ELBO's LED MOODLIGHT!

Elbo · 12-13-2005, 09:53 PM

Okay in case you haven't noticed, our Titan's have a little mood light. It is a very dim bulb that sit's directly between the front map lights. It casts a very faint amount of light in the cabin. You can notice it especially at night if you put your hand up close to the source.

I also have a Acura-TL that has a Blue LED bulb up there that is a bit brighter, not enough to ruin your night vision, but gives a very nice light cast to the interior. I decided to enhance the Titan light to have a bit more power, and decided to go with a AMBER LED, as it will match the instrument lighting well, and the amber color should be less harsh on your night vision. You could also go with any other LED color, I suppose red or orange would be most ideal for night vision. But the idea is not to bathe the interior with light, but just give it enough to have a warm but faint glow where you can easily see things you might want to grab at without having to fumble for or turn on the map lights.

There is no point in coloring this bulb as it is already so dim that if you colored the bulb, it probably wouldn't put out any light at all.

The Instructions below are for VERSION #1, Which I Don't have working yet!
Go to PAGE 3 of this THREAD, for version #2 which is working!!

LED's are readily available at a lot of places, even radio shack, and are very inexpensive. I picked up a handful of 1.7 to 2.0 volt LED's in the Amber color with varying degrees of brightness to experiment with.

Now I will show you how to create your LED replacement bulb with no SOLDERING!! and NO SPLICING of WIRES!!

All you need for this entire project is a the appropriate LED (More on that in a moment) a Phillips Screw Driver, a pair of needle nose pliars, and a safety pin.

Step 1.

- Remove your overhead console. I have a Crew Cab SE, that has three bins, plus the sunglass holder. I had a total of five phillips screws, that I had to remove. four under the front and back bins, and one under the sunglass bin. It takes a firm pull on each end to get it to release from the celing. It will be firm as it is held by four friction clips.

Step 2.

- Unclip your electrical harnesess to free up the overhead console.

Step 3.
- Remove the Mood Light Bulb. You will need your phillips screw driver for this, it takes a 1/4 turn to unlock it. You may need to use needle nose pliars to lift the bulb out.

Elbo · 12-13-2005, 09:59 PM

Step 4.

- Now that you removed the incandescent bulb. You will find it looks like this. What you will want to do is take a SafetyPin or other Small pointed needle, and carefully pry the metal legs from the blue housing. This is very easy to do. Once the legs are unwrapped and straightned out. The bulb will just slide out. If you decide for some reason to go back to the regular bulb, just keep it and you can put it back together.

(Check these Pictures from Pi3YearGrad, Thanks Man!)
located in this thread for some good pictures of the console, and the incandescent bulb.
PICS OF "MOOD LIGHT" in overhead console

Step 5.

Okay! Here is where you will insert your LED into the housing. The following images illustrate how to do it. It is DIRT simple.

Elbo · 12-13-2005, 10:07 PM

Step 6.

Yes I'm sure you know what to do. Plug the little light back into the slot!
But before you mount the overhead console back, you will need to check and make sure that the LED Bulb works. Attach just the Overhead harness cable, and turn your headlights on.

LED's work with the polarity going in one direction, so if the bulb is plugged in the wrong direction, it won't work. So it if doesn't light up, just carefully turn it a quarter turn with the screw driver, remove it and rotate it 180, reinsert and try it with the polarity reversed. It should light up if you have the right voltage and direction on the LED..

Step 7.
Once you have confirmed that the LED works, put the console back to the ceiling, and reapply your screws. GO Carefully with the screws, just get them so ever gently snug, if you tighten them, your console plastic will CRACK!

STEP 8.. BE SURE TO LOOK BELOW FOR MY CONCLUSION! AS there is a bit more to the story!

Sammy Sandbag · 12-13-2005, 10:07 PM

Great instructions, much easier than I imagined it'd be. So, what are the results? The mood light is adjusted with the factory dimmer, how's that play out when using an LED?

And once again, good work!

Elbo · 12-13-2005, 10:12 PM

RESULTS....

