Under dash LED lighting

I wanted to do this for a long time, and I finally got some time last week. Very cheap only cost about $8.00 used 5 15,000 MCD 5mm Blue LEDs on each side, mounted on project boards that can be found at Radio Shack. I Highly recommend this, it gets a lot of attention and is a nice accent to any vehicle. This is practice for my chassis under glow project Im doing this spring. What do you guys think?

 

[Toast]

haha
I didnt even realize that
Im actually going down to my electronics store
My friend said they should sell 5mm leds in bulk for cheap
So, I'll see what they have on monday morning =D
So i should go with anything around 13000mcd?

 

[97sprt4x4]

well you can go with any MCD, but the higher the number the brighter they are. i have 7000 for my doors and they're quite bright, but Mustang had 33k so almost 5X as bright and they look amazing.. it all depends on the application

Justin

 

[ShadowRaven]

Hardy har, I must be complicating the mess out of this mod. I literally just spent two hours soldering/heat shrinking/taping/gluing wire together on one of my under dash boards....and that was only the positive side of it!! Oh well, as long as it looks as good as all of yalls, I'm ok with it I plan on doing blues with an inline switch off of a constant +12v; and whites hooked up to a relay, like yall said, to run off the dimmer/dome lights. Zzz, so much time...I just hope it works out for me!

 

[ShadowRaven]

The LEDs were originally 60 degree focus, but they only made a spotlight, so I ground off the tips to make them disperse the light evenly. I mounted the passenger side with some double sided tape, and on the drivers side I used a zip tie and electrical tape (only temporary). As for the board length I bought the biggest one Radio Shack had and then cut them with the Dremel.

Drivers Side

And no the board is not resting on the brake light switch wiring harness

Pax Side

What did you use to grind off the tips, and how did you do it? I bought a pair of what I thought were dykes and was playing around with an old LED, trying to get it flat...but ended up just like shattering it for the most part. When I cut it, it just jaggedly sheered off, which I obviously don't want that, so I need some input on how to do it correctly. BTW, I just got done with my first board!! Woohoo, just need to flatten the lights and mount it, hooray. Haha, man does it look like Frankenstein though, wow.

 

[MustangP51]

What did you use to grind off the tips, and how did you do it? I bought a pair of what I thought were dykes and was playing around with an old LED, trying to get it flat...but ended up just like shattering it for the most part. When I cut it, it just jaggedly sheered off, which I obviously don't want that, so I need some input on how to do it correctly. BTW, I just got done with my first board!! Woohoo, just need to flatten the lights and mount it, hooray. Haha, man does it look like Frankenstein though, wow.

I used a bench grinder to grind down the tips of the LEDs. Then use clear nail polish to make the lenses clear again.

 

[patman]

ryan, if you don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living?

 

[MustangP51]

Full time College student/ Pilot

 

[patman]

what are you studying? because my dad's an electrical engineer and i've seen him do projects that look not much better than yours...your projects are very clean

 

[MustangP51]

Thank you,
Double major
Aviation Management and Professional Pilot

I swear I must have some kind of OCD. If things don't line up, don't match, don't look the same, or are dirty, squeak, or don't work... they drive me absolutely nuts. That's why I try to make everything look clean and uniform, even if you will never see it.

 

[Htown451]

danngg ive got no idea how to wire them together or throw a switch on top of it all

 

[adambodkins]

so anyone wanna make 4 boards and ship? Preferably in green or blue?

 

[Toast]

Ryan, Have you made a How to article for the basics of Wiring LED's?

 

[MustangP51]

Ryan, Have you made a How to article for the basics of Wiring LED's?

I have not, only application specific write ups. I will put something together within the next week.

 

[Toast]

Awesome! Ive looked at all your LED "how to's", And im still a little confused on how to wire them up, and what wires to tap them into so they work, or how to run a switch with wiring for them. =D

 

[Htown451]

awesome ive been waiting for it!!

 

[Toast]

Wooooo, my lights and resistors arrived today! =D =D

 

[patman]

i finally got it done..and i don't see what you were saying about 7000 mcd being to week that's what mine are and they are just fine...

 

[Htown451]

pictures? write ups?(i mean from people beside mustang)

 

[Htown451]

any updates? i really wanna do this!

 

[Toast]

Alright, So I have them all soldered to the boards and the wires all ready to go and the resitors all installed
So Now how do I make it so I have either have it when the doors are open, and when ever I want with a switch?

If that makes sense