JP goes LED, Interior and Rock Lights | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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JP goes LED, Interior and Rock Lights

So I've been wanting to convert as much of JP to LED as possible for a long time, however LED's aren't cheap and most of the time not very bright. So while goofing around over on Pirate, I came across these super cheap and bright LED's out of China. You get 20 pucks on a string for $26. Only the take 3-4 weeks to get here :rolleyes: They are worth the wait!


So I started off replacing my rock lights. This is the 3rd stage of these. I originally started with 5) 55 watt fog lights, they we're really bright, but when you get the roof lights and two lights up front going it was starting to be a bit much on the electrical system.:(

Stage 2 was some accent LED lights I picked up from the auto parts store. They worked but not as bright as I wanted, and they still cost me $50+ in the end:rolleyes:

So now stage 3. I installed the new rock lights, and they are much brighter.

I liked them so much....I did the interior of JP too:D
 

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I"m glad to see those work well. I'm still waiting for my LEDs to get here (same ones you got). I at least got a shipping notice, so hopefully, and week now :)

~Mark
 
























But.. won't this scare away the dinosaurs? :p:
 






Wow, that's bright. Can the sections be separated or do they have to be kept in a string?
 












There is only 4" in between each light. I have been cutting each one as close as possible to the next light. I have been wiring them 1 by 1, no need to keep them in a string.

for rock lights I have 5 lights, there are 2 under the front bumper, 2 under the frame, at the front doors, and 1 in the factory spare tire location.

for interior I have 4. 2 in the front overhead cluster with the compass and temp thing. 1 in the factory over head unit (did not do the map lights) and 1 in the cargo area. For this one I needed to replace the actual unit, because the factory light was just to small.
 






There is only 4" in between each light. I have been cutting each one as close as possible to the next light. I have been wiring them 1 by 1, no need to keep them in a string.

for rock lights I have 5 lights, there are 2 under the front bumper, 2 under the frame, at the front doors, and 1 in the factory spare tire location.

for interior I have 4. 2 in the front overhead cluster with the compass and temp thing. 1 in the factory over head unit (did not do the map lights) and 1 in the cargo area. For this one I needed to replace the actual unit, because the factory light was just to small.

Wow, those a really bright. I like them. Only 4 lights or 5 lights makes all that light. With one strand you have 20 to play with too. I may have to buy one of these for interior lighting, and maybe some sort of rock or puddle lights.
 






There is only 4" in between each light. I have been cutting each one as close as possible to the next light. I have been wiring them 1 by 1, no need to keep them in a string.

for rock lights I have 5 lights, there are 2 under the front bumper, 2 under the frame, at the front doors, and 1 in the factory spare tire location.

for interior I have 4. 2 in the front overhead cluster with the compass and temp thing. 1 in the factory over head unit (did not do the map lights) and 1 in the cargo area. For this one I needed to replace the actual unit, because the factory light was just to small.

how exactly are you wiring them? I guess im a little confused as to how they come. i need to check out pirate more often :hammer:
 






You wire them like any other light...

They come like this..

attachment.jpg


P1010300.jpg
 












These obviously run off of 12v. How hard was it to wire them up?
 












How warm do they get? 28 watts for the bundle, that means each puck is dissipating around 1.4 watts and drawing 116 mA, so yeah 1.4 watts, that is a lot to dissipate over that small area. Still, 43 lumens per watt is pretty nice. 60 lumens a puck... You get 25 lumens from a 194 bulb, so it is like having a couple bulbs in everywhere you put one....

I might order some strings...
 






Just ordered a set. Nice find:chug:
 






Oh hey, btw dreddog.

If you want to make a project like this easier to wire up, you can always go onto some of the plug and play LED maker sites like superbrightleds, or maybe even on ebay and find bulb bases. Then you just put your power and ground leads into that like a normal bulb would have. Then they are plug and play, though you do have to keep the correct polarity. Though, given the long life of LEDs, I would just connect them directly to the wiring for the light and remove the socket for the bulb. Underneath, it would be just like wiring any other aux light. Add a switch, run wire, ground to frame or body, or run ground all the way into engine compartment.

Hope this helps if you are looking at something like that.
 






..Are these dimmable?

..It sounds like they can take a beating..:scratch:
 



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I've got a set of those LEDs also, waiting patiently for me to put them on the zuk..

someday soon.
 






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