LED Puddle Light Tutorial Now Online

[Jamo]

I recently replaced the stock OEM incandescent puddle lamp bulbs with super bright white LEDs. Not being able to find a "plug -n- play" part, I had to design my own LED boards.

I thought others might like this mod, so I spent the day taking pictures and writing a tutorial. It is designed for 3rd generation Explorers, but I'm sure other generations are similar.

This is what the finished product looks like:

And you can view the tutorial here:
http://hiwaay.net/~jethridg/puddle.htm
(please excuse the rush job on the webpage - I wanted to get it uploaded as soon as I could)

If you need a custom wiring diagram designed around your specific parts (for instance if you don't know what value current-limiting resistors to use with your particular LEDs), just let me know and I'll do my best to help.

Have fun, and enjoy!


Jamey

 

[Brian_B]

That is sweet! I need to umm...borrow ...some parts from the electonics lab at the college.



















P.S. Its ok, I work there.

 

[Jamo]

I had to order mine from CHINA! I couldn't find any 40,000 mcd LEDs in the states. Most electronics companies only stock up to 18,000 mcd LEDs.

Good luck! Post pics when you're done!


J

 

[Brian_B]

I don't know what mcd is even. I know they have boxes and boxes of LEDs (around 40,000 just came in). How can I find out what they have?




In case you didn't notice, I am not the electronics instructor.

 

[dannyb420]

wow, I know very little about that. Would you be interested in making the boards with the LED's and selling to me?

 

[Jamo]

I don't know what mcd is even. I know they have boxes and boxes of LEDs (around 40,000 just came in). How can I find out what they have?




In case you didn't notice, I am not the electronics instructor.

"MCD" (millicandle) is the measure of a LED's light output, much the same way as "lumens" are a measure of an incandescent light bulbs light output. Common LEDs generally fall in the 1000-3000 mcd range. My boards each use nine 40,000 mcd super bright white LEDs totalling a light output of 360,000 mcds.

 

[Jamo]

wow, I know very little about that. Would you be interested in making the boards with the LED's and selling to me?

Thanks for the interest!

I could build them, but i doubt you'd want to pay my price. After figuring in the cost of the parts for both boards, plus the 2 hours it takes to construct, insulate, test, and ensure that both boards work correctly, it would (probably) be impractical for you to pay me to build them for you. It's the difference between having a human build something, and having a robot on an assembly line build it. Plus, as I mentioned before, these aren't standard "buy 'em at Radio Shack" LEDs that I'm using, so they're a bit more expensive than regular LEDs are. I bought them straight from the manufacturer in China just so I could get the brightest light possible without having to wire together 100 LEDs.

If you're just REALLY set on having them, let me know and we'll discuss it further.


Thanks again!


J

 

[Wht Knight]

are those 5mm or 10mm LEDs? either way, these are easily available on ebay from hong kong.

thanks for the info! I might give this a shot in a month or so. I was thinking maybe making it 6x18 to keep it all one piece and then trim the last few rows to make the wedge to fit the socket. did you try this ... any complications?

I found some web calculators to simplify resistor selections when building these LED light circuits.
single led - http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz
multiple leds - http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

 

[Jamo]

are those 5mm or 10mm LEDs? either way, these are easily available on ebay from hong kong.

They're 5mm. Yeah, like I said a few posts back, I got them from China. Shipping was only $15 for 50 LEDs.

Parts for both boards (LEDs, perfboard, wires, solder, resistors, 1.25" wide adhesive shrink tubing, etc.) ran around $35, after figuring in shipping. Very little is stocked by Radio Shack and local electronics stores due to the specific values I needed for the components. Good thing I have a business account at DigiKey!

thanks for the info! I might give this a shot in a month or so. I was thinking maybe making it 6x18 to keep it all one piece and then trim the last few rows to make the wedge to fit the socket. did you try this ... any complications?

I initially thought of that, but you have to turn the bulb connector 1/4 turn to lock it to the puddle lamp housing. If the board is that long, you can't twist the bulb connector without damaging the board due to the "+ shaped" cutouts on the end of the puddle lamp housing.

5 x 14 holes is the largest you can realistically make it. Any larger than 5 holes wide, and it won't clear the cutouts and fit into the housing. Any longer than 14 holes long, and the bulb connector doesn't have enough room to fit inside the puddle lamp housing with the board.

I found some web calculators to simplify resistor selections when building these LED light circuits.
single led - http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz
multiple leds - http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

Cool. Being an electrical engineer, I just do everything the old fashioned way. Those would be useful to those wanting to do this project and not knowing what values to select for their resistors, though.

Have fun,

J

 

[huskyfan23]

Looks awesome! I did mine the ghetto way. I took 3 LED's and a resistor and shoved them into the socket

 

[Jamo]

Looks awesome! I did mine the ghetto way. I took 3 LED's and a resistor and shoved them into the socket

Hey, whatever works! I just did mine my way because I'm used to designing industrial, automotive, and electrical assemblies at work. It's kinda ingrained into me now.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

That's a sweet project. LEDs are wonderful. Good post!

-Drew

 

[mikeh44]

check this out guys http://www.superbrightleds.com/mini-wedge.html

 

[02_ex_on_dubs]

yea they make an led bulb that fits in there......not nearly as bright as an led board but looks alot better than stock, and its only like $15

 

[bigapple]

i bought a set of 10 LED lights for my taillights and it made my blinkers speed up since they use less voltage... besides that they havent gone out and theyre fairly bright.. only 18 bux

 

[oldskoolnyc]

Bulbs?

Can someone kindly tell me which bulbs I need to replace the puddle lamps from http://www.superbrightleds.com/mini-wedge.html

 

[02_ex_on_dubs]

i believe their 194

 

[02_ex_on_dubs]

i bought a set of 10 LED lights for my taillights and it made my blinkers speed up since they use less voltage... besides that they havent gone out and theyre fairly bright.. only 18 bux

thought about a load resistor?

 

[trucku]

Just ordered 50 white, Super Bright 10mm 130000mcd LEDs. Going to make some puddle lights..I have a plane Jane xls, so have to figure how to mount them (unless I get some junkyard xlt mirrors with everything. Going to the interior lights, license plate lights,3rd brake light and backup lights. I should have enough...I hope
Under $18, not bad
I made a booboo and ordered red ones with the same spec few months ago.
Going to use them on the inside edge of my doors, so when opened they shine towards cars. Maybe I will wire up a board to make them blink. Have to find a diagram on that, to know what electronics to buy.

 

[bigapple]

thought about a load resistor?

yea i have but idk how much trouble i feel like going thru... it doesnt bother me that much and they still light up so im ok with it....

im trying to makeshift a dome lamp sort of light that works.. since i dont feel like buying all those components he mentioned with the puddle lamps, i think im going to get the white reverse lights with a 10 LED board and just break it down to where i have the positive and the negative... since it already has an integrated resistor, all i have to do is solder the ends to the ends of one of the stock light bulbs after i take the glass and filament off out the bulb so itll pop in easily... then it should just plug in and do wut it needs to do