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Lighted Tesla T for nosecone

4SUPER9

Active Member
Jun 6, 2013
2,424
1,421
California
Success! I was able to use the two diodes to hook up the lighted T to both the DRL and the headlights. Looks great.

Congrats! Sorry I could not respond to your earlier post. Was out of town on a wine tour. I hired a designated driver to take us around. He was pretty thrilled to be driving a Tesla!
 

artsci

Sponsor
May 10, 2012
6,247
3,217
Timonium, Maryland
Can anybody recommend an installer in New Jersey for the "lighted t"? I'm getting my car on May 23rd and love the look of the lighted t, but would love to have it professionally installed.

Thanks

For any decent aftermarket install shop (stereos, parking sensors, etc) this would be a piece of cake.
 

4SUPER9

Active Member
Jun 6, 2013
2,424
1,421
California
I was hoping that someone could recommend a shop that had already done it before - frankly, I didn't want my car to be the "test" car....

You definitely do not need to take this to such a person. It is a remarkably easy project. A beginner can do it in 45 minutes. The only thing a shop would need to know is how to remove the nose cone.
 

3pod

Member
Sep 1, 2013
37
2
SF Bay Area
I did this myself as well and I'm not particularly adept at car electronics either. Just watch the online video a couple of times to get the hang of the steps involved. Also making sure you have the positaps and even a voltage meter is extremely helpful if it doesn't light up the first time you have everything connected. Using the diodes to make sure the t is lit with both drl and headlight is pretty straight forward too.
 

artsci

Sponsor
May 10, 2012
6,247
3,217
Timonium, Maryland
I'm ready to order the "lighted T", but had one last question - when the "T" is lit, how close in color is it to the headlights and DRL lights?

A very good question. The color temperature of the headlights, DRLs, and side lamps varies more than I'd like. The HIDs are much warmer than the DRLs. The T is much closer to the DRL's and side lamps. It's a cool white.
 

pgiralt

Supporting Member
Jun 16, 2013
1,520
154
Cary, NC
I agree with artsci - the T is very close to the DRL's - might be just slightly cooler, but not much. You'll notice that the DRLs and headlights' color temperatures are quite different.
 

3pod

Member
Sep 1, 2013
37
2
SF Bay Area
I love my lighted T but if I could change one thing, it would be to make the LED color a bit warmer. To me its a bit too blue/purple when compared to the DRL and especially the headlights. Not very noticeable when you have it on during the day time but very noticeable at night.
 

robapodaca

Member
Jan 27, 2014
16
1
Florida
In reviewing this, I was wondering... Did someone finally come up with an installation that doesn't use the remote, but has the lighted T always on? I thought I read a post about how someone would go into his garage at night and the T was his nitelight allowing him to see to get around his garage.

I thought I read about how the "always on" was dim, and then the T would turn bright with DRL or Headlights.

Any help?
 

4SUPER9

Active Member
Jun 6, 2013
2,424
1,421
California
In reviewing this, I was wondering... Did someone finally come up with an installation that doesn't use the remote, but has the lighted T always on?

I thought I read about how the "always on" was dim, and then the T would turn bright with DRL or Headlights.

Any help?

Fuse 75 has T always on when car is on. Always on, regardless of whether the car is on or off is another fuse, I believe the glovebox. Fuse number is listed in the instructions.
 

artsci

Sponsor
May 10, 2012
6,247
3,217
Timonium, Maryland
Fuse 75 has T always on when car is on. Always on, regardless of whether the car is on or off is another fuse, I believe the glovebox. Fuse number is listed in the instructions.

If the T is direct wired to that glovebox light fuse it will always be on. With a 500-600 ohm resistor wired to the circuit it would be dimmer in that state.

With another direct connection to the headlight circuit and no resistor in that connection, but with diodes in both 12v sources, when the headlights turn on it would be fully bright.
 

Caloncho

LongerTelomeres?
Nov 18, 2013
89
1
NewYork USA
@artsci, did you know the front lighted T can survive the car wash?

image.jpg
 

brianman

Burrito Founder
Nov 10, 2011
17,515
2,980
If you put a row of LEDs at the bottom edge of the nose cone, you'd have a front smilie face to go with the inverted one on the back. :)
 

RubberToe

Supporting the greater good
Jun 28, 2012
2,960
7,020
El Lay
Just curious since this is the first I have seen of this. Is there a back lighted T that comes on with the brake lights?

RT
 

swegman

Active Member
Mar 27, 2012
1,580
1,617
Rear T is coming soon. Me and 2 others are waiting for beta units to test for artsci. Mine is due to arrive tomorrow.

The rear T lights up when the car's lights turn ON. Light output is designed to match brightness of rear lights. When brakes are applied, the rear T brightens to match light level of the rear brake lights.
 

FLDarren

Member
Apr 19, 2014
620
26
Seminole, Fl.
Artsci, I have a small problem. I wired the single LED inside the car like the directions stated but when I use the remote, the T and the interior aren't synced. When the pulse shows on the interior, the strobe effect shows on the T. The on/off indicator is correct though. It's weird. Any advice on how to solve this?
 

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