Finished a couple more LED projects

[paddlenbike]

In the quest for more light at the rear of the vehicle for loading and unloading at night or cooking/setting up camp after dark, I added a Cree XR-E LED to the rear hatch. To give you an idea of the light output and efficiency, the LED pulls 1.7 watts and puts out 150 lumens of light. The stock incandescent cargo light draws 5 watts and puts out around 50 lumens of light. This LED is so bright I decided not to mount a second one on the other side of the hatch. It is wired to come on when you open the hatch and I also wired a switch to allow you to turn it off. It is mounted in an Acura Legend door light housing that I pulled from the wrecking yard. I simply cut off the incandescent stuff and screwed in an aluminum housing to mount the LED and act as a heatsink to dissipate the heat.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7ROTP5Dq20U/TdydMJr2HJI/AAAAAAAAFpo/qnlU0__pNYY/s640/hatchlight1.jpg

View of the LED with the lens removed:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5mODqYZQsJE/TdydMTvZALI/AAAAAAAAFpw/EoPyqwPDodA/s640/hatchlight2.jpg

Lens in place:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-5xmg9Usm0G8/TdydMX8W6PI/AAAAAAAAFp0/qwSO7DP4vlk/s640/hatchlight3.jpg

Note the amount of light on the ground behind the truck:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LZajI1ZVesU/TdydMvRIbSI/AAAAAAAAFp4/ljgKwbfo5PI/s400/hatchlight4.jpg

The light output is hard to believe; like I said, it is very bright!

I also installed some standard green 5mm LEDs to illuminate the rear heater control and another one hidden in the center console that dimly illuminates the cupholder area.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-RXUxXnK02Ig/TdydNGKke2I/AAAAAAAAFqA/XqoeVg_LFMM/s640/interior-leds.jpg

You can also see the footwells illuminated via LEDs as well as the new powered GPS mount.

Next up is to replace the center dome light and rear cargo light with LEDs to complete the interior illumination.

EDIT--broken photo links fixed.

[Seanz0rz]

care to share what led's you are using to replace the factory bulbs? or are you just useing normal LED's with resistors for 12V?

[paddlenbike]

Hi Sean,
I am going to use the same Superflux LEDs I used on my footwells:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/4Runner/mods/footwell_lights_superflux.jpg

They put out a ton of true white light with virtually no heat and of course low power consumption.

[Seanz0rz]

what about the led's in the dash and elsewhere?

thanks for the name drop on the superflux. that helps in tracking some down.

thanks for the project details. this is on the list, and would make a good winter/back in school project.

[slosurfer]

Very nice! I have just started researching LED's for some projects. I'm a little confused on the wiring and what is needed. :headscratch: For these "star" things, do you need to wire anything else with them? Very impressive light ouptut. :thumbup:




View of the LED with the lens removed:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/4Runner/mods/hatchlight2.jpg

[Jerm]

Nice very bright. Those will come in handy.

[paddlenbike]

what about the led's in the dash and elsewhere?

LEDs in the center console are standard 5mm LEDs. LEDs in the footwells and eventually the domes are Superflux LEDs and the bright star-shaped one in the hatch is a Cree power LED.




Very nice! I have just started researching LED's for some projects. I'm a little confused on the wiring and what is needed. :headscratch: For these "star" things, do you need to wire anything else with them? Very impressive light ouptut. :thumbup:


Hi Chris,
For low power LEDs, like the 5mm ones you get from Radioshack, an inline resistor is fine as these run at only 20 milliamps (mA). Higher powered ones like the Superflux run at 80 mA and current regulation becomes important to keep them at the same brightness even though the vehicle electrical system varies from 12V with the car off to 14.4 with it running, nearly a 25% variance. For constant current you can build a simple integrated circuit for little money.

For high power LEDs like the Cree in the hatch, it is running at 500 mA, so most home built regulation methods will dissipate excess energy in the form of heat. That's where the Powerpucks come in--they basically switch on and off at very high speeds rather than just waste energy as heat. If you go this route, simply give the puck power and ground and hook up the + and - leads to the LED as you can see in the photo. I can help when it comes time to picking out the appropriate Powerpuck for your application.

