Before and After

PROBLEM: The wife needs a night light next to the changing table.

SOLUTION: Convert a fan to a light. (I know, I could have just bought a night light, but this was fun!)

MATERIALS:
6 – bright white 3mm LED’s: 3mm, 3.3V, 30mA
1 – Portable Fan from the dollar store
2 – 10 ohm resistor.
1 – PC Turbo Switch from an old 486.
1 – AC – DC adaptor

I ended up doing a bit of cutting and grinding to get this stuff to fit in the head of the “fan”. I have 2 strings of LEDs in series with a 10 ohm resistor to each set. While the adapter says it has an output of 7volts, it was really putting out something like 9 – 10 volts.

Here is the changing table with and without the new light.

UPDATED 7/14/04: Changes since version II: The major change is the addition of a little circuit that will keep the current to the LEDs constant no matter what the voltage is. I also made the wires more aesthetically pleasing.

PROBLEM: The BS (BackSeat) of my Hyundai Elantra GT is entirely too dark! Since the GT has a moon roof the dome light is positioned toward the front of the car. This makes seeing anything behind the front seats almost impossible as they block the light.

SOLUTION: Add two bright white LEDs to the backseat that will illuminate from above. I want this to work so that when the car doors are open the lights will turn on. The way I have these wired I’ll also have the ability to turn them on with the passenger side map light! The circuit is based on the LM317 IC which will provide a constant current to each LED. These aren’t the brightest solution, but they are small, take very little power, and I just love LEDs!!!

DISCLAIMER: This is a work in progress! I’m very reluctant to punch holes and tear apart my “new” car so I made a non-intrusive solution. When I have more time, experience, confidence, and maybe when my warranty wears out I’ll cut into the headliner.

MATERIALS:
2 – bright white 3mm LEDs
2 – LM317 IC’s
2 – 30 ohm resistors.
Misc. Wire, connectors & shrink tubing.

Schematic:

LM317: So, why use this little circuit? The reason is because LEDs are more sensitive to changes in voltage than the incandescent bulbs in your car. A car’s voltage can go from 11 volts while the car is off and has been sitting, to 14.5 volts while the alternator is working hard causing more current to be pushed through the LED. These little LEDs ideal current is about 30 milli amps, and the LM317 circuit keeps it set at whatever value you choose. The first few times I put LEDs in my car they were too dim when the car was off, but too bright (and hot) while the car was on. Now I’ve got them set to run at 40 mA (a little high… called overdriving LEDs) no more, no less, even if the voltage is 11 or 15 volts!

First step was to remove the light assembly. This was much easier than I thought it would be. I simply removed the light cover and then removed the two brass screws holding the assembly in place.
Here it is removed:
Next I found some connectors that matched those going to the passenger side light and soldered them to a PC “turbo” light connector.
Here they are screwed into place.
Remember, I’m not bold enough yet to go into the headliner, so I’m running the wires from the back of the dome / map light across the front of the headliner, then into the plastic liners and weather stripping. It’s amazing all the little places you can hide these tiny wires.Here are the wires from the dome light. I unscrewed the visor clip and slid the wires underneath to help hold them in place.
This is the “cubicle velcro” I used to get the LEDs to stick. After buying them I wanted to check that they would stick to my headliner fabric, well, they stuck so well it pulled the pieces of velcro right off the wax paper backing! This stuff is great! (UPDATE: While it works great, the sticky material on the back melts when it gets too hot in the car making a bit of a mess. I solved this below).

I used two old computer connectors to allow me to hot-swap the LEDs to change colors, sizes, etc. These connectors are not necessary, you can solder directly to the LEDs if you like. I stuck the velcro on the connectors and then epoxied the edges with 4 minute JB weld. This will keep the velcro backing from melting away.

Here are the lights in action. With the velcro I can re-position the lights anywhere I like!

Another shot to show the placement of the wires:

Here they are with the flash off… pretty cool, and they give off just enough light to see and to read by! My wife loves them because she can position them in different places to read, or move them out of the way so they don’t shine on the baby!

This would be a killer project if I simply pulled the wires and drilled holes into the headliner. Use your imagination of what could be done, for example when I finally do it the right way I’ll use LED holders something like this:

If you’re so inclined, check out the first version of the backseat LED Mod here.

Here’s my very first conversion of a regular “PR Bulb” (incandescent) into an LED Bulb that will work in my new Dollar Tree Flashlight.

Here is the flashlight the bulb is going into:

The original bulb is on the right and the shell on the left.

