Chevrolet Spark Modification & Accessories

[sethumurugan]

The sun film did cost Rs.1700.
If you stick to the 60/55 spec there is no need of any relay. I don't remember the cost as I bought them along with many other parts. So, sorry can't help you here. BTW, you may get the price from any good parts shop.

Thanks Lucas,

I will call up and check the price with some one.

and i was going thru the philps site you have mentioned. when I see the benifits I found this. Can you pls explain what it is.



Projects a beam 35m longer than standard bulbs*
Eye catching chromium top with blue ring-around-the-collar for precision visibility

 

[Lucas]

They claim that the length of the beam thrown by the headlamp is longer by 35 mtrs. However it depends on many factors like shape size quality etc of the reflector,condition of battery and alternator etc as far as my knowledge goes.

And regarding the second line You'll have to see the bulb to get it.:)

 

[sethumurugan]

They claim that the length of the beam thrown by the headlamp is longer by 35 mtrs. However it depends on many factors like shape size quality etc of the reflector,condition of battery and alternator etc as far as my knowledge goes.

And regarding the second line You'll have to see the bulb to get it.:)

Thank you for the explanation.

I just roamed on net and found the following info about some bulbs

Philips - Head Lamp - 12V H4 60/55 W CV in Pair Rs 900
Philips - Head Lamp - H4 12342 DV 12V 60/55W S2 Rs 1200
Philips - Head Lamp - 12V H4 60/55 W DV in Pair Rs.1000
Philips - Head Lamp - H4 12342 XV 12V 60/55W P43t-38 B1 For Rs 600
Philips - Head Lamp - H4 12569 EV 12V 100/90W P43T B1 Rs.370
Philips - Head Lamp - H4 12342 XV 12V 60/55W P43t-38 B1 Rs.600

Hella
Hella - H-4 12v 120/110W 4.4k - White DayLight Crystal Vision Rs.525
Hella - H-4 12v 120/110W 3.7k - White DayLight Cool Blue Rs.475

Osram
Osram - Head Lamp - 64193 NBP (H4 12V P43T 60/55W) 10x10x2 (Set of Two pcs) Rs.1150
Osram - Head Lamp - H4 12V 60/55W P43t SILVERSTAR (AM) Rs.140
Osram - Head Lamp - 62204CB 100/90W 12V P43T(Set of 2 Pcs)-C Rs. 900
Osram - Head Lamp - H4 12V 60/55W P43t COOL BLUE (AM) Rs. 340
Osram - Head Lamp - H4 Blue 60/55w 12v P43t 10X2 HCB2 ABG (OG) Rs.585
Osram - Head Lamp - 62193CBH 60/55W 12V P43T 10X2 EN-ASORAM Rs.1000
Osram - Head Lamp - 62193CBM 60/55W 12V P43T 10X2 EN-ASORAM Rs.900

I have the following doubts.

• I found some bulbs with two w like 60/55 and some with just one w like 55. what does it mean
• I found some bulbs with 60/55 for less than Rs.500 and some in 1000s and some 120/100 for less than Rs.500. I do not understand the concept. Is only the brand difference?
• Still am excited about 100/95 [But not able to cross the line drawn by experts. What to do just kidding]
• Pls suggest me which one I should go.

Additional Info. I have completed LED parking light fixing DIY in my sparky. I think it really looks like it is winking [original Spark Ad] at me.

I will share it after I download the pics to my system.

 

[kannan]

@Kannan, uploading a few pics of my spark with 70VLT Garware film for your reference. Hope it'll be useful.

Thank you very much Lucas, the 70VLT looks wonderful. i must think seriously about it. also your looks cute! also does that nial polish remover trick works on all garware films?

After searching few shops for LED bulbs I found a pair (9SMD)for Rs 300/- I decided not to buy it but make one myself. I had some spare LED strips at my home. 1 meter of non waterproof strip(60SMD LED) costs Rs 80/-

Total cost of a pair of DIY 5SMD bulbs will be Rs 30 appx.

