LED Puddle Lights and Courtesy Lights

[FarmerPug]

I got the wires routed through the door wiring pipes from the LEDs in the mirrors to the relay in the footwell. I havent as many pictures of routing the wires as i would have hoped but its a pig of a job especially on the drivers side given there is double the wires and a bsi to move out of the way, but with some silicone spray to make the rubber pipe easier to work with they are done.

taking the thing apart is fairly easy its putting it back together thats a real pain





(the wiring was still at the testing phase its all tucked away now)




The LED strips instead of bulbs draw much less current so the relay isn't being overloaded, i can still add courtesy lights under the back seat and still be well within the limit of the relay, initially i had planned to use another relay for the mirrors but if they just come on with the overhead dome light thats good enough, in fact I'm still using the old relay i thought that had blown

[FarmerPug]

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[OdinEidolon]

This is just brilliant! Well done! Shouldn't this be going in the how-to section?

[jonsowman]

Wow this is excellent, good work

[Welly]

I like those puddle lights, very cool.

[FarmerPug]

This is all a refinement of the old footwell lights setup i had last year:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12169&p=146475&hili ... ts#p146475

Thanks, Glad you like them is it enough for a how to? I skipped some important details such as opening the wing mirror. If its any help the old thread about the footwell lights shows how to install the ldr correctly. Although back then i was using incandescent bulbs these LEDs give off much more light (and nice white clean light not bluey shite from cheap LED's) and for a 15cm strip they only use around 0.2A (if my maths is correct thats 20miliamps).

The ingredients for all this was
- 5A Speaker cable wire, red and black is best. It was the most suitable wire i could find.

- One of these LDR activated relay boards:
http://www.quasarelectronics.com/3079c- ... rigger.htm
the kit is cheaper but the already made one isn't that much more expensive, and given the small copper tracks are not very durable its cheaper to let them make it, the only change i made was to snip off the ldr mounted onto the board, and connect it via the long cable to the dome light
I also got the enclosure box with it, it keeps it neater, and all this can tuck away in the passenger footwell way up above the carpet without anyone seeing it

- The SMD strips, from this seller:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150739972311? ... 768wt_1129
there is plenty of choice available, for the inside i used 15cm strips on the footwells, and a 10cm strip in the cubbyhole above the ashtray, the wing mirrors were 10cm each with the waterproof option ticked.
The seller is very helpful and knows about what he is selling, they are not cheap Light strips but they are very well made, and there is a lot of potential uses for them (i am doing under cupboard lights in my grandparents kitchen with them)

- and these tamaya connectors
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110852086329? ... 581wt_1363
i used well over 10 of them, that means if i need to remove the wing mirror or other part the stuff is attached to i can quickly unclip the connector as opposed to snipping wires and resoldering.

I plan to put two more strips under the front seats to light up the back footwell. It is possible to light up the door bins, or the door handles but i think this is enough any more and it would be a bit too much.

[sirwiggum]

Nice one!

Did you put LEDs on the door pockets such that when the door is open they are visible?

[FarmerPug]

Nice one!

Did you put LEDs on the door pockets such that when the door is open they are visible?

It was possible but i abandoned that idea, i think it would have ended up being a bit too much, tacky isn't the right word, but the car would end up a bit like a christmas tree . And the executive door cards are a bit rare i didn't want to be ruining them. The wee square light in the door is more than adequate for that purpose.

Although with the wires through the door wiring pipe its really easy to do this, or add an LED into the interior or exterior door handle. Mounting it might be an issue but someone might have a good idea for how to do that.

[midsdaz]

if u ever find ur self bored and not sure what to do with ur self give us a shout ill bring me car up to u i wouldnt mind some of them

[FarmerPug]

if u ever find ur self bored and not sure what to do with ur self give us a shout ill bring me car up to u i wouldnt mind some of them

Where abouts are you from?

I think to do it would cost £10 for the two wing mirror lights, then for the inside £16 so far on the 3 strips of lights, the relay board is £15, and the wire is just off a big roll i bought, the connectors were about £3 for 5, the solder and heat shrink were just lying about but don't really cost an awful lot.

The worst bit it getting the wire from the door to inside the car, but on a D8 it might be easier if there is less wiring, the glue that holds the strips to the bottom of the mirror is hard in a few minutes.

[midsdaz]

Birmingham it does look good I ent got the patients tho and me and wiring don't get on for starts

[FarmerPug]

Birmingham it does look good I ent got the patients tho and me and wiring don't get on for starts

After seeing your cars picture in the splitter thread i could have swore i saw it parked in dungannon today, although with an NI reg.

Patents are still pending so get them installed now before they are approved The wiring can get a bit confusing, it really helps to label everything, and to remove the battery while doing it, i burnt off the copper tracks on the PCB of the old relay circuit when i shorted two wires with the pliers.

[midsdaz]

I'll look it to it I wanna get few other bits done first all takes time

[FarmerPug]

On a D8 things should be much simpler if there is no BSI in the equation, does your interior light do the slow gradual dimming when the doors are closed? It might be possible to wire the extra lights to the dome light (just tap into the supply so to speak) without any relay and then just put a bigger fuse into the fusebox.
Although check this with someone who knows a bit more about the D8's electrics, to see if there is a BSI or any sort of ECU controlling the dome light. But i think Bailes put footwell lights into his old D8 at one time without needing any sort of relay.

[FarmerPug]

I got a few hours this afternoon and did the lights under the rear seats, nothing special they just sit under the seat springs and their double sided tape is there to stop them moving.
Its best to remove the centre console and the seats then the wires can be properly routed under the carpet, and you get better access to get the light under the seat:



I connected it up to a small 12v battery i have to test it worked





The wire comes out here in the centre console under the carpet so the seat moving won't cause it to get caught






that's bits of the centre console in the back i havent got it all back together but the lights are working. I shot a great video of them working there, but when i put the SD card in there was nothing, i didn't press record