Illuminated Door panels

josh312 · January 7, 2018

Alright so I have this idea and I don't know if its possible or not. Camaro's have an option where you can have illuminated door panels, I would like to do something similar in 2017 silverado. I have already added interior door piping that matches the exterior color of the truck. I would like to take that same concept but use EL wire instead of the silver piping to create illuminated door panels. I dont want to do too much but I think it would add a little more to the interior and be different.

My thoughts are to get some EL wire with the welting attached to it and place it where the current piping is. But the part I am on the fence about would be what to wire it to. These doors have the lights in the handles that dim with the main dimmer for all of the dash. I was wondering if it could be wired into the circuit that way it would be the same brightness as all the other illumination on the dash. But if you have ever messed with EL wire before, it runs of AC current. You need a 12v driver for them to operate off of a 12v system.

Would it be better to run 1 inverter that would power all 4 doors and then have to run the wire through the whole cab or purchase 4 smaller inverters and place them in behind the door panels. If I was to only use 1 inverter I could possibly connect it to the main dimmer switch instead of the doors circuit. But these lights should not pull alot of current so I'm unsure which would be the best way.

In these picture on my door panel the silver line coming from where the window switch is, is the piping. Thats where the EL wire would go. If i used 1 driver i would need to use a 4 way splitter to go to each door. I have attched a picture of multiple drivers, these things come in all different sizes. The driver i would use if I did 4 different inverters is used to power up to 2 meters of wire. The amount in would be powering would be way shorter then that and the inverter is about 1 inch by 2 inch, so very small. The 1 big inverter option is pretty good size and also is rated to power up to 15 meters.

This should be relatively cheap

4 drivers = $28

EL wire= $15

connectors= $15

so about $60

I believe I have found a color that matches the chevy color, the aqua color is pretty dang close if not identical. For the sierra guys, they make red as well.

You would need connectors so you can cut the EL wire to length for the door, It is pretty easy to wire the connector to the EL wire. Most use a 2 pin JST wire connection and you can get a kit with 10 connectors and heat shrink for like $10. I am just wondering if anybody has thought of this or done this and how. If you have any experience with EL wire please chime in.

josh312 · January 7, 2018

just more pictures

Jmiller11331 · January 7, 2018

I want to see how this turns out!! Sounds great to me

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Viktorrocks15 · January 7, 2018

I’m in!! Can’t wait!

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Draphty · January 7, 2018

Interested!!

austingta · January 7, 2018

You, sir, are quite industtrious. Watching!

Smoothbassman · January 7, 2018

Following

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bndawgs · January 7, 2018

It might be easier to just do 4 converters, one for each door. Then wire them all to the ambient light circuit.

audioworks04 · January 7, 2018

Will the inverter allow it to dim? I would think that as the inverter saw a voltage drop it would shut down.

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cbrsilv15 · January 7, 2018

@bc-chris has used that to illuminate the bottom of his cup holders. It looks pretty bad ass.

josh312 · January 8, 2018

Do you have a link to the topic about the cup holders?

but yes I do believe that 4 different inverters will be the easiest. I might just buy one and see if they are able to dim, I have heard bout yes and no about dimming capabilities

josh312 · January 8, 2018

Upon further investigation, these will not be dimmable. But they are not super bright either so if I go that route, it shouldn’t be bad. I also looked into a LED rope light version, but all of them are too wide and bulky. They would be dimmable but just look out of place in my opinion.

Jdkno · January 8, 2018

I used el wire inside the side pockets of the console. The inverters do make a high pitched sound that you should be aware of. I have 1 and I can hear it with the radio off. I would imagine 4 of them would be pretty noticeable. Mine will not dim. They stay constant until you get the dimmer almost all thge way down then it drops out. I believe I got 2.5mm wire and it's pretty bright. Not sure if I would want that on my door panel.

Something else to consider is what the bare el wire will look like during the day when not illuminated.

El wire 1

El wire 2

El wire 3

2014sierra-rich · January 9, 2018

Looking forward to pictures when done

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Jmiller11331 · January 21, 2018

Alright so I have this idea and I don't know if its possible or not. Camaro's have an option where you can have illuminated door panels, I would like to do something similar in 2017 silverado. I have already added interior door piping that matches the exterior color of the truck. I would like to take that same concept but use EL wire instead of the silver piping to create illuminated door panels. I dont want to do too much but I think it would add a little more to the interior and be different.

My thoughts are to get some EL wire with the welting attached to it and place it where the current piping is. But the part I am on the fence about would be what to wire it to. These doors have the lights in the handles that dim with the main dimmer for all of the dash. I was wondering if it could be wired into the circuit that way it would be the same brightness as all the other illumination on the dash. But if you have ever messed with EL wire before, it runs of AC current. You need a 12v driver for them to operate off of a 12v system.

Would it be better to run 1 inverter that would power all 4 doors and then have to run the wire through the whole cab or purchase 4 smaller inverters and place them in behind the door panels. If I was to only use 1 inverter I could possibly connect it to the main dimmer switch instead of the doors circuit. But these lights should not pull alot of current so I'm unsure which would be the best way.

In these picture on my door panel the silver line coming from where the window switch is, is the piping. Thats where the EL wire would go. If i used 1 driver i would need to use a 4 way splitter to go to each door. I have attched a picture of multiple drivers, these things come in all different sizes. The driver i would use if I did 4 different inverters is used to power up to 2 meters of wire. The amount in would be powering would be way shorter then that and the inverter is about 1 inch by 2 inch, so very small. The 1 big inverter option is pretty good size and also is rated to power up to 15 meters.

This should be relatively cheap

4 drivers = $28
EL wire= $15
connectors= $15
so about $60

I believe I have found a color that matches the chevy color, the aqua color is pretty dang close if not identical. For the sierra guys, they make red as well.

You would need connectors so you can cut the EL wire to length for the door, It is pretty easy to wire the connector to the EL wire. Most use a 2 pin JST wire connection and you can get a kit with 10 connectors and heat shrink for like $10. I am just wondering if anybody has thought of this or done this and how. If you have any experience with EL wire please chime in.