Thank you very much for all the information Shantanu, really you have proved that SMD leds can be made in a such simple yet effective method and low-cost too.

while working with LEDs i have faced some troubles, which i would like to share and have your opinions about that.
when you created the unit have you ever felt LEDs were getting heated up?
i have tried using power LED (3W, 1W 3.6v) to create automotive as well as home lighting.
I used a 3.6 V driver (max 750mA) and a 10w 10Ohm resistor to drive the Units.


i used the resistor to reduce the power as the LEDs were very bright and one got blown because of insufficient heat sink.


is your unit generate much heat?
i then used an old CPU heatsink to test another 3w LED, after 7 hours, the heat sink lost its coldness. But when used with the resistor the light was not good. but the LED did not heat up.


Then tried a different one i connected 8 leds
5mm.
in a ring like fashion

then tried various methods (series, parallel, series parallel mix) it gave ample light on 12V driver.

also just showing the power of a 3w led downlight


a complete dark room. runs on 12v but even with the heatsink after 4-5 hrs some heat is shown on the surface but no problem.

i have tried to make LED lights many time, but this heatsink issue has always troubled me. i am moving towards createing 12v devices so that i can use them in car as well as home too.

but with SMD leds bought from ebay i never faced the heat problem.
@Shantanu.lko have you used resistor in your LED DIYs?
If we are able to drive the power LEDs successfully then we can bring a revolution in low-cost, energy efficient automotive lighting. please share your experiments too.

@dhruvpandit thank you very much.

 

[sethumurugan]

Thank you very much Lucas, the 70VLT looks wonderful. i must think seriously about it.



Thank you very much for all the information Shantanu, really you have proved that SMD leds can be made in a such simple yet effective method and low-cost too.

while working with LEDs i have faced some troubles, which i would like to share and have your opinions about that.
when you created the unit have you ever felt LEDs were getting heated up?
i have tried using power LED (3W, 1W 3.6v) to create automotive as well as home lighting.
I used a 3.6 V driver (max 750mA) and a 10w 10Ohm resistor to drive the Units.
View attachment 62878

i used the resistor to reduce the power as the LEDs were very bright and one got blown because of insufficient heat sink.
View attachment 62875

is your unit generate much heat?
i then used an old CPU heatsink to test another 3w LED, after 7 hours, the heat sink lost its coldness. But when used with the resistor the light was not good. but the LED did not heat up.
View attachment 62880

Then tried a different one i connected 8 leds
View attachment 62881 5mm.
in a ring like fashion
View attachment 62879
then tried various methods (series, parallel, series parallel mix) it gave ample light on 12V driver.

also just showing the power of a 3w led downlight
View attachment 62876
View attachment 62877
a complete dark room. runs on 12v but even with the heatsink after 4-5 hrs some heat is shown on the surface but no problem.

i have tried to make LED lights many time, but this heatsink issue has always troubled me. i am moving towards createing 12v devices so that i can use them in car as well as home too.

but with SMD leds bought from ebay i never faced the heat problem.
@Shantanu.lko have you used resistor in your LED DIYs?
If we are able to drive the power LEDs successfully then we can bring a revolution in low-cost, energy efficient automotive lighting. please share your experiments too.

@dhruvpandit thank you very much.

Kannan, that was great job and I think you have lot of patience. I have started doing something in car as DIY after seeing some experts on that, now I think I might start doing something in DIY. Actually if you notice my earlier posts in this, I had plans to do some kind DIY LEDs for boot lighting, puddle lighting and door lighting [which will be in red] and glows when the door opens and it will be useful for the passing vehicles that the door is open. Let me see how best I can do it.

The only problem is soldering. I had did those kind of stuff [even though I am a commerce grad] I used to sit with my uncle who was an electronic student and do lot of pocket transisters [Am talking about second part of eighties] now I completly forgot. I had struggeled for doing DIY for my rear speakers a lot. I think I need to practice on that before proceeding on any work related to LEDs

Apart from the practical problem I had, one more problem I might face could be container for the LEDs which is fitted to PCB board. Somewhere I have read that we can use plastic box which has cover. It could be okie but may not look good. For booty light kind of stucc it could be okie what about puddle light or door light. Suggestions are welcomed.

