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Author Topic: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15  (Read 26139 times)

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Offline TomatoSoup

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Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« on: February 26, 2011, 04:08:01 PM »
I found a cheap kit for a 3rd brake light flasher, just soldered it together today. Obviously, those not into soldering should read no further :) but it is very easy to build and only basic soldering skills are required.

The kit is the Velleman MK178 and is available from many places online for between $10 and $15 (plus ship) - google MK178.  I got mine from Electronics123.com for ~$18 shipped.  Since I ordered it though, I also found it for $10.69 from arcade-electronics.com in Alexandria VA w/free pickup from the shop if you are local... MK178 kit.

It's not only cheap, but it also has features that I wanted (that most of the cheap pre-built ones don't) incl selectable number of times to flash, and more importantly, a timeout period where it won't flash every time you touch the brakes if you are in stop & go traffic.

Features (I'm quoting here):
    * Easy two-step install
    * makes your 3rd brake light flash
    * selectable number of flashes: 5 or 10 times
    * selectable flash repeat interval: always or not within 5-7sec between two brakes
    * includes shrink tube to cover complete unit
    * flash frequency: 7 times per second



It comes with a wide piece of heat-shrink tube to cover it up in, but I didn't like that idea much.  Instead I found that it fits perfectly in a Radio Shack 2xAA battery box, if you just cut/break out the innards ($2 - http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062252). Here's mine:

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Haven't installed it in the car yet, but that's just a matter of cutting the two wires to the brake light and screwing them into the terminals supplied with the kit.  Maybe this weekend - or maybe when it's warmer :)
"That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me and I own it, and what it is too." (Monty Python)

Offline spider

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2011, 04:46:44 PM »
Those things are VERY annoying to the person behind you, especially at a traffic light! I rate this mod up there with putting speakers in your fender wells as far as irritant level & disregard for others. Considering that three brake lights still doesn't distract some people enough to realize you are braking, safety-wise it may help.  I guess fender speaker fenders would alert people of one's proximity quite well too. So nevermind.

Offline TomatoSoup

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2011, 05:00:02 PM »
Those things are VERY annoying to the person behind you, especially at a traffic light!
Yes, I agree if the lights flash continuously.  But this unit on first brake application, will flash 5 times rapidly then go on solid.  If you release the brakes and reapply withing 7 seconds (or so) it doesn't do the flash bit again.  So basically it does an initial flash warning, then acts as normal.

The car's so low I want all the help I can get.
"That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me and I own it, and what it is too." (Monty Python)

Offline snaponbob

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2011, 05:34:37 PM »
ANYTHING that will help NOT getting rear ended is a GOOD thing.
Bob Buxbaum
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Offline spider

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2011, 06:20:18 PM »
Glad to hear that. The only ones I've seen were rapid-fire non stop. I do it manually to forewarn other drivers of something bad going down they might not be ready for.

Offline 1LILNDN

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2011, 10:15:53 PM »
TomatoSoup ; Can this be wired in to your Tail lights as well so they would flash ? Or would that be a different Unit?
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Offline DeepBlueGXP

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2011, 10:12:19 AM »
I bought these last year for the coupe and my car, plug and play - no soldering and took only a few minutes to install.  $59 was worth t for no hassles.

http://www.webelectricproducts.com/blp/ssr/blpssrdetails.htm

Offline TomatoSoup

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #7 on: February 27, 2011, 10:29:35 AM »
TomatoSoup ; Can this be wired in to your Tail lights as well so they would flash ? Or would that be a different Unit?
Not really.  Well, they could be wired in, if you bought two more, but since the brake light circuit is shared with the turn signals on the Sol, they'd flutter whenever you made a turn.  Probably not a good thing.


I bought these last year for the coupe and my car, plug and play - no soldering and took only a few minutes to install.  $59 was worth t for no hassles.

http://www.webelectricproducts.com/blp/ssr/blpssrdetails.htm
Plug and play?  Where's the fun in that?!  ;)

Yes, these are a great alternative.  They look like they are the same ones that GMRoadster used to sell, only these are 30% cheaper!  (Of course they are still 3 to 4 times the cost of mine :P )
"That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me and I own it, and what it is too." (Monty Python)

Offline elff

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #8 on: February 27, 2011, 10:58:38 AM »
I have the sequential Turn Signals and the Flashing third brake light.

It's been a safety feature that Motocycle riders have used for years.
Bob said it best.  Anything that helps you not get hit is a GOOD thing.

Hmm Change of people running GM Roadster and the store is closed.

Offline DeepBlueGXP

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #9 on: February 27, 2011, 11:14:34 AM »
We can't do sequential on the Solstice since we only have one bulb in our brake light.   

TS, I probably would venture down your path too since it's more interesting but at the time I didn't know they existed as a chip.  The seller bought the stock connectors and made it into a nice harness to install. 

GMR used to sell these and for a huge cost increase.  So much for helping out the community.

Offline TomatoSoup

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #10 on: February 27, 2011, 01:28:23 PM »
OK, such a nice day today that I went ahead and installed mine.  Interestingly, despite it being advertised as only 7 seconds, the repeat delay is actually somewhere between 12 and 15 seconds (I gave up trying to determine it with more accuracy :) ).  I actually prefer the longer time, so all's good.

Then I went ahead and washed the car and now I'm off to :drive:

 :yay:
"That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me and I own it, and what it is too." (Monty Python)

Offline snaponbob

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #11 on: February 27, 2011, 01:42:25 PM »
So much for helping out the community.

It can be (successfully) argued that they never really did.
Bob Buxbaum
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Offline DeepBlueGXP

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #12 on: February 27, 2011, 01:43:40 PM »
no photos of the install

:ttiwwp:

Offline Carbon Sky

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #13 on: February 27, 2011, 05:18:22 PM »
Does it also flash the 7~ times per second?  I've seen some kits where it's more of a slow blink then a quick flashing.  I think I might slap one of these on when I swap my white 3rd brake light on my sky with a red one when it gets warmer out.

