to start). I’ll make another DIY thread if successful. Thank you for the inspiration! the lighted star is such a great idea!
![Vision care Eye glass accessory Eyewear Rectangle Gadget]()
![Personal protective equipment Water Fashion accessory Sports gear Circle]()
@Turbo master of stars. just researching. what’s your opinion on this feasibility? It seems there is enough room to squeeze these 2mm thick led filament around the circle (and importantly outside of the clips). This will lift the star a bit allowing light to show. These LED wires are really flexible like jello. They are made of silicone. Then I will just snap the logo back! hopefully this will avoid the need to make that acrylic star which looks like a pain to build unless you have a milling machine at home. I will use 3 wires of 30cm each. Each “propeller“ should be about 8.8cm long and 1/3 of the 55cm radius is 18.3 cm. So thats about 27cm. 3 wires in series is 9V, a 75ohm resistor will reduce the voltage nicely. (you can increase the resistance if too bright, (I would use a 100 ohms to start). I’ll make another DIY thread if successful. Thank you for the inspiration! the lighted star is such a great idea!
Hmm, that looks like a good idea to me, I’m still thinking a resin pour would help, 2 or 3 mm thick to encase the leds, could use a coating of foil on the base to get reflective too.
I have a new star on order to start playing with this idea too.
I’m going to de-badge and matt black the stars on mine, might even have a look at red leds for the boot badge, although there’s no real room to play with that one.
I have a new star on order to start playing with this idea too.
I’m going to de-badge and matt black the stars on mine, might even have a look at red leds for the boot badge, although there’s no real room to play with that one.
Joined
·
22,671 Posts
IIRC, you rotate it to the left (ie counterclockwise).
If you have the skill and time, I think putting a layer of acrylic will still yield a better result. It will lift the star higher and in a more consistent manner.
hmm. in the mercedes OEM, only the inner circumference of the cirlcle is illuminated. Any thoughts why? Does it look better this way? I was planning on lighting up the outer circumference (aside from the propellers). Ok so I need to redesign a bit. The clips are going to get in the way of the LED wire. There will be dark spots (ugly) on it.
![Land vehicle Vehicle Tire Car Grille]()
I suppose it will look too much like a BMW if the outer circumference is lit?
I suppose it will look too much like a BMW if the outer circumference is lit?
I started on the project. its not as easy either but looks promisisng.
www.slkworld.com
Illuminated star. Easy method. (Hopefully). DIY in...
Here is a less invasive illuminated star project. Not yet finished. I am not sure if it will succeed yet. Goal is to create the illuminated star for SLK R171 using LED wire. after building this, now I understand why there is no after market illuminated star available for it. The slant of the...
www.slkworld.com
21 - 38 of 38 Posts
Join the discussion
