Starlight Roof DIY

[Sam Kapasi]

Well done Thomas - looks supercool.

[zenopio]

wow buddy amazing stufff...nice one.

Want to see how will it look in the night will it cause any distraction while driving??

Can you post a pic of the same taken in the night time???

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Couple of questions.

1. Why do you need the resistors? If your battery is 12V, and the LEDs take 12 V, what is the need for resistors? Looks like you wired them in parallel, right?
2. Is this just a "look good" mod? Or interior lighting substitute?

And couple of suggestions for those who want to try this out.

a. Dancing lights - kind you see on commercial vehicles (I know some of you will go aaarghhh!!!, but how about your company logo?) Will need some jumping through hoops of the electronic type. PCBs, ICs, etc. and of course, expert, planned, well laid out wiring.
b. Bright LEDs as interior lighting substitutes.
c. Take power from the interior lights - so that the leds light up only when the doors open.

[Jaggu]

Nice touch Thomas, power from interior light switch will keep our cops at bay also

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Couple of questions.

1. Why do you need the resistors? If your battery is 12V, and the LEDs take 12 V, what is the need for resistors? Looks like you wired them in parallel, right?

I believe Blue LED's are about 3~4 Volt, and even then need current limiting. with 14 V supply, and 4v drop across the LED , and 20 mA current , i guess 10V/20mA = 470E , maybe more if you want the lighting to be softer

[navin]

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

Hahahaha! I love that! It would be awesome to have in my car.

Be careful what you wish for. Remember the Sierra?

I am getting an idea but using fiber optic wire. this way the lights can really be small (dia of wire). B&T if you really want to do this I'll donate the wire.

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

a. Dancing lights - kind you see on commercial vehicles (I know some of you will go aaarghhh

Sure with a 555 timer can be done. Sometime in 1978 I took a much of LEDs (red, green and yellow were all that were avalable at that time) and wired up a few dog collars and T-shirts with them. I then walked down Warden Road in Mumbai while being fully lit. There are witnesses (still living) who will testify.

Sam, I guess that gives you a slight inkling into how mad I was.

[phamilyman]

Awesome is not even the word for it!

DerAlte's sig is totally appropriate in this case

[navin]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

The last we heard you had a cow

Atleast it wasn't a Bull. :-)

[Bass&Trouble]

Originally Posted by navin

Be careful what you wish for. Remember the Sierra?

I am getting an idea but using fiber optic wire. this way the lights can really be small (dia of wire). B&T if you really want to do this I'll donate the wire.

All good sir. Biggest problem is that I dont have a car . When I do I promise I'll have this installed in it.

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Huh? The last we heard you had a cow (given in barter by B) for transportation, with piped refreshments straight from the udders! How did you manage to put a roof on it?

hahahaha. Missed this.

[TheBrother®]

Originally Posted by nitroxx

Insane..its the perfect way to keep kids entertained at all times..not to mention some of the members would love to have this setup,especially if they use the back seat more often LOL!

That is exactly what I was thinking about when I built this ^^

Originally Posted by ramie2400

hey thats really good DIY brothe with a R in a circle looks real cool,one thing i really liked about your install is its placed randomly good neatness and please could you post a pic of night???? cheers

Ramie

Yeah, it was supposed to be a STARlight roof, that is why it has to be random. I will try to take some night pictures tonight and will post them then.

Originally Posted by srijit

Nice writeup, Thomas. Thanks for sharing

How many LED's are there, btw? Also, am curious to know why you didnt go for white or yellow LED's, if you wanted the inside to look like Stars?

There are 89 LEDs installed and I chose blue because at that time I already had other blue lights in my car and wanted to stick with one color. Besides, I like blue^^

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Looks super cool bro. I'm sure its quite an attraction especially in the dark. Must take a while to get used to while driving in the night huh? Arent the LED's too bright and dont they cause any unwanted glare?

I have them wired to the interior lighting of my car, so they will go on when I open a door and I have an extra switch on my middle console for when the occasion calls for it^^ Anyway, I do not turn them on while driving on public streets (a few exceptions maybe...) because they would blind me at night and if the cops saw me.......

Originally Posted by greenhorn

I believe Blue LED's are about 3~4 Volt, and even then need current limiting. with 14 V supply, and 4v drop across the LED , and 20 mA current , i guess 10V/20mA = 470E , maybe more if you want the lighting to be softer

exactly...


One more suggestion. If I had to do this entire roof again, I would use very bright SMD LEDs and cover them with fine fabric. That way you would absolutely not see any of the Leds unless they are turned on and it would look even more like stars.


TheBrother®

[navin]

Originally Posted by TheBrother®

One more suggestion. If I had to do this entire roof again, I would use very bright SMD LEDs and cover them with fine fabric.

You are a genius! This is a superb idea. Discrete enough for TheOne® too.