First off, I want to thank you both for contributing awesome info. on this board.

Secondly, I had a couple of "final" questions. I have ordered LEDs and am finalizing the way they are to be wired. I've come up with this quick diagram
that shows how i THINK i can hook up the LEDs to my dome light wires (so the leds will turn on/off a as the doors on my xb open/close.



*I am using 40k MCD (automotive use/12v) LED lights in the diagram.

My remaining questions:
1) Will I need a resistor (or more than 1 resistor) if I wire these LEDs in a series as shown in the diagram? If so, where will it/they be placed?
2) Will the power wires for the dome light support the "load" of the additional 18 LEDs that I plan on installing? Is there a possibility of blowing a fuse?

I think these are my last questions before I dig in and get this project started.

Thank you both, once again for your help!
- sh00k

 

ok.. i know you asked for tomas or sid..... but i can answer one of those ?s you have

yes you should put a resistor inline with runs of lights... just to be safe.... a 1/2 watt should be more than enough.. 1/4 watt would probably work too.... 300ohm would a good starting point... higher resistance dimmer the lights
and each resister can be put any where in the series... start/end/middle/4 LEDs into it ect

not sure about the load of the exisiting wires tho...

 

if the LED's do not have a built in resistor, you will need to add one.
it would be placed between the red and blue wire taps (not sure if those are the correct wires)
as for the correct size resistor, you need to figure that out.
LED's don't use much power, so yes the stock circuit will be fine

 

also, just a note about how the LEDs will work.

they will not 'fade away' like the dome light. they will be on or off. no fading with this connection.

 

Thanks Kkwana and HotLava for the information. I've updated the picture in my 1st post. Does it look good/correct now?
- sh00k

 

yes.

 

you could also just run all the positives to one point...
and all the negatives to one point.
this way if one LED burns out the others will stay lit.

this is called a parallel circiut

the way you have your diagram (series circuit) if one light goes out (goes bad) they all go out.

 

looks about right.... go to umm... www.superbrightleds.com off the top of my head i believe somewhere on their site is a calculator that you input voltage and # of LEDs and it will spit out a resistor size for you... it may ask you a few other things as well...

and remember the LEDs do have a +/- to them... usually one side has a flat edge .... i believe flat edge= -(neg) so when you wire them up should be (+-)(+-)(+-) if done in series..

 

good info!

 

i couln't remember the site that did the calculation, thanks

 

no prob....
happy bday

 

It's been Dave's B-day for 6 months straight, how old are you now 125

But great info above, will be a lot of help to people asking these same questions.

 

^^^ way to ruin my b-day.

 

hmm.. come to think of it i think have seen the happy bday thing next to his name before.... probably told him happy b'day b4 too... oh well...

 

lol @ the bday!

Just wondering though, someone on another forum mentioned that since I am running so many LED lights (18 of them), that i should be using a relay like the one that oznium sells: http://www.oznium.com/relay40 - Its called a 5 pin 40 amp relay.... I've hooked one of these up before when I installed fog lights into my old monte carlo.... but is this something i would need to wire the 18 LEDs to?

Does anyone have any idea if this is NECESSARY in my case? I know led's dont use a lotta power but it makes me wonder if 18 led's would be "too much" for the dome light "fuse" or wiring.... any thoughts?

thank you all once again!
- sh00k

 

you do not need a relay.
LED's do not have that high of a draw to require it.
i'v got about 36-37 (keep forgetting) all on the same circuit...

 

30 something? lol - wow, i thought my 18 was overkill

thank you again for the help and if i haven't said it already.... HAPPY BERFDAY!!!!
- sh00k

 

yeah, 30ish...

anywhere i could fit some i hid them...

a friend has 56 LED's in there...but his are run off of the RS1 switch (cig lighter circuit) with cold cathodes and other stuff...
so, no problems with 18.