Inspire

man... I envy those who has the skills to do these type of complicate modifications...

bebber

Yup, Anaheim Hills is like on the Eastside of Anaheim. Far enough away from Disneyland that you can't hear the fireworks going off at night. It's the same city, but a different zip code.

ElegantTL-S

Bebber, Oooh! I see! That's cool! I remember there will be a Honda/Acura meet around the 949 area...maybe you should go. I would like to check out your car. See how it rides. And all the other nifty stuff you have. hehe!

Austin519, When you do that....send those DIY instructions my way!!!

bebber

Sorry, can't make it to that upcoming meet. It's on a Sunday and I'm usually at church on Sundays out in Alhambra (In the valley).

ElegantTL-S

OH serious? Well.....we can meet up after Church! I live in San Gabriel...which is the next city to Alhambra....

Nate

Quit hijacking my thread! :p

Kenny gave me the number for the copmany he found... but I called and the highest viewing angle on ultra blue LEDs they had in stock was 60 degrees and the highest on super blue was 45 degrees. He said I needed a minimum order for 1000 pieces to have any special ordered. Looks to me that the only way to do this is to buy the nes from LEDtronics... $6 each for the 3mm ones times 35 needed... $210... plus 3 more of the 5mm, $8 ones... $234... plus one big fat one for the shifter light... and suddenly I'm looking at about $250!

NighthawkBlack

Who said being the Mod King would be cheap?

Nate

Ya, I'm waiting on a phone call right now... =/ What are credit cards for, anyway?

Nate

Well, these people aren't easy to deal with... They don't know what they are selling so I have to wait until Monday to speak with an engineer. With the 3mm LEDs they are 30mcd while the 5mm LEDs I've tested are 145mcd... the ones I have are much brighter right? I'm not sure how bright the 3mm LEDs will be, and their viewing angle is less (120 vs 160). $200 is a lot to drop if I get them and the are insufficient.

They also come in 2 and 4 chip, but neither the lady (nor her boss) could explain what that was or what the price difference is. I'm guessing its the tiny chip inside the lense and that the 4 chip would be much brighter than the single (30mcd) chip. I will find out Monday, hopefully with mcd specs on the different chip LEDs. 3mm comes in 1, 2, and 4 chip. 5.5mm comes in 1, 3, and 6 chip.

So my plan is this:

6mm holes:
5 - AC panel buttons
1 - clock
1 - shifter

5.5mm x 3 ($8 x 3 = $24, singe chip): AC panel 6mm holes - I already have 2 of these
5.5mm x 1 ($??? x 1 = ???, 4 chip): clock light 6mm hole - the single chip was pretty dim
5.5mm x 1 ($??? x 1 = ???, 6 chip): shifter light 6mm hole - needs to be very bright

4.5 mm holes:
2 - AC panel LCD
2 - AC panel knobs
2 - cruise control
2 - sunroof
6 - heated seats
1 - hazard
9 - radio

3mm x 2 ($??? x 2 = ???, 4 chip): AC panel LCD 4.5mm holes
3mm x 22 ($6 x 22 = $132, single chip): misc 4.5mm holes

The window switches use 3mm, 2 volt, dim LEDs with about a 30 degree viewing angle. They are soldered to a PCB and it should prove an easy task to clip the stock ones and solder on some cheap, dim, 2 volt, blue ones.

Too bad there aren't 4mm LEDs available in super blue with an extra wide viewing angle. I will just have to buy them and hope that the 3mm are bright enough... otherwise there is no way I'm going to ever get any LEDs. If you don't spend enough, they won't special order anything. My car has been taken apart for far too long. Plus, I can't find them, or anything like them, anywhere else.

??? prices I will find out on Monday - I wanted more chips so that some LEDs could illuminate better. If the 2 or 4 chip 3mm LEDs aren't too much more expensive, I may get all 2 or 4 chip LEDs for all 4.5mm holes.

$200 is on the low end for almost any car mod, and this one will be especially cool and unique. If the 3mm are inadequate, I will just send them all back and give up. But have faith!

ElegantTL-S

hahaha Nate! Don't mean to hijack your thread!! Man...to do the conversion seems to be a bit overpriced just to get the cool blue look....... all of a sudden the blue lights dont look good no more...haha :p

Nate

I took apart the passenger door today and found that the light under the window button is a light green, 3mm (or so) LED that is soldered to a small circut board. I measured it at 2 volts. I didn't have a chance to take any pics of it - I had to get it back together cause it was getting dark. The LED has leads that are about 6mm long. I think its feasible to clip it off and solder on a blue one. I don't have to buy the super bright blue ones for it, I don't even need a wide angle LED. The stock green one shines a narrow beam right into the switch. Since the switch doesn't have a filter in it the LED doesn't need to be very bright. This is actually a good thing I think, this way I can subtract seven $6 LEDs, saving me $42.

