How easy is it to add LED headlights to RC car?

[King Mustard]

I am new to RC cars and electronics in general.

 

I have a Maverick Quantum RX Flux with a Voltz 5,000 mAh 4S LiPo battery.

 

I am wanting to add LED headlights.

 

I am happy enough with the cutouts, mounting etc

 

How easy is it to wire headlights up? Do I wire them to the 4S battery (and is it safe?), or do I include a seperate battery for them inside the shell?

 

To be honest, there are so many lighting kits available (some example links below), I would not know where to start!

 

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/body-shop/lighting-kits/?&sort=PriceLow

https://wheelspinmodels.co.uk/c/176/?o=2

https://www.cmldistribution.co.uk/lighting-kits/000100220019?brand_sort=&product_show=20&product_sort=sortpriceasc

https://www.makeitbuildit.co.uk/collections/lighting-kits?sort_by=price-ascending

Edited November 3, 2024 by King Mustard

[wombat]

Hi, i usually connect the lights to channel 3 on the reciever so i can control the lights from the transmitter, ive made up magnetic connectors so no need to disconnect wires when removing the body .If using a separete battery i try to fix the battery to the body to make body removal easier. If you look on you tube there are several videos that will help you

Cheers, Ian

[steephill]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296500811108?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=k4uhqqzktxs&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=FznbBxPrRhS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08FLZXSD7?ref=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_JJBXAG175TRNTJES6ZEY_1&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_JJBXAG175TRNTJES6ZEY_1&social_share=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_JJBXAG175TRNTJES6ZEY_1&starsLeft=1&skipTwisterOG=1

 

Here's a couple of links for light controllers. 

Like @wombat said, connect to a spare channel and you can turn them on and off with your transmitter. 

 

[steephill]

I got a set of these to go on a 1/8 truggy.... 

https://www.injora.com/products/5-13v-28-28mm-superbright-a-pillar-light-square-lamp-for-1-6-1-8-rc-crawler-car

The take up to 13 volts. I tried them on a 3s battery and they are the brightest rc lights I have seen. 

You could get away with just one on the front because they are so bright. 

[King Mustard]

On 04/11/2024 at 09:13, steephill said:

I got a set of these to go on a 1/8 truggy.... 

https://www.injora.com/products/5-13v-28-28mm-superbright-a-pillar-light-square-lamp-for-1-6-1-8-rc-crawler-car

The take up to 13 volts. I tried them on a 3s battery and they are the brightest rc lights I have seen. 

You could get away with just one on the front because they are so bright. 

I am intending to buy one of those.

 

Will I need anything else to get it running on my kit?

 

Looking at what the lamp comes with, I cannot see where the cable would connect.

 

Here is my ESC, if it helps:

 

 

Ideally, I want to power it from the 4S battery somehow, so that it comes on each time I turn the ESC on, and off when the ESC is off.

 

Edited November 7, 2024 by King Mustard

[wolfie1]

Normally when you fit a light kit it is rated for 6v and usually you would plug it into a port on the receiver and that will make it turn on and off when you turn the esc on and off, on a maverick the receiver is in that black plastic box in front of your esc

[King Mustard]

3 minutes ago, wolfie1 said:

Normally when you fit a light kit it is rated for 6v and usually you would plug it into a port on the receiver and that will make it turn on and off when you turn the esc on and off, on a maverick the receiver is in that black plastic box in front of your esc

Behind the ESC?

 

If so, I'm seeing no ports or anything on that. Just solid plastic all around it.

[wolfie1]

Undo the screws and its inside that plastic box

[wolfie1]

Follow this link and have a look at the exploded diagrams https://www.hpiracing.com/assets/documents/maverick/instructions/maverick_quantumrx_4s_manual_v2_04012023_web.pdf

[King Mustard]

2 hours ago, wolfie1 said:

Undo the screws and its inside that plastic box

Interesting, thank you!

 

There was one screw that required an Allen key.

 

Inside is the following (an MRX-244)

 

 

It looks like four rows of three pins, with the bottom two rows being taken up already.

 

So, presumably, the lamp kit comes with a 3-pin connector I just plug inside that box and we are done?

 

Or, as that lamp is 5-13V, do I need something between the receiver and the lamp? (as I think you are saying the receiver supports 6V only?)

 

Edited November 7, 2024 by King Mustard

[Partydaz]

The voltage is set by the ESC so if its set to 6v that's all the receiver will pump out to the lights.

