License plate lights that become brighter when backing up.

[Crossgolf]

Allright I bought some plug n play license plate lights for my Lexus. Those lights are pretty standart china stuff but the color is nice and the beam is nice and even distributed. However those lights are much too bright to serve as OEM looking LED lights but could serve nicely as additional backup lights.

Now I would like to build a simple harness that dimms these lights whenever the headlights are on but gives them full power when I want to backup. Kind of like a reverse DRL harness. Any ideas on this project?

http://de.aliexpress.com/item/2Pcs-Xenon-White-LED-License-Registration-Plate-Light-Bulb-Upgrade-for-Toyota-Prius-2000-2003-NHW11/32266831969.html

[Bitter]

Going to need some kind of PWM, but you'll need to know how the LED board is regulated before anything else.

[Crossgolf]

Okay I think I have it figurd out.

I'll use a standart cheap DRL harness that is able to dimm the lights by 50% and connect the yellow wire and red wire to the backup lighs. Then I'll wire a normally closed relay in the yellow wire that opens up when power from the backup lights is applied. When the yellow wire is disconected the DRL-Modul thinks that it is in day-mode and gives full power to the lights. Would that be correct?
http://de.aliexpress.com/item/2015-N...rchweb201560_9

[Bitter]

How are the plate lights regulated?

[Nuvolari]

Lol, who in their right mind would sell these are LP lights?
OEMs use 1 emitter. 1!!!!!

This has like 18, lol

[Crossgolf]

I have no clue how they are regulated. I cannot see anything from the outside and they cannot be opened up.

[Bitter]

The DRL module could cause problems if they're regulated and then you're tossing PWM dimming ontop of that. Hopefully they're shitty chinese junk and just have a lil resistor inside. Only way to tell without looking is to see how they behave at 15 volts and at like 8-10 volts, if they're always the same brightness then they're regulated and could have issues. If they get dimmer and brighter then they're not and good to go.

[gold94corolla]

I had those same exact lights on my Lexus. They were WAY too bright lol

[Crossgolf]

What do you use now?

[gold94corolla]

What do you use now?

[Crossgolf]

Solved:
I installed the Chinese License plate lights (Not regulated) with a Chinese DRL PWM harness and a relay that opens/switches the contacts.

The Harness had the following wires ((...)= What I used it for):

Black = Battery- (- License Plate lights)

Red = Battery+ (+License Plate lights)

Blue = ACC (+License Plate lights)

White = Parking light+ (Via a opener Relay to the reverse lights. It is always on from the license plate lights plus but when I put it in reverse the back up lights open the relay and the modul gives full power to the license plate lights)

2x Yellow = for Turnsignal+ ( Makes the DRL blink; Not Used)

Green= Strobe Effect (Not Used)

The License plate lights are now as bright as Osram W5W LED bulb or the TRS W5W bulb which I testet before. It could still be a little bit dimmer. I might change that in the future with an adjustable PWM DRL Harness. There are some harnesses / modules out there that give you the option of 90 - 10 % dimming.

The additional backup light function now shines directly behind the car. The original 2007 Lexus RX doesn't shine any light there normally which makes the back up camera useless when it is pitch-dark outsinde. Glad I got this fixed.

It could probably have been done better with a full custom circuit but for me this was the best option.

[Crossgolf]

https://m.imgur.com/gallery/HF7JV

here are some pictures of the license plate lights working as backup lights together with the Russian made backup lights.

Now after three years I noticed on the license plate lights three of the 18 emitters went out on one side. Can't recall if that is because they are pwmed all the time or it was the heat or bad soldiering. But they are still plenty bright .

I wonder if knnk07 is still active in the Led world. his bulbs still work perfect

[Eddie]

https://m.imgur.com/gallery/HF7JV

here are some pictures of the license plate lights working as backup lights together with the Russian made backup lights.

Now after three years I noticed on the license plate lights three of the 18 emitters went out on one side. Can't recall if that is because they are pwmed all the time or it was the heat or bad soldiering. But they are still plenty bright .

I wonder if knnk07 is still active in the Led world. his bulbs still work perfect

Your Imgur gallery isn't working. And yes he's still active, but you're better off contacting through his website ( hiperlights.ru ).

[Crossgolf]

Oh okay. I'll try it again:

[Eddie]

Are those the Backfire W16W bulbs?