Interior Light

[Adam Evans]

I know this has been discussed to death here but I have found these little "eagle eyes"

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-Car-DIY-1-8Cm-9W-500-Lumen-Waterproof-Eagle-Eye-LED-Daytime-Running-Brake/2051463351.html

I was wondering if anybody has fitted them and do they dim like the standard dome lamp dims ?

[tarquin]

Yes Adam. I fit them all the time yjey used to be 1.3cm but are now 1.8 so require a fair bit of rework to get them to fit. Also requires component changes on the circuit board

David

[Adam Evans]

I was thinking more of fitting them as an addition to the centre light like this:

I think soldering them onto the circuit board of the centre light might be a bit too small for me to work with !

[tarquin]

I can tell you where to eire them to the dome light via a DC socket for ease of install. And will give the functionality of the switches and operation of the dome light including the fade in fade out

David

[simpip122]

thinking of doing something like this myself but which wires do i connect in the light.

[tarquin]

Hi

I know this fitting extreemly well and have been doing upgrades on it for about 3yrs now

The white plug has 3 connections. The centre black one is a permenant live with ignition off. One white wire is a permenant negative. The other white is a negative also but is controlled via the ECU for putting the light on when switched to door mode and will illuminate when when approaching the car ( smart entry) or the doors are opened. The small size red and white wires come from the LED capsule and the 3 180 ohm resistors are all in series with the module. There is also a 1N4001 diode in series to isolate the circuit from the rest of the wiring. What do you want to do.?

I do a Led upgrade from 1/4w to 1.5W and bring the LED forward which increases the beam angle so most of the front cockpit is illuminated and a portion of the rear. Also a kit to extend lighting into the rear controlled from the dome light

David

[Adam Evans]

What is the voltage of the replacement LED that you use please

Thanks

[tarquin]

12 but you need to fit a further load resistor as the Chinese are a little economical with the truth ans 13.8-14v kills them

David

[simpip122]

so if i solder my two led strip lights to the two white wires is that right. or better still how much does cost for this job.

[tarquin]

Not quite. first you have to have the diode i mentioned earlier in series with your strip. If your going to use strip you need to know the current it is consuming. The IN4001 diode is really only good to 1A . You will need a 1N4007 fof 3 A. Also the black and white cables go that go into the dome light is where the switching takes place. If you only wanted the strip to illuminate when the door is opened and times out, you need to connect the + via the diode to the black wire and the negative to one of the white wires. One is permenant negative so your strip will be on all the time and the other is controlled via the ECU and will illuminate your strip when the door is opened and then times out. If you want to know cost of modifications pm me

If you are using strip you will need a series load resistor as they dont often take kindly to exceeding 12v i.e 13.8 14.2v. Some strip can be as much as 18watts per metre making that 1.5A per mtr The circuit is protected by a 15A fuse

David

[Adam Evans]

Changed my interior light tonight to a more beefed up LED

The light output is so much better

The photos are of the light output afterwards, unfortunately I did not take any before photos for comparison

[tarquin]

What does it look like

David

[Adam Evans]

What does what look like ?

The LED I replaced it with was a cree on a star aluminium heat sink

I then filed it down to size and fitted it back into its original housing - won't go into too much of the detail but it works and looks like a factory one !

[Adam Evans]

Thanks for all of the help David - I owe you a large beer

[tarquin]

Cheers The problem with replacing the led capsule with a more powerful led is that from my understanding you have fitted it in much the same location as the original which means your suffering still from one of the original problems in that its buried far back in the fitting and giving a narrow beam angle. So although its brighter it is only in one spot so you still have to keep pointing it around to see anything

David

[Adam Evans]

Decided to do another adjustment to my interior light

I was looking at it before and it suddenly dawned on me that unlike a torch the surround of the led isn't shiny or chrome

So I thought that I can change it with some sticky aluminium tape !!!

Angled from the side not in view of the LED - can see its reflecting quite well

In total view of the LED

I will test it when its dark to see what the difference is like

[tarquin]

Adam you need to bring the LED forward to increase the beam angle. With thr reflector you will increase the lux level but it will not illuminate any more of the ***** pit

David

[badaboum]

Guys

I am a french IQ owner.

I have upgraded the dome light by switching the bulb to a Cree one. Pretty easy but require some precision

Now I would like to add a light at the back, fairly close to the trunk.

Any idea where I could get the juice from? I tried to wire a cable from the dome light = impossile, there is some kind of a beam in the middle that blocks everything

Thanks for your help

Rami

[tarquin]

You can take a power feed from the dome circuit and fit a DC connector. For example a 2.5mm one. Then the best way i have found is to open the passenger door and peel back the top part of the rubber seal around the door frame and using stiff wire like a metal coat hanger opened out or thick copper wire, you can pull a pair of cable from the dome "hole" and bring them out of the gap beteeen the roof lining and the roof. Then open tbe back and peel the rubber off the top of the opening. Now slide the stiff wire inside the roof lining along the side of the car to miss the cross member in the roof, until it comes out between the roof lining and the roof at the rear. I have photo's that i use when i supply a dome mod kit. If you want i can send tbem to you. Pm me an email address

David

[badaboum]

David

Thanks for the reply

I'am going indeed be looking for those pic

I'll pm you my email adress

Thanks!!

[tarquin]

Sent them late last night. Hope you got tbem ok

David