HELP!!! WTF is this light? - Calling all sherlock holmes wannabee's!

[lonewolf]

Originally Posted by SPEED MERCHANT

Maybe its some sort of air IONISER/purification system using light technology

They use a similar light technology to purify water as a last treatment before it hits the sea by using ultra-violet & for years they have been selling IONISERS to combat smoke, smells & pet odours in your house so why not a combination unit for your car !?!!

God knows we all know how much the Japanese smoke in their cars. You should have seen the state of my interior when it was first imported as I had to have it steam cleaned due to the amount of fag butts, ash & paper in there.
Looking at the vents on it maybe it takes the air in through there, especially when your smoking & passes it through IONISERS & the light filters pushing cleaner air out the back for circulation. Useful when Mr Japanese chain smoker has his windows closed, especially when the air-con is on or something.

Have I cracked it

It was a good idea Speed Merchant, but the "ionisers" are in the front of the unit behind glass.

The scroll wheel controls the intensity of the light, and the light source is just behind the circuit board. There is a mirror at the back end of the unit which reflects the light out the slots. The slots we can see the light coming out of are the only way in/out for air so air purifier/ioniser seems unlikely.

Good idea though!

[ChristianR]

it's a map light

[Thrust]

Just seen this thread. Did a bit of a search and preliminary findings below:

These use red and green lights in them:
“Œ‹ž—¬�s’Ê�u
CEATEC JAPAN 2006 - Visitor Page
CEATEC JAPAN 2006 - Detailed Exhibitor information - SENSIO

Please don't ask difficult questions like, "What does it actually do?"

[ChristianR]

Originally Posted by ChristianR

it's a map light

as can be seen here : PACE NOTES LIGHT 150 TURN R2 + Test DB's RED ROAD BOOK LIGHT

what I use in my rally car - and from the pics supplied looks like same type of light

[tarmac terror]

I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for an answer to this. Should be easy enough to find out if its a Nissan part surely?? Does anyone have a definative list of options when new?
Sorry I cant be of any help but I'm intrigued by the 'prisms' inside. Sounds very hi-tech

TT

[Superted]

A bit of a random stab in the dark here....

But could it be to prevent glare from the rear view mirror, from other cars at night??

[GTRSTILL]

Its not some sort of crude proxity garage door opener is it

[GTRSTILL]

My BMW has this red ambiant light that shines down on everything....you can buy a green filter for it too...

[hyrev]

Perhaps they were going to mod your car like these trucks but never finished



or, my best guess, in Japan trucks have red and green lights on top, for what reasons (cargo?) IDK. Perhaps they fitted the lights inside rather than on your roof. That is all I could come up with. Does it produce any heat? Maybe it is a de-icer of phenominal proportions, melting ice in nanosecond.

[fuelburner]

ChristianR seemed quite positive but then are you saying it was used as a rally car

[lonewolf]

More good ideas thankyou eveybody, but again none of them fit this thing.

Thrust: Birds that analyse your driving and turn lights red or green? Only the Japanese...

Map light would be good, except it is shining onto the windscreen, and is far to faint to see anything. It is only about as bright as one of those red led computer mouse lights, bright closeup, but there just isn't enough power to illuminate more than a few inches clearly.

The light cannot be seen in the rear view mirror in normal driving position, and the beam does miss the rear view mirror perfectly (as seen in one of the pictures). Good idea though.

Garage door opener, the light can bee seen from the end of the bonnet so in theory you can follow that angle down and onto a theoretical embedded sensor, but surely it would be better to put the light in the bumper, or be a bit smaller. I also doubt that it would work during the day because of the brightness.

It does not produce any detectable heat, and it only shines on a small portion of the window, not even in the drivers field of view.


I'm going to try and remove the whole thing when I get back from work, maybe the innards can help.

Tim

[kismetcapitan]

perhaps the last fellow to own the car decided to have some fun with the next British owner, and wired up some random LEDs and is now getting quite a chuckle out of us westerners trying to puzzle this one out :P

[lonewolf]

Well, I took the cover off when I got back from work, and found that everything was still under wraps. The headlining has been cut away, you can see where it was marked out. It has been done very professionally. Still no observed part numbers. The unit is bolted to the actual roof of the car.


Does that mirror look adjustable?


Looks like High Voltage to me.


Wrestled with the head ***** to get the unit out to get a better look.



Taking the thing apart, I could remove the big box...


To reveal a Halogen Spotlight...!


The box contained a series of mirrors and a slide.



The circuit board closeup. I checked the number on the chip and it is an inverter circuit. There are only three connectors on the board - one power, one to the controls and the other to the light.


Back inside the car, showing the roof and panels. It seems to be a factory fit.


Back in and working again.



I cleaned the mirror because it was thick with dust. Maybe this will increase the light intensity. The whole unit is coated with optical quality matte back paint - which isn't cheap.

While reinstalling I noticed on the cover of the unit A PART NUMBER!!!!!! TK-200 ABS. I'm guessing that ABS is the plastic type, so TK-200 must be the part. Can't find it on Google though.

NO idea what this is but it was factory installed and made with quality parts. This thing wasn't cheap whatever it is!!

As the tree said to the lumberjack: "I'm Stumped!"


Cheers

Tim

[ru']

It's a weird pseudo-holographic projector setup to project an image of a stylised cylinder in front of you whilst driving, of course.

Next!



(Okay, maybe not, but whatever it is it's odd. Nothing good will come of it. Take it out back and shoot it.)

[MarkMcQ]

That actually doesn't sound too far off. Looks like it is a projector of some kind. Are you able to replace the pic of the cylinder with anything else and have it display?