LED Conversions ...

How to fix gremlins & general maintenance issues ...
User avatar
Bantum
General Member
Posts: 1923
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 4:30 pm
Location: Northern Territory + QLD
Contact:

LED Conversions ...

Post by Bantum » Sat Sep 01, 2012 4:36 pm

Thinking of converting your interior lights to LED's ? ...

Thought I'd give a look into something that is easily done, and doesn't cost a lot ... :D

Here are some off the shelf products that I used ... And corresponding patients ...

Image

Notes : There are a multitude of suitable product's available on the net ... make sure you get ones that have similar rating ( in W ) to your old one ...

Link : http://www.allcarstuff.com.au/lighting/ ... -kit-l-e-d

P.S - This was done for my Brumby, but I'm Sure it could be happily applied to just about any light ...

Add : A summary of this thread can be found here :

LED Conversions ...

Cheers, Bantum ...

User avatar
Johnny T
Junior Member
Posts: 276
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:06 pm
Location: VIC - Frankston Area

Post by Johnny T » Sat Sep 01, 2012 5:01 pm

they look pretty good, could you get us a photo of what it looks like when its in your car?
________________________________________
Johnny T
88kw of fun waiting to happen

User avatar
Brumby Kid
General Member
Posts: 1297
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:19 pm
Location: Belair S.A.

Post by Brumby Kid » Sat Sep 01, 2012 5:35 pm

Nice, what are the two lights on the left for?

Cam
When life gives you a corner, drop a gear, pitch, and stomp the loud pedal
Bianca: 1991 Subaru Brumby
My First / Project car

EA81 Rebuilt by Tony Knight from knight Engines
2" body lift
25" 185r14 Yokahama Delivery Star, light truck tyres
2" Sports exhaust
Rear Aguip step/bar
Liberty seats
"Bianca"
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Dads Car: 02 Impreza WRX STi
Mums Car 08 Liberty Wagon

User avatar
Silverbullet
Senior Member
Posts: 2858
Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:20 pm
Location: Adelaide

Post by Silverbullet » Sat Sep 01, 2012 5:58 pm

I'm keen to see what you do with the round main interior light as it only has that little window for the light to pass through and the square bank of LED's doesn't comply with the existing mounts for the original bulb. I've got a square patch of LED's just floating around in there at the moment, I just spin the round thing around until there's enough showing through that little window :rolleyes:
Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
Image

User avatar
Gannon
Senior Member
Posts: 4580
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2005 10:00 am
Location: Bowraville, Mid Nth Coast, NSW

Post by Gannon » Sat Sep 01, 2012 6:06 pm

what are the two lights on the left for?
Puddle lights in the door Im guessing.

LED interior light upgrade
I did it in my Outback a few years ago, but discovered that some LED panels are designed for 12V and dont last very long on 13.8V when the car is running.
I have since converted to 1x3W Cree LED that is driven by a constant current driver so voltage fluctuations dont affect it

I'll get some photos if I can find then
Current rides: 2016 Mitsubishi Triton GLS & 2004 Forester X
Ongoing Project/Toy: 1987 RX Turbo EA82T, Speeduino ECU, Coil-pack ignition, 440cc Injectors, KONI adjustale front struts, Hybrid L Series/ Liberty AWD 5sp
Past rides: 92 L series turbo converted wagon, 83 Leone GL Sedan, 2004 Liberty GT Sedan & 2001 Outback
------------------------------------------

User avatar
revmax
Junior Member
Posts: 706
Joined: Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:42 pm
Location: Coffs Harbour

Post by revmax » Sat Sep 01, 2012 6:20 pm

SB . The interior light out of an L series works great in a MY and screw straight in. The reading lights from the L are very easily adapted to the MY. You just have to cut a rectangle hole in the roof lining and use the clip nuts that come with speakers to screw into.

Bantum. as Cam said, what are those lights for and where did they come from.
Photos please.
"THE BRUMBY ! , Your not taking the Brumby I just dry cleaned the mud flaps."
Current
00 Outback with class, SOHC EJ25 auto 240,068ks
"B1" 90 Brumby with character 271,800K EA81 (But soon 5speed,103,000k EJ202)
"B2" wrecked and crushed
"B3" 89 Bush Bashing Brumby (BeeRumBee) Kept a Bucca
"B4" 89 Black Brumby (wam balam ) Kept at Kempsey
"B5" 92 Brumby (sold it)
"B6" 88 Beige Brumby
"W1" 83 wagon 308,000 AC and alot of rust repairs. (Wanda)
Brumby Trailer (Sulky)
LUV THAT BRUM !
RevMax Hobbies

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

User avatar
steptoe
Master Member
Posts: 11582
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:00 am
Location: 14 miles outside Gotham City

Post by steptoe » Sun Sep 02, 2012 8:22 am

Carl - you ripper ! I've only got to the hoard and contemplate stage for the map lights from an L into Brumby head liner - for five years or more :( . pinch power from the centre light me thinks. Probably only takes five minutes too !
Yeah, the L centre light is the way to go - a five minute job if that for MY or Brumby. I've thrown a few Brumby light fittings to the shtouse.

