P1000 My DIY Whips

[TxDoc]

Got this one wired up to the headlight switch for her PW Jeep .

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Oh Wow!!
She'll be Stylin' & Profilin'
Great Daddy Award

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

 

[Admin]

 

[SuperMidget]

Got this one wired up to the headlight switch for her PW Jeep 🤣.

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That's awesome. That's on 1" you said?

 

[Adam490]

That's awesome. That's on 1" you said?

Initially it was, just to see if the LED/controller still worked after sitting in the hot garage for a year. I bought a few 10' 1/2" pieces when I was out and rewrapped them around that, so that's on 1/2" in the pics on the Jeep.

 

[SuperMidget]

Initially it was, just to see if the LED/controller still worked after sitting in the hot garage for a year. I bought a few 10' 1/2" pieces when I was out and rewrapped them around that, so that's on 1/2" in the pics on the Jeep.

I thought that looked a little small to be 1". A friend is wanting to make a 1.5 or 2" stubby fat whip for his rzr to be different. Should be interesting.

 

[Adam490]

I thought that looked a little small to be 1". A friend is wanting to make a 1.5 or 2" stubby fat whip for his rzr to be different. Should be interesting.

I'd like to see that, lol.

 

[Adam490]

I think I'll get into the Power Wheels whip business. I didn't get a video of them taking turns changing the lights when she stopped 🤣

 

[SuperMidget]

I'd like to see that, lol.

Test wrapping on 2" with some scraps. I figure it will only cover 15 to 18" at best with a full 16ft strip

 

[Adam490]

Test wrapping on 2" with some scraps. I figure it will only cover 15 to 18" at best with a full 16ft stripView attachment 231406

I bet it would be pretty cool to wire up a big one using a few rolls of the LED's to make a big flag pole-esque whip to run with a large flag in a receiver extension.

 

[Adam490]

Got everything except my caps and heat shrink today. Getting everything wired up now.

@SuperMidget the waterproof connectors you linked are super beefy. They are like small gauge extension cord grade. I thought they would be small like the ones on my current whips. Not a big deal since they'll be hidden up on the ROPS anyway.

 

[Robobrainiac]

I've made a few versions starting with basic solid flashing colors on CB Antennas then WS2811 led's that chase patterns in blocks of 3 lights. These are WS2812B Eco led strips and all that has gone into them. I've never done a build thread before for something i've put together so cut me some slack.

Here is how I did it, others might have a different or better idea on it but i'm very happy with the outcome.

*WARNING* These are 5v LED Whips. They can not be ran without the 12v to 5v converter. If you don't want to run 5v then you can use 12v WS2811 LED strips that are addressed in blocks of 3 instead of individually like these are.

Parts List (with links)

(1) 10ft 1/2" PVC pipe
(2) 5" 3/8 Carriage Bolts
(25) Pack of 3/8 nuts
Tube of construction adhesive
1" Clear Heat Shrink
(2) 5m WS2812B Eco LED Strips
12v to 5v 10 Amp Step Down Transformer *not needed if using 12v WS2811 Strips*
120 Pattern Bluetooth Controller or 366 Pattern Controller *I've tried both and they do well. I prefer the Bluetooth personally but it is not waterproof*
Roll Cage Clamps
Waterproof Connectors
Power Connectors

I started with cutting 2 pieces of the PVC at around 36" because i didn't know where the strip would end, overall finished length is about 32" with 29" of that being the light portion.

I ran 2 nuts to the top of the bolt and set the bottom 2 leaving enough room to fit in the roll bar mount
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The nuts are a tight fit and the carriage head isn't needed. I probably could have just as easily used a regular bolt but had these handy.
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Rounded the edges of the top 2 nuts so they would fit in the pipe easier
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Hammered it home
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I drilled a hole in each between the nuts and filled the void with the adhesive. Not sure if it was needed but i don't plan on having to rebuild these anytime soon.

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I cut off the provided plug from the strip and added the waterproof plug, you can just as easily use what's there and cover it with tape, that's up to you.
It takes some time and practice but simply start up a few inches from the bottom to account for the wring to not be in a bind and start wrapping.

Might just be my OCD but i made sure i wrapped the 2nd in the opposite direction so they were a mirror image of each other.

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I prefer to tape the wire down then wrap and add a little tape at the top to hold the strip in place while I put the heat shrink on.

1" heat shrink is tight on the IP30 non waterproof strip so if you get the ip65 waterproof version i'd suggest 1.5" heat shrink or a good 3:1 1.75 to 2"

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I mounted these directly behind the cage and just below the top line to help protect them from branches

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I hit the bottom with a little black spray paint before the final install.
You can seal the top however you wish, i used the top caps off a few old CB antennas i have used for previous whip versions and some clear silicone.

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You inspired me to make my own today. Thank you for sharing this!

 

[SuperMidget]

Got everything except my caps and heat shrink today. Getting everything wired up now.

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@SuperMidget the waterproof connectors you linked are super beefy. They are like small gauge extension cord grade. I thought they would be small like the ones on my current whips. Not a big deal since they'll be hidden up on the ROPS anyway.

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Looks awesome.

Yeah I grabbed the first cheap set of connectors I came across. I have seen now they come in several wire gauge sizes. Everything I linked is what I used for a first attempt. I'm sure there are better options for some of them.

 

[SuperMidget]

You inspired me to make my own today. Thank you for sharing this!

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Looks good. Be sure to post some finished pics.

 

[Robobrainiac]

Looks good. Be sure to post some finished pics.