Nate

Since the windows can be done with cheap LEDs, the price of this project just dropped almost $50.

ElegantTL-S

Oooooh!!! haha...Hmmmm..now only if we can drop it off like $100 more! HEHE! :p

JeffyTL

Hey Nate,
I read of someone doing this on www.v6accord.com. However, I think they just painted the lights instead of buying new led lights. They have pictures posted and i looks pretty nice. Anyways best of luck to you with this project. I maybe interested in doing this project in warmer weather, like in the spring, so if everything works out please let us know so that we make follow in your wisdom.

BTW, if you look in the interior section of the site, someone has posted a website for a company that sells all kinds of led lights. I looked through the site and they have a large selection but I have no idea what I was looking at so you will have to look for yourself to see if they sell what you are looking for. Also, does the place you are ordering from offer quantity discounts? If the do I would be able to help you out by buying some leds too.

Nate

Cool, thanks for the info JeffyTL! I read through that and it isn't quite what I was looking for though - it sounds the same as our cars but it was really dim... check it out, look at the AC/clock versus the radio:



And the article is here:

http://www.v6accord.com/forums/showt...&threadid=1387

I did find a link to another article that recommended using the stuff that you coat plier handles with to make condoms for any bulb... though that won't work for what I'm doing, I thought it was interesting.

I didn't find anything on the AV6 forums about good places to buy LEDs.

I'm not sure if LEDtronics will sell me these or not... I'm calling today and I'll let you know. I might need you to place your order with me. Anyone else down?

Brewboy

Nate, are you gonna get one of these light-up blue gearshift knobs too.


Get your wires pulled thru?

JeffyTL

Hey Nate, I am down so just let me know if it would help if I order some too. Also, you mentioned that this project would be easier and cheaper with red leds. I wouldn't mind red lights. So if this deal for the blue lights falls through can you please let me know where to purchase the red leds.

JeffyTL

Nate you have mail. I sent you the name of the website because I don't know if I am allowed to post it here.

Nate your mailbox was full so I couldn't sent you the pm but you can instant message me if you still want the site. AIM = cpxjeffy

illusion

Hi There.

Just wanted to drop by and say thanks for letting us v6 accorders in on your little secrets Nate. I have been trying and trying to no avail to change my miserable dash lights. Using LEd's never crossed my mind(to thick of a skull I guess). Originally I had the old ugly teal colored indiglo gauges, and having painted bulbs(using stained glass paint) made the dash light up pretty close to my gauges, but reaaaal dim. I recently changed to the latest generation indiglo gauges, and now my dash just pisses me off. Dark, doesn't match, while my deck(kenwood dpx-5010) matches the blue from the indiglos flawlessly as well as the neon tubes I put for my footwells and under the seats(I used 4 9" neo blue streetglow mini tubes, 2 under the dash, 2 under the seats, connected to the door pin switch) . Judging by the blue color your AC panel buttons have, that would be absolutely perfect for me. So away I go on another project.

If you'de like to see my "waste of money" as my wife calls it, feel free to drop on over to http://members.sounddomain.com/v6illusion my last ditched attempt to maintain my youth.

Ok, anyone afraid of geekdom, don't read any further, I'm about to take the EE belt out

I was going to go through a big explanation of diodes but just take a peek here instead. After making steam come out of my wifes ears after she asked me what I was doing on my workbench one day, I just point her here now.


http://www.howstuffworks.com/diode.htm

Also a few quick notes on diodes to help you out. A diode is simply a gate. nothing more. an LED(light emitting diode) uses a process in which the biasing of the gate causes light to be emitted when current flows forward. You can't measure the resistance of a diode when it's off, because it's NOT a resistor. Measure it one way and you'll find a relatively low impedance, where as reversing your leads will measure an almost open circuit. that's the gate in action.

