Installing 3rd brake light strobe
 

Hi,
Just want to share this simple DIY 3rd brake light flasher, delay version.
I've seen this on F1 race cars, kinda cool and it's proven more visibility when it flashes, and it's great safety issue.
I went for delay version because in rush hour traffic brake light will act normally on solid(slow drive, hit&brake all the time)
and will not irritating other drivers during rush hour.
The brake flashes 6 times about 2 sec and then turn solid, touching your brakes again within 8 seconds will cause
your third brake light to turn on normally without flashing.
!! With the module, you need a simple resistor to work properly on Boxster !!
no error codes. simple install.

3rd brake light strobe, delay version Porsche Boxster 986 - YouTube

I have tried both from Kahtec and 3rdbrakeflasher.com, 3rdbrakeflasher module is programable. i haven't found other brand with delay version, both are great.
you need resistor to work properly both og them.

:)

You also need to note that this mod is illegal in many states.................

yes, there are some regulation, but it seemed to be legal up to 4 pulses then og steady in most states.

link to FAQ:
Pulse FAQ - Pulsing Not Flashing Third Brake Questions

another forum thread:
Flashing Third Brake Light - Page 2 - Hyundai Forums : Hyundai Forum

If I were you, I'd look into that fact further before spending any money on this, in this state the rules on flashing lights on any type of automotive vehicle is limited to certain types of lights, colors, mounted at specific vehicle locations, and only on authorized vehicles with state certifications. The state regs on the subject do not mention anything about the number of pulses, but they are pretty specific about who can use them, and the penalties for use without proper certification. Even shop emergency vehicles have to be certified...............

Hi.
I've had this Mod for a few months now.
Just click on video to start play.

http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps3f55e99a.jpg

No regulations in the law regarding this mod over here in the UK

I love the idea, but JFP is correct: highly illegal in most (all, I'm sure) states. If an officer sees that, you'll get pulled over. I guess you could always try to play it off as a short in the wiring or something, but that's a gamble.

Any flashing lights on a vehicle, other than turn signals, are illegal unless it's certified and approved to have them. A friend of mine got in trouble a couple years back for having flashing LED lights on his valve stem caps (tacky, I know).
The charge was impersonating a police officer or something similar :(

Cops just love aftermarket light infractions as ticket bait; last August, a local community hosted a cruise night, and we ended up with more than a dozen cars left at the shop overnight because they had aftermarket HID kits (non projectors), which are also not legal in many states. Several car club member's went to court to fight the $150 tickets they had gotten, as well as having to stay overnight at a local hotel, and they all lost. The kits could not demonstrate DOT approvals, which makes them a safety violation at night. A lesson some should take note of, as we cannot pass cars equipped with aftermarket non-projector HID lights at inspection .

I am quite sure, that those strobe lights are illegal in Germany, too. Basically everything is illegal here, which is not officially certified (e.g. most interior LED lights, after market pedals, HID kits, or even an original Porsche AERO KIT, which is not properly installed, or just partially installed)...i would say like 95% of the after market stuff out there or 99% of the Chinese aftermarket stuff :D

BUT officially certified EMERGENCY BRAKE (strobe) lights are available from WAECO.
Those are required in new cars now anyways. I got mine installed from my Porsche dealer, just for safety purposes. Just imagine
Autobahn...high speed...hilly...curvy...TRAFFIC JAM :eek:

you'd better have good brakes and a car in front with emergency brake strobe lights :cool:

P.S.: It is a little black box, which checks several emergency break parameters of the car and then sends a strobe/pulse signal to the break lights

I put one of those modulating headlight things on my Goldwing so more people would notice me and I'd be safer on the road. Sounded like a good idea and it was also legal where I live. I only had it on my bike for 2 days when some guy in an old truck that was in front of me gave me a waving hand signal that indicated he wanted me to pull over. So I did. He threatened to punch my lights out (not the headlights) if I didn't turn them off. I ended up taking the module out as it didn't seem to enhance my safety, but made me a potential assault victim. Your results may vary.

"...not the headlights"? :eek:

You are right, results may vary, depending on what and where you install it ;)
I tell you, once you have seen emergency pulse brakes lights in front of you...you want them, too...and not because of the cool looks :cool:

You just know instinctively...strobe/pulse flashing brake light...right into your eyes..."it is high time to put the pedal to the metal as hard as you can" (uhm...the brake one)...it can save lifes and $$$.

