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Review of deAutoKey LED puddle lights for One Perfect Dose Sequential Turn Signals

relicstrat

Passed Driver's Ed
Joseph at One Perfect Dose had to part with his MK6 on short notice and couldn’t do this, so I volunteered to do this Review/DIY/Show & Tell for the deAutoKey LED wedges and replacement LED modules. This is not really a review because I am not going to come to any conclusions. While I have my personal preference on which lighting I like the best, you can’t go wrong on any of them. It’s a matter of personal preference and in the end my preference doesn’t matter. This is not really a DIY as there are many DIY’s already available, but I will give some advice and pointers on a few things I learned along the way from doing this. Plus I’ve only hooked up the sequential turn signals so far. I’m waiting on some ebay interior door warning/puddle lights to arrive from in the mail from China before I pull my door panels off. I only want to pull the panels off once. So I will do it all at one time. For the review photos I just simply hooked the lights directly to the car battery.
You also will need to code for the puddle lights in VCDS to get them to work after wiring them up.

Here are the lights that I installed and will be reviewing:






First of all here is a great DIY video from USP Motorsports showing how to remove the door panels. This is a must in order to hook up the puddle lights to the door harness.



The video is an interior puddle light DIY, so do not use this video to hook up your outside puddle lights, only use it to pull the door panels. I feel silly for saying this, but I know there will be someone who will and will be mad when their outside puddle lights don't work right. You’ve been warned, LOL!

Here is a DIY that shows how to wire up the puddle lights and how to code for them in VCDS.

Puddle Lights DIY


The first thing you need to do is to pull off the mirrors. I’ve read of many people breaking not one but both of their mirrors when trying to remove them. If you use a little common sense it is pretty much impossible to break them. You will absolutely break them if you stick your fingers behind the mirror and simply pull, as it will cause too much flex on the mirror. When pulling out, take your free hand and apply pressure on the ouside of the mirror in the same area, to create an opposing force. If you do this they will not flex and break. I even took a lame photo showing this.



I’m guessing most people who install the One Perfect Dose sequential turn signals are going to want to install LED’s for the puddles instead of using the stock halogen.
In order to install either the deAutoKey LED wedges or the deAutoKey LED module you will first have to pull out the original light module. The LED wedges are too long to put in the module because the turn signal housing is too close to the light hole opening on the module. I didn’t take a pic of this but you will see once you go to install. Someone else sent deAutoKey showing that they were too long, so deAutoKey can add the photo to this thread if he feels like. Since the photo is not mine I will not post it.
To remove the original module you will have to cut through the glue with a razor. There was not much glue holding the module in on mine so it came out very easy.

Here is a photo showing the three or four glue spots:




Here are two photos of the signal housing and the original module with an LED wedge installed.






If you decide to use the deAutoKey LED wedges you will use the stock harness that came with the sequential turn housing. You will simply pop out the halogen bulb as seen in the below photo and replace with an LED.




The white wire is for power and has the VW pin connector on the end that you will install into the pin socket on the door harness connector. Refer to the DIY I linked earlier.
The black wire is ground and can be spliced to the blue wire that is ground for the mirror defroster that connects to the mirror itself.

If you decide to use the deAutoKey LED module, plug its connector into the bulb socket of the stock harness. (thanks crashed for realizing this). :)

Edited to add: The LED wedges might be too wide to fit in the hole of the module. I had a few that slipped in/out easily and a few that were on the tight side. I took a flat file and made about 4 swipes on the side of the PCB of the LED wedge to make it fit.

OK, I think I got most of the boring stuff out of the way. On to the Show and Tell.


Stock halogen bulb



deAutoKey white LED wedge



deAutoKey red LED wedge



deAutoKey LED module


I tried taking some real nighttime photos, but I couldn’t get consistent and controlled photos. I had to install a light, back out of the drive way take a photo, pull into the garage, install another light, etc. I couldn’t park the car in the same spot, and couldn’t put my camera in the same spot. So I said screw it, and waited until the following day when I had more time. So instead of getting real nighttime shots I waited until dusk and closed my garage door and simulated nighttime. That way the car was in the same spot, my camera was on a tripod and in the same spot. Only thing I had to do was adjust the shutter since my garage faces the setting sun.


Stock halogen bulb



deAutoKey white LED wedge



deAutoKey red LED wedge



deAutoKey LED module


As I said earlier this is not really a review as I don’t want to make any conclusions. You will probably be happy with which ever you choose.
I do believe the deAutoKey module is a better and more efficient design over the stock module. While both the deAutoKey module and the deAutoKey LED wedges are 6 SMT LED’s , the module LED’s are spread out across the whole lens surface area, and also there is a white reflector that sits between the LED’s and the PCB that bounces all or most of the light out of the module lens.

So there you have it. I’m sure there is something important that I left out and I’ll update as things come to me.

Hope you find this useful.
 
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jmul54

Ready to race!
Great review been waiting on this. So your saying that if we buy just the led bulbs not the housing they are going to be to long to fit in the stock housing?
 

spiker369

on air, don't care
Great review been waiting on this. So your saying that if we buy just the led bulbs not the housing they are going to be to long to fit in the stock housing?

