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?

 

[RockcrawlerEX]

Any chance you could draw up a quick wiring diagram of how you wired yours on the board? I wired up mine today, but they don't turn on. I'm pretty sure I wired them up wrong.

Edit:
Never mind. I searched through the thread a couple times, but barely found your diagram for some reason.

 

[llamaking122]

you can also make your own dimmer switch with a linear potentiometer.

 

[johnmack]

This LED lighting are awesome for my car I will definitely buy it thanks for this picture.

 

[scsc]

awesome!! I want to get some LED for my car too.

 

[Jon-Lombardi]

Hope It helps

So the black (negative) is going to be used as a ground, or where will that connect?

 

[FIND]

So the black (negative) is going to be used as a ground, or where will that connect?

Everything metal on your car that is attached to either the frame or the body is a ground.

 

[Jon-Lombardi]

Everything metal on your car that is attached to either the frame or the body is a ground.

I meant if I would use the negative as a ground wire, connecting it to any ground source?

 

[FIND]

I meant if I would use the negative as a ground wire, connecting it to any ground source?

You go from the negative terminals on those LEDs to ANY ground you want. When you are talking about DC, negative and ground usually mean the same thing.

LEDs are Light Emitting Diodes. This means they only allow DC current to travel in one direction through them.

What his diagram is trying to show is that you wire from the positive terminal on your battery into a resistor then to each of your diode arrays that you make to match the voltage you are getting after the resistor. You can use a larger resister to lower the voltage or you can wire multiple LEDs in series so they will require a higher voltage. After the LEDs, connect them to any ground. The body and the frame on a vehicle are connected to the negative terminal on your battery, so as long as you are connected to the body or frame in some way, you are connected to the negative terminal on the battery.

 

[OneLever]

If you are not familiar with the concepts behind DC circuits it would be helpful to read up on the basics. It doesn't take too long and by understanding the logic behind them you can avoid many mistakes. Here is a decent online tutorial: Link

I haven't proofread it but the first two pages look correct. Always test your circuits on a breadboard prior to soldering them together to prevent headaches.

 

[ruben]

that looks real nice. I want to do in my truck but I want to use those 3 pin 2 colors leds but I don't have any idea about how to do it. If any one can pleace help me

 

[jweb1369]

Here's my little contribution to this post:

I wanted to order some of the LED strip lights already made up and low profile from ebay. I was in pepboys the other day and seen some for $15, a similar product that is the same price as on ebay. So I figured I'd give them a shot. They are the 6 LED flexible light strip with 3M adhesive on the back.

I ended up wiring them to the map lights so they come on with the rest of the lights, and you can switch them on and off with the map lights for each side. It's pretty sweet. Here's the photos...

Notice I also did the LED conversion for the map lights, and rest of the interior lights (not pictured). The map lights are some ones from ebay. They are super bright 12 LED panels made to be plug and play with nearly all map lights, but not the case for the explorer map lights. Here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd...181437&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_7265wt_939

I bought 4 just in case one or two of them didn't work due to shipping mishaps, but no problems there. Now for the floor lights.

As you can see, these lights are really bright. I'm happy with them.

 

[dersch6221992]

i have a bad habit of bringing old dead threads back to life darn 8 hours of night shift with no homework haha.


so i would like to do this... my question is can i run this wire up between the a pillar plastic, up the headliner and into the ACTUAL dome light in the map lights? it will give the affect of the dimming switch when i want. and that way they will only be on when doors open, and when the dome lights are on.

next question hopefully mustang or someone can help. if i choose to do that set up. i would have the front, back, and possible some cargo ones (maybe) so probably 20+ LEDS with resistors wired to one wire... should i run a relay? also the map lights will each have 5-6 LEDS with resistors following your wiring other thread.

if i do a relay would it be. Pin 85- Grounds relay. Pin 30- would have the power coming from the battery/ my fuse panel. Pin 86 would be the one coming from the dome lights. and Pin 87 would go to the actual LED strips. am i right here? or missing something? just trying to get this all figured out.

edit: JWEB apparently did this lol.... didnt make it through all 190 post but how did you do this? i want to do it exactly this way