 

[kannan]

The only problem is soldering.

Apart from the practical problem I had, one more problem I might face could be container for the LEDs which is fitted to PCB board. Somewhere I have read that we can use plastic box which has cover. It could be okie but may not look good. For booty light kind of stucc it could be okie what about puddle light or door light. Suggestions are welcomed.

@Sethu
soldering can be a problem sometimes, be careful not to over heat the LED, i have used a 10w iron, if you are using a 25w iron careful not to overheat, i have used 25w, in that case i would blow air from mouth to cool it down.
one of my friend who is a motherboard technician, uses a sponge socked in water and would make a quick dip to reduce the temp.
but i don't think it would be a serious problem unless you keep the iron for too long.

the container issue is a big problem, i have searched long, but could not find any good solution.
but i can give you a suggestion, just a hint. some models of Bajaj autorickshaw (not new, older one) had a small square white reverse light in the rear. (sorry couldn't find a picture) it is of square shape. i was thinking of getting one for the boot light. but couldn't get enough time to goto various shops and ask about it.

 

[Lucas]

@Lucas: Spark already comes with 70% VLT tinted glass. Am I missing something here?

Sorry for my late reply. Yes. Spark already has tinted glasses upto 75% VLT.

 

[Lucas]

Additional Info. I have completed LED parking light fixing DIY in my sparky. I think it really looks like it is winking [original Spark Ad] at me.

I will share it after I download the pics to my system.

waiting for pics Sethu. and please explain everything in detail.

 

[saishibu38380]

Hella
Hella - H-4 12v 120/110W 4.4k - White DayLight Crystal Vision Rs.525

i'm using this in my nano. bad light during rainy nights. using it for more than a year , so far no problems and the head lamp reflector will be little bluish during day time

 

[kannan]

Sorry for my late reply. Yes. Spark already has tinted glasses upto 75% VLT.

how can we get this information for other cars? can you confirm whether all variants have this feature or for top ends only on Spark?

@ Sethu i would like to add a little something for you
the bulbs which we just force into the holder are T10 or wedge type


the bulbs that we twist after inserting into the holder are called "Bayonet base types" because we connect them the same way bayonets are connected to the gun.

BA9s - single filament (reverse, indicator)
BA15D - double filament (tail lamp) dim and bright

p.s. B22 is our common household holder type and E17 is the model which we twist to fit common in outside India.

if the rayzer was not this much expensive it could have solved all our night driving issues

 

[sethumurugan]

My god. Every one is expert here. I love this. Mr. Kannan, you have loads of information on electrical items. Yes I do lot of works at home by myself which is related to electrical, plumbing etc. but do not know name of the most of the things. just go to respective shop explain and get the parts and finish the job. When we come to know name of the item or type of the item it is really good.

Thanks

Now to the topic

Sorry for my late reply. Yes. Spark already has tinted glasses upto 75% VLT.

Are you sure about this? Mine was LS varient and I do not know at that time. But My car was without sun control film for 3 months [oct 2011 to dec 2011, fixed the film only by jan 2012] and I was not comfortable with that.

@Sethu
soldering can be a problem sometimes, be careful not to over heat the LED, i have used a 10w iron, if you are using a 25w iron careful not to overheat, i have used 25w, in that case i would blow air from mouth to cool it down.
one of my friend who is a motherboard technician, uses a sponge socked in water and would make a quick dip to reduce the temp.
but i don't think it would be a serious problem unless you keep the iron for too long.

I think I have 25W rod. Can i use sponge method to reduce temp. I will try something today itself. One more doubt here, some where I have read that out of two strings in LED one will be short and another will be long to not +ive and -ive. so +ive string should be connected with -ive string. but I don't remember seeing short and log strings in LEDs which I got sometime back for some school project of my daughter. Pls explain.

the container issue is a big problem, i have searched long, but could not find any good solution.
but i can give you a suggestion, just a hint. some models of Bajaj autorickshaw (not new, older one) had a small square white reverse light in the rear. (sorry couldn't find a picture) it is of square shape. i was thinking of getting one for the boot light. but couldn't get enough time to goto various shops and ask about it.