Offline TomatoSoup

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #14 on: February 28, 2011, 09:56:07 AM »
Does it also flash the 7~ times per second?  I've seen some kits where it's more of a slow blink then a quick flashing.  I think I might slap one of these on when I swap my white 3rd brake light on my sky with a red one when it gets warmer out.
Difficult to tell if it's 7/sec, but it is faster than I can count :) ... flashes 'rapidly' for about a second (without the jumper).
"That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me and I own it, and what it is too." (Monty Python)

Offline TomatoSoup

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #15 on: February 28, 2011, 11:14:05 AM »
no photos of the install
Sorry, no photos.  It's only splicing in to a couple of wires.  The most difficult part is unplugging and plugging back the connector into the brake light... and I'm sure no-one wants to see me acting like a proctologist with my hand up inside the [license plate light] hole in my car's butt!
"That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me and I own it, and what it is too." (Monty Python)

Offline Carbon Sky

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #16 on: February 28, 2011, 11:58:11 AM »
What do you mean by "without the jumper"?

Offline TomatoSoup

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #17 on: February 28, 2011, 01:15:17 PM »
What do you mean by "without the jumper"?
Sorry, there are two jumpers to configure operation.  The one I'm talking about toggles between 5x flashes (jumper removed) and 10x flashes (jumper present).  Full build & operate sheet is here: http://www.vellemanusa.com/downloads/0/minikits/manuals/manual_mk178.pdf
"That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me and I own it, and what it is too." (Monty Python)

Offline Dr. Gronk

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #18 on: February 28, 2011, 03:21:36 PM »
http://www.webelectricproducts.com/blp/ssr/blpssrdetails.htm

I did this mod on my old stang... I wish I knew about these guys, it probably took me 1-2 hours and at least half that in parts.
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Offline Carbon Sky

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #19 on: February 28, 2011, 08:33:13 PM »
Ah, interesting.  So it comes as component parts, and you assemble yourself?  Haven't soldered on circuit boards in a while.  It'll be nice to work on smaller stuff again (my soldering gun doesn't have the heat to do larger gauge stuff, which is what I have to do more often).

Offline GASNGO

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #20 on: March 03, 2011, 11:03:37 PM »
I found a cheap kit for a 3rd brake light flasher, just soldered it together today. Obviously, those not into soldering should read no further :) but it is very easy to build and only basic soldering skills are required.

The kit is the Velleman MK178 and is available from many places online for between $10 and $15 (plus ship) - google MK178.  I got mine from Electronics123.com for ~$18 shipped.  Since I ordered it though, I also found it for $10.69 from arcade-electronics.com in Alexandria VA w/free pickup from the shop if you are local... MK178 kit.

It's not only cheap, but it also has features that I wanted (that most of the cheap pre-built ones don't) incl selectable number of times to flash, and more importantly, a timeout period where it won't flash every time you touch the brakes if you are in stop & go traffic.

Features (I'm quoting here):
    * Easy two-step install
    * makes your 3rd brake light flash
    * selectable number of flashes: 5 or 10 times
    * selectable flash repeat interval: always or not within 5-7sec between two brakes
    * includes shrink tube to cover complete unit
    * flash frequency: 7 times per second

    I have a question regarding the 2 blue pcs. that are next to the time out wording. How did you attach these and are they attached in any special order? I bought a kit and everything else seems pretty straight forward. Thanks
GASNGO

Offline TomatoSoup

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #21 on: March 04, 2011, 12:13:28 AM »
Quote from: desk305 link=topic=6307.msg91000#msg91000

    I have a question regarding the 2 blue pcs. that are next to the time out wording. How did you attach these and are they attached in any special order? I bought a kit and everything else seems pretty straight forward. Thank you
I think youre referring to the jumpers I just talked about above. You solder the posts on and push on the jumpers you need to to select the operation you want. In my case I didn't I use either jumper.
"That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me and I own it, and what it is too." (Monty Python)

Offline Brad Kenny

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #22 on: June 15, 2011, 01:39:37 PM »
I bought these last year for the coupe and my car, plug and play - no soldering and took only a few minutes to install.  $59 was worth t for no hassles.

http://www.webelectricproducts.com/blp/ssr/blpssrdetails.htm
Somehow missed this post a long time ago. Just thought I would thank you Joe for the great idea and the increased safety while stopping. THANKS!!!
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Offline TomatoSoup

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #23 on: June 22, 2011, 09:44:04 AM »
This is a response to blewis1, who sent me an initially context-free & thus confusing PM about this.  I tried to respond but his PM inbox is full, so doing it here...  :banghead:

do you know the names of some of the other brands mine flashes 3 times it just not enough flashes for me
need names of other high end brands. or regular brands. list as many as you can thanks
sorry brake light mod
Sorry I only have experience of my kit (requires soldering) which is selectable to flash 5 or 10 times.  Then there's the one DBG got that he mentions in post #6.

When I was initially looking I found a bunch on Google, just search for "brake light flashers". Most are for motorbikes, but will work fine on our cars' 3rd brake lights.

Don't know that any are 'brand names'.
"That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me and I own it, and what it is too." (Monty Python)

Offline SolNut

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Re: Brake light flasher (kit) ~$15
« Reply #24 on: July 25, 2011, 12:01:44 PM »
I bought these last year for the coupe and my car, plug and play - no soldering and took only a few minutes to install.  $59 was worth t for no hassles.

http://www.webelectricproducts.com/blp/ssr/blpssrdetails.htm

How tough was the Coupe install???  :banghead:

Steve

 

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