LED's

[goalieman24]

anyone know how to wire in some little radio shack LED's inside? Im trying to run the power from the fuse box inside. Tried putting some in my friends cavy and i think one got a little too much power since it started smoking and $hit. so can i wire a few in parallel or ??? Thanks

 

[Chuckt]

pm lightninggsx, hes an electrical engineer. i learned how to do that stuff last year in physics but now its all gone. . For my cig lighter i put a resistor on the power side of the led (longer side) and used the power and ground form the light inside the lighter

 

[ootalipseoo]

Yeah to wire in LED's you just need to put a resistor on the power side of the LED (longer Leg). If you goto a Radio-Shack just pick up their 330-Ohm Resistors their part number is 271-1113 for a pack of 5. Thats all I used to wire a few LED's into my car. Make sure you put a resistor on each LED though.

-Shane

 

[Chuckt]

you could go to ebay and get 100 resistors for about a buck tho

 

[goalieman24]

Thanks talipse.. that was pretty much what i needed to know. So i run the power wire from the fusebox to the resistor which is connected to the LED correct? and if i wire a few to the same power source it will work as long as i have resistors connected?

 

[ootalipseoo]

Yeah just as long you have resistors on the + side of the LED it'll be ok. Thats all I did for the LED's in my HVAC controls and my cup holders.

-Shane

 

[DSMbish90]

let's see some pics

 

[jesterbot]

Feel free to IM me about this. I've not only done every single dash switch, button, indicator, etc, but also LED lit my Autometer gauges, floor panels, door pockets, door handles, and rear speakers - all controlled (separate lighting tracks) from an LED-lit switch box I created inside my center console.

Don't waste your time with radio shack LEDs, I did that the first time and they were a lousy color and not very bright (blue). I have totally redone the dash twice with different LEDs until I was satisfied. I'll let you know where to go.

I'll get pics up soon.

The short? I've done this plenty of times to know just about whatever may come up for ya.

 

[dynatos]

I own a franchise radioshack store But unfortunately you're right. RS leds aren't the best. The new Blue ones (3.7v nominal, 4.5v peak) are a lot better than the previous year, though. 276-316 is the part number for the new 2600mcd blue LED instead of the old (still available 276-311) which only had 300mcd.

The new LEDs run at 3.7 volts, so you'll need a 560 ohm resistor(271-1116) on each one. 330 ohms(271-1315 ) if you are running 2 in series and 150 ohms (271-1109)if you are running 3 in series.

Resistors for sure are cheaper at an electronics supplier - 100-200 for a couple bucks.

jesterbot, can you get some pics up on this post? I will be starting this project on my heavily taken apart gsx tomorrow - i figured with the engine and tranny out of the car, might as well take the dash out and get the alarm and safc wired. About how long to install all the leds?

 

[FiReBReTHa]

Whats an LED?








http://www.cardomain.com/id/firebretha3

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go to page three, that should help a bit, ive yet to go over it and clean things up. but i hope that helps.

 

[goalieman24]

cardomain page

check my car domain page... that is what i tried doing but it still didnt work. the pic on the bottom is how we tried wiring it.... whats wrong?

 

[Defiant]

Originally posted by jesterbot
Feel free to IM me about this. I've not only done every single dash switch, button, indicator, etc, but also LED lit my Autometer gauges, floor panels, door pockets, door handles, and rear speakers - all controlled (separate lighting tracks) from an LED-lit switch box I created inside my center console.

I have an LED question: can they be brightness-adjusted, or are LEDs only on/off?

 

[goalieman24]

I think if they are hooked up to the dimmer in the car they are adjustable.... now back to my original question before someone else tries to steal the thread

 

[gsx tryin' 4 hp]

i just bought 100 5mm blue leds on ebay for 14.95 w/free shipping, good deal ehh? just wondering what type of resistor to run? here are the specs

SOURCE MATERIAL:InGaN
EMITTING COLOUR:BLUE
LENS TYPE:WATER CLEAR
LUMINOUS INTENSITY-MCD:3000 TYPICAL/4000MAX
REVERSE VOLTAGE:5.0 V
DC FORWARD VOLTAGE:3.3V TYPICAL/ 3.5V MAX
DC FORWARD CURRENT:20mA
VIEWING ANGLE:± 15°
LEAD SOLDERING TEMP:260oC for 5 seconds

 

[Six97GST]

Originally posted by Defiant
I have an LED question: can they be brightness-adjusted, or are LEDs only on/off?