P.S.: From the manufacturers website
"Unfortunately, fatal accidents have become part of everyday life. Drivers who don’t concentrate or keep too little distance cause most of them. Is there anything you can do about it? Keep a safe distance to the vehicle in front of you – and retrofit the WAECO MagicSafe ABL 100 emergency brake light!
If you need to brake hard because of an emergency or hazardous situation, all three brake lights start flashing at a high frequency. The following driver is alerted: studies have shown that the reaction time of the person in the vehicle behind is reduced by 0.2 seconds. At a speed of 100 km/h that means the braking distance is actually reduced by five-and-a-half metres! Since February 2010 all vehicles newly registered in Europe have to be equipped with an emergency brake light. ..."

25251.5. (a) Any motor vehicle may also be equipped with a system
in which an amber light is center mounted on the rear of a vehicle to
communicate a component of deceleration of the vehicle, and which
light pulses in a controlled fashion at a rate which varies
exponentially with a component of deceleration.
(b) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with two amber lamps on the
rear of the vehicle which operate simultaneously with not more than
four flashes within four seconds after the accelerator pedal is in
the deceleration position and which are not lighted at any other
time. The lamps shall be mounted at the same height, with one lamp
located on each side of the vertical centerline of the vehicle, not
higher than the bottom of the rear window, or if the vehicle has no
rear window, not higher than 60 inches. The light output from each of
the lamps shall not exceed 200 candlepower at any angle horizontal
or above. The amber lamps may be used either separately or in
combination with another lamp.
(c) Any stoplamp or supplemental stoplamp required or permitted by
Section 24603 may be equipped so as to flash not more than four
times within the first four seconds after actuation by application of
the brakes.


Interesting tidbit from the california VEHICLE CODE
SECTION 25250-25282...I think its ok here?

You pull over for random people telling you to? Isn't that, like, the second rule you learn besides dont take candy from strangers?? That is how all bad scifi movies start..

Except that your Federally mandated third brake light is red.............

Any stoplamp or supplemental stoplamp required or permitted by
Section 24603 may be equipped so as to flash not more than four
times within the first four seconds after actuation by application of
the brakes.

Section 24603 is about taillights and the requirement for them to be RED post 1979. So part C of 25251.5 applies to cars fitted with a third RED brakelight. DGAF, doing this mod. I will surely abide by the '4 times in 4 seconds' however.

The third brake light size, location, color, and illumination specs are not regulated by state laws, but by Federal NHTSA code (DOT HS 808 696). Fed always trumps state.........but it's your money and you will be getting the tickets.

But I live in Canada. He could have been wanting to talk to me about how awesome my bike is, or maybe to apologize for thinking he cut me off. Come to think about it, I think he had a Colorado plate which might have explained the situation. He did scare me though. Enough so that I forgot to apologize and thank him for his concern. I suppose I should have offered him a peace offering as there was a Timmies near by. Nothing says sorry like a double double with timbits.

:)

Haha, I'm not familiar with Timmies or timbits but if all Canadians have those kind of manners, im moving there

"Timmies" is a Tim Horton's coffee shop, popular in the "Great White North" and "a double double with timbits" is a Canadian term used to describe how you take your coffee - two teaspoons of sugar and two creams. Preferably used in any Tim Horton's location, where you can also sample Timbits, or what we call donut holes.

Timmy Ho ho ho...yummie :cheers:

Oh yes, we would love to have you come here to live. We would treat you real nice. Well, most of us would. The Gubmint, on the other hand would bend you over that nice shiney boxsta hood and make you squeal like Larry of the three stooges. You'll pay so much in taxes you'll be thinking your last bill for an ims bearing replacement was like spare change in your pocket. You like good music? We have Celene Dion or Justin Beiber to chose from. But we do have timmies on every street corner so life is good.

Now for my mandated apology for the thread jack.

Sorry.

Gosh, I sure do miss the Tim Hortons donuts and timbits. Tim Horton was a great Hockey player for those that don't know.
When are they going to get them in CA.
Ive waited 13 years since I last tasted them in Ontario and they are still not here yet, and with the number of canucks in SoCal, it ought to have been mandated by now.

You should have set your Flashing headlights for a 2Hz frequency so as to cause nausea for those that are annoying you.

You need to get the leather shotgun holster for your bike and put a broomstick in it, so the mounties don't bother you. Any US driver will NOT even make eye contact let alone stop you with that hanging prominently on your bike.

I have one of those tail light flasher modules on my Yamaha and it flashes 4 times then steady for 4 seconds then repeats. Cheap insurance at $20-$30 and helps keep the tailgaters off my ass when I blip the brakes as it flashes 4 times no mater how short the brake press is.

I installed the brake flasher and it is great. Really customizable. Problem is, sometimes when I press the brake, the 3rd brake light will 'glitch' so to speak and will not turn on until I press the brake again. It probably happens 1/10 brake presses


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lol. I see you've been keeping this a secret from me.