I planned on posting how I did mine at some point soon. I will use them for the first time tonight and see how they do on the machine. I like them except I don't like my tips, and I ordered the wrong leds and ended up with 150 per 16ft strip instead of 300. I plan on making another set using btf lighting ws2812b.

 

[SuperMidget]

I planned on posting how I did mine some point soon. I will use them for the first time tonight and see how they do on the machine. I like them except I don't like my tips, and I ordered the wrong leds and ended up with 150 per 16ft strip instead of 300. I plan on making another set using btf lighting ws2812b.

Yeah the 30 per meter vs 60 per meter makes a big difference.

 

[Robobrainiac]

Yeah the 30 per meter vs 60 per meter makes a big difference.

So I don't think I will make a diy yet on my whips. My wife and I went for a ride yesterday at Walter's ranch for their Halloween ride. It's kind of cool because you get to ride at night. Long story short I think mine are way too stiff. Going into detail I will explain it like this. One of my friends has the Millar extreme dream 4ft whips. They are super flexible and can bend almost to the edge of the bed from the pioneer 1000 3 seater rops. Then another friend has the 5v twisted extreme 3ft and his are much more flexible. Not as much as the dream extreme, but they move when limbs make contact with them. I used fiberglass rebar thinking that I see people use cb antennas and thought it was a cheaper option. After 3 hours into the ride the drivers side hit so hard it pulled the bolts out of the mount and stripped the mount. I used the nilight mounts on Amazon. You could literally watch the mounts tweak with each tree before the lights would bend. I also only had maybe 6 to 8 inches above the cab. My lights held up great. They still work. I just finished the night with only 1 whip. Other than that mine were slightly brighter than the extreme dream, slightly not as bright as the 5v twisted extreme, and did not even come close to the pattern capability of the Millar.

How flexible are your whips?

 

[SuperMidget]

So I don't think I will make a diy yet on my whips. My wife and I went for a ride yesterday at Walter's ranch for their Halloween ride. It's kind of cool because you get to ride at night. Long story short I think mine are way too stiff. Going into detail I will explain it like this. One of my friends has the Millar extreme dream 4ft whips. They are super flexible and can bend almost to the edge of the bed from the pioneer 1000 3 seater rops. Then another friend has the 5v twisted extreme 3ft and his are much more flexible. Not as much as the dream extreme, but they move when limbs make contact with them. I used fiberglass rebar thinking that I see people use cb antennas and thought it was a cheaper option. After 3 hours into the ride the drivers side hit so hard it pulled the bolts out of the mount and stripped the mount. I used the nilight mounts on Amazon. You could literally watch the mounts tweak with each tree before the lights would bend. I also only had maybe 6 to 8 inches above the cab. My lights held up great. They still work. I just finished the night with only 1 whip. Other than that mine were slightly brighter than the extreme dream, slightly not as bright as the 5v twisted extreme, and did not even come close to the pattern capability of the Millar.

How flexible are your whips?

the ones on pvc are about as flexable as you'd expect sch40 pvc to be. But i kept the height below the top of the cage. The 4ft cb antenna whip on my 4 wheeler has had the crap beat out of it on trees for the past year and is flexable enough to be holding up just fine.

We are about to put a set together for a friend of mine's rzr and his wifes new 4 wheeler because the millar whips on his rzr are done for. 1 side has several dead spots and randomly flashes the whole whip as red no matter what the pattern is, and the other side snapped at the quick disconnect from catching a tree branch.

 

[Robobrainiac]

the ones on pvc are about as flexable as you'd expect sch40 pvc to be. But i kept the height below the top of the cage. The 4ft cb antenna whip on my 4 wheeler has had the crap beat out of it on trees for the past year and is flexable enough to be holding up just fine.

We are about to put a set together for a friend of mine's rzr and his wifes new 4 wheeler because the millar whips on his rzr are done for. 1 side has several dead spots and randomly flashes the whole whip as red no matter what the pattern is, and the other side snapped at the quick disconnect from catching a tree branch.

My friend told me that he would recommend the Millar whips because they had a lifetime warranty. Could your whips be warranty claimed? I think I am going to make another set using the btf leds on pvc and use that for the pioneer. I will attempt to adapt a spring mount onto the ones I just made and use them on our 4 wheelers.

 

[SuperMidget]

haha my whips have no written or implied warranty. But for the cost of 1 pair of millar twisted 5v whips i can build 3 sets of mine and have some cash left over. so i'd have to break 6 whips before i was at any kind of a loss vs their lifetime warranty. I'm fine with that.

 

[Robobrainiac]

haha my whips have no written or implied warranty. But for the cost of 1 pair of millar twisted 5v whips i can build 3 sets of mine and have some cash left over. so i'd have to break 6 whips before i was at any kind of a loss vs their lifetime warranty. I'm fine with that.

I enjoy the diy stuff more than buying. There is a personal reward from it that you can get that isn't earned when you purchase something. So I love diy stuff. Out of curiosity, if you get a chance to mess with your friends Millar whips would you mind deconstructing it and letting me know what they may be using for a core?

 

[SuperMidget]

I enjoy the diy stuff more than buying. There is a personal reward from it that you can get that isn't earned when you purchase something. So I love diy stuff. Out of curiosity, if you get a chance to mess with your friends Millar whips would you mind deconstructing it and letting me know what they may be using for a core?

I will hopefully get my hands on them in the next couple of weeks to do exactly that for myself. I'll pass along any information i can get. I agreed to take on some interesting builds over the weekend. It will be a couple of weeks but i'll be turning out a set just like these but with blacklight strips for a friends rzr with solid white plastics and a neon yellow/green power coated frame and bumpers. Should really make it pop at night.