[slosurfer]

Thanks, that helped a bunch. I'll definately be asking you some questions when the time comes.

[Cebby]

Is the power puck that round circuit board that the LED is mounted too, or is it something else hidden away?

Can you give us some part numbers? (Specifically for what you used in the hatch - I love that idea)

[paddlenbike]

Is the power puck that round circuit board that the LED is mounted too, or is it something else hidden away?

Can you give us some part numbers? (Specifically for what you used in the hatch - I love that idea)


The powerpuck is hidden, but I used the 500 mA model 2008B from Leddynamics.com. Looks like this:
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/ledsupply/02008B-350-Medium.jpg

You can buy them here: http://www.ledsupply.com/powerpuck.php

I think I am obsessed with LEDs...

[Tanto]

Keep it up and I'm going to park my truck next to yours if we're setting up camp at night :D

[Bob98SR5]

ok ken, you're skimpin' on the details, holmes. i think i can speak for alot of people here: WE NEED A WRITEUP! :D

And yes, the picture of ken's hatch light is exactly like it shows. that little sucker is bright!

bob

[Ric]

paddlenbike,
ok damnit, you NOW have to do a full write-up, with pics :spank:

thats awesome, I just replaced my cargo bulbs with LEDS, and they are JUNK......

can you wire them into the stock switches ? so that they work like stock ? (come on with the door opening)

[Ric]

Im wanting to do this to the cargo area :smokin: this is what I wanted when I bought them stupid things off FleBay :shake:

[Seanz0rz]

yea there is zero light in the inside of my truck, the stock dome and cargo lights SUCK. this is exactly what i need!!! write up PLEASE!!!

[paddlenbike]

Alright, here's the quick and dirty.

The fixture:
Go to a wrecking yard and pull a door panel light out of your car of choice. I used an Acura Legend light assembly but Honda Accords use similar fixtures. Toyota is too cheap to put lights in their doors; even the high-end Toyotas had nothing. If you like ugly/tacky, I found plenty of American car light housings trimmed in fake chrome and gold. :shake: There isn't more than about 3/4 to 1" of room between the hatch panel and the steel structure of the hatch, so cut the incandescent stuff, leaving basically a 1/2" deep plastic housing with the lens. Screw an aluminum plate to the housing. This will give you a place to mount the LED and to dissipate heat.

I used thermal epoxy (and a bit of superglue) to adhere the star-shaped LED to the aluminum plate. (See photos above.) Remove the plastic panel from the inside of the rear hatch and cut a hole to accomodate the light housing.

Wiring:
On the driver's side of the hatch is a relay box to control the rear wiper, rear window as well as the keyless entry. Probe the wires to find one that is hot all the time. The powerpuck has four wires coming out of it. Wire the + of the powerpuck to a fuse then to the always-hot source. Find the single wire that runs down to the door latch, tap it and connect it to the ground of the puck. When the hatch is opened, this wire will give ground to your circuit and provide power to the puck and the LED.

The remaining two wires on the puck go to the LED. Solder the LED + to the positive solder pad on the LED and solder the LED - to the negative solder pad on the LED star. (You can see the plus and minus symbols on the star in the photos above.) That's really all there is to it. If you want a separate switch like I installed, put it inline with the ground.

I think you'll like the next LED project, but I won't spill the beans on that one just yet. :P

[paddlenbike]

One other note. The two most common high-power LEDs you will find are the Luxeons (made by Philips) and the Cree LEDs. You will probably want the 1 watt variety, which typically require 3.5 volts and 350 milliamps. Before you order LEDs, note the recommended current requirements and simply order the Leddynamics PowerPuck with similar ratings.

In my case, I used a Cree XR-E LED that will handle from 350 milliamps to 1,000 milliamps. I bought a 500 milliamp PowerPuck, so I am running the LED at half of its potential power to keep the heat down.