To get the bulb from the casing I put it in a bag and clamped down on it with some pliers. I pulled it out and put it back into the pliers to hold onto it while I drilled out the guts. I simply used a drill bit that was just a tiny bit smaller than the casing.

Here are the parts I used: 3 of each: 3mm blue LEDS and 30 ohm resistors

I cut off all the positive leads and soldered on the resistors. I bent over the negative leads to get them ready for insertion into the casing.

Here are the LEDs in the casing ready to be soldered into place.

The final product with the negative leads soldered to the casing and the positive leads all soldered together and snipped off.

The LEDs aren’t as bright as the original bulb, but at least they use 60% less power. I think it is because;
(1) These LEDs have a lesser MCD rating, and
(2) The 3mm LEDs have a wider viewing angle than my 5mm do.

While this first run doesn’t have as strong of a “hot spot” it does produce a cleaner / wider beam.

Here are some beam shots:

Order: First Mod, Second Mod, Original Bulb

 

Footnote: The original bulb was pulling 500ma with 4 NIMH batteries while the 4 LEDs pulled 200ma.

Comments, Questions, Suggestions, (or warnings that something I made is about to blow up) shoot me an email!
rtl@nifty-stuff.com

Updates:  Check out the newest version of this mod here or check out the first version of the backseat LED Mod here.

PROBLEM: The BS (BackSeat) of my Hyundai Elantra GT is entirely too dark! Since the GT has a moon roof the dome light is positioned toward the front of the car. This makes seeing anything behind the front seats almost impossible as they block the light.

SOLUTION: Add four bright white LEDs to the backseat that will illuminate from above. I want this to work so that when the car doors are open the lights will turn on. I’ll also have the ability to turn them on with the passenger side map light! The circuit is 4 LEDs in series and two 10 ohm resistors in series as well.
These aren’t the brightest solution, but they are small, take very little power, and I just love LEDs!!!

DISCLAIMER: This is a work in progress! With the new baby and my reluctance to punch holes and tear apart my “new” car I did this quick. When I have more time, experience, confidence, and maybe when my warranty wears out I’ll cut into the headliner.

MATERIALS:
3 – bright white 3mm LEDs
1 – 10 ohm resistors.
1 – 10 ohm resistors.
Misc. Wire, connectors, shrink tubing
Misc. Cannibalized computer parts for connectins.

Schematic:

First step was to remove the light assembly. This was much easier than I thought it would be. I simply removed the light cover and then removed the two brass screws holding the assembly in place.

Here it is removed:

Next I found some connectors that matched those going to the passenger side light and soldered them to a PC “turbo” light connector.

Here they are screwed into place.

Here is the temp wiring (until I’m bold enough to go into the headliner).

This is what it looks like with the visors down.

This is what it looks like with the visors up… not so bad.

This is the “cubicle velcro” I’m going to use to get the wires and LEDs to stick. I just bought it today and I went to check that it would stick… well, it stuck so well it pulled the pieces right off the backing! This stuff is great!

Below is one of the connectors from my PC with the LED / resistor combo.

Here are the LEDs & resistor with the velcro

Here are the lights in action. With the velcro I can re-position the lights anywhere I like!

Here they are with the flash off… pretty cool!

Updates:  Check out the newest version of this mod here or check out the first version of the backseat LED Mod here.

(Click for version I)

*WARNING* This modification may be the cause of a battery drain problem I was having. Use this info at your own risk.

PROBLEM: My Elantra GT has an alarm, but no visual deterrent!

SOLUTION: “Install” a blinking red LED similar to those on other alarm systems.

MATERIALS:
1 – bright red 5mm Blinking LEDs:
1 – 470 ohm resistor.]
1 – 5mm LED holders from RadioShack: Item #: 276-079
misc. clips & wire.

First I removed one of the dummy switch panel / place holders next to the panel dimmer switch. Use instructions similar to these by southpawboston. Next I soldered some wires to the LED and soldered them to some quick connect clips. Then I drilled a 1/4 inch hole into the center of the switch panel and inserted the LED and clip.

I was going to use a relay, but saw a great post on CandlePowerForums about a better / easier way to do this. A fellow CPFer, CNC Dan said, “Find a source of +12v that is on when the car is off.(clock power?) Then find a source of +12v that is only on when the car is running and always uses power.(daytime running lights? ignition?) Wire your blink led/circuit using the first wire as your POS. connection and the second wire as your NEG. connection. When your car is on both sides of your circuit get +12v so no current flows. Whe the car is off, the switched +12v goes to 0 volts and your circuit sees +12v and 0v and begins to flash.”

What I didn’t know was that the fuses could act as ground when they were not on. I did some tests with my multimeter and saw that everything would work as mentioned in the forum.