If you tap them into the right spots they can be dimmed with the stock knob thing.

 

[FiReBReTHa]

yea, all mine dim, i found the corresponding connections in the switches that control the lights and checked the wiring, and then connected em,

 

[dynatos]

Originally posted by gsx tryin' 4 hp
i just bought 100 5mm blue leds on ebay for 14.95 w/free shipping, good deal ehh? just wondering what type of resistor to run? here are the specs

SOURCE MATERIAL:InGaN
EMITTING COLOUR:BLUE
LENS TYPE:WATER CLEAR
LUMINOUS INTENSITY-MCD:3000 TYPICAL/4000MAX
REVERSE VOLTAGE:5.0 V
DC FORWARD VOLTAGE:3.3V TYPICAL/ 3.5V MAX
DC FORWARD CURRENT:20mA
VIEWING ANGLE:± 15°
LEAD SOLDERING TEMP:260oC for 5 seconds

Those would use the same resistor as in my earlier post (Same for in series too). Here is the link for a LED resistor calculator: http://www.bit-tech.net/article/68/

LED's can be used with a variable resister, to change brightness, but LEDs require more voltage to get going, so to speak. Where a bulb might start glowing at .9 volts, and run nominally at 3.6, an LED might start glowing at 2.2 volts, and run nominally at 3.6 volts.

Don't use more than a 15w solderring iron.. and don't get the lead too hot. You don't want to burn all of your LEDs up.

Hope this helps

 

[jesterbot]

Guys,

Hang tight for a bit... I'm going to try and do a writeup with pics soon. As in to how long it takes to do the LEDs, it depends on a lot of things:

1. How far you want to go - if its just the dash switches, much faster than accent lighting in the interior.

2. How comfortable you are with intricate soldering

3. How afraid you are of breaking things (less fear = good here)

4. How long you can dedicate to it.

It took me a period of several months simply because i didnt have the time all at once to do it - and my plans would evolve as I went. If I were to go back and just redo all the dash switches today, I would think... maybe 8-10 hours. Usually you may find it easier to pick one cluster of switches to light in a day... like I started with the lower half of the mirror/fog/CC cluster (the CC alone has 4 lights and will take awhile on its own), then did the rear wiper/defrost ones, then the CC, then the HVAC (the hardest).

 

[FiReBReTHa]

hmf. what could cause an LED to burn out? correct isntall etc.

Then one day start blinking, very fruity.

 

[dynatos]

I just got the inside of my car apart - and will do all the lights with blue LEDs (cc, hvac, cluster, etc). Hopefully, all will got well and i'l do a full write up on the process, how long, etc.

By the way, in this picture - my engine and transmission are out also. Talk about strippin' it down!

 

[InfamousEclipse]

I just paid $75 for a full LED Lighting kit

 

[gsx tryin' 4 hp]

Originally posted by InfamousEclipse
I just paid $75 for a full LED Lighting kit

thats alot compared to my 14.95 deal...what was included in the kit if i may ask. because i think you got ripped. i mean i still have to wire each led and find resistors but as it looks i probably am only going to be spending 25 bucks tops.

no offense

also can any tell me if the wattage of the resistor matters because after looking around i am finding resistors ranging in wattage from 1/8 watt to 10watts or more

 

[dynatos]

don't go lighter than 1/4watt - i'd stick with that if you are doing just one or two LEDs off of one power lead. The 1/2 might just be too big to get in their too.

OK, so i'm at my desk with all the controls and some leds. But one small problem - i can't decide between blue or white. They both look awesome.. any feedback? Has anyone done white in their dash? I'l try to get pics of blue and white in a unit so you can see it.

 

[jesterbot]

White looks like crap.

 

[dynatos]

sorry for the crude pics - i only have my camera phone with me. The white does look better in person, as oposed to the picture. It has a slight blue tint to it (natural white led) Just thought i'd let ya'll see what it looks like....