Led Interior problem + pics
 

I tried to install leds in door light, but got a strange problem.

The leds light up when the door is closed and open which doesn't make sense.

When I put a regular bulb in it, it lights up only with door open.
I even tried to stick a led directly into harness connector, and it lights up with closed door too.

I connected 3 flat top 5000 mcd leds with 1 resistor.

Please let me know what I did wrong ; I don't have experience with leds and soldering.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...9/IMG_5301.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...9/IMG_5303.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...9/IMG_5304.jpg

is the light equally bright with the door open and closed?

It gets a little bit dim when I open the door. But there's no significant difference.

did you try plugging the array directly to the harness?

and on a side note, i would run the leds in series rather than parallel.

I didn't plug the array directly, but I inserted one led directly into the harness and it was on with door open and closed.

I noticed that the original bulb connectors are located on opposite sides of the bulb base , like + on the bottom and - on the top flat side.

On my led board the positive and negative connectors are wraped around the holes and touch the base connectors on both sides (see pics 2,3).

man it's hard for me to visualize and trouble shoot. sorry. what i can tell you is you need to redesign your array, but that isn't the problem.

Redesign it like that ?

* * *
* * *

Are they going to last longer that way ? I mean what's the difference between running series and parallel ?

right now i'm fairly sure your leds are being overdriven. the way you have it is parallel leds in series with a resistor. i would have to do some refreshing to figure out the numbers.

you're array should look like this:

+----|>|----|>|----|>|---/\/\/----+

a proper parallel array would look like this (resistor on each led):

+----|>|---/\/\/----+
+----|>|---/\/\/----+
+----|>|---/\/\/----+

series wiring will also distribute spikes across more components, lowering the chance for premature failure.

:sprint:

it sounds like the problem i was having as well, but i just kinda gave up.
i think i had junk leds tho so that didn't really help. possibly it's not the correct resistor?

They are not going to last longer. The difference comes in how bright they are when they light up

"azsnap" did it , but he had a more powerful resistor. should I use 1/4w resistor for each bulb ?

spike across 2 components vs. 4 can most definitely have an effect on lifespan.

a proper series circuit vs. a proper parallel cicuit will be equally bright.

I will try to modify my current 3 led setup and install a resistor for each led.
will see if it works ...

i don't even know what he was doin... judging buy the pics that's 15 parallel leds in series with a 1/2w resistor. i'm willing to bet his resistor was not sufficiently rated.

there's a difference between doing it right and doing something that may or may not work. it's really basic math and my suggestion is to understand it.

The only thing I don't get is why the door harness has power when the door is closed ?

that i can't really answer... my first guess would be the contacts you mentioned.

for the led beginners, this is something i bookmarked when i first started playing with leds (although i already had an understanding of electronics):

http://members.misty.com/don/ledd.html

Thanks bro

~Update~

I connected the led board directly to my other door harness and it works properly (off when doors closed). Also the leds seem to have more powerful light.

When I connect the led board to passenger door harness it lights up with door open and closed.

Also, I put the original bulb into the plastic base, connected it to the harness of pass. door, and it doesn't work at all now. I checked the other door and both the bulb and base work.

It didn't happen yesterday, so I don't know what's wrong with the harness. I don't see any damage in it.

Is there a way to take apart that door harness connector ?

You mean depin the connector that goes to the courtesy light?

Ok, I removed the door trim, cut off the connector wire (up to 1 1/2 feet), and checked the cut piece with a 9v battery - it works .
Then I tried to connect the original bulb to the remaining wire in the door, but it doesn't work.
When I connect my led board to the wire it lights up slightly (door open and closed).
I installed the board in driver door and it works perfectly.

I have no idea what's going on :bawling: , yesterday the bulb worked in passenger door ! (I tried different bulbs) , Did I create a short or something ?

Help :bowdown:

when i had a similar problem before, someone mentioned it could be a bad BCM due to the leds being soldered to the car's wiring. Maybe something like that happened, but I don't know if you did that. Just throwing it out there...

Matrix - I have the answer to your problem! I know this is going to sound weird, but whatever door is acting suspect, you need to change the window switch! Let me explain: Each door is controlled by the window switch. The switch is actually a main relay for all the electronics in the door. The window will still work, and the switch still lights, so you would NEVER think it was that! If you dont believe it, grab a switch off someone elses Maxima and try it first! The same exact thing happened to me, and what caused it was my plugging in my LED panel backwards at first. Very sensitive electronics in the switch. Let me know how you make out! ;)

Will the driver's window switch fit to the passenger side harness (just to check)?

The connectors appear to be the same, but I wouldn't count on it working properly.

Yeah he's right.

I've had problems with mine and it's kinda hit or miss. Both the switches I had ended up dying when I tried installing LED's. The second one died and I unplugged it for an hour came back plugged it in and it worked fine. Very strange.

No, they will not work from side to side..

You are absolutely right man !

I plugged the drivers side switch to the passenger side and the step light worked !

Is there anything I can do to repair the switch ? :confused:

It sucks to buy another switch because of fracking steplight leds. Also I'm not sure that the one I could get off ebay will work with the step light.

I guess your only option is to buy another switch if you want to make your leds work. :D

__________________
bug deflector

Make sure you have the LEDs plugged in the right way, and go get a switch from a boneyard.. will cost WAY less than from a dealer!

Glad I could help..

+1

Either a junkyard or from someone here will be MUCH cheaper. With a shop discount, the OEM switch was 96 dollars for me.

Let me know if you need one.. $45 shipped. PM me.

:eek:$45:eek:
I think I can live with one step light LOL

May be I can hook it up to the overhead light ?

Jeez...I just ran into the same problem with the door lights.
I just recently put leds in my window switches.
But that wasn't what made the voltage weird.
B4 I cut the door light harness, the multimeter read 12v when open and 0v when closed.
Now the voltage coming through with the door open is 4~5 volts and its 10~11v when its closed.
I first cut the driver side and it read a weird voltage. So on the passenger side, as soon as I cut the harness, i rewired the same harness right back to how it was. Then it became weird again.
I don't know what happened when I cut the door light harness, but I'm not convinced it is a problem with the window switch.
Thinking it was sensitive to the length of the wire, I lengthened the wire and the voltage moved up to 5~6 open and 12~13 closed.

Its so very strange, but its very frustrating. Has anyone tried hooking it up to the overhead light? I'm willing to do it if it works, I just don't want to pull my carpets up, run wire through my door wiring, just to find out its doing the same thing...

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

wow, so you're tellin me that everyone who ran into this problem just left their door lights off??? wat a waste...I'm still trying to figure it out..but not giving up yet..