 

You could put a BEC in to give the lights more voltage but see what its like first it might be bright enough for ripping about 😃

[King Mustard]

3 hours ago, Partydaz said:

The voltage is set by the ESC so if its set to 6v that's all the receiver will pump out to the lights.

 

You could put a BEC in to give the lights more voltage but see what its like first it might be bright enough for ripping about 😃

Thank you for the detail 🙂

 

I am just thinking that giving the lamps 6V, even though that may be enough, is not quite 12V-13V 😄 Is a BEC an easy thing to install?

[Stormbringer]

you may be surprised at how bright the leds are on 6v so try powering of the receiver 1st and if disappointing brightness then try a bec 

[wolfie1]

as folks have said above a 6v led bulb on 6v will be really bright. Yes you would just plug the connector into ch3, the connector will most likely only have 2 wires so just connect the same as the other 2 red and black ones, the white wire is the signal wire fyi but hey if you want to run lipo voltage you do that  its your model after all

Edited November 8, 2024 by wolfie1

[King Mustard]

On 04/11/2024 at 09:13, steephill said:

I got a set of these to go on a 1/8 truggy.... 

https://www.injora.com/products/5-13v-28-28mm-superbright-a-pillar-light-square-lamp-for-1-6-1-8-rc-crawler-car

The take up to 13 volts. I tried them on a 3s battery and they are the brightest rc lights I have seen. 

You could get away with just one on the front because they are so bright. 

Here is a thought - are the lamps waterproof? (there is no mention on their website of it)

 

If not, how did you waterproof yours?

[wolfie1]

Personally i have never even worried about it and have submerged lights in the past with no ill effects

[King Mustard]

4 minutes ago, wolfie1 said:

Personally i have never even worried about it and have submerged lights in the past with no ill effects

Fantastic. That will do me.

[Yrkoon]

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/fastrax-white-headlights-pair--368699

 

i use them and the back red ones just plugged into the rx and they are very bright 🙂

 

 

Edited November 11, 2024 by Yrkoon

[King Mustard]

Just now, Yrkoon said:

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/fastrax-white-headlights-pair--368699

 

i use them and the back red ones just plugged into the rx and they are very bright 🙂

 

Oh my, the price difference of those (£2.40) compared to the ones I already have on the way that @steephill recommended (cost me £22) 😆

 

Let's hope they are worth it 😊

[Yrkoon]

3 minutes ago, King Mustard said:

Oh my, the price difference of those (£2.40) compared to the ones I already have on the way that @steephill recommended (cost me £22) 😆

 

Let's hope they are worth it 😊

 

the ones he suggested look to be far superior 🙂

Edited November 11, 2024 by Yrkoon

[King Mustard]

Just now, Yrkoon said:

 

the ones he suggested look to be far superior 🙂

Unfortunately, I could not find any YouTube videos nor general photos of them fitted to RC vehicles and in use in the dark.

 

So in the end, I bought them on faith. He seems to know what he is talking about 🙂

[Yrkoon]

Just now, King Mustard said:

Unfortunately, I could not find any YouTube videos nor general photos of them fitted to RC vehicles and in use in the dark.

 

So in the end, I bought them on faith. He seems to know what he is talking about 🙂

i beleive he knows more than me so that is already a good sign 🙂

[King Mustard]

Just now, Yrkoon said:

i beleive he knows more than me so that is already a good sign 🙂

The beauty of your type is that you can, if you wanted to, hot glue them onto the outside of the shell. Very easy installation.

 

I have had to buy some speaker grill for mine 😆

 

If I am reminded, I will include some photos here when it has all arrived and been installed.

[Yrkoon]

Just now, King Mustard said:

The beauty of your type is that you can, if you wanted to, hot glue them onto the outside of the shell. Very easy installation.

 

I have had to buy some speaker grill for mine 😆

 

If I am reminded, I will include some photos here when it has all arrived and been installed.

 

both the cars in my pics there only have em cable tied on, very basic single led lights but do the job for ripping about the car park in the dark 🙂

[King Mustard]

On 04/11/2024 at 09:13, steephill said:

I got a set of these to go on a 1/8 truggy.... 

https://www.injora.com/products/5-13v-28-28mm-superbright-a-pillar-light-square-lamp-for-1-6-1-8-rc-crawler-car

The take up to 13 volts. I tried them on a 3s battery and they are the brightest rc lights I have seen. 

You could get away with just one on the front because they are so bright. 

@steephill Can I connect both lights to the same channel on the receiver? (via the joiner that came with the bulbs) Or will that cause power issues?

Edited November 17, 2024 by King Mustard