LEDs come in a variety of color temperatures and "bins", which determine their brightness and color tint. You'll have to investigate these on your own because they do vary by manufacturer.

[reggie 00]

How much do we need to beg to get turn key kits from you???

Might be an easy way to make beer money.

[Ric]

paddlenbike,
on the Hatch set up, do you mind posting the part # of the LED and any other info that may be useful to us noobs :hillbill: maybe a parts list ?
That thing is crazy bright and I want it, lol but Im going to replace the cargo and dome lights.

[paddlenbike]

Of course the company I ordered the parts from no longer carries everything you need, so the one-stop shopping idea is out, unless you can find another retailer.

From www.cutter.com.au (an Australian website with 6-8 days delivery time), do a search for Cree XR-E and select "star MCPCB" and select "Q5 WH tint". The MCPCB stands for "metal core printed circuit board" and if you don't select this option you'll get the emitter only and you'll have one heck of a time trying to solder to it. The Q5 is the brightest one on the market right now, you can order a lower bin and pay less if you don't care about ultimate brightness. The WH is the color temperature, which produces a warmer white color as opposed to the cold blueish tint you often see with LEDs.

You can order the pucks here: http://www.ledsupply.com/powerpuck.php
If you order the Cree LED I spec'd above, you can run them at 350mA to 1000mA. I am running mine at 500mA, but I see this distributor only offers the 350mA and the 700mA. Either will work, but keep in mind that running this LED at 700mA will produce a serious amount of heat. Just be cautious putting a hot device into a small space or a location where you have something else that may combust.

Most of the high power LEDs will ship from another country. Australia recently outlawed incandescent lighting for efficiency reasons, so they have a lot of product to offer.

[4x4mike]

fake chrome and gold
Heck yeah. I should put those on the Subaru.
I need to take a few pictures of mine in action. I could post them on a Chevy site but those guys would like, "Well how bright do they need to be to shine on my 22's? Does it matter than I have a 14" lift?"

Hey Ken, turn key (think: Lot's of Trader Jose).

[paddlenbike]

All you guys from Pismo 4RJ that made fun of my Trader Jose beer were just jealous! http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/emoticons/beer.gif

[Cebby]

paddlenbike - do you use one puck per LED? Or if you were using the 350ma LED's could you use one 700ma puck to drive two 350ma LED's?

[paddlenbike]

One puck will drive as many LEDs at the specified current as long as you have enough voltage to overcome the LEDs forward current. That's a lot of words in one sentence--imagine one 350 mA puck and one LED with a 3.6V forward current. Add a second LED in series and each LED still receives 350mA, however the forward voltage has doubled to 7.2 volts. The puck itself has a 2 volt overhead, so you can pretty much only run two 3.6V LEDs from 12 volts. Does that make sense?

The Cree LEDs I used can handle between 350 and 1000mA. What you could do is power four Cree LEDs at 500mA by using ONE 1000mA puck and running the LEDs in series-parallel. The two circuits in the parallel will cut the amperage from 1000mA to 500mA and the two LEDs in series will get 500mA each. :confused:

[4x4mike]

Not to hijack Paddlenbike's thread with an influx of awesome Chevy mods :drool: here are a few pictures of my LED's. It's getting darker earlier so I have no excuse to not get out and get a good picture. These are a little blurry, camera was set on Auto. Night mode shows the light much brighter. Actual light is a little brighter than appears when the picture is taken on Auto. I have 4 Cree XR-E's. Each 'string' has one puck and 2 stars. Each string is controlled in cab via lighted switch.

[4x4mike]

The idea for the bumper lights is to light up the ground behind the truck. This is helpful when setting up camp, cooking, etc. The light actually floods really well and isn't captured well in the picture. I am toying with the idea of replacing the stock bumper with a tubed bumper a buddy made. I have to cut the rear rockers away. Good for rocks but maybe not so good for resale. Anyways, if that happens I'll move the Cree's and there will be a lot more flood.

