Has anyone add LED lights to supplement cabin light of your car?

picard · #1 03-05-2006, 01:55 PM

Has anyone add LED lights to supplement cabin light of your car? My old accord light isn't bright enough. I post this question on car forum and people thought I was nuts. I thought of I asking CPF members.

greenLED · #2 03-05-2006, 02:27 PM

I think georges80 makes conversion boards and, IIRC, Darrell has a tutorial in his site.

idleprocess · #3 03-05-2006, 03:35 PM

I've been thinking about doing this. Luxeons are cheap now and bleeding-edge efficiency doesn't matter so much in automotive apps, so a voltage regulator or automotive current supply would suffice.

The dome light in my truck could get tricky - it has 3 bulbs with the directional bulbs over passenger and driver switching individually with the overhead switch and coming on with the door limit switches / dashboard dimmer. I imagine that I will need to configure a current supply for each LED.

I'd also like to replace the shoddy bedcover light with some LEDs. That will require a new wire run since the leads to that light are only active when the headlights are on.

Ken_McE · #4 03-05-2006, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by picard

Has anyone add LED lights to supplement cabin light of your car? My old accord light isn't bright enough. I post this question on car forum and people thought I was nuts. I thought of I asking CPF members.

So long as you protect them from being overdriven it works nicely. I also did LED trunk lights, now it's bright enough to read in there. Your LED replacement light might last as long as the car and it will run down your battery less if you leave it on overnight. If you like you can also get them in colors.

Blackbeagle · #5 03-06-2006, 12:44 AM

There are many makers of LED light bulb replacements and supplemental lights for auto applications. You can search and turn up dozens of makers. There are some who sell pre-mounted/resistored LED's on wires - relatively easy to splice into your existing wiring. They even come in different colors.

Zelandeth · #6 03-07-2006, 03:08 PM

Did this on one car...which proceeded to get wrecked by a gas tanker about a week later. I went for a simple approach with a bunch of cheap white 5mm LED's, just assuming a vehicle system voltage of 15V (to give me some overhead), wasn't hugely bright, but better than the pathetic glow from the original lamp. Actually bright enough to be useful, I know proper current/voltage regulation is a better idea where you've got a supply as noisy as in a car, but in this case the LED's in question were so cheap that it really didn't seem to be an issue. Changing them would take all of about five minutes if needed anyway (so long as I remember to take the fuse out BEFORE pulling the cover off...the positive connection shorts out on the roof as you remove it...took me three fuses to spot the pattern that every time I took the light out that the fuse had mysteriously blown!).

What I have done LED related though was replace all the lamps for illumination (and the lighting related warning lights) with LEDs. Original illumination was a sickly greenish white. Is now lit with red LEDs (just 5mm ones). Would be a bit brighter if I removed the pale green filter, but that would require substantial dismantling of the panel itself, and it's bright enough for me anyway. I prefer red for all illuminated controls in a car. Fact that the pointers on this panel are red helps in that respect too.

Excuse the furry picture...

dca2 · #7 03-23-2006, 01:54 PM

I got this at Bass Pro Shops retail store for ~$15.00. Installed it over wife's seat and wired it to weak factory map light wire. The lower powered one works great for reading maps, books, etc. Height above lap=? (too lazy to measure

) but it is in a full sized Ford Van

Monolith · #8 03-23-2006, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by picard

Has anyone add LED lights to supplement cabin light of your car? My old accord light isn't bright enough. I post this question on car forum and people thought I was nuts. I thought of I asking CPF members.

Didn't supplement, replaced the dome and console lights with units from www.taskled.com (Georges80). I could never go back to those puny yellow interior lights again.

Post a pic of your dome light/console light with the diffuser (cover) off and I'll let you know how hard it would be to retrofit.

LED Zeppelin · #9 03-28-2006, 02:51 AM

My LED pimped '86 GMC dually didn't have a dome, so I installed (2) 12" LED light bar auto accessories.

I cut and modified some red Eurolite LED wiper arm lights, mounted them to the roof to serve as cockpit lighting. 4 of these were wired to a switch which allows them to come on with the running lights, off, or manually on. These are pretty stupid as wiper arm accents, but the small chrome bullet housing, and swivel/tilt are perfect for cockpit lights, and allow precise aiming for dash or console highlighting.

Since the bed is completely dark with the tonneau cover on, I mounted an LED underbody kit full-length under the bed rails to give nice diffuse light. Again, pretty stupid IMO if used as intended, but they are the best cargo lights ever. These were wired to 2 DPDT switches, one in the cab, and one at the tailgate. I can turn them on or off from either.

I also mounted some amber LED rods over the tube step running boards that light up when the door opens, and with the running lights. Since the door switch is a switched ground, and the running lights switched positive, I had to use 2 relays to isolate both circuits.

There's also aux. brake and turn LED light bars under the roll/light bar (2 Hella Ralley 4000 facing front, 2 Optilux work lights facing rear, and one each to either side) , and some mounted under the tailgate as running lights. 4 are under the hood for emergency service lighting.

I got this myriad of LED lights all on ebay from seller "BargainLiquidations".

The seraches I did on ebay for the LED pimp job is actually how I got turned on to LED flashlights, found CPF, and you all know the rest of the story.

evanlocc · #10 03-28-2006, 07:34 PM

For DIY: add a 470-Ohm resistor to each 5mm LED.

At time I can only find 470-Ohm, but i think 450-Ohm may be better for 1W LED.

Changchung · #11 04-03-2006, 11:29 PM

Hi, this is what i put in a Explorer of a friend of me, i used 5mm 12000MCD Leds, this SUV have three lamp, i put 8 leds in each one but in the lamp of the front passengers hi put 16, the pics dont show the light thats give, but trust me, is a very good light...
I put too 8 Leds in each corner lights in front...

This one belong to a Fiesta for another friend, how this car have a single lamp i decide to put 18 of the same Leds... WOW... the light output is amazing... I make the light to for the back light... and some 1157 too...

Changchung · #12 04-04-2006, 10:57 PM

470 Ohm 1/4 watts to 12 volts, but, for 14.4 when the car is on you have to use 560 Ohm 1/4 for each Leds to supply 20ma...

Quote:

Originally Posted by evanlocc

For DIY: add a 470-Ohm resistor to each 5mm LED.

At time I can only find 470-Ohm, but i think 450-Ohm may be better for 1W LED.