GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

very very easy, dont be afraid to get your hands dirty

vthree

iTrader: (1)

ok I'm about to do this mod =).I also plan on using the 3rd led for the actual cubby itself since I do store my ipod in there

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

Sounds pretty cool, I would be intrested in seeing the results since I have to spare blue LED's lying around, be sure to post some pictures.

bignoodleboi

i'm trying to find those flat LEDs... not the one we have but the top is flat... i'm trying to use those LEDs in the door latch.. hopefully ill be able to find some...

vthree

iTrader: (1)

with my awesome luck.. one of the leds was busted.. =/ so i'll have to redo the cubby one later =/ or u can juust order the bulb from super bright leds.. like that one guy did..

popdakebin

Has anyone thought of any other colors? I kinda want orange... strange as it is... Where are you getting your plexi glass from?

bignoodleboi

you can get plexiglass at home depo and such and those hobby store too

925tsx

I might do this over this over the weekend. Only thing is where can i buy plexiglass? Home Depot?

popdakebin

haha, you guys posted at the same time. I might stop by pepboys or autozone before going home I guess, but gotta buy plexi glass. Wonder watch section it will be in.

simsimi1004

i live in canada. will they have led in home depot?

MTLer

I doubt you will find LEDs at Home Depot. Do a search for any local Electronics store, or find "The Source" by Circuit City they will have.

To the OP nice Job! I've been meaning to get my ambient lighting done just didnt know where to tap the power (more i couldnt decide what i wanted) Most likely ill tap the same source as you, or the door so they only come on when the door opens.

MTLer

Do those LEDS come pre-resistored? Do you have a close up of the LED packaging?

Ruserious

iTrader: (2)

Wow that looks real nice man. Good work.

vthree

iTrader: (1)

i'll prolly do the cubby. when i attempt making some for the rear seats ;-) lol

SinCity

I'd like to do this on my RDX. But, I do not want them as bright. Kinda like on a TL.

bignoodleboi

in the picture it looks bright and all but in person its really really dim and spread out... it looks almost exactly like the TLs and RLs.. if you're scared it might too bright just layer some plexiglass over and over each other

popdakebin

I went to pep boys today. The colors are blue, purple, green and yellow. No orange =(

MTLer

You can find Orange Leds from ebay.

simsimi1004

Φ10mm
(If=20㎃) 3.6V, Max 4.5V
is this the right type of led? what does the phi sign mean?

or how about
3.6-4.6v
100ma, 19,000mcd (green)

MTLer

You can buy any "For Car" LED from ebay they come prewired with a resistor for 12v.

SinCity

Got it. Thanks

Just02

That looks good. Nice work!

popdakebin

They come in bulk =( Around $20 for 30 led's. Anyone in San Gabriel area want to share?

simsimi1004

help me someone
from this ebay seller
http://stores.ebay.ca/TopBright-Led-...ubZ15QQfrsrcZ1
can any1 pick the best blue colored LED for me?
theres so many like the differences in mcd, some say diffused, and some of them have angels on them. Whats the best choice to do this mod for maximum brightness thanks.
if theres better items from other seller please tell me

if any1 live in coquitlam/lougheed area i can sell some if i get since they come in bluk

MTLer

The higher the MCD the Brighter the LED. If you want the leds to spread out more get the diffused ones/wide angle. But as the OP said you can just sand them down to get a diffused look.

The wider the viewing angle the more spread light, less of a spotlight look.

If you really want brightness then you can put multiple in without sanding and diffusing and make the light output overlap.

DurgyNess

I've got some white leds from a project long ago, this is gonna look sweet been wanting white lights in the car ever since i could drive but never wanted to put in the catho tubes

taz98spin

So did you ever post up a DIY???

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

Just out of curiosity what would a DIY be needed for? His pictures and details are very self explanatory and easy to follow, I consider myself to be a person with very little technical skills and I completed this modification with great results, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.

taz98spin

Whose pictures are you talking about? The OP or snailspeed?

I would like some pictures of the wires, how and where they were tapped into.

