So I found this write up on swaping the window switch's with LED's, and I would like to do this mod. Was wondering if any of you knew of a reputable place to buy them from and not pay too much? Ebay maybe? I think it can be 3mm or 5mm LED's. The LED business links I've tried are all dead. Here is the write-up.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/479058...-maxima/page-3


This seems like a good deal but maybe its crap? http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-x-3mm-2-...item336bac069a

 

You might want to get ahold of Amerikaner83. He does this type of work and at a great price to.

 

stay away from Ebay, imo.

You need 3mm LEDs for the window switches. If you aren't good at soldering I highly recommend practicing on stuff that's not as important as your window switches, or buy an extra one.

If the master window switch gets damaged, you need to get a new one. No power windows or power doors work without the master switch.

I purchase all my LEDs from superbrightleds.com (except for the door/map/domes, those are ok to get on ebay...the LED arrays)

PM replied

 

Don't forget to get desoldering wire, Rosin flux and a suction tool.

 

also look for the writeup on here by tunermaxima

 

25 Watt kit similar to this



And I'd advise against doing the rear switches like he posted in that DIY, that is a mess. Try to always do stuff so you can re-vert to OEM if necessary, or at least, to the quality of oem.

LED's are a safest best from Superbrightleds.com as Americaner said, otherwise you're playing trial and error. I can offer one solid source via ebay, this is good stuff:

http://stores.ebay.com/Wellton-Super...=p4634.c0.m322

Recommend this for the window switches, looks like you want white:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50x-Super-Br...item1c1c1137e5

And just get the resistors from him also, 560k
You only need resistors for the rear switches, and MAYBE the front passenger, depending on the manufacture date of the car, etc.

 

Very nice TunerMax, so the rear switches are a pain in the a$$ compared to the front?

Where would be a good place to get a cheap soldering kit from? Radio shack, home depot?

Is brightness of 6000-6500mcd pretty good? I don't want anything too bright, but brighter than stock is good.

 

with any LEds you'll get super brightness compared to stock. For my window switches (white) they were disctractingly bright, so i put a tiny blule bulb cover on them. Toned down nicely.

You can always do stuff to make them dimmer without resoldering...but if you want them brighter you can't do it without messing with something.

(sand the bulb and put white-out on it to make it dimmer)

 

ok great, I may end up just getting some blue LED's then so I don't have to deal with distracting bright white's.

 

blue can still be hellabright, depending on which ones you get too...

 

And what size resistor as well, correct? BTW, mine are amazing.

 

speaking of blue LEDs...

Yes, the resistor determines teh amount of current that flows through the LED. The more current, the brighter the LED.

Your dimmer switch acts as a variable resistance...turn dimmer switch one way, raise the resistance which lowers the current which in turn lowers the brightness of the LEDs in the circuit. (The dimmer can also do the same thing by controlling the voltage to the circuit as well. If the resistance of the circuit is teh same, controlling the voltage controls the curent, in turn, since V=IR (voltage equals current multiplied by resistance). Voltage and current are tied together with resistance. A change in one will change others accordingly.

edit - but you can't just to all ape-shiit on the current, since the LEDs themselves have a maximum. Tread too close to the maximum and you could shorten the effective lifespan of the LED. Go too little current and it appears dim, like the OEM ones.

And as if that weren't enough, you've got "viewing angle" to worry about as well. Most LEDs look super bright when looking directly at the end of the LED. Rotate the thing a little bit and it's not as bright. The higher the viewing angle, the more you can turn the LED and still have it appear bright.

 

I need to get some LED's in the gauges in my diesel truck as well, but I'm not sure how to figure out which ones I need. Compared to my new ones which are LED backlit, the original Banks gauges are dead looking unless it's literally pitch black outside...Then I must do the red lights behind the gauges of the Mazda P5 as well.