LED's for automotive use - non-bulb socket application

[garence]

I noticed on some vehicles that the side mirrors have nice bright LED's on the bottom surface, to act as floor lighting when the cabin lighting is activated. I think this is a great idea and I would like to customize my car with this feature.

I have an Audi A3 where the side mirrors have sufficient room for some LED placement on the bottom of the mirror housing. I'm guessing that I could just wire them in series with the cabin lighting circuit, given that the draw is not much.

There are several ways to go with this, but I'm thinking the best is a sealed LED unit of some kind that is pre-wired. I've seen a few over at The LED Light website, such as this Piranha model. They have a 6 LED version that is only [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]4 3/8 " x 7/8" x 7/8", noted as weather proof (not waterproof). I could just cut a section out to fit them, one on each side mirror, and follow the wiring conduit that is used for the powered mirrors, to get inside the cabin and connect up to the overhead dome light circuit.

My main question is whether or not I really need an inline voltage regulator with this, as the website recommends it with battery powered applications. Am I going over the top with this particular LED product, where I could be better served by a different one more suited to automotive use? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
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[frenzee]

I don't think you need a voltage regulator. Since the decription doesn't say anything about a built-in resistor, I would think that you'll need either a series resistor (in the 700 ohm range for 3 LEDs) or an LED driver (i.e a current regulator). Having said that, wiring something to go from your dome light to the side view mirrors is not an easy task. Have you considered what is involved and what needs to be take off or drilled?. Did you consult one of the Audi forums like http://www.audiworld.com/.

Also this thread would probably be more appropraite in the transportation lightin/automotive section.

 

[garence]

I don't think you need a voltage regulator. Since the decription doesn't say anything about a built-in resistor, I would think that you'll need either a series resistor (in the 700 ohm range for 3 LEDs) or an LED driver (i.e a current regulator). Having said that, wiring something to go from your dome light to the side view mirrors is not an easy task. Have you considered what is involved and what needs to be take off or drilled?. Did you consult one of the Audi forums like http://www.audiworld.com/.

Also this thread would probably be more appropraite in the transportation lightin/automotive section.

Thanks for your advice, frenzee. I've done small electrical mods on my cars in the past, requiring wiring splices, power draw from the fusebox, drilling/cutting holes, etc., so I've got a little experience. The mod is independent of the car, so I didn't post anything in the Audi forums (although I do participate there). I also cross posted in the automotive section here. Thanks again.

UPDATE:
I found what I was looking for. http://www.oznium.com/led-modules

 

[Opto-King]

Hi,
Just wanted to inform you about a company here in Sweden making "Optodrive" modules which are made to be used in automotive applications. if you look at: http://www.optoga.se/page_view.jsp?pageid=0000000000000rW&menuid=0000000000000rX&lang=en_US

you can read about the products, one of the "normal" problems you can get when making automotive products is "spikes" which can make the Vf go from 12-24VDC up to 48VDC when you turn the car on...

Good luck with your "pimpin", and please update with some pictures when you are done!