Me too is curious as to the other lights - footwell?

Man, just a timed On switch from the dash would be excellent in L and Brumby eh??

User avatar
revmax
Junior Member
Posts: 706
Joined: Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:42 pm
Location: Coffs Harbour

Post by revmax » Sun Sep 02, 2012 8:51 am

Steptoe yer pinch power form the rear light, this took the longest for me.
run some speaker cable down the roof lining it will go easily.
I have the wedge type LED's in the map light and extra LED strip in the L interior light.

Hint when you use the clip nut thingeys for the map open the clip up slightly so they will go over the lining without dameging it, find screws that go in to the nut easily otherwise the card lining is likley to get damaged if the nut twists

Image

Image
Attachments
IMG_1434.JPG
IMG_1434.JPG (92.08 KiB) Viewed 7333 times
IMG_1433.JPG
IMG_1433.JPG (87.62 KiB) Viewed 7335 times
"THE BRUMBY ! , Your not taking the Brumby I just dry cleaned the mud flaps."
Current
00 Outback with class, SOHC EJ25 auto 240,068ks
"B1" 90 Brumby with character 271,800K EA81 (But soon 5speed,103,000k EJ202)
"B2" wrecked and crushed
"B3" 89 Bush Bashing Brumby (BeeRumBee) Kept a Bucca
"B4" 89 Black Brumby (wam balam ) Kept at Kempsey
"B5" 92 Brumby (sold it)
"B6" 88 Beige Brumby
"W1" 83 wagon 308,000 AC and alot of rust repairs. (Wanda)
Brumby Trailer (Sulky)
LUV THAT BRUM !
RevMax Hobbies

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

User avatar
steptoe
Master Member
Posts: 11582
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:00 am
Location: 14 miles outside Gotham City

Post by steptoe » Sun Sep 02, 2012 9:43 am

Carl, you work at lightning speed, pics included already. Can see this is gonna be a popular conversion now the secret is out :D

User avatar
Bantum
General Member
Posts: 1923
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 4:30 pm
Location: Northern Territory + QLD
Contact:

Overhead light ...

Post by Bantum » Sun Sep 02, 2012 2:48 pm

Ok - for the first lot, here is what come's in the kit :

Image

Note : As there are various adaptors & connectors for the light, chose one that best suits ...

Firstly carefully take apart the light ( Watch out for the spring loaded ball bearing ! ) then put the adaptor in ...
Add : Also take the opportunity while you have it apart to clean-up & fix any binding / broken bits.

Image

Notes : I've cut out a bit from the back to make it fit as it can be a bit fiddly trying to get it in.
Also the adaptor has a resistor inside to maintain correct amps ... :wink:


Then Install the light istelf ...

Image

Note : I've used the existing holder, just bent it a bit to make sure it holds ...

Then hook it up to existing ...

Image

Note : Testing here to make sure it all works + also make sure that the screw fixing completes earth circuit ... :!:

Finally put the light cover back on ...

Image

& Presto - Done ... :D

User avatar
Bantum
General Member
Posts: 1923
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 4:30 pm
Location: Northern Territory + QLD
Contact:

What is it ? ...

Post by Bantum » Sun Sep 02, 2012 3:16 pm

Gannon wrote: ... Puddle lights in the door Im guessing ...
Correct ... ;) ... Will post some more pics ...
Sorry if I've doubled up on yours, as I did do a 'search' before posting this thread, but didn't find anything... :oops:
Gannon wrote: ... but discovered that some LED panels are designed for 12V and dont last very long on 13.8V ...
Do tell us more ... :?:
Brumby Kid wrote:Nice, what are the two lights on the left for?
See my next post ... ;)
revmax wrote: ... The interior light out of an L series works great in a MY and screw straight in. The reading lights from the L are very easily adapted to the MY. You just have to cut a rectangle hole in the roof lining and use the clip nuts that come with speakers to screw into...
Yeah that's what I'm going to do next ... :cool:
revmax wrote: Bantum, as Cam said, what are those lights for and where did they come from. Photos please.
See my next post ... :p

User avatar
Bantum
General Member
Posts: 1923
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 4:30 pm
Location: Northern Territory + QLD
Contact:

Pocket lights ...

Post by Bantum » Sun Sep 02, 2012 3:31 pm

Ok - For the next lot :

Image

Note : I got these lights for the door pockets, the're from a early Liberty ...

Installing the light ...

Image

Notes : The adaptor fits in pretty much easily, however the light istself requires a bit of triming and a bit of support glued on the side to stop it from moving, I've used a bit of balsa but you could use plastic or what ever you have laying around.