He said they're too long to install in the stock housing while it's still glued to the lower part of the mirror. Remove the housing off the lower part of the mirror (he shows where it's glued in place) and you can get it to fit.
 

crashdb

Go Kart Champion
They're probably referring to me. I bought the wafer lights for the CC for my puddle lights. There's two problems with them. The first is that the wafer is too long to be able to angle into the housing. But it's just a hair too long. The other issue is that the wafer is just a hair too wide. All of these issues can be overcome. The entire module can be removed from the mirror housing and then reglued back in. The wafer can be wedged into the light socket/module, but good luck ever getting it out. One solution to that, that I did not try would be to sand down the wafer just a little. And I mean just a little. It wouldn't take much to fit the wafer into the socket.

If you don't end up going with the deAutoKey light module, I have two sets of LED bulbs I got from SuperBrightLEDs. I haven't had a chance to try them out for fit and all, but hopefully within the next few days. I'll post my results here.
 
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jmul54

Ready to race!
Oh ok thanks for the clarrification, I wanna get some led bulbs b4 I put mine on. Im assuming the best bet would be to just buy the housing, but ill wait for crash to get them other bulbs tested.
 

relicstrat

Passed Driver's Ed
They're probably referring to me. I bought the wafer lights for the CC for my puddle lights. There's two problems with them. The first is that the wafer is too long to be able to angle into the housing. But it's just a hair too long. The other issue is that the wafer is just a hair too wide. All of these issues can be overcome. The entire module can be removed from the mirror housing and then reglued back in. The wafer can be wedged into the light socket/module, but good luck ever getting it out. One solution to that, that I did not try would be to sand down the wafer just a little. And I mean just a little. It wouldn't take much to fit the wafer into the socket.

If you don't end up going with the deAutoKey light module, I have two sets of LED bulbs I got from SuperBrightLEDs. I haven't had a chance to try them out for fit and all, but hopefully within the next few days. I'll post my results here.

Thanks crashdb. You just reminded me of something important I meant to state but forgot.

The wafers/wedges whatever you want to call them may be to wide to fit in the hole. I simply took a flat file and made about 4 swipes with it on the side of the wafer(on the PCB) to get it to slide in the hole. The reason I say "may be" is because I had 4 wafers to play with, 2 whites, 2 reds, and some would slide in/out just fine, and some I had to file to get them to fit without fear of them never coming back out, haha!

I'll update the OP when I get home. I'm at work and I tried to update it but all I got was a blank space where to edit but no original text.

Thanks spiker369 for the clarification!
 

crashdb

Go Kart Champion
Thanks crashdb. You just reminded me of something important I meant to state but forgot.

The wafers/wedges whatever you want to call them may be to wide to fit in the hole. I simply took a flat file and made about 4 swipes with it on the side of the wafer(on the PCB) to get it to slide in the hole. The reason I say "may be" is because I had 4 wafers to play with, 2 whites, 2 reds, and some would slide in/ourt just fine, and some I had to file to get them to fit without fear of them never coming back out, haha!

I'll update the OP when I get home. I'm at work and I tried to update it but all I got was a blank space where to edit but no original text.

Good to know it'll actually work. I didn't think about it until I had gotten it all back together. I wanted to get to the bulbs this weekend, but it was rainy, windy and cold all weekend.
 

deAutoLED.com

GolfMK6 Official Vendor
Thanks for the review! These are great pictures, these really show what they will look like in person, we think the housing is the best option as it gives the best light pattern without any spotting.

We can try to get a group buy on them if anyone is interested.

If you want the 6 LED wedge reviewed, they are listed here for sale:
http://deautokey.com/product/oneperfectdose-sequential-led-mirror-signals-and-puddle-lamp-leds

Thank you

http://www.superbrightleds.com/more...led-bulb-5-smd-led-wide-angle-wedge-base/206/

Just confirmed that those do work without drama. I have no clue how bright they are yet other than the rate 100 lumens the website states. The other pair I have were too long as well.

I'll see if I can post a picture later. It won't be the quality of Randy's, but I'll do my best.

Those will not be as bright as an LED where ALL 6 LEDs face outwards... Those will fit fine and we have those too, but we stopped selling them as puddle lights because people complained about the light output, so far everyone has requested the 6 LED wafer for a puddle LED instead.

Each of those 5 SMD produce 20 lumens, which equals 100 lumens, when you place those in housing, only 1 will be facing down..

Our 6 LED wafer produce a little bit more lumens but they will be facing outwards.
 

relicstrat

Passed Driver's Ed
Hey, you're welcome. It was fun to do. Hopefully it will be of help to folks.
 

crashdb

Go Kart Champion
I was able to view the new bulbs at night. They're about fair to midland. I don't like them, nor dislike them. I tried to get some pictures, but it wasn't turning out too well.

The bulbs have hot spots and they weren't as bright as I expected. At this point, I would recommend the LED modules. It's a little more work, but probably worth it judging from the pictures. If you just don't want to mess with them, then I would recommend the wafers.
 

deAutoLED.com

GolfMK6 Official Vendor
I was able to view the new bulbs at night. They're about fair to midland. I don't like them, nor dislike them. I tried to get some pictures, but it wasn't turning out too well.

The bulbs have hot spots and they weren't as bright as I expected. At this point, I would recommend the LED modules. It's a little more work, but probably worth it judging from the pictures. If you just don't want to mess with them, then I would recommend the wafers.

Thanks for the update.

We have 1 full housing module for $39.99 shipped.

We would like to get a group buy, and get at least 10 people to lower the price.

:thumbsup:
 

jmul54

Ready to race!
Do u have the housing on the website now?
 
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