 

[MustangP51]

i have a bad habit of bringing old dead threads back to life darn 8 hours of night shift with no homework haha.


so i would like to do this... my question is can i run this wire up between the a pillar plastic, up the headliner and into the ACTUAL dome light in the map lights? it will give the affect of the dimming switch when i want. and that way they will only be on when doors open, and when the dome lights are on.

next question hopefully mustang or someone can help. if i choose to do that set up. i would have the front, back, and possible some cargo ones (maybe) so probably 20+ LEDS with resistors wired to one wire... should i run a relay? also the map lights will each have 5-6 LEDS with resistors following your wiring other thread.

if i do a relay would it be. Pin 85- Grounds relay. Pin 30- would have the power coming from the battery/ my fuse panel. Pin 86 would be the one coming from the dome lights. and Pin 87 would go to the actual LED strips. am i right here? or missing something? just trying to get this all figured out.

edit: JWEB apparently did this lol.... didnt make it through all 190 post but how did you do this? i want to do it exactly this way

I will say that it is not necessary to use a relay to power the LEDs you want to add under the seats. The circuit for the dome lighting will be able to handle the extra current from another 20 or so LEDs on the assumption that these are not high power LEDS (.5 watt or higher). Now my recommendation would be to use a relay as I believe it would be easier. It would allow you to run a very light gauge wire down from the dome lights to the trigger lead of the relay so it will be easy to tuck behind the headliner and A-Pillar trim. I don't remember the pinout numbers of the relay of the top of my head so I cant verify the pin numbers for you right now (currently in a hotel room in Incheon so my resources are nil haha)

Hope it helps.

 

[jweb1369]

It was a bit of a pain. The reason I did it, was because my bulb was burning up the plastic and there are no replacement bulbs to be found anywhere for these trucks. I also wanted prettier lighting. I am in the woods at times, with no nearby light sources. So when I open my door or hit the key fob, my truck lights up like a Christmas tree.

What I did was took the main center unit off. I found the bulbs connection wires, cut them, stripped them, and clamped my 10 or so LED plate lights wires to the existing wires running into the unit. I believe I also split the power from the unit twice, once for the map lights and once for the floor lights. So when I press the map light switch, the floor lights for that side also come on.

For the floor lights, I just bought them at pep boys or something. I ran the wires down the sides of the door railings under the plastic liner. To get the wires to the main unit you have to pull down they headliner a bit so you can get it through to the center. Like I said, it's a bit of a pain. Good luck with your endeavors!

 

[dersch6221992]

It was a bit of a pain. The reason I did it, was because my bulb was burning up the plastic and there are no replacement bulbs to be found anywhere for these trucks. I also wanted prettier lighting. I am in the woods at times, with no nearby light sources. So when I open my door or hit the key fob, my truck lights up like a Christmas tree.

What I did was took the main center unit off. I found the bulbs connection wires, cut them, stripped them, and clamped my 10 or so LED plate lights wires to the existing wires running into the unit. I believe I also split the power from the unit twice, once for the map lights and once for the floor lights. So when I press the map light switch, the floor lights for that side also come on.

For the floor lights, I just bought them at pep boys or something. I ran the wires down the sides of the door railings under the plastic liner. To get the wires to the main unit you have to pull down they headliner a bit so you can get it through to the center. Like I said, it's a bit of a pain. Good luck with your endeavors!

sounds like something i can handle... however, what do you mean you split the power from the unit twice?
i deff want the floor lights to come on with map lights or with the dome lights... i kinda screwed mine up when i tried replacing with the wedge LED bulbs oops.

 

[jweb1369]

Well I don't remember exactly but I just powered each floor light with the corresponding map light.

 

[dersch6221992]

Well I don't remember exactly but I just powered each floor light with the corresponding map light.

okay yea thats what i plan on doing.

 

[lesliemorris85]

I’m thinking of getting these http://www.illustralighting.com/4-recessed-led.html for mine. They’re only available in white though, any idea how I could change the color or, if covering it with something is easier, what material to use for it? Thanks guys, awesome mods you all did btw.