Hey guys, so I have decided to do the Vent, Grill and Door Handle mod, with Blue Led's.

I have a few questions before I do this.

1. Which led do you all Prefer? 3mm or 5mm
2. When installing these (ones I am buying from www.oznium.com) how will I go about installing them. I don't mean into the interior, I mean should I use resistors? What worked best, straight from the battery or from the fuse block.
3. When installing the switches, where do you think the best location for the switches would be?

What else do you all think I should Add?

I've never done LED mod but i've got something up my Sleve...

Yes you neeed resistors allways put resistors.. For the switch you can fasion a panel and put it in you ash tray... I would say go 5mm not sure what you mean by grill and door handle...

Hope this helps

1. It's up to you on how you want to install them, but if you're going for brightness, their superflux are the best. They mount into a 3/8" hole.
2. Resistors are a MUST, unless you want to burn them out prematurely. I've got plans on placing a separate fuse block for all the lights I'm planning on doing, run straight off the battery and switched on by a relay connected to my accessory wire.
3. Wherever you want them. Accessibility? Function? Show? Those are the questions you should ask before mounting your switches. Personally I've got mine on a small plate in my CD holder so my interior stays clean.

Please post pictures would like to see......

1. It's up to you on how you want to install them, but if you're going for brightness, their superflux are the best. They mount into a 3/8" hole.

KK

2. Resistors are a MUST, unless you want to burn them out prematurely. I've got plans on placing a separate fuse block for all the lights I'm planning on doing, run straight off the battery and switched on by a relay connected to my accessory wire.

That was my idea. But I didn't think to use a realy. Thats a good idea.

3. Wherever you want them. Accessibility? Function? Show? Those are the questions you should ask before mounting your switches. Personally I've got mine on a small plate in my CD holder so my interior stays clean.

I was thinking in the coin holder, I don't need it anyways.

Yes, if you have any pictures those would be awsome.


To answer the othe question asked earlier.

I plan to put a few behind my Front Grill under the hood, and on the Handles on the interior of the car. I am thinking of other places to accent!

I just recently put green LEDs in the airvents of my 07 Focus Sedan, and I feel they turned out extremely well!

What I did was take the vents out and drill 4 holes in each one (one on each side, i wanted a bright glow). Then I connected power and grounding wires (leftover Sony speaker wire from a mini system). I mount the LEDs in the holes that I drilled and replaced the vents in their holes.

Then I took all the power lines and connected them in a parallel circuit to the same switch that controls my headlights. Make sure you have enough resistors in there and that you aren't overheating them because they could burn your car very easily. To prevent this I made a heat sink out of aluminum foil and wrapped it around the resistors.

I also installed a switch so that they aren't always on when I turn on my headlights.

Biggest advice, do not do any form of electrical work unless you are 100% sure of what you are doing, mistakes can be a pain to fix.

Aint that the truth.

Take a Pic, lets see your work! :)

I'll be taking a pic once the LEDs I ordered for my footwells arrive and I install them :)

Alright I have my items on order.

So I have more questions?

1. should I use a relay?
2. what is a decent fuse block. I do not want to run off the block dedicated to my car. I do not want to risk any problems.
3. when doing the handle led's how do you run your wires through the door?

I think the LEDs in the vents thing is pretty pointless, personally. Unless you install a fog machine. How sweet would that be?

You should be able to tap into some wires that are already in the door for the handle LEDs.

Lol if I ran a fog machine I think cops would think I was hot boxing it! :p

So you say, no on the relays?

LEDs have really low power draw; you don't need a relay. I doubt you need resistors, either... if I understand correctly, the LEDs will only draw whatever amount of power they need from the 12v source. I don't think they blow up from having no resistor in place.

Someone correct me.

CaysE: The lack of resistors will make LED burn out faster, some instances are more significant than others. Think of them as a failsafe, a fuse on a power wire for instance. I personally have no experience outside of using resistors, that's just what I've heard while doing my research so take it for what it's worth. They are just a good thing to have.

SlyDarkWolf: Sorry for the delayed response, I really need to keep up on the forums. I've got a couple pics.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x103/shaukor/S3010015-1.jpg
These are the superflux in the daytime.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x103/shaukor/S3010018.jpg
This is my switch for my black lights before I made the plate for it. Still handy and out of the way.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x103/shaukor/UV2.jpg
UV's lit up at night. Just wanted to add that:)

BTW, I really like your ideas, I want to see progress and your results when you're done, sounds neat.

