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Looking in to installing mood L.E.Ds on the sherman suggestions?


No1up

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Funnily enough I am just starting this process myself. I am going to use 144 led per metre strip, internal WS 5v controllers with remotes like I did on my MSX. Front/rear will need to be independant so 2 controllers and 2 remotes. I am looking to buy 2x 1m strips and cut them in half to give me the 4x 50cm strips I want. I only want front white and rear red illumination though so all the colour options will be wasted on me lol. I am hoping there is an unused 5v feed on the board somewhere but if not I will tap into the rear light feed. I would rather not though as I would rather it had its own source. We'll see.

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i have a flat power bank, I was thinking velcro it on and use the USB to run the lights and charge my phone in a pinch since im told veteran couldnt be bothered to put in a usb on a now 4k machine... 

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13 hours ago, Planemo said:

I am hoping there is an unused 5v feed on the board somewhere but if not I will tap into the rear light feed. I would rather not though as I would rather it had its own source. We'll see.

@Planemo I believe that Veteran left the tracks viable to the original 5v connection, when they moved to the current 5v position, as shown in this image of a very early version of the Sherman control board.

I found this image that someone had kindly uploaded, when I was researching a safe point to tap into the 12v supply when I added a Dual USB Charge Port to mine, but decided against soldering directly to the board during my well documented "control board" warranty dramas, in case it affected my 2 claims!

Sherman Control board diagram

Anyway, hope it is of some help to you with your L.E.D. mod and looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

Edited by fbhb
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1 hour ago, fbhb said:

Anyway, hope it is of some help to you with your L.E.D. mod and looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

Thankyou! That pic is absolutely brilliant :thumbup:

I will solder straight to the board 5v and maybe use a couple of micro Deans to connect the front/read led controllers.

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Uncannily, I got home from work today and my led bits had arrived. I just bought 1 strip and 1 controller for now, gonna cut it in half, re-wire it and check all is ok before getting it on the front. If it pans out ok I'll do exactly the same for the rear.

I went for the waterproof version. I was a bit worried it was gonna be too stiff to bend round the case but the sheath is more like silicone than plastic, and very flexible so should be ok. I dont like the clear look though, I was thinking of trying to smoke tint the sheath with some tint spray. We'll see. I'd like it largely stealthy if poss, like the Z10 and 16X etc.

8112021185411.thumb.jpg.0fd439deb6a8bbf5402381aa8ef26058.jpg

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6 hours ago, No1up said:

Did you get the kickstand for the sherman? Is it worth it?

Not sure if that was aimed at me, but no I don't have a kickstand. I use ball mounts on the front rollbar which double up as a nose stand.

I cut the strip in half last night. Although the strip comes pre-soldered with a plug at both ends, you have to unsolder the wires and switch them to the other end of the strip because the strips are directional. I will have to re-solder everything anyway as the supplied wires are too short but for testing purposes it didn't matter. Everything worked fine.

The strips are certainly bright enough, good job they can be turned down tbh. Of course there are 300+ lighting patterns available but I will only be using the red/white options as I'm a boring old fart.

Undecided at the moment where to tap into the case. I was going to go through near the existing light plugs using rubber grommets but I am now thinking that I will go through at the bottom of the wheel, into the battery cavities and run the wires up and through into the control board area through the same holes as the battery wires. I was considering drilling a hole in the bottom of the battery cavity anyway to provide drainage should water get into the wheel via the handle (which I have seen pics of- someone posted them on here). It would also keep the installation neater at the top end of the strips. I will have a look.

Links for the parts I used for anyone interested, although this was from Amazon UK:

LED strip: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07S2VPHZZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

LED controller: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07W7YZCFM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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AARRGGHH!!! I'd forgotten about Duf's YT vid where he fitted the same 144 lights to his Sherman - he used a silicone coated (IP65) version rather than the silicone tubed (IP67) version I bought.

I prefer the IP65 in that it's not as bulky and comes pre-fitted with thin 3M tape. I'm gonna bite the bullet and order 2 of them to use instead.

Oh well the ones I already have will go in my daughters bedroom I guess.

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Which ones would you recommend? Also, thinking of mounting a JBL charge 3 or JBL Xtreme, I don't have the sherman in yet, do you think mounting either one of these would be possible? The JBL xtreme is much larger but not crazy boombox size.. 

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I've ordered 2 of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0924G9PJH?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

They are the same as previous except they are rubber coated rather than sleeved.

I use a JBL Flip 5 strapped to the bottom of my rucksack, but dont generally hear it above 25ish mph which I think is a good thing not to piss people off. I actually turn it right down when around people. A friend uses an Extreme strapped to the bottom of his rucksack, fair bit louder for sure but also heavier of course.

I have seen some small square bluetooth speakers fitted to the top of Shermans which looks neat but I sometimes use a full length seat so not an option for me really.

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Would there be absolutely no way to strap the xtreme on somehow? Or a JBL charge 4? 🤔 with the xtreme or charge 4 I can use thier battery bank to plug in thr L.E.Ds and run it off that. I'm not technically savvy and would likely damage internals if I started poking in there. Unless I had VERY clear instructions on what and how to do it. 

