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| First you need to figure out some particular values for the LED’s that you are working with. You will find this in the product specifications information. You need to know the "Typical DC Forward Voltage", and "DC Forward Current" range. With this information you need to then decide how many LED's you wish to use and measure the voltage that your power source supplies.
With this project I have determined that I am going to use 24 LED's. The voltage comes from existing factory wires for lighting (use a Multimeter to make sure). With this knowledge and the information from the LED specifications, we can determine that we can only use 3 LED's in series (3.3V x 3 = 9.9V you can not exceed 12V because that is your source ’s max voltage). Now that you know the max number of LED's you can have in series , we can now call that a " bank ". Since we have 24 LED's we know that we will now have 8 banks of LED's.
Once you have the number of LED banks you will need to determine the size of the resistor s you will put in the circuit. Placement of this part is paramount . You can choose to place just 1 resistor ; however you will need to be able to find that value (in Ω) . I chose to go with 2 resistors for simplicity . To help you calculate the size of the resistor you will need for EACH bank of LED’s Click Here. I used the following values to come up with my resistor value – {3 Total LEDs / 3.5 LED Voltage / 25mA LED Current / 12 Total Voltage}. Now if you wanted to use 8 resistors you would be ready to continue on, BUT remember that I only want to use two resistors . Now you take the series resistor value that you just figured out, and use it in 4 of the input blanks in the following calculator Click Here . Make sure to read the “Parallel Resistance” value. That will tell you the single value of the each of the 2 resistors.
*****MEASURE THE VOLTAGE IN YOUR CAR PRIOR TO MAKING ANY SOURCE VOLTAGE CALCULATIONS! NO VOLTAGE IS REGULATED ANYWHERE FOR LIGHTING. TYPICAL VOLTAGE IS 12.2V WHILE OFF and 14.2V WHILE THE CAR IS RUNNING********
With all of that done all you have to do now is setup the board with the components and figure out how you want to run the wires. The following is a diagram of what I originally had written up to this build, but I slightly modified it as I built it.
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| ******* This schematic's polarity is reversed. Please reverse the polarity of the LED's for proper operation. A new revision of the schematic will be out shortly.******* |
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| Step 2 |
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Take the flat head screw driver and place it between the base that is attached to the window, and the clamp on the rearview mirror. Then gently pry upwards and you will feel the mirror start to give.
*****CAUTION CHECK TO SEE IF YOUR REARVIEW MIRROR HAS A SCREW TO REMOVE PRIOR TO PRYING ANYTHING. THIS CAN RESULT IN DESTRUCTION OF YOUR WINDSHIELD******
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| Once removed disconnect the power connector. Ensure that you press the lock so that it will release. |
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| Step 3 |
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This next part is probably the hardest part of the whole installation. To get the rearview mirror to seperate you need to GENTLY place a flat tip screw driver in key points around the mirror and carefully pry the housing apart. Really pay attention to the plastic housing so that you do not mar the outside and over stress it. You will hear sudden snaps as if it had broken; however it was just one of the 8 clips releasing. This is the only way to sperate these clips because they latch on the inside.
Also becarefull when removing the face that contains the mirror because this is an item that you want to take VERY good care of while it is apart. |
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| Here is a shot of the insides of the mirror when it is apart. Look at all the clips to ensure none of them are cracked or broken. I will tell you that if you find one do not sweat it! Just take some 2 part epoxy or some super glue and aply A VERY LITTLE amount so that the integrity of the clip is restored. I had one crack, and it was a sinch to fix. |
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| Here you will see in from the bottom lens after it is removed. To do so place a small flat tip screw driver on the mirror side of the lense and gently pop it out or you can use your fingers to push it out from the inside. You can clearly see the blub and the bulb leads. The bulb is easy to remove, and the bulb contacts are also. Look at the illistration above with the open faced P shape. If you notice the base of the P has barbs. Just take a smal flat tip screw driver and gently push in and up below the bottom prong and it just pops out. |
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| Now that you have taken the compartments apart, here are the parts that you will no longer need. |
| Step 4 |
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Take your Grid-Style PC Board and cut two pieces off of it with the following dimensions with the Dermel and the cutting disks.
Drivers side:
Width: 2 22/64 inches
Height: 1 inch
Passenger side:
Width: 2 20/64 inches (with a beveled edge towards the NON copper clad side or down side.)
Height: 1 inch (that tapers going outward)
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| Step 5 |
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| Drivers Side |
Passenger Side |
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| With that trace the opening of the Map Light opening to the PC Board and then place your LED's on the board. While doing this ensure that you leave enough room on the sides so that the leds are close, but do not touch the plastic. You also need to watch out for the two posts at the bottom of each compartment. Leave space so that when you reinstall the completed board you do not break any LED leads by trying to froce it past on of those posts. With all the LED's in place (not soldered just set into place) and the layout established take the fine point permanent marker and mark where each component is. Then re-install the traced board into the system to ensure proper clearance. |
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| ***** DO NOT USE 13 LED's PER SIDE!! NOT ONLY IS IT BAD LUCK BUT I SMOKED AN LED BECAUSE OF FITMENT ISSUES****** (just bad luck I guess) RIP poor fella |
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Step 6 |
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| Now you are ready to solder the components on the the PC board. Ensure that when you go to place eash pieace onto the PC Board that you have the polaridy in the proper direction. If you are in question of what the polarity of the LED is CLICK HERE . When Soldering the LED make sure that you attach a heatsink that should have come with your Soldering Iron Kit so that you ensure that you dont over heat and damage the LED. When soldering also make sure that you DO NOT bend the LED's leads from the tabs up! This could potentially cause damage to the dye. |
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| Step 7 |
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| (This picture is from the Cargo Light setup) |
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| Once ALL the components are in place you can now connect each one. To do this as effeciently as possible take the needlenose pliars and bend each of the LED leads so that they touch the right associated one and solder them together. This will elliminate the need for additional wire. At this point if you have an LED out of polarity with the rest it will cause that LED's associated bank to not function. Once all the LED's are connected you can see where you will need to add aditional wire to complete the circuit. Trim the extra length of leads and wires off so that the circuit is easier to work with. |
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| Step 8 |
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Take your additional wire and connect it to its respective point in order to complete the circuit.
Positive
Drivers Side = TAN
Passenger Side = GREEN
Common (Ground)
Both Sides = BLACK
I took the extra wire and cut the wire to its appropriate length, and striped the ends so that I could make a hook. With this hook I hooked it around the connection that I planned on making, and soldered it together.
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| Step 9 |
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| As you can see in the images below I used the weather stripping to insulate the factory contacts. The LED Circuit boards are cut to the point that they will squeeze into the housing and stay in place. |
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| Here is what my finished item completly assembled, and ready for re-installation in the car. |
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| Step 10 |
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| To re-install this back into the car follow the removal steps of this procedure. |
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| RESULTS |
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| BEFORE |
AFTER |
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| OLD FRONT |
NEW REAR |
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| Standard Legal Notice |
| *** All information in this write-up is complete to the best of my knowledge, and when properly done will have no adverse effects. I will not be held responsible or held liable for any direct or indirect malfunctions, destruction, personal injury, or damage to property as a result of your attempt to perform this write-up*** |
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| If you have any questions what so ever concerning this or any other F-body related topic please feel free to contact me, and I will do my best to awnser that question. Thank You for stopping by! |
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| ** All Data (i.e. schmatics, how to's, and ideas) are copyright protected. Any use of this information for personal profit is prohibited, and is punishable by law.** |
