Under dash lighting

yes, I understand.
Since I have never done any hardwiring, anyone can point me how where to locate the 12V line?

 

If you've never done any sort of thing like that, I'm going to make a kind of bizarre suggestion to save you grief and get your "level up" a few times before you go out there and start hacking away at your beloved car.

Get your hands on a cheap computer-style power supply, but of the old "AT" variety. It has a full power switch (not a soft switch like modern power supplies) and will cost you less than $40.

This power supply should come complete with two 12v rails, a 5v rail, and each power plug (four-wire Molex variety) has a +12v, +5v, and two ground wires. I'm not going to tell you which are which (though documentation is everywhere on it); you should also get a cheap $20 multimeter from Radio Shack which senses DC voltage.

This way you can practice on your "test bench" and learn how to probe around the car without having to experiment (and possibly make irreparable mistakes) on the car itself. This is how I test everything I install in my cars prior to installing them; the voltage is clean and you get ideal test conditions. The advantage -you- will get is that you'll get some practice in regarding finding, tapping, and using the car's in-built power and ground rails without causing huge problems.

~ dan ~

It's also how I built and tested the multi-LED tail and brake lights I built for my Mustang. Which I'd like to show you but I can't seem to find

 

OK, I have done my research tapping 12V supply & wiring the circuit.

What I need is to buy the best LED out there.

I want white LEDs, not the fancy blue/red/purple/green LED.

Anyone knows where I can get this white LED under dash kit?

 

Kudos that you've found the place from which you want to draw power. If you want to buy the best LEDs out there, you should build it all from scratch. Visit JameCo. Tell them Dan Fruzzetti referred you and buy what you need.

Please do understand the complexity and difficulty of producing LEDs seems to differ from what you must expect. Red, amber, and yellow LEDs are by far the cheapest to manufacture and can be purchased as cheap as $0.12 each. Green LEDs with a true green output are a bit more. Blue and purple LEDs are more exotic and therefore more expensive, generally ranging around $2.00-2.50, and white LEDs are by FAR the most "fancy" and expensive colors; good white LEDs with near full-spectrum output are easily above $3.50 each retail.

If you want to go with a kit, I really can't point you in the right direction. If you've got your engineering cred, I can tell you that you can get away with wiring 5 x T1-3/4 LEDs in series behind a 100 ohm resistor -- this gets you the proper power for your five LEDs to burn brightly without burning out.

It's also the setup I used for the LED taillight/brake lights in my Mustang (three vertical strips of 5x15 LEDs each arranged in a windowed setup ^.^.^ , with each set of five after a 100 ohm resistor as described and every other row on brake light or tail light power but not both), the LED kick panel lights in my 2001 Prius, and my "Doom light". It looks great and runs adequately cool.

​

~ dan ~

 

Wow, I am amazed.
I've driven Rudy since May, and I never even NOTICED that there wasn't "footwell lighting".
Because, I guess, the floor is still on the bottom, and my feet know where to go.

Gosh. What other amenities am I missing?

 

Thanks fruz

I went to Ikea, and bought the LED (the call it "Dioder") usually mounted for ambient lighting behind flat panel TV.

There are two types: strip and circular shape. Each contains 9 LEDs. I am still deciding to get the strip or circular (diameter about 3 inches)

Here are the pictures of what they look like


When you buy it, it comes with AC to DC 12V 5 watt max adapter. The connection goes like this:

AC plug -----switch on/off------AC/DC adapter--------"hub" (see picture above)------LEDs

Last night I tried to see how it looks using DC cigarette lighter to AC converter supply, before hardwiring to the car's power supply. I'll post a picture when I can it looked very bright, perhaps too bright

So basically the LEDs require 12V DC, my plan is to cut the wire between the hub and the adapter, and tap to the car's 12V supply. I also plan to re-use the switch for full control turning on/off the LEDs manually.

Just asking a confirmation, I can do this, right? I mean I can use the car's 12V to power up these LEDs, can't I? The AC/DC adapter output says 12V DC and 5Watt max.

 

In my 2001 I used blue fluorescent strips.