 

My sherman is delayed until tomorrow 🤬

Edited by No1up
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On 9/12/2021 at 6:36 AM, Planemo said:

Not sure if that was aimed at me, but no I don't have a kickstand. I use ball mounts on the front rollbar which double up as a nose stand.

I cut the strip in half last night. Although the strip comes pre-soldered with a plug at both ends, you have to unsolder the wires and switch them to the other end of the strip because the strips are directional. I will have to re-solder everything anyway as the supplied wires are too short but for testing purposes it didn't matter. Everything worked fine.

The strips are certainly bright enough, good job they can be turned down tbh. Of course there are 300+ lighting patterns available but I will only be using the red/white options as I'm a boring old fart.

Undecided at the moment where to tap into the case. I was going to go through near the existing light plugs using rubber grommets but I am now thinking that I will go through at the bottom of the wheel, into the battery cavities and run the wires up and through into the control board area through the same holes as the battery wires. I was considering drilling a hole in the bottom of the battery cavity anyway to provide drainage should water get into the wheel via the handle (which I have seen pics of- someone posted them on here). It would also keep the installation neater at the top end of the strips. I will have a look.

Links for the parts I used for anyone interested, although this was from Amazon UK:

LED strip: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07S2VPHZZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

LED controller: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07W7YZCFM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

How do you connect these up? Make sure you let us see the final install

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On 9/12/2021 at 10:31 AM, Planemo said:

AARRGGHH!!! I'd forgotten about Duf's YT vid where he fitted the same 144 lights to his Sherman - he used a silicone coated (IP65) version rather than the silicone tubed (IP67) version I bought.

I prefer the IP65 in that it's not as bulky and comes pre-fitted with thin 3M tape. I'm gonna bite the bullet and order 2 of them to use instead.

Oh well the ones I already have will go in my daughters bedroom I guess.

The IP67 ones are better because you get some diffusing, I even put some silicone on top of my IP67 leds to diffuse them a bit more, that way you don't get really sharp blending lights instead very nice smooth but still strong lights. IP67 is also better water and wear protected.

To attach the leds 3M tape is too thin in some places and will require too much bending, it's better to use double sided foam tape to give it some leeway so it stays on and doesn't break, also at the ends you can put a bit of silicone between the silicone strip and the foam tape to make the attachment stronger since glue on silicone can be a bit weak, silicone will make it much stronger at the ends.

Also I saw you cut your strip, if you are getting new ones at some point just get 2x1m which fits exactly so you don't need to cut anything.

If you are using a powerbank some powerbanks are thin enough to fit between the shell and the back rollcage bar, I have a 10000mah powerbank plus the controller (I'm using a custom ESP32 programmable WLED controller) in that spot which gives me about ~6hours of runtime.

Edited by Rawnei
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2 hours ago, Rawnei said:

The IP67 ones are better because you get some diffusing

I've tried mine with and without the IP67 sleeve and cant tell much difference in diffusions tbh, probably because its clear and unfrosted. I also thought that the IP65's in Duf's install vid looked OK too, so I will go for them. For others, YMMV of course.

2 hours ago, Rawnei said:

IP67 is also better water and wear protected.

Thats true, but as I alluded to above, its also bulkier and less 'factory looking' IMO. Also, I am looking to tint my strips with lens tint, and I think it will take better to the bonded coating on the IP65 rather than the sleeves on the 67's. I also never ride in rain, nor put my wheels through abuse so the additional protection of the 67 isnt required either.

2 hours ago, Rawnei said:

To attach the leds 3M tape is too thin in some places and will require too much bending

Yes the bends on the case are quite sharp in places, I will cross this bridge when I come to it but again Duf didnt seem to have much of an issue.

2 hours ago, Rawnei said:

Also I saw you cut your strip, if you are getting new ones at some point just get 2x1m which fits exactly so you don't need to cut anything.

I wanted to be able to have separate colours front/back, so the only option is to cut the strip and run 2 separate controllers. I suspect that a dedicated programmer could control a whole 1m strip by adressing the leds (is that what you have?) but thats far more complicated for me than just cutting the strips and adding another £7 controller which to me is no big deal.

2 hours ago, Rawnei said:

I have a 10000mah powerbank plus the controller (I'm using a custom ESP32 programmable WLED controller) in that spot which gives me about ~6hours of runtime.

Its gotta be board powered for me. I dont want to have to worry about charging anything more than I already have which annoys me enough (wheel, Pebble, JBL speaker, GoPro, powerbank for phone and sometimes batteries for my EL Glo helmet strips). Plus, 6hrs isnt enough for me anyway.

All good info though, good to see how other peeps are doing it :)

 

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2 minutes ago, Planemo said:

I wanted to be able to have separate colours front/back, so the only option is to cut the strip and run 2 separate controllers. I suspect that a dedicated programmer could control a whole 1m strip by adressing the leds (is that what you have?) but thats far more complicated for me than just cutting the strips and adding another £7 controller which to me is no big deal.

 

If you build an ESP32 controller running WLED or buy a readybuilt WLED controller like QuinLed or LedBox then you can program the strips any way you like with custom patterns and segments and you don't need to cut or have multiple controllers. :) WLED is superior to cheap chinese hardcoded controllers if you want to go the extra length.

I have the LedBox myself and I'm very satisfied with it, but it's hard to come by.

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