Hi there,
As I mentioned to James on the phone, we’re wanting to create some LED Tailights for our project car. I am an absolute noob with electronics and only have limited knowledge so I’ll apologize for anything that might come across stupid in advance lol.
Basically in reference to the basic draw up I created, we want to run primarily with the 5mm small super bright LEDs across red, amber and white emitting colours.
The Amber bulbs we want plugged to a sequential module so that it will play in sequence when the indicator is engaged.
The Red bulbs we want hooked up to a dimmer module so when braking they emit bright and then dim when disengaged.
The white bulbs will be our reverse lights
The RGB Strip will be just something to turn on/off at shows and just needs wiring to a separate button.
We have the taillight housing and the premade templates for this project already.
My clueless knowledge isn’t 100% sure of the resistors used (if there are resistors to be used). Any help or knowledge to get this together would be greatly appreciated.
I am local to the area so pick up is super easy.
Also please note, my diagram is not very accurate. The blubs are not size comparison and I realize fewer will need to be used.
Thank you!
Steve
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Hi Steve and welcome
The RTA, RMS or whatever they call themselves might have a regulation or two here. I think the Amber ones indicating direction would be IK but they might have something to say about the Heart shaped ones and the always on dim and bright when braking scenario. Worth checking. Your local inspection station might know but I have found sometimes they seem to have individual interpretations of some of the requirements.
Cheers Bob
PS I know there are some pretty strict rules regarding deceleration when it comes to flashing stop lights under different braking conditions.
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Hi Bob, thank you legend!
That’s for that info! I might see what I can do with terms of design to make them abit more safe on the road. If I do end up getting in trouble for them I will swap them out with a stock set I have on the shelf.
Otherwise very handy info 
Thanks for sharing mate!
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Hi Steve
I think a “bit more compliant” would be the correct wording and goal here.
Cheers Bob
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Hi Steve,
Welcome to the forum
Your concept art looks fantastic but as Bob has already pointed out getting it approved as road legal might be harder than building the actual project itself.
The aesthetic reminds me a bit of some of the Burning Man art car installations if you’ve ever seen those.
There are a couple of ways of controlling LEDs, if you’re a total beginner the easiest option is to use a current limiting resistor, the guide below goes through how they work and how to select them.
High-power LEDs are often instead driven using a constant current power supply, we’ve got a guide that explains how that works as well.
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