The bed lights are for the bed. The cargo light on the rear of the cab is OK but not bright enough. Plus, when the tool box lid is open it blocks all the light. These lights are nice when loading and unloading. I like to sleep in the bed when car camping and the light is a bonus. The rear most LED is mounted in a magnet with extra wire. I can move it around which is nice, I can also pull all the wire out and stick it to the outside of the truck if I need extra light. Aiming it to the back is nice when cooking on the tailgate. The of the bed LED lives in a gutted out Kragen fog light. It's just something to house it. It was already there so I left it. I want something a little different but haven't found anything yet.

[4x4mike]

And last but not least a picture of my Axim mounted in the cab. I have the same mount as Ken but I like to view my map in landscape mode. Mine is hardwired and the GPS now has a Pismo tested restraint system that works quite well.

[scottiac]

ya. now get your act in gear and fix my 'runner up! :D Fortunately, the fact that my 4runner sleeps 2 comfortably and Ken looked like a bavarian pretzel in his for three days made me feel a little better! ;)

[paddlenbike]

haha, I wasn't trying to make fun of your light...in fact, I think the sunburn I now have is from trying to read in the 4Runner that night, not from the Death Valley sun. :roll:

And yes, a sleeping platform is something I am now beginning to think about.

[paddlenbike]

I can post this pic now that Scott has his own LED interior light. This photo is completed un-doctored, but it illustrates the difference in illumination between my LED setup and a stock 4Runner cargo light:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-JJXNrtsTEK0/Tdyfn5ZyEcI/AAAAAAAAFq4/6sw4sBHFR2E/s800/DSC_0292.JPG

Note the amount of light spill onto the ground as well as the difference in interior illumination. Did I mention this is more efficient than stock too? :D

[Good Times]

I smell photochop!!!!

hehe jk ;)

wow now that's pretty darn impressive work there. that's almost like "overkill" but I love it!

[paddlenbike]

Overkill? That's like saying something has too much power...it's simply not possible!! :D

[Bob98SR5]

I can post this pic now that Scott has his own LED interior light. This photo is completed un-doctored, but it illustrates the difference in illumination between my LED setup and a stock 4Runner cargo light:

Note the amount of light spill onto the ground as well as the difference in interior illumination. Did I mention this is more efficient than stock too? :D



f'g stunning. but i betcha every flippin moth and mosquito found and made a home somewhere in your 4runner within seconds :D

[paddlenbike]

LEDs don't attract as many bugs as incandescent. Here's why:

LEDs don't attract bugs. Pixi Lighting, which makes LEDs, lists "no bugs!" (that is, insects) as one of the reasons to use LEDs. But if you look at discussions online, it's not so clear-cut.

The stated reason that bugs don't fly toward LEDs is because bugs are attracted to ultraviolet light and at least some LEDs don't give off this type of light. But that's not universally true for all types of LEDs, according to people who have commented online. In one discussion, an employee from EnergyCircle said that most residential LED bulbs give off almost no UV light.

In an unscientific test last night at my house, I saw moths and mosquitoes fly right past my outdoor LED bulb; they were not attracted to the light. Consumer LED bulb maker Pharox advertises its bulbs as having no UV, so it's something worth checking when you're shopping around.

LINK (http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20084337-54/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-led-lightbulbs/)

Yet another reason to go LED Bob!

[hrt4me]

I will have to upgrade to LEDs in my own T4R

[jrallan26]

Stupid question alert! I just installed an LED domelight in my Tacoma. The domelight only gets bright if the motor is running. Is this normal? I'm new at this.

[4x4mike]

It's normal for the regulator that controls your led. It's a voltage regulating unit.

The ones we used are current regulating drivers so they are always at a given current and do not dim when the engine is turning over nor do they get brighter with more voltage.

[paddlenbike]

Small changes in voltage result in large changes in LED brightness. Voltage can swing nearly 25% with the engine running versus not running.

LEDs are current driven devices. Cheap LEDs are often voltage driven because it's less complicated circuitry and less expensive.

[jrallan26]

Update: I bought another LED Domelight from Batteries Plus. This time they work great. Works so well I bought LED domelights for the remaining 2 other cars.