| sabaka26 |
| Check out the LEDs I installed in my Pilot. |
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| humanoid |
| You post pics, but no DIY instructions??? You should know better than that! :D |
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| charly |
| Nice j0b i always wanted to to that but can't decide wich led to buy.:D |
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| sabaka26 |
quote:
Originally posted by humanoid
You post pics, but no DIY instructions??? You should know better than that! :D
Yeah I am new to the board. I will post some DIY instructions later today. |
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| pilot_man_dan |
| wow! looks good! can you take some wide shots also? i would like to see how it looks from farther away too. thanks! |
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| sabaka26 |
Ok here is a short version of what I did. DISCLAIMER: I am not a
professional, not with cars and not with electrical equipment. This is
just one thing that I figured out how to do on my own. The detail of
this DIY might not be organized very well. My soldering skills is far
from great as well. This was the fourth car I have done and have been
through a lot of trial and error. So I am sure there is a better way to
do all of this. Attempt at your own risk.
Supplies
Lots of 18 gauge wire (I bough black and red)
Solder
Soldering Iron
LEDs of choice with resistors for 12V (purchased on eBay)
LED Bezel Holders (silver fixtures that hold LED and comes with plastic
cap)
Hot Glue Gun (any one should do the trick)
Large and small zip ties
Stripers (wire that is, usually stripers and wire cutters)
Drill and appropriate Bits
Electrician's Tape
Simple Current or Electricity Tester
Two Project boxes (Bought from Radi0 Sh@ck, for lights under dash)
Slotted and Philips Screw drivers
Flattened Tool or something to remove interior paneling
Tap Splicers
Wire connectors (quick release are the best)
Crimper (for connectors)
Needle Nose Pliers
Pliers
Ratchet set and other Random Tools to remove the interior out of the car
as needed
Instructions
This LED install for me was totally custom. Its work as you go. I
installed them and put them together. Like I said this is just what I
did.
1) First thing is I planned out where I wanted the LEDs to go. Pretty
much did a little recon. I installed 40 in the cabin and 20 under the
hood. Drew up a little sketch of the car and made little points for the
lights. Next thing I did was plotted a path for the wire. Now, for each
panel I didn't worry too much. Mostly I was concerned about the parts of
the interior where the plastic or carpet met. These parts get hard
depending on how well you get the removed to place the wire. After I had
a brief idea of where the lights would go and where the wire would run,
I moved to the next step.
2) Now the fun, and probably easiest part, removing all the panels and
plastic pieces. LEDs are install directly to the plastic interior panels
of the car. Be sure to remember which screws and plastic clips go with
what panel. If you don't do something to remember, like me, you might be
left over with some extra screws (wife wasn't too happy about that). I
removed the third row to make it easier to get the two large panels in
the back. Also you will want to remove the AC controls or the stereo. We
will be tapping the accessory lights for power.
3) Now that I know where the LEDs are going to be placed and I have all
the pieces out of the car, I can start drilling and putting in the LED
holders. Simply drill the right size hole for the LED bezel holder where
you want the LED to go. I think I did about 2 inches from the bottom of
each panel along the floor. In the compartments I just drilled where
I thought the best place would be. After the holes are drilled insert
the the LED Bezel holders and tighten the nut so they are fastened to
the panel.
4) Now insert the LED into the back of the bezel Holder. Squirt a little
hot glue in the back of the holder behind the LED and the place the cap
on of the glue. This will keep the LED in place. I tested it with a
little kicking and the LED stayed in place.
So now you should have all the LEDs with the holders on the panel.
Silver Holders on the front with the LED sticking out and the bolt end
of the holder with the LED leads sticking out of the back. On This next
part can be easy, or it can be the hardest.
5) Soldering, Resistors and Wire are the next step. If you bought your
LEDs on eBay as I did, then you got the right resistors. I didn't even
research what kind I would need. On the back you should have all your
LEDs leads sticking out. The long end of the LED is the positive. This
is the side that should be receive the supply. The short side is the
negative side and the side that I soldered the resistor to. I trimmed up
the leads to so the back took up as least amount of space. You probably
don't need to because you can just bend them over. So now you should
have the resistors soldered to all the negative leads. Now we run wire
on the panel. This is where I used the black and red wire. I used the
red as positive and ran a wire by each of the lights. I had to cut of
the wire plastic around the LEDs where I soldered them. Then I did the
same with the black wire and soldered it to the resistor side. See my
really bad Jpeg from paint. Follow the wires in the picture and it
should give you a good idea of how to run the circuit. Its called
running them parallel. You can study that on some other websites. You
should now have one panel done. The LEDs in place with the wire run on
the back side from each LED. On each end you should have both a black
and red wire. Do this to all your panels and compartments where you
want LEDs. Also crimp on the quick connectors to the wires on the end of
each panel.
6) After you have all that done we need to find the power source. You
should only need one. If you run LEDs in a parallel circuit you should
be able to run thousands of them. So I have been told. I ran 30 off of
one source and they are very bright. Ok I tapped in to the accessory
light on my stereo deck. Actually not the deck itself but the bunch of
wires that connect to the back of it. I took the electricity tester and
grounded it to the frame somewhere and just touched the metal connector
on each wire and turned the running lights on and off until I found the
right one. In Hondas it is the red wire with a black line on it. By
using this one your LEDs will turn on when you turn on your running
lights. You can put a switch in somewhere at the beginning of the
circuit if you want to be able to turn them off at any time. Once you
find the right wire grab a lengthy piece of red wire and use the tap
splicer to tap into it.
7) Next you need to find the grounding point. On the backside of the
panel and the driver’s side in the cargo area in the back there are many
ground bolts already.
8) Wrapping it Up. Putting the pieces back in are a little easier, but I
would connect everything to make sure they work. If you crimped the quick release connector on the panels it shouldn’t take long to test it. Run
the wire from the stereo or where ever you choose and run it behind the steering wheel panel to the drivers side panel and down to the ground and under the step panel. I didn't take off the pillar panel between the front door and back door. I just ran the wire underneath it. Then I ran it to the back panels. Now just connect each panel to each other with wires. At the end ground the black wire somewhere on the frame of the car.
Take it for what its worth. Ask me if you have questions and I can specify. Sorry if it is hard to understand. |
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| sabaka26 |
| Anyone in the Pittsburgh area considering doing this? If so let me know. Eldredge_7@yahoo.com. I can help out if needed. |
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