It isnt really a prrrroblem....and its passed the epapp test like, 20 times now, so its all good

Mine played up untill i put a resistor on it !! Worked ok then.
Guvs.

oooohhhhh @GUVS
Speak to me re this witchcraft!

What parts did you buys, where from and how difficult was the fitting? Plug and play or some kind of splice and solder routine?

check this out:

Flashing brake lights - YouTube

very smart, not sure if legal here in uk though.. will need to look into it

Hi EssexPorsche & cam-d- are you Boys not on "BoXa.net" I've put a how too on there about this subject.
worth logging on there.
Guvs.

In the mean time have a look at the video links:-

http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps3f55e99a.jpg
http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps524477f0.jpg
easy Mod to do only takes half hour and as cheap as chips.
Guvs.

I apologise I just noticed I have already posted one of the videos I've just posted I have since got a LED 3rd high level brake strip light and they look a 100% better now much sharper, I will have to get a day time video showing them one day.
Guvs.

I have ordered the Kahtek delay unit for my Boxster. What kind of resistor did you use and how did you add it to the wiring scheme?

Thanks

Just a simple cheap one from ebay, 1+ & 1-

Hi all.
Finally got around to videoing my 3rd brake light with my LED rear clusters and in day time so here goes let’s hope I can do the linky thing (not very IT literate I’m afraid) click on the cross it is there can't seem to get the photo link showing, but by clicking on the cross it works !!
The red light switch on the dash board is like a cut out switch for the strobe, when I'm in slow moving traffic I use this to stop the flashing in case it annoys anyone behind me.
Guvs.

http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/p...psrcpxeuec.mp4

PS
All I used for a resistor was a block of ceramic type with wire coming out of each end of it, as for the wiring of it follow the instructions, or look at my section in “running reports” on BoXa.net under “My Speed Yellow Boxster”

Are there any instructions on what to use for a resistor and how to wire that in with the module ?

I was able to get some info from Kahtec on the Resistor to use. Though they said I shouldn't need one (I have a 2004), if I did need one it would be a 6ohm 50W one. They also sent this picture on how to wire it in:

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1437499012.gif

I purchased the Smart Stop Delay version and a 6ohm 50W resistor off Ebay. They arrived last week and I was able to install them this past weekend. I took some pics of the installation as I went, following the instructions in this post. The only real tricky part I ran into was that both wires on the third brake light adapter were black which made it difficult to tell which was + and which was - (a tester would be a handle tool if you plan on this installation). I was able to get it installed and working - it does take some assistance, need someone to press the brakes while you are observing the results while wiring things in. Other than that it was pretty straight forward and works great.

Here is a picture of the screws you need to remove for the third brake light (there are two of them):
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1437499491.jpg

Then remove the connector (note both wires are black) - there is a tab on the clip you depress to remove it:
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1437499547.jpg

Here is the Smart Stop Delay and Resistor I used:
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1437499615.jpg

Wire it in following the directions from Kahtec:
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1437499687.jpg

Wire in the resistor (follow directions in the image provided above from Kahtec):
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1437499752.jpg

Have someone help test the light is working as expected (delay, etc) - I did this first after installing the Smart Stop and then again after installing the Resistor, and before I re-attached the third brake light.

Once you confirm everything is working, you need to find a place to hide the smart stop and resistor. I ended up making a small slice in the weather stripping and putting both parts inside the lining where the roof is stored like this:
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1437499932.jpg

Not sure if there is a better place to store it or not, but this seems to work. I also checked the light after a few days to make sure it (and my rear brake lights) were functioning correctly - just to make sure after driving for a bit none of the connections came loose.

Here is a video of it installed and working:
http://youtu.be/o5YqufFLKtA

I found the Third brake wire here +/- and installed the resistor around here at the trunk.


http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1438045474.jpg

My opinion is please don't do this. I had a friend with a 99 Nissan Altima and we went through all the work of REMOVING the blinking 3rd light. Its definatly a distraction, blinking crap draws attention and I can't believe it was never classed as impersonating an ambulance (to my friends who had blue lights and paid that 500$ fine for impersonating a cop.) They pulled this option from cars by 2000, there were none left. Its like those sliding seatbelts in early 90s cars. They tried it but found it to be a bad idea. Blinking lights dont let people who can only see your 3rd brake light know if your tapping your brake pedal or holding it. Same thing with those american cars that double the usage of the brake and turn signal bulb.

We had a 2000 Volvo C70 that had a blinking 3rd brake light

I just installed this. I got the kahtec delay version. Traced he wires back to the trunk. It worked without the resistor on my 2003 S with led's in the brake light. Hooked in he resistor just in case though.http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1487664062.jpg
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1487664081.jpg