To use a diode in a DC circuit it's real easy to get. Say you buy a 4v 10ma Red LED. You want to power it with 12v nominal, 14.4v max(remeber you're using a car alternator behind it). You need a way to make the 12v usable for your diode. there's usually enough fudge factor to just use 12v (instead of 14.4)and be safe though. The 4 volts, called the forward voltage, is the nuber of volts that drop across the diode, or simply put the voltage the diode like to work at. The 10ma , called supply current, is the ammount of juice that the diode pulls when operating at nominal voltage. Since this particular Diode "drops" 4 volts, and you want to use a 12volt source, you need to figure out something to do with the other 8 volts. Two things you can do, either put two more 4 volt LEDs in series with the first one(3 total) which will create a 12volt drop across them, or use a resistor to "drop" the 8 volts. Ohms Law states "The amount of current flowing in a circuit is directly proportional to the voltage on the circuit and is inversely proportional to the total resistance of the circuit." so we can conclude I = V / R or how we need to use it R = V / I. Easy huh??? Ok we know we need to drop 8 volts and that there will be 10ma flowing in the circuit, because that's all the diode wants to pull. So ? = 8 / 10e-3 = 800ohms. When dumping current you also want to worry about the heat disappation, or Power(in watts). Power = Voltage * Current or P = V*I, so 8 * 10e-3 = 80mW.. most small resistors people are familiar with are 1/4 watt(250mW) so any 800Ohm Resistor should do fine. Another thing to think about is the size though, THere isn't much space behind those little sockets so you might want to hunt for some 1/8watt, or use thin film resistors(SMT) they look like tiny little blocks with no leads, you can put the diode through the hole in the socket, cut the anode(+) and solder one end of the SMT resistor to it, then take the lead you cut off and solder it to the other end of the resistor, then push it through the hole for the contact, and cut off the excess. This will make it relatively small.

Diodes are great, low current, Huge lifespan, durable, and bright as hell for the current they pull. Cant do any better.

I'll report back when my project is done.

Again thanks Nate.

Nate

Your PM mailbox is full too ( clear out your Sent Message folder!). I emailed LEDtronics and NetDisty with an order that would supply us both with enough LEDs to do both our cars:

44 x L121CB1K-3.5VF
4 x L121CB1K-3.5VF (4 chip)
8 x L201CB1K-3.5VF
2 x L201CB1K-3.5VF (4 chip)
2 x L201CB1K-3.5VF (6 chip)

These are the first 2 LEDs on this page:

http://www.netdisty.net/ds/L121CB/

As you can see, this order is going to run us about $400, probably a little more after taxes. This is going to run us about $200-$250 each but it will be worth it! Please PM me (its not full anymore) or email me at natedone@hotmail.com and we can chat. Anyone else who is interested please do the same - the more we buy at once the faster we can get them. There is a $500 minimum order to deal with LEDtronics, otherwise we have to use NetDisty and they are slow and incompetent.

Nate

Hey illusion, if you take apart you car like I did:

http://natestl.com/images/dash/dash.html

And figure out how many LEDs you need and whether or not you can reuse the stock clips like I did (I'm sure your car has the same clips from the description someone else posted) then maybe you'll join my and JeffyTL in buying these LEDs?

BTW, nice ride!

Nate

Will do. Go ahead and post it here though, it will be ok. If any mods want to b!tch they can take it up with me and Tim. Tim is on my side!

jasonh1234

Greetings from an AccordV6.com member.
Nate: You are my hero / idol! LOL
I've just started working with a friend of mine who is an electronics wiz on this project for my Accord, but you've already beaten me to the punch by a looooong ways.

So you succesfully rigged up LEDs to the stock light sockets huh?
Are you going to make a tutorial or guide on everything you used and where you got it when you're all done?

I hope so. This thread is monstrous to read!

illusion

Yeah I'm in Nate. Couldn't post here last night or I would have answered last night. I blew $100 on a pair of yellow 1157s for the turn bulbs so I didn't have to look at the ugly amber corners even when the lights were off. Now I have clear lights until I turn them on, exactly what I wanted but indeed a bit on the pricey side for a pair of turn bulbs. Although they will outlast any incandescent bulb on the planet. $200-$250 is no sweat to get my whole dash looking the way I want it. I took apart my Climate Control last night and it looks identical to yours. My clock is entirely different, but it uses 1 little peanut bulb like yours appears to. The only bulbs I don't need are for the radio, since I don't have the stock one anymore. I tried to use a single 470nm(that the color wavelength) blue LED in the clock last night, and it's brighter than my triple coated glass spray painted bulb. But still not as bright as I wanted. I think those multi chip LEDs, or something with a wider viewing angle would work better. I was going to put a buffing wheel on my dremel tonight and try to smooth the cone a bit to see if I can get to to act different. The only other thing I can think of is some sort of difuser. Let me know what youplan on doing, and I'll see if I'm up for it. Beware of LED.net(ledtronics) they are freakin slow as snot. When I ordered my 1157s it took almost a month to get them.

illusion

I haven't been in a TL, so I'm not sure what your button on the left side of the wheel look like.

from left to right mine has, the foglight button, a dual button for the TCS and Cruise, and then the sunroof switches

can't see that well in this pic, but is the TL similar?

Nate

Yep, very similiar, but no fogs on the < '02 TLs.

I took another look at my gauges today... you know that LCD screen that tells you the temp, mileage, etc? Naturally, I want it blue. It uses bigger bulbs that the rest of the dash does. There are 26 of these bigger bulbs that light up the entire dash, 3 of them light up that LCD. The bulbs are bigger than the dash bulbs but small than a 168 push in bulb. I'll try a 5mm LED in there and see if it is sufficient... if so that'll add another 3 x $8, $24 to the cost of this mod.

