Door Handle LED Mod
08-10-2003, 10:43 AM
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This is one I did over on HA.
I have been car pooling more latley at work and the one thing I notice about people riding in my car at night is they cannot find the friggin door handle to let themselves out. This mod does away with that, and looks somewhat cool to boot.
Things needed:
2nd gen Tiburon
red 18 gauge wire
balck 18 gauge wire
3.7 volt, 20ma, 5mm LEDs of your choice X 2
2.2kohm resistors X 2
black plastic LED holder for 5mm LEDs
1/4 inch drill bit
soldering iron & solder
black tape
wire crimpers with assorted ends
wire taps for 18 gauge wire
phillips screwdriver
OK, start by taking the trim piece off that goes around your inside door handle. Only one screw holds it in. You will also have to take your door panel off, now would be a good time.
Take your 1/4 inch drill bit and drill a hole in your trim piece, pop in your LED holder *note, the pic below shows the LED already installed*
Next, solder about an 18 inch wire lead to the positive lead of the LED, the longer wire on the LED is the positive lead.
Solder about an 8 inch lead to the negative lead of the LED.
Next, install the LED in to the hole you drilled, bend the LED wire leads over and tape them down with to the back of the trim piece with black tape. This will keep you from moving the rigid LED leads around and breaking them off....I learned the hard way and had to make another trip to Radio Shack to pick up more LEDs.
Now to wiring it in.
For power, I chose to use a wire from the wire harness that powers the window switch LEDs. In the pic below, it is the green wire being held out by my index finger.
I used one these wire taps below to tap the power lead in to the green wire
Once that wire is tapped go ahead and run your ground. I grounded mine to the bolt circled in red below.
And yes, for those of you observant enough to noice, that IS a penny holding my door speaker in. I didn't have washer and I didnt want to run to the store, so I drilled through a penny and used it as a washer!.
OK, back to the mod. Now you can re-install your door panel. You will need to feed the trim piece with LED through the back side of the door panel though, but that's very easy to do.
When done, it should look like this
Keep in mind this pic is taken at eye level with the handle. In a normal driving position you can't see the LED itself, only a nice blue accent light that lights up the cavity the door handle is in.
Now for some tips.....
be careful with the LEDs. Bend their leads as little as possible so you don't break them. Once you do get your wire leads soldered on, be sure to tape them down like I mentioned above. It immobilizes the fragile LED leads and keeps them from breaking.
You can put the resistor anywhere you want on the positive lead. I soldered mine on down near where I tapped in to the green wire. I soldered 4 inch leads on both sides of the resistor and then crimped some insulated quick disconnect connectors on so I can quickly detach the positive wire if needed. I also put black tape around the resistor so none of the metal leads were exposed.
As far as LED brightness, that will be up to you. I used a 2600 mcd LED. I have yet to drive it at night, but I don't think it will be ditracting. When I turned the lights off in my garage and sat in a driving position, it did not seem to distract me.
I have been car pooling more latley at work and the one thing I notice about people riding in my car at night is they cannot find the friggin door handle to let themselves out. This mod does away with that, and looks somewhat cool to boot.
Things needed:
2nd gen Tiburon
red 18 gauge wire
balck 18 gauge wire
3.7 volt, 20ma, 5mm LEDs of your choice X 2
2.2kohm resistors X 2
black plastic LED holder for 5mm LEDs
1/4 inch drill bit
soldering iron & solder
black tape
wire crimpers with assorted ends
wire taps for 18 gauge wire
phillips screwdriver
OK, start by taking the trim piece off that goes around your inside door handle. Only one screw holds it in. You will also have to take your door panel off, now would be a good time.
Take your 1/4 inch drill bit and drill a hole in your trim piece, pop in your LED holder *note, the pic below shows the LED already installed*
Next, solder about an 18 inch wire lead to the positive lead of the LED, the longer wire on the LED is the positive lead.
Solder about an 8 inch lead to the negative lead of the LED.
Next, install the LED in to the hole you drilled, bend the LED wire leads over and tape them down with to the back of the trim piece with black tape. This will keep you from moving the rigid LED leads around and breaking them off....I learned the hard way and had to make another trip to Radio Shack to pick up more LEDs.
Now to wiring it in.
For power, I chose to use a wire from the wire harness that powers the window switch LEDs. In the pic below, it is the green wire being held out by my index finger.
I used one these wire taps below to tap the power lead in to the green wire
Once that wire is tapped go ahead and run your ground. I grounded mine to the bolt circled in red below.
And yes, for those of you observant enough to noice, that IS a penny holding my door speaker in. I didn't have washer and I didnt want to run to the store, so I drilled through a penny and used it as a washer!.
OK, back to the mod. Now you can re-install your door panel. You will need to feed the trim piece with LED through the back side of the door panel though, but that's very easy to do.
When done, it should look like this
Keep in mind this pic is taken at eye level with the handle. In a normal driving position you can't see the LED itself, only a nice blue accent light that lights up the cavity the door handle is in.
Now for some tips.....
be careful with the LEDs. Bend their leads as little as possible so you don't break them. Once you do get your wire leads soldered on, be sure to tape them down like I mentioned above. It immobilizes the fragile LED leads and keeps them from breaking.
You can put the resistor anywhere you want on the positive lead. I soldered mine on down near where I tapped in to the green wire. I soldered 4 inch leads on both sides of the resistor and then crimped some insulated quick disconnect connectors on so I can quickly detach the positive wire if needed. I also put black tape around the resistor so none of the metal leads were exposed.
As far as LED brightness, that will be up to you. I used a 2600 mcd LED. I have yet to drive it at night, but I don't think it will be ditracting. When I turned the lights off in my garage and sat in a driving position, it did not seem to distract me.
10-26-2003, 06:46 AM
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LED shining through ashtray
Hey black tibby!
I was thinking about your mod, and i was wondering how to install a blue LED in the little ashtray window(on the inside top of the ashtray).
Would the installation be somewhat the same as you have here?
also what exactly is the "wire tap"? is this totally nessesary?
I was thinking about your mod, and i was wondering how to install a blue LED in the little ashtray window(on the inside top of the ashtray).
Would the installation be somewhat the same as you have here?
also what exactly is the "wire tap"? is this totally nessesary?
10-26-2003, 07:35 AM
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Vehicle: 2010 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
The wiretap is used so you don't have to cut and splice. It spears into the hot wire, bringing electricity over to your wire. I posted a suggestion over at your other post on the subject.
11-02-2003, 11:14 PM
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Location: Bellevue, Washington/Los Angeles, California
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I did this mod with Red, but I don't really like how it turned out. I'm going to give it a week to see if I decide to keep it or not. My red LED doesn't really light up the door handle, it just makes a red circle. Maybe I'll figure out how to make it look better. We'll see
11-03-2003, 04:18 PM
#8
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They sell LEDS with different dispersements on them. I think what would be best is one of lazer led clusters you can buy. There are three leds in one housing side by side, all with different dispersements.
11-03-2003, 05:52 PM
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Vehicle: 2001/Hyundai/Tiburon
are you talking about these java http://xoxide.com/bluledligkit.html. dont you sell them?
ooooh, sale price at 2.99, gonna pick me up some. laugh.gif
ooooh, sale price at 2.99, gonna pick me up some. laugh.gif