Thats exactly why I asked, my experience with electrical AC/DC is mostly self taught, but not minor. I wanted to know if anyone had better luck using resistors, or if it mattered. :p BTW Those UV's very nice, I bet the colour in actual life looks nice! :)

hahaah im sitting here cleaning my screen because of the liitle white spotts on the picture of the uv's. took me a couple minutes till i moved the screen down and the spots moved with the pic!!!!! must be dust on the lense reacting to the uv.. ha thanks for the laugh..

anyone ever done a rear light setup-my only real complaint about the focus is the lack of backseat lighting,so ive been wanting to do some form of led aid. I was thinking of putting bars under the seats and maybe where the o.s. bars would be.

Well I thought I had a previous post, but anyways, I added LED's in the handles and in the rear of the LX I put Two Led's one in each small window. It actually lights up almost all of the interior. I really enjoy the Blue Scheme of the car. If I can I will try and get some picks, plus of the next upgrades.

Lack of money sucks so much! Lol!

outside or inside handles?
lighting the little windows seems pretty cool,whered you wire them into

I lit the inside handles, however I have a thought on an outside set also.

The LED's are pretty much in the top corner, and they aim in at an angle.

I actually ran wire from the lead that goes from the dome light through the car and back to the rear of the car. Had I removed the carpet, seats and trim for my wire install maybe it would have been easier. I actually ran some with the loom.

not bad
ive been trying to find info on doing the outside handles-seen it in some peoples pics but didnt get much response,so itll probably be trial and error

LEDs have really low power draw; you don't need a relay. I doubt you need resistors, either... if I understand correctly, the LEDs will only draw whatever amount of power they need from the 12v source. I don't think they blow up from having no resistor in place.

Someone correct me.

im gonna go ahead and make the correction.

you absolutely NEED resistors....

theres a good LED calculator out there that'll help you wire everything up.

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz <--- thats the one i use ALL the time.

here's why LEDs require resistors....

http://led.linear1.org/why-do-i-need-a-resistor-with-an-led/

-ZX3

:p aww.. sorry ZX3 a little late for me! Hehe, but thanks anyways! I finished this project. I went with the resistors. There are certain projects where I went without, however, when it involves looks, well... you have to be certain! Anyways, as with most my projects, I just need the light and have plenty of room behind them, so I can spare the extra cents to purchase an LED with the resistors built in.

Funny enough, my hardest project will be the window, lock, spedo and AC controls. Don't have a steady hand. :p

-itskeiser

As for the outside, if you get to it before me, tell me how it goes... I am still debating on what color I want to use, and just how exactly I will go about installing them.

im hoping to get on it before September (evil northeast)
As far as wiring,I have a friend whos an led nut and might be able to figure me out a way to hook it into the door locks-that way they turn on when i hit the unlock button on the key fob...altho could be tricky

Well when you press the unlock button the interior light turns on... correct? I don't have that option in my car. But when I open my door it comes on, and when I shut it it fades off.

Anyways, I spliced into the loom, from the CLM to the Dome and went from there...
I plan to add a switch to my Gauge Pod.. (when I get one) to turn the lights on and off from a central location and not just at the dome, because currently my door lights wont turn on when I want them on, just when the car door is opened or the car is turned off.

I have to admit though, if you have no knowledge of wiring or electrical, then yes it is tricky.

I will be here if you have any questions.

yea i have a friend who is pretty knowledgeable about leds and wiring
im fairly certain that the interior dome light is what comes on,so id have to wire it to that fuse set
i was thinking of going with the ash tray switch setup for all the lights im putting in,tho i dont really think ill need to throw the handle lights in there

this is what my interoir looks like all lit i got white and blue in the vents and a 9 led dome light bulb overhead hope you guys like it
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm195/hillsjnn/CopyofIMG_3886800x533.jpg
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm195/hillsjnn/CopyofIMG_3897.jpg

here are the uv leds in the gauge cluster
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm195/hillsjnn/IMG_2558.jpg

this is the led mod on the tag
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm195/hillsjnn/CopyofIMG_3890.jpg

i got alot more comin for the footwells, doors, wheelwells, and need some more lights for the back seat area

that white is pretty hardcore bright
anyone know if a dimmer switch would work fine on the led rigs?
like on a main switch in the ash tray

I'm not sure i have a LED strip in my domelight though and it dims and all that good jazz no problems may be easier wire it there??

id probably only be using it for the vent lights so I can adjust them as needed,like lower when im driving,and brighter when im looking for things or just hangin around