Here is my schematic:

Next I needed to tie into the fuses. I was about to run down to Radio Shack for some fuse taps, but decided to try simple wire wrapping… this proved to work very well. I soldered on the other quick connects and put everything together. I made sure everything was insulated with electrical tape and shrink tubing.

Here’s the final product:

Notes:The blinking red LED was designed to focus the light into a tight viewing angle (15 deg). This made the light very bright in one spot, but not very visible from the sides. I took it over to the grinder and removed the cone and flattened the top off the LED to make it diffuse the light. This worked GREAT.

Update:

*WARNING*
This modification may be the cause of a battery drain problem I was having. Use this info at your own risk.

Updates:  Check out the newest version of this mod here.

PROBLEM: The BS (BackSeat) of my Hyundai Elantra GT is entirely too dark! Since the GT has a moon roof the dome light is positioned toward the front of the car. This makes seeing anything behind the front seats almost impossible as they block the light.

SOLUTION: Add two bright white LEDs to the BS that will illuminate from above. They aren’t the brightest solution, but they are small, take very little power, and I just love LEDs!!!

DISCLAIMER: This is a work in progress! With the new baby and my reluctance to punch holes and tear apart my “new” car I did this quick. I made the process much more difficult than it needed to be, but I really had fun doing it.. HONEST!

One problem, for example, I could have tied into the dome light as a power source, but:

1. I may make changes to the LEDs, resistors, etc. and don’t want anything too permanent or difficult to access.
2. I have no idea how (and am scared to attempt) to go behind the walls and into the roof!

This isn’t something you’d see in a showroom, but you’ll get the idea of what I’m trying to do. Also, I am by no means an electrician, so use this as a reference and test out your own schematics / electronic configuration.

This was my very first modification to add lights to my 2001 Hyundai Elantra GT. I didn’t know much about electricity, multimeters, etc. but this project REALLY compelled me to learn. I had a BLAST! The process was a long one as I kept bumping into new problems to solve. )

MATERIALS:
2 – bright white 5mmLED’s
2 – 5mm LED holders from RadioShack: Item #: 276-080
1 – 33 ohm resistor.
1 – 100 ohm resistor.
1 – Diode (no idea on the specs… you’ll see why).
6 – AA NIMH Batteries.
Misc. clips, wires, etc.

PROCESS:
My whole problem stems from the fact I’m not going to pull power from the dome light. If I had done that this would be way short.

STEP 1: I decided to draw from the cigarette lighter using an adapter and resisting the current. I was going to put a switch down between the seats on the back of the middle console. This would allow me to hide the wires easier and have easy access to the switch. Should have been super easy… something like this:

Things seemed to be fine… UNTIL… I realized that I only get power from the lighter when the keys are in the ignition. Well, I don’t want to get my stuff out of the back seat and have to climb back in to retrieve my keys.

STEP 2: I though.. “I’ll use a battery pack instead.” … UNTIL… I realized the problem now is having to change batteries, especially if the light is left on accidentally. I could use rechargeable batteries … UNTIL… I remembered all NIMH or NICAD have “self discharge” rate of about 5% a day meaning I would be loosing power even if I didn’t have the lights on.

STEP 3: Okay, how about using the car to charge the battery pack while I’m driving so I can use the lights any time I want. I used some information I got on the net to find charging rates and started hooking stuff together to run some tests. Here is what I had:

I was pretty impressed with myself. Something interesting is that the 100 ohm resistor limits current to the battery pack. The 33 ohm resistor limits current to the LEDs, and both of them together limit current from the car alternator to the LEDs.

STEP 3: Everything seemed to be almost perfect. I used my multimeter and read the voltage and current going to every part of my beast. There were 37 ma going from the car battery to the battery pack and about 13 ma going from the battery pack to the LEDs (kept low initially on purpose). Everything was fine again… UNTIL… I noticed that when I turned off the engine there was a 25 ma draw from my BATTERY PACK to the car!?!? I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but I was now loosing more juice from my pack into this void than I was putting into it while driving around. CRAP!

I was stumped… what the heck was I going to do. I thought I had been beaten and decided to move to something else to let my brain rest. I decided to pull apart a portable electric breast pump that we were going to throw away since it was broken and see if I could salvage the motor. As I pulled it apart I saw a very simple design: batteries, switch, motor, diode… wait, a DIODE… isn’t their job to direct current one way? Heck, it was work a try! I grabbed the diode (I knew nothing about its specs) and put it in series with my resistor. I jumped in my car and HALLELUJAH!!! I had 37 ma of current flowing from my car to the battery pack, and ZERO ma flowing from my pack to the car.

