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My console LED swap.

15K views 25 replies 14 participants last post by  Wombler 
#1 · (Edited)
I was going to just post this in the previous thread talking about swapping the incandescent bulbs with LEDs, but I put a spin on it and also thought a newer thread would be better.

I swapped all lights out with white LEDs from RadioShack. The exception is the one led for the peddle adjuster. I was hesitant to desolder the whole assembly off to get at the bulb. I also will probably swap the white out for blues soon. I also added two extra LEDs to the A/C controls to try and brighten it up a bit.

If you choose to buy them there then a 330ohm resistor on each bulb works nicely.

Here's what I did slightly differently. I bought a mini switch while I was there, drilled a couple of holes:


So now I can do this for funsies:



I want to do the same with the top cubbyhole too, but I have to figure out the cleanest way to keep the bulb hidden from direct eyesight.

I'm happy to answer any questions should you have them!

Here's the final, so you don't have to wade through comments.

Here's a few pictures of it on:






My camera made the red come out looking amber, but it's actually straight up red. I'll mess with my camera settings and see if I can get a true color
 
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#4 ·
Did you replace the bulbs? What bulbs did you use?
The light bulb for the pedal should be easy to get at, just drop the door. OR
were you referring to something else?

I just tossed a bunch of RS LED bulbs....oops....

Looks like it might affect your vision at night, does it?
 
#6 ·
Did you replace the bulbs? What bulbs did you use?
I used 7000mcd white LEDs, part #: 276-0017 330ohm, 1/4Watt resistors to go with them.

When I swap them for blue ones, I will probably go purchase an LED strip like this one and cut out each individual LED. They are the smaller, square LEDs and will fit much nicer than the bulb ones in there now. I'll also probably go with 470ohm or 680ohm resistors for them.

The light bulb for the pedal should be easy to get at, just drop the door. OR
were you referring to something else?
Yeah I was referring to the toggle switch (the dark spot in the middle on the bottom row of lights) on the console to move the pedals forwards or back. The bulb on the circuit board is under the switch assemble and you have to desolder 4 or 5 (relatively) massive solder anchors. I also only have the bulb types linked above which will not fit in the space.

Looks like it might affect your vision at night, does it?
It's not too bad, actually. Definitely brighter than usual but I quickly adjusted to it. Having the blue LED on doesn't affect me at all. Like I mentioned in my first post, I want to do the top cubby hole but am trying to decide how to install the LED to be able to light up the whole cubby hole while still having it hidden from shining directly in anyone's eyes.
 
#5 ·
Hey, Don, I think he's referring to the pedal adjustment buttons on the center console. That's what got scratched.

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#7 ·
It's actually fine, just going to be a pain to replace that particular bulb. The scratch is on the "Step" button on the top row. You can kinda see how much brighter it is in the pictures. It doesn't shine into my eyes while driving, but it's noticeable and annoys the PISS outta me >.<
 
#12 ·
All of my lights stopped working a long time ago. I wish I knew how to do all of this
 
#13 ·
Mine too

Mine are half burnt out, I will likely just replace with oem to save the headaches. Looks good though, I did use led rgb on my rv and they work great.
 
#14 ·
Mini update: I've ordered all the pieces and decided to go with a rotor switch to choose the colors. I couldn't decide if I wanted to go analog or just program a microcontroller to have a single push button cycle through the colors. I'm kind of a sucker for the simpler methods.

Anyways, it will be a total conversion. Every LED with the exception of the AC Controls will be wired to the switches. I'll post pictures on Saturday, assuming Amazon Prime holds true and I get the last parts tomorrow.
 
#16 ·
Glow Worm, by chance do you have any "step by step or how to" type photos of your R&R of the bulbs or a link to "previous thread talking about swapping the incandescent bulbs with LEDs" ?

Thanks and good luck with your switches !!
 
#17 · (Edited)
You bet man. When I get to my desktop I'll whip something up.

Here's what the finished, not working attempt looked like.


Weird thing is the AC dial lights don't come on and I never touched anything on that center unit. Could having 5 positive leads go into one, through a switch, a 330ohm resistor, then back out to 5 parallel leds somehow backtrack all the way and cause those lights to go bad? To clarify. None of the lights come on, even the ones I didn't touch in the middle unit. The small amber LEDs that came from the manufacturer work and all the buttons and dials do what they are intended to do.

12V and 100mA makes it 1.2W. Me thinks I should have gone with something beefier than 1/4W resistors. Oops. I need to multimeter those badboys and see if that's the cause. Losing those would definitely cause them all the blow...still don't know what's up with the AC lights though. There isn't a fuse dedicated only to those lights, right?

Another thought. 12V @ 100mA means that my original 330ohm @ 20-25mA is more than triple what I need at 100mA. That would be dropping 33V. I'm going to throw in some 100ohm @ 1W and one at 1/4W and see what happens.
 
#18 ·
You just blew my mind with that last post. Good luck and I hope you get it figured out.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Found a 10a fuse under the hood blown. I've got a short somewhere. This is rage inducing. If it just wasn't such a pain to put it in, take it out, put it in. And I've got such little time away from that damn submarine and when I do have liberty it f'n rains!

/rant. Whew. I need to step away from this and come back at it tomorrow.

Shifter lights are out, I just noticed, even after replacing the fuse :(
 
#21 ·
Success! I changed out the rotary switches for 3 simple on/off switches and redid the wiring, this time stripping a very small tip away to minimize wire exposure. I have done just the bottom so far, but it looks really good! My iPhone ran outta juice and the camera is too simple to distinguish between LED colors so tomorrow night I'll post a picture/video of it using my nikon.
 
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