Custom High power LED light bar

With a couple people I have in on it, it looks like around $300 - 350. But you couldn’t buy a more compact, more powerful light bar that is built as good as this. :slight_smile: If that puts it into perspective. I found that you can’t make a cheap light bar, if built properly, so I said what the hell, spend a bit more and get alot more…

I will put it on my CRV of course! :slight_smile: Saskatchewan roads with lot’s of wildlife running around needs some light I think!

Cheers.

I think it’s real cool to see those Gaggione optics put to use. Also I like the design. The heatsink portion being made from an off the shelf extruded profile is nice for cost reduction. The protective lens looks easy enough to replace by the user. Of course if your chosen led’s don’t work out as intended, as far as the beam goes, you can always try others. Same goes for the optics. :beer: It could be made cheap(er) in bulk if the machined aluminum portion were an extrusion. Then it would only need tapped holes and the O-ring Groove machined. Well, mostly.

That’d be pretty easy on the eyes with some nice warm tints like http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_114&product_id=456 or http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_114&product_id=641 to match the headlight tint.

That looks really good, would be perfect for the front of my car. Will be keeping an eye on this thread even if it is far out of my price range. Vibration resistance and water ingress will probably be the biggest issues. If it turns out as good as it looks from the specs $300-350 seems like a reasonable price compared to other high end lightbars.

I wouldn’t go too warm with the tint. It’s personal preference but I like aux lighting to be as close as possible to headlight tint.

I like the design, it’s just about what I was wanting to build myself. I’d be more interested in just buying the shell+optics to fill with my own driver and emitter choices.

Yeah, I like these optics too, but the only thing I am wondering if they are missing, is beam ‘field’, which there is a lack of with TIRs, it puts the light where you want it… do we need a beam field, I don’t know. I will find out when the LEDs come in. Yes, everything will be changeable, including the optics, but I am going to do alot of playing around with them on their own before I am sure they are going to be used.

5000k LEDs is what I am getting, it is the optimal color temp for visibility and eye strain/fatigue. It is just a touch warmer than direct sunlight.

I think it will look good too, thanks. Vibration is my only thing to workout, as far as the optics go, securing them is one of the only things I am still working out, but I will figure it out when the LEDs come in. The LLC56N is light for being a solid piece of plastic, as it’s PMMA, but relatively heavy for a lense of it’s size, compared to a reflector I think?

Yes, you compare it to a standard 50” amazon.com light bar, it would probably outperform it, in light quality (color temp), as well as beam profiles, so puts the light where you need it, and thus probably providing more light. Those light bars only run at 60% LED power, they rate the light bars based on the max LED wattage/lumen rating.

If anyone is interested in possibly going in on this project, let me know. The more the better.

You have a driver lined up?

I was thinking THESE, 2 drivers to run 4 xhp-50s, and one for each 70.

Or a couple of Taskled drivers, but the Taskled doesn’t have direct switch activated modes, only click modes, which you don’t want on an automotive light.

Too bad that this manufacturer does not have a nice boost circuit (or at least the eBay seller doesn’t seem to carry one). OTOH I’m pretty sure that I don’t need modes in that application anyway, so TaskLED would be fine.

Would the Taskled handle the so called voltage spikes from the charge system on a car?
What area are you from zpinch.

It’s worth looking at DIWdiver’s linear automotive drivers. They can be customized a bit. 1, 2, 3.

Sweeeeet! your design looks better than mine for sure. $350 would be a steal for that unit. Would that heatsink be able to handle that much XHP? what kind of wattage are you planning?

Wight, what do you need a boost circuit for, do you think that maybe the 12v system wouldn’t have enough voltage when the alternator isn’t turning? For 100% power that is.

MRsDNF, I don’t know if it could handle the voltage spikes, but I don’t know much about the TaskLED drivers, nor do I about the other drivers that I posted above… I have a 3 amp and a 2.4 amp unit from them coming in the mail, however. To test. I am from Saskatoon, SK, Canada. eh

Hoop. I checked out those drivers, they look pretty good, I might snatch one up to test.

foolio, thanks, glad you guys like it. $350 would be a nice price point, I would like to keep it under $300 though ideally. I am almost certain the heatsink can handle 140watts of heat, it’s pretty hefty (1.6 kg/3.5 lbs), and is rating at 0.28C/W, that is 40 degree rise at full power. I am not sure if that is rated for a small amount of airflow across the fins, or merely natural convection, but either way, that is pretty good.

The front lense will be an AR polycarbonate 0.25 Inch sheet. That is abrasion resistant, not anti-reflective, if you are wondering.

Interesting, I’d be keen but I’ve seen these type bars come and go on here, none very successful so far…

$350 is out of my price range… I have really wanted to build one like this too, but dont have the resources for the housing. If it was closer to 200-250 I would be in for sure.

$350 is at the top of my price range… I would like to make it for 200 really, if I take out a couple LEDs, use a smaller elliptical optic and thus a shorter housing will help.

I really find using XHP 50s and 70s are the way to go, for a DIYer, you can’t beat the price/watt, when you factor optic costs into the equation.

Interesting project… I used taskled drivers before in maglite mods so I think this could be useful:

For the 4 XHP50s in the middle I would say the Taskled HBFlex would be optimal for the application, its a boost driver with 7-24V input and drives up to 48V at 3A. With proper heat sinking it can run for as long as you wish.

For the two outer XHP70s… H6Flex comes to mind (buck driver < 25V in > 7V out at 6.6A) but the output might be limited due to the small input-output voltage difference when the Vf raises. A DC-DC step up converter can be used here to supply 24V to the driver, also decreasing the required current draw required to supply full power to both leds.

http://www.taskled.com/h6flex.shtml

You could also use 2x H6Flex to power the middle and outer LEDs separately, each with it’s own DC-DC 12v-24v boost circuit which are pretty cheap: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC12V-Step-Up-to-24V-240W-10A-Car-Power-Converter-Regulator-Adaptor-/201503964400?hash=item2eea927cf0:g:Sl4AAOSwLN5Wk17p

But this is a very expensive setup, that’s almost $100 in drivers alone.