I've always been intrigued by Light Emitting Diodes or LEDs. They are small, bright, long lasting, and energy efficient. More recently they have also become cheap and readily available from many retail stores (Walmart, AutoZone) and online stores (Amazon, eBay). Chapter 2 of the Development of My Box took place in June and early July of 2011.
I got these Alpena 24 inch Flex LED strips from my local AutoZone. They are available in multiple colors including white, amber, red, and blue. Each 24 inch package contains two 12 inch strips. The strips have 3M foam adhesive mounting tape. The strips can be cut into 3-LED modules, so after cutting a 24 inch package yields twelve 3-LED modules, each 2 inches long.
I used the Alpena white LEDs to improve the lighting in the cargo area by adding two 3-LED modules at the top of the C-pillars. The LED modules get their power from the existing cargo light fixture and are controlled by the existing cargo light switch. I also replaced the incandescent bulb in the cargo light fixture with a 6-LED 31mm Festoon style lamp from eBay. (Later I discovered that 28mm would have fit better.)
Encouraged by this success, I decided to tackle a much larger project: puddle, footwell, and door-mounted courtesy lights.
I added two 3-LED puddle light modules, mounted externally on the underside of the left and right side mirror mounts. For power and ground, I tapped into the dome light wires that run inside the driver's A-piller. Thus the puddle lights activate in the same manner as the dome light (turns on with remote unlock, on with any door open, time delay fade out, etc).
You will see this connector box after you pull the driver's knee panel. The 3 wires to the dome light connect to the white 8-conductor plug in the center of the picture:
the upper left wire is constant ground
the middle right wire is constant power
the lower left wire is fade-in/fade-out ground
Be careful! If you short out the dome light ECU it costs ~ $400 to replace.
Where the Wire Things are... (electrical connector box behind the driver's knee panel)
I added one 3-LED module per footwell. The four footwell lights are mounted on panels for the driver and front passenger, and under the front seats for the rear passengers. Like the puddle lights, the footwell lights get their power and ground from the dome light circuit, so they fade on and off with the dome light.
I added one 3-LED module per door, mounted under the armrest of each door. The four door-mounted courtesy lights all get their power from the dome light, however the ground for each light is via the local door switch. Thus a given door mounted courtesy light will only illuminate when that door is open.
I used diodes at each door switch to ensure proper current flow, and also to isolate the dome light ECU from my additions.
I also replaced the incandescent bulb in the dome light fixture with a 12-LED panel from eBay.
So if you're keeping track, so far that's 2 cargo, 2 puddle, 4 footwell, 4 courtesy =
12 modules x 3 = 36 white LEDs.
Also 1 x 6 festoon = 6 white LEDs.
And 1 x 12 panel = 12 white LEDs.
While I was at it, I added a small instrument panel bulb to illuminate the glovebox when the glovebox door is open. The glovebox light is controlled by a pin switch taken from an older Toyota and the switch is mounted in the left side of the frame of the glovebox door. Power is from the dome light, and ground is controlled by the local pin switch.
I missed not having an illuminted ignition key at night, so I mounted a shrouded green LED to my steering column cover. A 750 ohm resistor wired in series keeps the LED happy. Power and ground are via the dome light circuit.
While all this was going on, I also added Alpena blue ambiance lights: one blue 3-LED module for each front footwell, two under the front seats, two under the rear seats, one in each door storage pocket, and one for the center cupholders, for a total of 11 modules (33 LEDs). All the blue LEDs get their power from the parking light circuit and are dimmer contolled. I mounted the LED modules such that they are not in direct line-of-site in order to avoid glare. (Running wires into the rear doors thru the factory rubber flex conduit is a royal pain, due to the frame-mounted electrical connector. I had to use an Xacto knife to cut out a path for the wire in the frame-mounted electrical connector. You have been warned...)
Driver's door pocket, footwell and center console
Left rear passenger's door pocket and footwell
To control my new lights, I added 2 items to the panel on the left of the steering wheel.
The upper switch is for power to all non-cargo white LED modules, the single green ignition key LED, and the glovebox light. This switch is nomally left On unless the doors will be open for a long time. Even then, the power drain is mininal.
The lower knob controls the brightness of all the blue LED modules.
The last thing I added was a 120 cm strip of 60 red LEDs obtained via eBay. The strip was too long to fit between my rear spoiler pedestals so I trimmed off one 3-LED module to yield a 57 LED strip. I mounted the strip on the rear glass along the top edge, and wired it to my 3rd brake light. The strip is black so it is not noticable until lit. It is low profile so it does not interfere with the rear window sprayer. I trimmed the rear wiper slightly to clear the strip. In the picture on the right, the lit red LEDs are reflecting off the bottom surface of the rear spoiler, creating the illusion of a ring of LEDs.
So after many days, almost 100 feet of wire, lots of splices and solder joints, and 155 LEDs, my lighting project is done!
About a year later (July 2012) I replaced the glovebox bulb with a 3-LED module. In this picture you can see it mounted to the white plastic strip (with the hole that previously held a light bulb). Also you can see how my pin switch is mounted.
I also added a 3-LED module in the overhead console, to come on with the dome light and shine light onto the dashboard.
(total LED count is now 161)
As a result of my car being rear ended, I replaced the strip of 57 type 0603 red LEDs above the rear glass with a strip of 66 type 5050 red LEDs. So now the LED count for Light Frenzy is 170.
Total LED count is now 170 from Light Frenzy + 246 from Light Frenzy 2, Improved DRLs, and Revised Fender Vents + 10 from Front Lights upgrade = 426 LEDs
Next: Small Comforts
You can send your questions or comments to BrickPig2011xb@gmail.com