Badspell68
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- July 30, 2001
- Messages
- 302
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- NJ
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 97 XLT 5.0 AWD 4-Door
97 Explorer XLT
My stereo button lights stopped working about a year ago and after replacing the unit and still not having the lights working I decided to build a work around instead of messing with it.
-One switch from Radio Shack
-One 12v LED from eBay (came in packs of 10 with resistor already attached- got the brightest I could find)
-Soldered it all to the lighter wiring then isolated with a liquid rubber.
The LEDs are round and project light in one diretion, so I cut down the LED with a Dremill. I cut it to a small square, the cuts were almost to the filament. Next I painted the LED with white nail polish xcept for the portion I wanted to project light down (and no, it was not my polish). I then painted over the white polish with black paint to match the console.
The led is simply inserted in the crack above the stereo, it stays there snugly on its own.
It really works much better then I imagined, providing a great light for the buttons and a wonderful subtle, non-distracting, light for the whole console. I now can find things in the holders when it is dark out without having to turn any other light on.
My stereo button lights stopped working about a year ago and after replacing the unit and still not having the lights working I decided to build a work around instead of messing with it.
-One switch from Radio Shack
-One 12v LED from eBay (came in packs of 10 with resistor already attached- got the brightest I could find)
-Soldered it all to the lighter wiring then isolated with a liquid rubber.
The LEDs are round and project light in one diretion, so I cut down the LED with a Dremill. I cut it to a small square, the cuts were almost to the filament. Next I painted the LED with white nail polish xcept for the portion I wanted to project light down (and no, it was not my polish). I then painted over the white polish with black paint to match the console.
The led is simply inserted in the crack above the stereo, it stays there snugly on its own.
It really works much better then I imagined, providing a great light for the buttons and a wonderful subtle, non-distracting, light for the whole console. I now can find things in the holders when it is dark out without having to turn any other light on.
