Ambient Light Mod

Sinkhole · February 23, 2009

Hello all. Just thought I'd share this little idea. Ever want a little ambient lighting in your truck? I got this idea when I was driving a rental Nissan Murano. It had these cool little LEDs mounted in the over head console which gave off just a little ambient light. Well here's how you can do it. I started off with your basic RadioShack 5mm red LED. I then soldered a 560 Ohm resistor to the cathode (-) side of the LED. Next I soldered my wires on to the LED and used some heat shrink to protect the leads.

I the carefully bent the leads over on a 90 degree angle.

I'm still working out a more attractive mounting solution but in the mean time I decided to use a simple plastic grommet. I had to drill the inside of the grommet to a slightly larger whole to get the led to fit snuggly.

Notice the LED is not completely seated in the grommet. I did this because you dont want to see the LED itself just the light emitted from it.

So I just temporarily taped the assembly to the headliner in my truck. So you could see what it looks like. The end result will be set into the headliner and wired to the illumination wire at the back of the instrument cluster. this way the LED is only on at night when the lights are on.

So with my LED turned on and it getting dark out this is the effect you get. The envelope is lit up pretty good at shoulder height.

And here is one of the envelope on the seat with the ambient light on.

And with out the ambient light on.

You can do multiple LEDs if you want more light. I will probably do two. One just to the right of the drivers and one just to the left of the passengers seats.

Enjoy.

For those wanting to know how to figure out what resistor to use with your LEDs, I found this info at offroaders.com

Calculating the Required Resistor

The calculation used to find the value of the series resistor we need to know the diode forward voltage and current and its connections. This information can be obtained from the package if you purchased the LED.

In this example it is 2 volts and 20mA (0.02 amps).

The cathode lead is the one nearest a "flat" on the body.

Since the voltage across the diode (LED) is 2 volts and the battery voltage is 12 volts, then the voltage across the resistor is 12-2 = 10 volts.

The diode is in series with the resistor, so the current through then both is the same, 0.02 amps.

We now know the voltage across, and the current through the resistor.

From Ohm's Law we can now calculate the value of the resistor. Resistance = Volts divided by Amps = V/I = 10/0.02 =500 ohms.

Since this is not a standard value we can use a 470 or 560 ohm resistor as this application is not critical of values.

For a 4 volt (Blue or White LED) the formula would be:

Resistance = Volts divided by Amps = V/I = 8/0.02 =400 ohms.

The common 390 or 470 ohm resistor can be used for these.

mr_bots · February 23, 2009

Interesting mod. Can't wait to see it finished up.

jrrod2004 · February 23, 2009

2008-2009 Malibus have this in the overhead console. Their ambient lighting has a soft green color that lights up the shifter at night as well as the door handles.

masonbid · February 23, 2009

I noticed those leds in my neighbors Murano too. Pretty cool idea.

I noticed that there is a ring on the seat where the LED is pointed. You can cut the rounded part of the LED down and make it flat to get rid of that ring. It will spread the light out more evenly.

Sinkhole · February 23, 2009

I noticed those leds in my neighbors Murano too. Pretty cool idea.
I noticed that there is a ring on the seat where the LED is pointed. You can cut the rounded part of the LED down and make it flat to get rid of that ring. It will spread the light out more evenly.

I haven't played with that yet. But I've been toying with the idea of modifying the shape of the LED to spread the light different. We use to flush mount LEDs for alarms by mounting the LED then grinding it do so it was flush with the dash board then polishing the end on a bench grinder with a polishing wheel. I also think the current mounting solution, the grommet is to straight to let the light spread effectively. Im trying to work out a conical mounting solution that will still hide the LED effectively.

pennzoil29 · February 24, 2009

Cool idea

P71_CrownVic · February 24, 2009

Ford charges like $300 for that...a couple of LEDs randomly placed throughout the interior.

thecraft · February 24, 2009

FYI, you can get SuperBrightLEDs.com's LW-12VDC LED's if you don't want to go through the trouble of assembling the LED, diode, and resistor.

Are these always on while the lights are on?

Z71kris · February 24, 2009

Yes cool mod, would like to see it when its done!

SLESierra · February 24, 2009

My Acadia has an orange led in the center that gives off some of the nicest light. Check the overhead console in an acadia they have a square hole that emits the light when the headlights come on.

Bmart · February 24, 2009

i was thinking about doing this myself... can't wait to see the end result.

peteking · February 24, 2009

Nice! I've actually been tinkering with a near-identical project, but I have blue 5mm LEDs that will be mounted down near the floor. You plan to connect the LED power to the illumination wire at the back of the instrument cluster--good idea! Maybe I'll do the same.

Spurshot · February 24, 2009

Neat mod. Red is actually the best choice for this if you want to retain your night vision. This is the color used in airplane cockpits to read with to avoid affecting the pilot's night vision. Are you going to put a switch on it to shut it off? You might want to for the long night trips when you need the cab really dark.

geektoad · February 24, 2009

My Acadia has an orange led in the center that gives off some of the nicest light. Check the overhead console in an acadia they have a square hole that emits the light when the headlights come on.

Yep, the wife's acadia has this, as did her van before that. Very handy feature to have. I think I'm going to look into adding it to the truck. Thanks for the info guys

VMax2007 · February 24, 2009

My Acadia has an orange led in the center that gives off some of the nicest light. Check the overhead console in an acadia they have a square hole that emits the light when the headlights come on.

Yep, the wife's acadia has this, as did her van before that. Very handy feature to have. I think I'm going to look into adding it to the truck. Thanks for the info guys

I'd go with purple for your truck Karl.