Also I wanted to see what illuminates the radio LCD. For the life of me I can't get the damn radio apart! The screws are really fawking tight in there... I'll try a screwdriver with vicegrips on it tonight. But there are no obvious holes for any bulbs that I can see, looking at the back of the PCB, opposite the LCD. I hope it doesn't use SMT LEDs... that would be a pain.

Nate

I got the radio apart - those little screws are SUPER tight!!! Requires vicegrips and a sharp twist to break the little bastards free. I took pics of the whole process and I'll post them soon - my cable went out so I'll have to bring my digicam to work to upload the pics.

Bottom line on making the stock HU LCD blue: not possible. The casing holding the LCD in has tabs that are pushed through the PCB in 4 places and bent over, then soldered. Under the LCD there are probably 2 incandescent bulbs. There is no way to get at them without removing the casing, which isn't possible.

I put a blue filter over the LCD and it looks a light blue/green color. Doesn't match the LEDs. 2 layers of film over it and it is too dark. I want all the LCDs (clock, AC, and radio) the same... it'd look funny with nice blue LEDs behind the clock and AC, and a crappy filter over the radio.

Also, the radio has little bulbs that are soldered to the PCB... unless I desolder or somehow remove them all, there's no room to put in LEDs. Wonder if I just smashed them all with some pliers and ripped them out of the PCB... But even then, I'd have to run my own power to the LEDs and it would be a fat pain in the ass fitting them all in there, etc.

Looks like doing the radio would be too much of a hassle... Unless we can find a better way, it looks like replacing the HU is the only answer. Which means replacing the door speakers at the same time.

Got my wires through the door boots but haven't had time (or weather ) to put in the blue door lights. Soon though! Still waiting on the LED people.

ElegantTL-S

Nate, I say you go for a nice aftermarket HU...and do a custom mounting area over there...so you can put more cool switches...etc! Where are you putting the blue door lights? as the courtesy lights? or the window buttons?

NighthawkBlack

Are you refering to these bulbs? If so this front board comes off and you can get at them from behind.

NighthawkBlack

sorry here is the pic

Nate

Yes Nighthawk!!! But it doesn't come off... damn I forgot to bring my camera. IM me, I want to know what you mean by it comes off...

ElegantTL, the only reason I don't want to get a new HU is then I'd have to replace the door speakers and do some custom faceplate to make the HU look integrated... and thats going to run a lot of cash. I can afford to blow some, but not what it'd take to do all that. I like the integrated look of my factory HU, especially with the molded plastic wood trim (). We'll see what Nighthawk is talking about...

Talked to the head guy at LEDtronics and he said the LEDs I need for this are on order and should arrive by the end of the week! Now lets see if it happens...

ElegantTL-S

Oooh! I see!!! What molded plastic wood trim? show me a pic! How many LED's have you ordered anyway?

HelloAccord

damn I registered just to say this....any progress on this? haven't seen any updates to this in a while now...

Nate

No progress. LEDtronics is BS. I offered to quadruple my order. They said it would ship by the end of LAST week. I've been d!cking with them for months. It seems they can't get me the LEDs and it seems that I can't find sufficient LEDs elsewhere. I have to put my car back together by this coming weekend... I sent them an email today and I'll call them tomorrow. If they cannot get me my LEDs by Friday I have no choice but to give up.

SimTypeS

Damn, that sucks, Nate. I know how it is when you put so much effort into something, and then someone else lets you down, and your project is lost. I haven't really looked into this much, but maybe I'll go back over it and see if I can think of anything... I know a little about electronics...

Nate

Austin, you go try and find LEDs that will work before sticking your face in. Find 3mm and 5mm blue LEDs with a 160 degree viewing angle that put out enough light (145+ mcd).

Brewboy

Nate,
Just got partsexprees.com catalog. Showing new LEDS. Blue 5mm only @ 1200MCD w/45 degree view angle. No 3mm though.
Hopes it helps.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...number=070-008

Brewboy

Nate,
thinking again, have you thought about using those replacement 2-cell AAA mini-mag lamps for the flashlights. They're extremely bright, at least a viewing angle of 180 degrees and they have two leads like LED's. You'd need to drop the voltage for them and cover them blue though. Don't know the size of them maybe 3mm? You can buy them at any hardware or sports store and play with them. Just a thought.

ps. like these
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...number=361-570

Nate

Hmm... unfortunately the LED isn't a wide enough viewing angle. The maglite bulbs are interesting... and real cheap. Maybe I'll order a couple after Christmas. I really wish LEDtronics would get their heads out their asses, their LEDs are a perfect fit and an awesome blue color.

Nate

So you say, as it is you are all talk -- so go to hell, *******.