P.S. - It may not be clear from the shot above, but I had to trim a bit ( filed off ) from both ends of light to make it fit inside the lens - Be carefull not to take to much off though, or you will cut into the circuit ... :!:

Nearly intalled ...

Image

Testing Fitting ...

Image

However, this is as far as I got, so you will have to wait untill the next installment ... :(

User avatar
steptoe
Master Member
Posts: 11582
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:00 am
Location: 14 miles outside Gotham City

Post by steptoe » Sun Sep 02, 2012 5:45 pm

Nice touch. I was thinking of footwell lights mounted on my centre radio console.

That Monza packaging with the demo button and little battery pack. I bought their trailer/caravan lights to find they are not ADR ( now they say they never claimed they were - WTF call them suit caravan etc ??) the lenses have faded to opaque from clear in six months outside

User avatar
sven '2'
General Member
Posts: 1357
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:45 pm
Location: Adelaide, South Australia

Post by sven '2' » Sun Sep 02, 2012 6:13 pm

Nice work

Do you have a link for the LED kits please?
73 Yamaha DT3 250

08 Ford BF wagon - LPG FTMFW

14 Toyota Kluger - goodness!

User avatar
Bantum
General Member
Posts: 1923
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 4:30 pm
Location: Northern Territory + QLD
Contact:

Kits ...

Post by Bantum » Mon Sep 03, 2012 3:13 pm

I got mine from Repco, but you can also look them up here :

http://www.allcarstuff.com.au/lighting/ ... -kit-l-e-d

Cheers ... :D

User avatar
yarney
General Member
Posts: 1273
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:00 am
Location: QLD

Post by yarney » Mon Sep 03, 2012 4:21 pm

Great post bantum

Jan
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] !!!Subies will go anywhere

User avatar
El_Freddo
Master Member
Posts: 12487
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:00 am
Location: Bridgewater Vic
Contact:

Post by El_Freddo » Mon Sep 03, 2012 5:01 pm

This looks much better than the way I did the brumby's interior light - huge round fluro! Makes night into day.

If anyone is going to upgrade their interior light do it this way!

Cheers

Bennie
"The lounge room is not a workshop..."
Image
El Freddo's Pics - El_Freddo's youtube

User avatar
Gannon
Senior Member
Posts: 4580
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2005 10:00 am
Location: Bowraville, Mid Nth Coast, NSW

Post by Gannon » Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:21 pm

Bantum wrote: Do tell us more ... :?:

Well I started out with this
Image

Image

Which worked too well and was like having a highbay light in the car and was way too bright.
Image

The issue was that after about a month, individual dies (the LED chips) started to flicker and die. On closer inspection, the normally yellow centre had turned brown and this is because they were driven with too much current and they had burnt out. I put this down to poor design as the current limiting resistors were 47 ohms which gives 50ma at 12v, but it should have been 100 ohm resistors for the normal 14v car voltage.

So I went in another direction....

I got a 3W Cree star emitter and a constant current driver, which keeps the current at a constant 350mA irrespective of the supply voltage.

Image

Being a large 3W device it needed some means of dissipating heat, so I grafted a aftermarket cd player heatsink into the interior light and the result was...
Image

Image

I also put one in the boot light and made a heatsink using some alloy angle
Image

I'll go get a shot of it in the car after I've fed the boy
Current rides: 2016 Mitsubishi Triton GLS & 2004 Forester X
Ongoing Project/Toy: 1987 RX Turbo EA82T, Speeduino ECU, Coil-pack ignition, 440cc Injectors, KONI adjustale front struts, Hybrid L Series/ Liberty AWD 5sp
Past rides: 92 L series turbo converted wagon, 83 Leone GL Sedan, 2004 Liberty GT Sedan & 2001 Outback
------------------------------------------

User avatar
steptoe
Master Member
Posts: 11582
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:00 am
Location: 14 miles outside Gotham City

Post by steptoe » Tue Sep 04, 2012 8:10 am

Aha, I've had a few LEDs turn brown in a 12V downlight fitting dirct from HK, fed it directly from a std downlight tranny of 50 or 60W. Have since rad some trannys don't like too low a demand on them like 10W, that one may have been.

User avatar
Bantum
General Member
Posts: 1923
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 4:30 pm
Location: Northern Territory + QLD
Contact:

Matching Ratings ...

Post by Bantum » Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:30 pm

steptoe wrote:... Aha, I've had a few LEDs turn brown ...
Yeah, I've come across a few of those too ! ( also some that don't meet expectations ) I suppose it's all about matching your existing light with an equivilent in L.E.D. & try not to over do it ... :idea:

One thing I did find with the dome light & brightness was with the choice of colour, a White light would be fine, but I chose Blue to match a theme I'm trying to develop for my Brumby. So it ended up being a bit 'duller' than the White, but if I take off the shroud - It Still give's off plenty of light ... :cool:

Post Reply

Return to “Electrical, Wiring and Lighting”