AllblackTibby:
V=IR - Ohm's law
Voltage = Current*Resistance

As far as your question about not using a resistor. I DON'T Recommend it.
The Car voltage is around 12Volts give or take 1volt.
The LEDs that you used were 3.7V (forward) & 20mA (milliamps) which means that the voltage that gets dropped (Voltage goes NOWHERE, CURRENT FLOWS, Voltage does not.... sorry stupid electronics prof stuck that in my head,... anyway,...) across the LEDs must be no more than 3.7V & current flow no more than 20mA (milliamps). So the OEM resistor has the amount of 2000ohms, or 2kohms.
(using Resistor color code calculator Red Black Red - There are other sites that tell you which each color band means, but this was the easiest to use) as in your picture.
So 12V / 2k Ohms = .006Amps (current) or 6mA. Which is within spec of the LEDs so they don't blow. Basically that's how you can figure it out.

[ February 10, 2003, 12:43 PM: Message edited by: KayJai ]

 

AllBlackTibby-
I used the same ones that were at radioshack, 3.7V 20ma, I only did my window switches rite now, going to be doing the recircualtion button, A/C, Cruise, and rear defroster buton over the summer.

 

Bio: The air and recirc button, you can use the same LEDs but as for the fogs and rear defrost, you can't change the LEDs
Use some gauges covers from Autometer.com part #3207.
The OEM covers are green (fogs)and yellow (rear defrost)
Here's a pic of the Fog switch apart:

(Pic is courtesy of Todd, another 1st gen owner, who is selling his Tib, Click here , I learnt ALOT from him)
Anyway, you don't have to go as far as taking apart everything like that. Just twist off the black part which has the light / lamp in it. Then replace the green cover with your choice of colors from Autometer. I've got the blue ones from them. I just haven't had time to rip apart my dash again to work on it. I also changed the A/C button LED to blue, (from a spare one I got from J@WS01) and will be replacing the LEDs in the Recirc button all at once when I have time.
So yeah to sum it up:
- Air & recirc / fresh air are LEDs and you can use the same LEDs with the same specs as the ones for the window switches.
- The fog and rear defrost button, you need covers. Get them from Autometer.com and do a search for part #3207. You can probably get them from your local store that carries autometer gauges, they can order them in for you. I got mine at a local "PartsSource" store.

 

Bio, to follow up on the AC button, here are some pix and such.
Here are the autometer gauge covers for the fog and defrost, part #3207:


Here is the AC button with the blue LED installed:


Here is the back of the AC switch.
There is a lamp in the middle you have to take out first, just like in the fog light switch above, just twist it off BEFORE you take the 4 clips that are on the side of the AC switch. Or else if you forget you might break it when you have the clips taken off.


Here is the pinout on the back of the AC switch so you can just hook up a 9V to test your LED, before putting it back into the dash.
Green wire is Ground
Orange wire is +V (12 from your car, 9 from the 9V battery)



From what I can remember, once you have the AC switch apart, after twisting off the lamp and taking the 4 clips off on the sides (2 a side) It's pretty straight forward from there. From what I can remember, the OEM Green LED's leads are bent at a 90 degree angle. All you have to do is do the same to your replacment Blue LED and solder it in and assemble it back.

Hope that helps

Oh yeah, I haven't done the recirc / fresh air button yet, since I don't have a spare one of those, but I would assume it would be VERY similar, just with 2 LEDS (for 1st gens, 2nd gens only had 1 LED for the button)

smile.gif

[ February 12, 2003, 10:57 AM: Message edited by: KayJai ]

 

I'm in the middle of doing the LED mod and right now im' working on the passenger side first. Well, it seems that a 5mm LED is TOO LARGE to fit under the rocker switch. It'll tip forward but not bacward. I'm in the middle of shaving it now but i guess the rockers sit higher on the drivers side since it worked as posted earlier in this thread. I'll keep yall up to date. Just gotta finish this side..

EDIT Never mind, i'm a dumb *** . It fits fine, somehow the switch got stuck going the other way. *doh* suicide Well, i hope this LED is okay, its kinda uh... hmm ....shaved. yum. lol

[ February 12, 2003, 12:07 PM: Message edited by: Koreandude ]

 

Koreandude,

The 5mm WILL fit on both sides with no modifications. If your rocker switch isn't working then it's not the bulb. If the bulb is on flush and straight then it's the switch. It did the same thing to me when I did the drivers side. Look down inside the tiny slit, you will see 2 plastic lines going across. These are actually grooves that the long piece on the rocker switch sit in. If they are not centered, you will get the problems you are having. I stuck a needle down there and moved them back to center, rocker worked with no probs. I hope this makes sense.

[ February 12, 2003, 12:06 PM: Message edited by: AllBlackTibby ]

 

Thanks for all the info, this will really help me out when I get the chance to get rip my dash apart again and do these lights and redo my gauge lights. Thanks again bro.

 

Yeah baby, it looks and works great now!! Yeah while i was grinding away i thought about it...if you made the drivers side work there shouldn't be a reason why the passenger side wouldn't... thats why i stopped. I just jiggled the rocker switch and it finally cooperated. This is probably easier than hooking up and placing my neons in the car (I've arranged them so you can't see them until their on). I'm sure it was probably easier for me since i work in a lab (my little off the side project hopefully no one noticed tongue.gif ).
BTW, i took a look at the resistors and they're at 3000 ohms (3k ohms, Orange/Black/Red) which ends up giving the LED a 4 mA current. These guys can take 20mA so i suppose if you wanted to take it to the limit swap it for a 600 ohm (Purple/Black/Brown) which will slam it at 20mA (12v/600Ohm=.020A or 20mA). Probably brighter but might shorten the life of the LED. Anyway, happy modding.

EDIT oh yeah, forgot to mention that you don't have to remove the whole door panel to pop these guys out. Just remove the screw that holds the handle cover which you then remove (pull out on the handle makes room for it to come out) and use your fingers to push on the bottom of the window switch unit. The passenger side is much easier to do (less switches 'n stuff than drivers side) so i hope this helps.

[ February 12, 2003, 12:36 PM: Message edited by: Koreandude ]

 

hey guys I did the air button on my girls tibby and it looks great. I also did the recirc button with two LEDs. Here's the problem. When the headlights are off durring the day neither lights in the recirc button work. And when on at night, only the left of the two turns on. Here's something else that was wierd. When I turn on the headlights, the air button dims to a lower intesity, while the recirc button comes on with all its glory (a little too bright at night).

I'll take a pic of this when it gets dark tonight.
Do you think it was just too much power or what?

 

i did my 3 window switches lastnight. took me like 30mins for the 3 lights. i dont know if the lights should be this bright but it looks better then i thought it would. great job at the DIY guide guys!