The Tron Mod - Make your TSG Pass look like a Tron helmet for $15

Greetings fellow ESK8 apes… I was bored last weekend and added an LED strip to the back of my TSG pass. After posting a picture on this forum a few days ago, I got a few requests to share the deets. I apologize for not taking progress pics along the way. Hopefully this write up is self explanatory. If not, I can always take additional pictures or do the modification a second time.

Bill of Materials:
450mah 3s Lipo - $6.84
Waterproof LEDs - $5.15
XT30 Connector - $1.40
3mm Wire Mesh Guard - $0.79
24AWG Silicone Wire - $0.76

Steps:

  1. Trim down the LED strip to the desired length, since it’s supplied in a 1 meter length. Make sure to only cut where the scissor icon is located on the LED strip. I chose to only use 12 LEDs.
  2. Solder on the 24AWG wire to the positive and negative wire leads on the LED strip. I added about 12" of length to mine. Feel free to mock-up the wire length in your helmet before making the final determination.
  3. Install the black mesh over the 24AWG wires.
  4. Install shrink tube over the LED +/- contact points.
  5. Solder on the XT30 connector. It would probably be easier to buy a bag of loose XT30s, rather than use one that I linked.
  6. Shrink tube over the XT30 +/- contact points.
  7. Trim the mesh on the side of the helmet using snips. I cut a slot only big enough for the XT30 to slide through.
  8. Remove backing from the LED strip and apply heavy pressure to the helmet during application.
  9. Remove pads as necessary to route the wire.
  10. Install the battery using 3M dual lock tape.
  11. Charge up the lipo and enjoy your bad ass helmet.

Here are some pictures of the outside:




I chose to mount the LED strip below the ridgeline on the helmet, due to the angle that the helmet sits at while wearing it:

Here is how I routed the wire through the inside (hidden wire behind the padding illustrated in red):

Battery mounting location and XT30 connection point:

Lit up!



A few disclaimers:

  1. I didn’t use the exact lipo that is linked above, since I happen to have some spare ones lying around. The dimensions of the one I linked is close enough that it should fit in the helmet.
  2. I’m estimating the battery life to last about 3-4 hours, based on the mah capacity and the number of LEDs that I used. Be careful about selecting a larger capacity lipo, is it may not fit in the space in your helmet as well.
  3. You will need to have a lipo charger with balance capability to use this battery. Lipo chargers are pretty cheap. Let me know if you need any recommendations.

Enjoy!

Joshua

29 Likes

Thank you for the writeup! I think what I might do with mine is use 5V led strips, and have it be USB powered. Then either keep a power bank in my pocket, or use my laptop which I usually have on me.

4 Likes

Awesome! Looks great and will help keep ya safe.

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Awesome, thank you! Makes you wonder what kind of margin these guys are making…

6 Likes

Those look closer to EL wire or panels. Slightly different to LEDs as they’re not point source lights, but rather the entire panel glows.

6 Likes

Thank you for this thread :call_me_hand: watching
now I need
A TSG xtra large maybe a xxlarge I got a nacho head
Used is fine if you know anybody
This is so OG gangster :sunglasses: :arrow_down:

1 Like

So I got a USB powered COB LED strip (you can get narrower ones if you don’t like the white border), and a super cheap power bank off aliexpress that you put a spare 18650 cell into. I used some velcro and a laptop power adapter strap to attach it to the side of the helmet.

(This picture doesn’t do the strip justice, was on low battery and it’s daytime. They are sexy af IRL!)

Also, the battery bank can double as an external power source for my action cam :smiley:

(Those strings are a backup in case the adhesive my camera mount uses comes loose. The camera is so low so that air still goes through the holes to remove fog from the visor. Yes, I record upside down. Luckily the one r allows me to flip the screen so that I can lift the camera 180 degrees to see it :smiley: )

6 Likes

Fucking gorgeous Raity white tron is alive :star_struck:

3 Likes

Nice job bro! That looks really good.

2 Likes

this suggests they’re using EL tech but that stuff is behaving like very well diffused RGBW LEDs, and if you closely inspect the animations on the page you can see point source lights in the patterns.

also no one would want an EL inverter anywhere near their head if they still have decent hearing in the upper range.

4 Likes

200-7

3 Likes