Here is the final schematic:

So, what is the moral of this experience? NONE! I just had lots of fun learning about electronics and how to read a stinkin’ multimeter!

Here is the LED sticking out from the weather stripping in the back door. This is temporary until I find out where I want to drill into to place the LED permanently.

My mess of wires, diodes, batteries, resistors, etc. I have it all setup so I can measure current and voltage throughout the different paths.

The temporary switch.

Video: 2.2 mb video. Use windows media player. GT-backseat-led-video.wmv

UPDATE: 8/14/03
I was tired of bending down to hit the switch when I wanted light, and I wanted more power, so below is what I did.

Add more LEDs in a new holder:
I wanted to add two more LEDs in parallel with the ones I already had so I made a new holder out of the plastic from a “Money Mill” coin sorter, drilled a few holes and stuck in the LEDS with some of the small black LED holders from RadioShack.

Move / change the switch:
The old position was a bit of a pain to get to from outside of the car so I wanted a switch by the door. I found that there is a good use for an old 486 PC… rip out the “turbo” button and throw everything else away! ) I took out the old switch and wired in my new “turbo” switch!

I must say I am MUCH happier with what I have now!

Here is the new setup:

with a flash:

without a flash:

Updates:  Check out the newest version of this mod here.

PROBLEM: My new car has an alarm, but no visual deterrent!

SOLUTION: “Install” a blinking red LED similar to those on other alarm systems.

MATERIALS:
1 – bright red 5mm Blinking LEDs:
1 – bright white 5mm LED:
1 – C cell battery clip: Radio Shack:
1 – 75ohm resistor.
2 – Cannibalized computer switches. One power button, one reset button.

I was originally going to access the wiring under the console / dash, and use a relay switch or similar system for having the light come on when the car is off. Once again I decided to go with the less invasive approach… a battery pack with no wiring / drilling.

Also, I figured “as long as I’m creating a battery powered light, I might as well make it functional as well so I put a second switch and LED on the back of the unit as an emergency flashlight.

While the unit doesn’t look that great in the day, at night the placement of the LED along with the black shrink tubing make it look really good at night.

A few notes: First, the blinking red LED was designed to focus the light into a tight viewing angle. This made the light not so bright / visible from the sides. I grabbed some sandpaper and sanded up the LED to make it diffuse the light which worked GREAT. Second, the LED was too bright with no resistor (it would attract more thiefs than deter them) so I stuck in a 75 ohm resistor to bring the juice down. This will also help the batteries last a bit longer.

Here is the finished unit in the car. This is a “first draft” until I decide how to make it look better in the light.

You can see the LED from the back of the car very well. In fact, it was so bright I had to put in a bigger resistor to “calm it down”.

From outside in the dark it actually looks really good. The placement is excellent.
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(see version I here)

PROBLEM: The HB (HatchBack) of my Hyundai Elantra GT is entirely too dark! The problem becomes even worse if I have a box or two in there that completely block the stock light which is positiond too low and is too dim.

SOLUTION: Add FOUR bright white LEDs to the HB that will illuminate from above. They aren’t the brightest solution, but they are small, take very little power, and I just love LEDs!!!

NOTE: This project was meant to be as non-intrusive as posible so if I wanted to remove everything I could do so without very much evidence that anything had been done. I also replaced the stock bulb in the hatchback with three LEDs (not discussed on this page). Final note: This elantra modification is much nicer than version I because (1) I added two more LEDs, and (2) I put most of the wires behind the liner (inspired by southpawboston’s mod here).MATERIALS:
4 – bright white LED’s: 5mm, 3.6V, 30mA
4 – 5mm LED holders from RadioShack: Item #: 276-079
2 – LM317 IC’s
2 – 39 ohm resistors INSTRUCTIONS:Step 1:
To make things easy I connected to the existing light to provide the power for my new lights. This way it would turn on when the back was open. I tried to solder wires onto the ends of the existing stock bulb (I could have soldered to the socket connectors, but didn’t want to “ruin” them), but the solder wouldn’t stick (stainless steel?). Instead I removed the existing bulb and created my own LED “bulb” which fit snugly into place and also provided access to the power.Step 2:
I positioned the LED’s in the easiest to access areas, and areas where I thought they would provide the best light. I drilled 1/4 inch holes in the plastic liner (see picture) that supports the HB cover and also into the taillight covers. The positions are excellent as they are angled just right, easy to access, up high enough so it doesn’t get blocked, and out of the way. The best part is I didn’t have to really pull anything apart to get to these spots and drill the hole, which I really like! I pushed the LED though the back of the hole, attached the LED holder, and pushed it snugly into place!Step 3:
Schematics: In the past I’ve simply used resistors in series with my LEDs, but I notice that the brightness varied when the car was on and off. This is because LED’s are super sensitive to small amounts of changes in voltage. When my car is off I get about 11.5 volts… while it is running I can get up to 13.5 volts… this is a big difference to these little LEDS. Fortunately I discovered the LM317 IC which gives me a constant current of my choosing. I decided to use two strings of two LEDs in series, each with their own LM317. I was shooting for 30 mA at each LED so I used a 39 ohm resistor with each LM317. (Here is a link to using the LM317). Here is the basic LM317 circuit with a white LED running off of a 9v battery. The resistor determines the constant current. In the case below, the 30 ohm resistor determines the current to the LED to be 40 mA.
Here’s the schematic of what’s in the HB:

