Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics Please help with LED mod.

I read the how-to, I have the leds and resistors. Do I just hook them up the way they are in there already? I'm not worried about the main window switch right now. I just need to know if all I do is solder the led and resistor and then place it in the hole the same way or what? Please help.. The how-to was no help..

What do you have,
What ohm are the resistors,
Where are you putting these LED's?

More info please.

I am installing the lights right now in the window switch on the pass. side. I only have three leds.. That's all radio shack had..
The leds are 5mm.. 3.7 volts. and the resistors are 330 ohms. I hope that helps.
I am putting them in a 2000 SE

The how-to for the door handle LEDs? If that is what you are doing, when Colter and I did them in his car we had to steal the power from a purple wire. Connect your new wire that feeds off of that to one end of the resistor. Connect the other end of the resistor to the longer leg of the led. Connect the short leg to a ground.

How many mA do the LEDs consume? It will tell you on the front of the Radio Shack package (I have one in front of me now). That will also be needed to figure out how strong the resistors need to be.

Right now we have this:

9.3 * (1000/mA) = needed resistance

When you find the resistance, divide that into 1000. Times that by 9.3. That will tell you how many ohms of resistance is needed to protect the lamps. A lower number will overrun the lights and they will die quicker. A higher number will make them dimmer.

I hope this helped.

What mod is this? I don't see it in the HOWTO section.

I was talking about putting them into the light and lock switches.. What bulbs to i need.. I used the 5mm bulbs.. with the 330 ohm. resistors.. It was a REAL tight fit. what sizes do I need to put them in the switches? I also did the driver's door where it is in the handle. They work fine.

Connect the resistor to the positive side.

If you look inside the LED, the positive side is the smaller side. The negative side is the angled one that has more metal on it. Connect the resistor, then, to the solid purple wire that goes to the motor. Then, the black one is ground.

again, where is the howto for this?

Check on the MAIN www.contour.org page, and then Mods/Parts, then How-Tos, then Interior.

http://www.contour.org/mods/mods.cgi?s=howto&display=lightedmoon

Get to know the main page. There is some cool stuff in there!

Actually, it's 8.3V not 9.3V. To clarify, here's some more info:

To calculate the proper value of the resistor, you need to know: 1) the forward voltage and current of the LED (printed on the pkg, sometimes as a range), 2) the voltage of the supply (12V in automotive applications). The resistors serve to drop the supply voltage (12V) to the operating voltage of the LED.

For example, your LED has an operating voltage of 3.7V. That means you need a resistor that will 'absorb' 8.3V (12V - 3.7V). To calculate that, you use Ohm's Law, V = I*R (voltage = current * resistance). Let's assume your LED consumes 50 mA of current (check the box). So in your case:

A) V = I * R
B) 8.3V = 0.05A (50 mA = 0.05 A) * R
C) R = 8.3V / 0.05A
D) R = 166 Ohms

You probably won't find an exact 166 Ohm resistor, but anywhere within 5% is fine. If you have spare resistors sitting around, you might be able to use them. Using them in series:

R(final) = R1 + R2 + R3...

In parallel:

1/R(final) = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3...

And lastly, if you use two LEDs in series (hook the legs positive to negative), you add the voltage requirements, then compute. To use LEDs in parallel (positive legs together, negative together), you add the current requirements instead. HTH...