I think you should use the tape ones, as you should be able to snake them up anywhere they'll fit. And if you want to be really slick, 'borrow' power from wherever you want the lights to work.

(always when car is on -> draw power from the lighter socket; only with door -> draw power from the dome light or door switches themselves but see my earlier post about this in a 2001 as the door switches may be electrically backwards)

Best of luck to you, though!

~ dan ~

 

Both shapes are placed using double sided tape. The long strip makes more sense because it spread out the light. The circular disk shape may give me spot light, but I haven't tried this one.

I plan tap power from the cigarette lighter, and adding a switch. This way I have full control to when to turn on and off (always off when car is off).

I am still wondering if there is anything I should know electrically using these dioders (12V DC & 5 Watt max), I should be OK, right?

 

From the specs I saw on the Ikea website, I don't think you'll have any problem, other than deciding where to attach them. Of course, they are probably polarity-sensitive. You might be able to test them using a 9v battery though they would be dim. Other than that, they should draw less than 1W per strip so that won't be any problem for the lighter socket.

 

OK Here are some pictures using the IKEA's dioder. I used AC adapter just for the sake of trying & seeing the light before hardwiring.

I tried both shapes (circular disc & strip) they are not much different. I think I'll get the disc because it is $10 cheaper ($40) and smaller size, allowing easier placement under the dash.

 

Nice work! Now all that's left is to hide the cables, eh? Congrats. Are you happy with it?

 

Nice Job! I was debating between white LED or green neon and decided to go with the green neon. The white really lights up the floor well but in my opinion it also makes the dirt and crumbs too visible.

If anyone is interested and electronically inclined, I have a schematic for a 15 second delay timer I built that can be interfaced to the accessory light circuit. I'm also thinking of adding a second pushbutton switch next to the Smartkey switch to turn them on independent of the door switch.

For those interested in an LED solution with colors here are some links:

http://www.ledunderbody.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=4

http://www.superbrightleds.com/mini_tubes.htm

 

I just bought today at Costco an LED Lighting System with 180 Wide angle LED's on 6 fifteen inch sticks. All or some of the sticks plug into a hub that is controlled by a "Smart Controller". Kit is by Cyron, www.CYRON.com
The sticks are on long enough wires that I think I can put 2 under each front footwell, and 1 under each rear foot space. Power comes from a 12 volt power supply AC adapter that unplugs in the line between transformer and controller.

Each rod or stick has red, green and blue LED's that can be controlled to produce a projected white, orange, purple/pink, and aqua/ocean blue. The controller has an off/on, mode, pause, and volume control for the built in microphone that allows the unit to pulse colors with music! They dim and scan trough the 3 colors.

I just need to figure out which wire is the one that is the Dome light so the lighting will come on with the Dome light. Seems very cool..... I'll let you guys know how it works!

Lee

 

Hi Gadgetdad,

I found the LED you were talking about at costco.
Did you start/finish this footwell lighting project?
I thought the LED sticks are too long, I think they were like 15 inch long.
I believe the package says they consume 18W (or was it 14W) power. For 12V dc, that's about 1.2A-1.5A, still acceptably ok.


for those who want to know how they look like, I used my camera phone.

 

Yes, those are the LED lights, Siliconhybrid. I haven't installed them yet. I want to go to Radio Shack and see if I can get a plug to use so I don't have to cut the ones on the LED set. I plan to search out the line that leads to the dome light for my power so lights will come on when door is opened and off when engine is started. Or, I could get a plug to use the accessory power outlet in the console (since I rarely use that one).

The color combinations are varied as one of the modes fades one color to another and brightens and then dims. The control pad allows pausing at just the desired color and brightness.

The sticks are about 15 inches, and comes with double-stick tape and mounting brackets. I think I can find a place for one or two sticks under the dashboard and one under each of the front seats.

If it looks crappy or fails to work, I plan to use these lights for backlighting on my TV.

Lee

 

just as I was about to put everything together, I saw gadget dad's post, I thought it would be cool if I can use the cyron version instead of the IKEA's which will let me set different color. So I put my IKEA's project on hold