Step 4:
Next I wired everything together. I did as much soldering outside of the car as possible and left only a few connections to be soldered inside the car. I fished the wires down from the stock light where I split it and took one set of wires to the right and up to the right taillight. Next I ran the second set accross the bottom and fished it up into the left taillight.

From the taillights I ran small wires (that I got from an old set of headphones) to the upper LED’s. These are the only wires that you’d be able to see. Fortunatley they are black, really tiny and out of the way.

Below is how I wired a single set of LEDs:

Now I have cool lighting in the back of my car exactly where I need it! They aren’t SUPER bright, but at night they’re just perfect!

The Right side with my replacement LED bulb (where the stock bulb was) and two LEDs: one in the blinker cover (middle far-right) one in the molding (middle top).

The left side with two LEDs: one in the blinker cover (lower left) one in the molding (upper right).

Some pictures at night:

Stock Light Only:

Stock Light Only (modded with LEDs):

Stock Light Only (modded with LEDs) with BOX blocking the light:

With the additional 4 LEDs

With the additional 4 LEDs and with BOX blocking the light:

PROBLEM: The HB (HatchBack) of my Hyundai Elantra GT is entirely too dark! The problem becomes even worse if I have a box or two in there that cover the light source.

SOLUTION: Add two bright white LEDs to the HB that will illuminate from above. They aren’t the brightest solution, but they are small, take very little power, and I just love LEDs!!!

DISCLAIMER: This is a work in progress! With the new baby and my reluctance to punch holes and tear apart my “new” car I did this job pretty quickly.

For example, I was a bit sloppy on the wiring (taped to walls instead of behind the felt) for two reasons:

1. I may make changes to the LEDs, resistors, etc. and don’t want anything too permanent or difficult to access.
2. I have no idea how to go behind the felt walls.

This isn’t something you’d see in a showroom, but you’ll get the idea of what I’m trying to do. Also, I am by no means an electrician, so use this as a reference and test out your own schematics / electronic configuration.

MATERIALS:
2 – bright white 5mmLED’s from eBay: 5mm, 3.6V, 30mA
2 – 5mm LED holders from RadioShack: Item #: 276-079
1 – 330 ohm resistor. (I’m pretty sure this is the one I used).

INSTRUCTIONS:
I hooked up the LED’s in series (see schematics below) and added the resistor to drop the voltage down enough not to fry the LEDs.

To make things easy I wanted to connect to the existing light to provide the power and turn on when the back was open. I tried to solder wires onto the ends of the existing stock bulb (I could have soldered to the socket connectors, but didn’t want to “ruin” them), but the solder wouldn’t stick (stainless steel?) so I just wrapped the wire around the end of the bulb until I find a better solution.

I drilled 1/4 inch holes in the plastic liner (see picture). The position is excellent as it is angled just right, easy to access, up high enough so it doesn’t get blocked, and out of the way. The best part is I didn’t have to pull anything apart to get to the spot and drill the hole, which I really like! I pushed the LED though the back of the hole, attached the LED holder, and pushed it snugly into place!

Now I have cool lighting in the back of my car exactly where I need it! They aren’t SUPER bright, but at night it’s just right!

Before the addition of the LEDs: (pictures are dark, but you should be able to tell the before / after effect).

HB – No LED:

HB – With LED:

HB – With camera Flash

HB – Box without LED (blocks the light):

HB – Box with LED (shines from above):

LED Position: (remember, the tape is temporary!)

LED Position and tie in to existing light source.

SCHEMATICS:

Video: 2 mb video. Use windows media player. GT-HatchBack-led-video.wmv

Comments, Questions, Suggestions, (or warnings that something I made is about to blow up) comment below.