[greenhorn]

hey, but the caution light looks like its lit up by a bulb...... you thinking what I'm thinking

[shreyasma]

Originally Posted by badboyscad

@shrey : That "caution" thingy is quite an idea. It looks good too.

ya..Tbhp is the place for innovative ideas. How can I be here without new thoughts (I say crazy at times)

Originally Posted by greenhorn

hey, but the caution light looks like its lit up by a bulb...... you thinking what I'm thinking

Ha ha....gotcha mate. Lets see how things work out. I first have to go shop for 3mm leds and some resistors and finish the fogs. Else, cant sleep peacefully. Then will look into the brake lights .

[greenhorn]

In that case , prepare for sleepless nights to be honest, i dont think LED's are practical for illumination.Even the proper options arent that good. there are proper LED bulbs available , and they still suck.

[shreyasma]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

In that case , prepare for sleepless nights to be honest, i dont think LED's are practical for illumination.Even the proper options arent that good. there are proper LED bulbs available , and they still suck.

Hey no man. I am not looking at getting the bulb output. Just need a little bright light compared to existing LEDs. Because of the size of the LED, i couldnt use more. So just want to decrease the size and increase the number. I am sure the output will be satisfactory to be used as angel eyes even with my 100/130 headlamps ON.

Okay now tell me if i can use 3x3mm white LEDs in series and a 100 ohms resistor?

[benbsb29]

Shrey, the illumination for the number plate looks like a stadium with floodlights!

[shreyasma]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Shrey, the illumination for the number plate looks like a stadium with floodlights!

As i mentioned earlier, it was supposed to be for the headlamps. But my 3rd gen esteem doesnt have the headlamp and the indicator at the same level. so chucked the idea. Then came the stadium with floodlights!!

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by shreyasma

Okay now tell me if i can use 3x3mm white LEDs in series and a 100 ohms resistor?

Thats what I use - 5 mm led's though. have used 3mm ones also , but they started dying after a month or so. not sure what the problem was. the LED's should be able to handle that much current....

[shreyasma]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Thats what I use - 5 mm led's though. have used 3mm ones also , but they started dying after a month or so. not sure what the problem was. the LED's should be able to handle that much current....

I shall try and see if they stay alive

[greenhorn]

finally , after several failed attempts ( mostly failed due to my own laziness ) and one blown cabin fuse later, I've managed to upgrade my rear hatch light also to LED!

And its damn bright. too bad my cam batteries are still dead. I think only the front lights are left. else I'll have to add unecessary bling. I do have that LED VU meter board lying around.... lets see

[rahulya007]

Greenhorn,

I had been to a electronics shop locally and bought 4 10mm white LED's for Rs. 6 a piece. Don't know whether it was a good deal or bad.

The guy suggested me to use a 1 watt register in parallel with the 4 LED's since i am using them with a 12V supply. Also for single LED he asked me use the same 1watt register.

Pls. suggest.

I am planning to replace the stock yellow bulbs in the indigo cabin lamp (this lamp has a separate reading light for passenger and driver each apart from the center lamp which operates on door closure/open) in front with the 10 mm LED. I am replacing the reading lamp bulbs here.

Can you pls. suggest the resistor i should use with the 10mm LED to provide the maximum light. Is 1 watt resistor ( bigger one) OK or needs to be replaced with some other wattage.

in the testing process, I have already blown the cabin lamp fuse twice

[greenhorn]

i had trouble acessing the reading lamps - i think we share the same unit. I suggest you use a 100 ohm resistor in series with three LED's. thats what I'm using.

If you want to use a single LED, I'd suggest a 470 Ohm resistor.

THe price is a good deal. they cost me about 2 rs for the regular , and 3.5 for the high brightness.

Opening the fusebox is a pain in the you know where right? I couldnt . Read about my adventures here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...t-replace.html

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

i had trouble acessing the reading lamps - i think we share the same unit. I suggest you use a 100 ohm resistor in series with three LED's. thats what I'm using.

If you want to use a single LED, I'd suggest a 470 Ohm resistor.

THe price is a good deal. they cost me about 2 rs for the regular , and 3.5 for the high brightness.

Good to see more converts around here.

Greenhorn, he was referring to the 10mm LEDs, and not the usual 5mm ones. Are you sure you took the ratings of the 10mm LEDs into consideration, when suggesting the resistance values?

[greenhorn]

from my experimentation, 20mA seems like the sweet spot. ( I've tried only 3mm and 5mm ones, and even between those, the emitters seem to be of the same size, and there wasnt a significant difference in brightness). You can run 30 mA or even upto 100 mA, but longevity will be suspect. And the light output does not increase linearly with current (check the graph below. Notice that the axes are logarithmic)


Image Courtesy The Perfect Light - Its a good read , if you are interested in the tech behind this
Rather then getting bigger LED's , I think the better option is to use a greater number of small LED's. For example, for the reading lamp, i think 3x3mm LED's in series at 20mA will do a better job , than say a 10mm running at 100mA, last longer, and draw less current from the car

Rahul, If you find an easy way to access the bulbs in the reading lamps, do post how

[rahulya007]

Greenhorn,

I have attached a small pic of the LED's and the registers along with the stock bulb from the reading lamp. Its actually very easy to remove the reading lamp after you remove the complete assembly from the roof top. You need to unscrew the circuit plate from the lamp and then unscrew the reflectors around the individual lamps. Unfortunately, i have not clicked a pic yet. I guess there's one available on the this same thread.

In the pic, the bigger registers are the 1 watt registers which the shop guy told me to use with the LED's, either single or 4 coupled together in parallel.

Those seen below are the ones i got a couple of days back which the guy gave me as 1K registers. The guy mentioned above said they were 1/4 watt.

Among the LED's first two are filed and rest are new. the reflection clearly shows this.
To test the light output of these LED's, I am using the TV remote batteries..rather the remote itself..i get the ready made +/- points ..

Connecting the LED directly to the terminals gives out bright light.
Connecting with 1watt register gives very poor light..may be the register is itself eating up most of the current.

Connecting with the 1K register, the light output is between the 1st and 2nd case although close to the dimmer side.

Can you suggest a way out since I want to use 1 10mm LED as far as possible for the reading lamp. what type of register should I get to use with the LED so that it gives out bright light.

I may not be able to do a LED circuit for the light located in the center of the lamp assembly ( the door opener/closer lamp) since the button is not working. Let me know (if at all you know) where can I find one, cause I don't want to spend 500/600 bucks for a new lamp assembly. I enquired, but the button is not available separately.

Awaiting your reply

Warm Regards,

Rahul

[greenhorn]

simple doubt - how do you remove the entire assembly from the rooftop?

like i posted earlier, use 470 /330/ 220 ohm 1/4W resistors in series. I'd say try the 330ohm one , and see how long it lasts.

the brightness in the car will be a lot more( since the car runs at 14.4V as opposed to 3V from 2 batteries) . use a 12 V adapter to test.

when you remove the thing, check if the switch for the center is working - it should at least light up in the left extreme position