Yes, I have seen it. Let me try searching for it. Thanks for the info.

@ Sethu i would like to add a little something for you
the bulbs which we just force into the holder are T10 or wedge type

In that case what is head lights? it is also pulled out from holder.

the bulbs that we twist after inserting into the holder are called "Bayonet base types" because we connect them the same way bayonets are connected to the gun.

BA9s - single filament (reverse, indicator)
BA15D - double filament (tail lamp) dim and bright

p.s. B22 is our common household holder type and E17 is the model which we twist to fit common in outside India.

if the rayzer was not this much expensive it could have solved all our night driving issues

Very useful information.

 

[sethumurugan]

LED for Parking light in sparky - Success

Hi Friends,

As I had mentioned couple of posts back, I thought of replacing the stock parking bulb with LED bulb. Pls go thru the post no 18, 21 and 24 which was posted in query stage and post no 32 which was posted after my visit to market.

Yesterday I reached home around 7pm and after refreshment [Hot Somosa with coffee] I came to the parking lot for the task. Normally the tube light above my car will not be working most of the time. Luckily yesterday, my car was parked a car before where there was good lighting.

Thanking GOD I opened the hood and started to remove the head light assembly by unscrewing the two bolts. after removing the head light assembly, un screwed four plastic screws of bumper. and now I was able to remove the head light assembly out of the car for fixing the lights. Actually I had removed both Indicator bulb and parking bulb. But I was able to get only parking lamp in LED with 5 SMDs. So fixed the stock indicator bulb in its holder and LED in parking light. Checked the bulb before inserting it to the head light assembly and found it working perfectly and inserted the bulb and fixed the head light assembly.

Did the same for right side also. but struggled a lot adjust the assembly in right side. Might be the fender problem. But managed to fix it properly.

Some pictures I managed to get. Sorry about the quality since it was taken in mobile camera.

Sparky right side Eye from top


Myself working on bumper screws



LED parking light effect from front top


LED parking light effect from front


LED parking light effect from front - Closeup


LED effects in dark [I switched off all the lights in the parking lot



LED effects in dark from front right top


LED effects from front right top with Cabin LED on


Friends, If i had done any mistakes pls let me know. I feel the power is less. I thought of ordering LEDs with 10/20 SMDs from eBay and fix it in parking light and replace the number plate bulbs with current LED. Let me wait and see. And also I want to get the following type of LED for reverse light. But not availabe in our local eBay.co.in should check eBay.com

 

[Shantanu.lko]

The light is looking good.
The power is not less for the type of bulbs you have used.
If you use bulb with more SMDs the light will increase.

I think this amount of light is sufficient for Parking purpose.

 

[Lucas]

Wow!! looking great!! Bright white light. For parking it is enough Sethu. Now your Sparky will stand out of the crowd in parking lots. Cheers for your successful DIY!!

 

[Shantanu.lko]

@Kannan
Good to see your DIY works
Here are my answers for your querries


1. when you created the unit have you ever felt LEDs were getting heated up?
These SMD LED's were not heating up. The red LED's or SMD's tend to heat up if excess voltage is supplied. As Red led's require less voltage as compared to the others

2. is your unit generate much heat?
No its not heating

3. i then used an old CPU heatsink to test another 3w LED, after 7 hours, the heat sink lost its coldness. But when used with the resistor the light was not good. but the LED did not heat up.
Using wrong value resistance may give dull light, but will not generate heat

4. i have tried to make LED lights many time, but this heatsink issue has always troubled me. i am moving towards createing 12v devices so that i can use them in car as well as home too.
The heat generated by LED's is negligible so no need of any heatsink. Heatsinks are used in outdoor led's which glow for more than 10 hours

5.@Shantanu.lko have you used resistor in your LED DIYs?
I never use Resistors in any of my LED projects now(as I am not too good in maths and had to call my sis for resistor calculations)

6. If we are able to drive the power LEDs successfully then we can bring a revolution in low-cost, energy efficient automotive lighting. please share your experiments too.
Lets start a new thread for LED Projects