I did a DIY here on changing out the center console light

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ighlight=light

but wasn't able to figure out (I tried and it didn't work) how to tap the red and black wires.

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

Yup, I was talking about the OP, I followed his directions..To tap into the power for the ambience lighting I simply unscrewed the center cubby light…removed the electrical tape and taped into the red for positive and black for negative.

taz98spin

That's what I did. But don't you have to ground the wire somewhere too?

Or is it not needed??

wong05tsx

iTrader: (6)

Just tape? no solder or anything?

I bought some 20-24ga wire taps, I just got my leds in the mail today, and the wires look like 50ga or something, they're super small; i don't know if the 24ga [smallest i found] wire taps will work.

If anyone has any info on how to tap the power and ground, that'll be helpful.

The tape method doesn't sound practical as it may just slip and fall off??

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

I did not ground my connection...but I did solder the connections.

wong05tsx

iTrader: (6)

Tonight I was able to do the DIY ambient light install with much success. Only took an hour, working in the dark. I'm sure it can be done in ~20-30minutes with light. Anywho, I took a few pix. I wanted to take pix of all the other work, running the wire; etc. but I was trying to finish before I ran out of sunlight... I ran out of sunlight anyway.

I didn't have any plexiglass, but I did have a sheet of those Ipod screen protector material type of heavy duty plastics that I used. I sanded it down, and used duct tape to tape it to the panel


I only sanded the tip of the bulb, I failed at sanding the first set, the wires riped right off of the bulb as soon as I started to sand the side, so I said screw it.


Taped the bulb down with electrical tape


Ran it through the back, taped down


This is the part where I started to try to rush the install sinec I was running out of light.
For the passenger side, I had to take off the left kick panel, once off, the wire was easily ran into the cubby area. The kick panel should pop right off, one of the clips looks like a + screw, but it pops right off, just pull it. For the driver side, I was able to run the wire in with just the bottom panel off.

For about 10 minutes, I was trying to peel off the tape by hand. I then started to think... there's only two wires at the end of this, why is the taped part so thick? So i squeezed it tight, touche! it's pretty much hollow! I used scissors and started going in a circular motion around the thicker area [It turned out to be a wireloom, with tape around it]. After about 5 seconds, the inside is exposed; it's just a + and - wire, about the same size as the LED wires. I cut off a 1 inch section, leaving that area exposed. From there I tapped into the + and -.




It's so ambient, you can barely make out that it's there with my 3.2 megapixel camera !


You can only see this light if you stick your head by where the foot is.



I'm really pleased with the results. I'm not sure how you guys' cameras were able to get a picture of the light at night... maybe my camera just sucks.

Also, without sanding down the side of the bulb, I'm was still able to achieve the look without the spotlight effect. So this may save some time and frustration for some people who end up breaking off the wire while sanding it down.

wong05tsx

iTrader: (6)

Oh... and doing this install, I found out that my cubby light is not working... might have to do that blue light install mentioned a few posts earlier.. in the future

and, the wire taps may be a quicker and easier method for people to do this DIY, rather than soldering

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

Here's a picture of my results;

Jottle

I think this mod looks good, but I'm wondering if you folks notice the light when you're driving at night. That is, is it bright enough to notice in pitch black (freeway) type driving. I don't want to do any mods that may distract my eyes on the road. What do you guys find? Do your eyes pretty much acclimate to the light at night, or do you not even notice it when you're driving and staring out through the windshield?

anyone tried white lights? I"m thinking blue just matches the rest of the subtle interior lighting better.

mdkxtreme

what does "wire tapping" mean?

wong05tsx

iTrader: (6)

Essentially, "tap" into the existing wire while adding additional wire to it. No need to solder or anything. And if you ever decide to take it out, it is easily removable. Just make sure you make a solid connection the first time you do it

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

Jottle…To be honest it causes no visual distraction to me what so ever, I have gotten many compliments from friends and buddy’s on how ‘subtle’ the glow is. I don’t even notice it while driving at night during normal conditions. You can try whatever LED colour you would like, the choices are unlimited; if you want a subtle result make sure you follow the OP’s directions and sand down the LED and plexi glass vigorously.