So i love leds, and i really wanted to do a led project cuz i was bored and i had some spare T10 leds that i wound up not using from a previous project. Thus i came up with the idea to but leds in my defrost vents.
What you need:
Installation:
Philips head screwdriver(medium size)
pliers
power switch
12v power
maybe a hour or two
Leds:
small wire (18-20 works good, i used solid but stranded would be more flexible)
strippers.....lol
some sort of led wired up for 12v
a custom housing for led
hot glue
soldering gun
1. ok. to start off with you will need your leds, i had some blue smd leds laying around that were already wired for 12v, if you are using component leds you will need to add some resistors, otherwise you will blow them up. ;(
so, your going to have to fabricate a housing for the leds, my housing turned out good for what i had originally intended, which was to put the leds right under the vents, but as i found out, this doesn't look that good, so eventually i'm going to pull the housing out and bend it so that the bottom is flat, but the led will be at and angle that matches the vents.
here are a few pics of my housing:
i made the housing out of tin, drilled a hole in it and bent it around the led, simple simple. then i flooded the inside with hot glue, so that the wires never crosses and it was all nice and sealed. in addition, this will help keep the led insulated from the hot air that blows through the vents.
2. Next, after you have wired your leds and soldered them to the leads and made your housing, your going to put them in the vents. To make a hole for the wire to run through, take off the bottom panel under the steering wheel, then take off the side panel to expose the side of the dash board.
now if you look into the top void, you will see a yellowish/white plastic that will light up if you shine a flash light into the vents(works better with vent off, just pry it off gently with a flat head screwdriver, pops right off)
take a flat head screwdriver, or something long and sharp, and poke it at the black insulation foam under the plastic. eventually you will create a hole big enough to run wires through, if for some reason your inept at doing this you can get a drill and drill a hole into the plastic, put you shouldn't have to.
this is on the drivers side and then passengers side(passengers side looks better as you can see the plastic im talking about)
3. Installing the leds: now just put the led/housing into the vent hole. and run the wire through the hole you made. originally i had the leds facing up(in the picture), but as i found out this puts them really close to the vent itself and you don't get a good lighting effect. so i just pushed the leds back and now they are just floating at an angle that matches the angle of the vent.
if you were smart and made a good housing that put your led on an angle you can now put some double sided tape on the bottom to secure it, if not then just leave them floating until you find more time to make it perfect.
now just run you wire down and under the dash, to your switch, i already had one hooked up so i just tapped the line i had running to my speaker lights.
enjoy!!
What you need:
Installation:
Philips head screwdriver(medium size)
pliers
power switch
12v power
maybe a hour or two
Leds:
small wire (18-20 works good, i used solid but stranded would be more flexible)
strippers.....lol
some sort of led wired up for 12v
a custom housing for led
hot glue
soldering gun
1. ok. to start off with you will need your leds, i had some blue smd leds laying around that were already wired for 12v, if you are using component leds you will need to add some resistors, otherwise you will blow them up. ;(
so, your going to have to fabricate a housing for the leds, my housing turned out good for what i had originally intended, which was to put the leds right under the vents, but as i found out, this doesn't look that good, so eventually i'm going to pull the housing out and bend it so that the bottom is flat, but the led will be at and angle that matches the vents.
here are a few pics of my housing:
i made the housing out of tin, drilled a hole in it and bent it around the led, simple simple. then i flooded the inside with hot glue, so that the wires never crosses and it was all nice and sealed. in addition, this will help keep the led insulated from the hot air that blows through the vents.
2. Next, after you have wired your leds and soldered them to the leads and made your housing, your going to put them in the vents. To make a hole for the wire to run through, take off the bottom panel under the steering wheel, then take off the side panel to expose the side of the dash board.
now if you look into the top void, you will see a yellowish/white plastic that will light up if you shine a flash light into the vents(works better with vent off, just pry it off gently with a flat head screwdriver, pops right off)
take a flat head screwdriver, or something long and sharp, and poke it at the black insulation foam under the plastic. eventually you will create a hole big enough to run wires through, if for some reason your inept at doing this you can get a drill and drill a hole into the plastic, put you shouldn't have to.
this is on the drivers side and then passengers side(passengers side looks better as you can see the plastic im talking about)
3. Installing the leds: now just put the led/housing into the vent hole. and run the wire through the hole you made. originally i had the leds facing up(in the picture), but as i found out this puts them really close to the vent itself and you don't get a good lighting effect. so i just pushed the leds back and now they are just floating at an angle that matches the angle of the vent.
if you were smart and made a good housing that put your led on an angle you can now put some double sided tape on the bottom to secure it, if not then just leave them floating until you find more time to make it perfect.
now just run you wire down and under the dash, to your switch, i already had one hooked up so i just tapped the line i had running to my speaker lights.
enjoy!!
