http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htm

I just found that kick ass site, I was in process of writing my version of LED Basics, but this site did it x10 the better!!

I will link this to every LED DIY's I post up as a basic read and understanding of LED and how they work with currents.

Happy DIYs,

mad-ass

Another link.

http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz
LED calculator for single LEDs.

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz
LED series/parallel array wizard

This calculator allows you to calculate the right resistence of resistor you'll be using.

Keep in mind that for LED's, you'll need a 1/4 watt resistor, NOT 1/2 watt, i repeat, not 1/2 watt.


Source voltage: your source voltage, for any car, it'll be 12V most of times unless you run it off from some other filtered source.

diode forward voltage:

IR 1.5v
red 2.0v
orange 2.0v
yellow 2.1v
green 2.2v
true green 3.3v
blue 3.3v
white 3.3v
UV 3.3v

diode forward current (mA): I have never delt with any other LED's other then 20mAs, and I am 98% positive that you'll get 20mA LEDs from any store.

Here is site that I order my LED needs from.

http://www.besthongkong.com

their resistors are the cheapest I've seen so far , prices on LED's are average.[$0.12~$0.18 each]

I usually try to find a group buy deal for LEDs, but if not, I order from them.
takes about a week or so to have the package infront of your door.

Happy DIY, mad-ass

mad-ass's Personal LED Info's.



all your helogen bulbs are powered up with 12V power source, to light up your LED to full use, use 1/4 watt 435 Ohm, but since you can't find those, use 470 Ohm resistors.

most of you have alot of questions about "is this the right resistor?".

the answer is[this has been answered already above], anything higher then 470 Ohm resistor will work if your power source is 12V, which you don't have to worry about in any car you will be working on.

higher Ohm rated resistors will light the LED's, but not to it's full use.

How long do LED's last? if you leave it on for 24/7 for about ooh, 2 years, they'll go dim. that's right, LED's don't "snap" like your good old helogen bulbs, they simply don't have the coils to snap, so instead, their brightness dims over period of time of useage. so don't worry about how long these things will last.

resistor current flow matters!!!
Resistor Calculator for LED's from MetkuMods, click here
when you punch in all your info[mostly, 12v as supply power, 3.3V as voltage drop to LEDs, 20 for Desired LED Current] you should see a picture of the resistor color stripes. with 470 ohm resistor showing, you see the yellow stripped side faces "left" on your screen. that side of the wire from the resistor will connect to the LED's + wire.

LED's positive[+] wire : |solder here| : yellow, violet, brown stripes : <-- 12V current flow

EDIT: I just got corrected with my own information
The current flow on the Resistors DOES NOT MATTER, so that's less headach for everyone.
and also, resistors can withstand the heat very well, unlike LED's, so no worry about over heating the resistor when you are soldering.

my personal tips.

-do not make a contact with the resistor/LED with your soldering iron more then 3 sec, as the heat will reduce their life span, I had this happen to me just last night, but it lasted for good year and half before anything happened.
-LED/resistors hate heat! especially the kind of heat it resorbs from the soldering iron!
-make sure you make a good contact with all the surfaces, your soldered area should be shiny, not dull. if it's dull colored, desolder it off and resolder with good clean/clear contact of wires to wires.

here is a circute bord for 2002 honda accord LX manual climax control's.


and some of my work, sorry don't have pics of the retrofitted LED's itself








any questions, hit me up on AIM.

I answred these following questions including one above for www.V6Performance.net people.
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LED's brightness is not measured like helogen bulbs, as an example.

70watt bulb is brighter then 40watt bulb and also takes more energy.

but on LED's, they all use the same amount of power, well they do but nothing major. so don't worry about the resistor 's resistence and the brighness.

so the answer to your question, yes it will be different because first of all, they are different MCD rated LED's, and also the difference in the power they are getting fed with.

which one is brighter? don't know, but will they last long as hell? yes, and this goes to all LED's.

you have to use 3mm LED's on..

Clock
cruise control
sunroof
fog light

as their sockets are small, so the 5mm LED will not fit through the socket hole, but you can use 5mm, if you grind it down with a bench motor.

and use 5mm LED on everything else

yes indeed, all my LED's that are put into my car are sanded down

but since I used white, it shows up alot more then blue LED would.

the first pic i posted, you'll see that there are two bulbs to light the whole two roles of buttons, but since LED only points one direction, unlike the helogen bulb where it shines 360degrees, it creates hotspot.

solution to this?

put LED behind eash buttons, but that is kinda tricky as there isn't much space in there, but I do not have that car in my possesion any more, so I am not worried, but if i happen to pick up another 6th gen accord later, i am dead serious i'll post up some sort of DIY for this

now, I did have to remove the filters behind all the buttons to make it shine "white", if not, it will shine blue even with the white LED in there.

but good thing about white led's..you can change their color with touch of sharpy

and yes, you can chage the color back with nail polish

PS. sharpy colors will not give same color you get from blue, red or any other color LED's true color.

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