My results where POP!! LIGHT, THEN ONE DEAD LED!!
Okay well there was a discussion on the idea of doing a moodlight, and someone came up with the idea that this was a 2 volt light!! After I had followed my instructions above, my little Amber LED light lit up beautifully for a split second and then went out.. I double checked the connections, and they where good. I removed the bulb.. And then ran the voltmeter across the contact points... a little over 14 volts!!! So no 2 volt bulb without a resistor is going to last with this mod.. So This will be concluded hopefully Tomorrow Night, when I try several 12 volt LED's and perhaps some lower voltage ones with inline resistors. Hopefully I can still get it done without soldering.

pi3yeargrad · 12-13-2005, 10:17 PM

Ye great job bro...good teamwork there...hehe

Elbo · 12-13-2005, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sammy Sandbag

The mood light is adjusted with the factory dimmer, how's that play out when using an LED?

Well since the bulb didn't make it. I can't tell you for sure how the factory dimmer would work out for sure. But I have used LED's with dimmer's before. It should be just fine. When you start undervollting the bulb to much it will just turn off. So the worst case scenario is the bulb will only have a small dimming range.

Once I get a working LED with the 12 volt system, I'll post the specs on the bulb, and take some pictures of what it looks like and how the dimmer works.. I should have it up by tomorrow evening.

The Bulb that I used looked pretty good, it was 600mcd 1.7 volt Amber

Sammy Sandbag · 12-13-2005, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elbo

RESULTS....

My results where POP!! LIGHT, THEN ONE DEAD LED!!
Okay well there was a discussion on the idea of doing a moodlight, and someone came up with the idea that this was a 2 volt light!! After I had followed my instructions above, my little Amber LED light lit up beautifully for a split second and then went out.. I double checked the connections, and they where good. I removed the bulb.. And then ran the voltmeter across the contact points... a little over 14 volts!!! So no 2 volt bulb without a resistor is going to last with this mod.. So This will be concluded hopefully Tomorrow Night, when I try several 12 volt LED's and perhaps some lower voltage ones with inline resistors. Hopefully I can still get it done without soldering.

Well, that's how we learn I suppose. Always break out the multi-meter first! Let us know how it goes with the 12 volt LED's. Where'd you find those btw?

pi3yeargrad · 12-13-2005, 10:21 PM

I deleted 2 posts from this cuz u answered my questions as I was posting my replies...BUT again good job AND I had said 2 volts but because my little blue casing of the original mood light said 2V on the bottom and I assumed 2 volts...

Elbo · 12-13-2005, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sammy Sandbag

Where'd you find those btw?

I got the LED's at a electronics supply house in Farmers Branch, TX. I got about a dozen of them for less than $3 I actually have some 12 volt ones I have from RadioTrash (RadioShack) and you can also find them at Fry's.

Sammy Sandbag · 12-13-2005, 10:31 PM

Well all I got out here is RadioShack, so that kinda limits my choices. I'll be sure and check your final report on this. I'd like to brighten up the mood light just a tad, but not make it noticeable. I like my gauges dim, so the OEM mood light is basically worthless with the dimmer set low, you can't even tell it's on unless you hold your hand right up to it.

Elbo · 12-13-2005, 10:36 PM

When I find the right LED for the job, I'm sure I can drop a bunch in the post for whomever can't get access to a good selection of LED bulbs. Nice thing is they are so stinking cheap.

bestatchess · 12-13-2005, 10:40 PM

digikey & mouser have a wide variety.

Sammy Sandbag · 12-13-2005, 10:43 PM

You city folk an yer fancy e-leck-tronic shops...

f00dstamps · 12-13-2005, 10:45 PM

all LEDs REQUIRE current-limiting resistors. the voltage has little to do with the LED burning out. the LED will drop 1.7 volts across it and the remainder of the voltage ~12-1.7= ~10.3volts will be dropped across the resistor.

considering the point of this modification is to brighten the mood light, you will need to know the specs of the LED and what current will give you the most light output.

you can use this link to calculate the needed resistor.