Interior LED Brightness Issue

[Michblaze02]

I just put some high output interior leds in all of my overhead lights which are crazy bright when I turn them all using the knob or opening the door, but when I push the button on the light housing itself to have just one come on its no where near as bright . I assume there must be some sort of voltage output difference between when they all come on and when you hit the button on the light for just one to come on. Is there a way to fix this, or is it just the way it is.

 

[STLtrailbSS]

Welcome to the club I still have not seen a fix for this, who knows if its even a reasonable fix. Just got to turn them all on and show them off.

 

[jimmyjam]

i haven't done it yet but i'm pretty sure adding a capacitor to the circuit would make it better. don't ask me what value though, i don't know. i think when you press the button the bcm is feeding it a pwm signal at whatever duty cycle to give you less light as to not distract you too much while driving. you want to even that signal out because you are essentially getting a high frequency strobe effect from the led where as a bulb would just be slightly dimmer.

 

[DFWWIZ]

i haven't done it yet but i'm pretty sure adding a capacitor to the circuit would make it better. don't ask me what value though, i don't know. i think when you press the button the bcm is feeding it a pwm signal at whatever duty cycle to give you less light as to not distract you too much while driving. you want to even that signal out because you are essentially getting a high frequency strobe effect from the led where as a bulb would just be slightly dimmer.

good analogy...there is a difference in the power coming to the lights-full power when the knob is used or the door opens, but less power when just a dome is selected for reading. I suspect it has something to do with which source triggers the lights to come on via the BCM. Its similar to when you go with smds for turn signals and need to add a resistor with a value of 6 ohms 50 watts.

 

[Michblaze02]

Hmm, doesn't sound good. Its not a huge deal as my wife is the only one who may use the light from time, but would be nice to get rid of the dimmer light somehow. She does read or correct her kids school papers sometimes on the road when heading to our summer home, and with the output from these new lights its probably still not quite enough.

 

[jimmyjam]

Its similar to when you go with smds for turn signals and need to add a resistor with a value of 6 ohms 50 watts.

its not similar to that at all. that is for supplying the flasher with the correct feedback to bypass its bad bulb detection

it is equivocal to the DRL issue where the bcm is outputting a square wave. an incandescent bulb has thermal inertia so it just looks dimmer. this signal was not intended to run a coil relay, hid ballast, or led, so you have to compensate.

 

[SBUBandit]

mine do the same, but I am actually glad they do. If I were driving in full dark and someone turned on the dome lights at full brightness, I wouldn't be able to see a thing on the road. Not sure which lights you used, but even at the dimmer setting, they seem dim during the day, but at night are still plenty bright, although no one in my car is trying to correct papers.

 

[Short Bus]

I just put some high output interior leds in all of my overhead lights which are crazy bright when I turn them all using the knob or opening the door, but when I push the button on the light housing itself to have just one come on its no where near as bright . I assume there must be some sort of voltage output difference between when they all come on and when you hit the button on the light for just one to come on. Is there a way to fix this, or is it just the way it is.

What LEDs do you have? Are they really high output or did the listing/add/package call them high output to sell more?

mine do the same, but I am actually glad they do. If I were driving in full dark and someone turned on the dome lights at full brightness, I wouldn't be able to see a thing on the road. Not sure which lights you used, but even at the dimmer setting, they seem dim during the day, but at night are still plenty bright, although no one in my car is trying to correct papers.

 

[DFWWIZ]

What LEDs do you have? Are they really high output or did the listing/add/package call them high output to sell more?

In regards to what is "high" output is subject to interpretation by each individual, it can vary. I have LEDs that vary, from what I call a 5 scale, that go from 1-5 with 5 being brightest. That bulb would be my Cree 168/194/921 type. There are different types of smds like 1210 which is small, to 3528 which is med and then 5050 which is large.... then you add in the Cree microcircuit and its off the chart bright! And then throw in how many SMDs you put on a single bulb or whether they are single or multi-directional.

http://www.wix.com/dfwizleds/leds#!

 

[MacMan]

I just put some high output interior leds in all of my overhead lights which are crazy bright when I turn them all using the knob or opening the door, but when I push the button on the light housing itself to have just one come on its no where near as bright . I assume there must be some sort of voltage output difference between when they all come on and when you hit the button on the light for just one to come on. Is there a way to fix this, or is it just the way it is.

I discovered this a few years ago after installing LED interior lights. If you flip down your sun visor slightly, and open the vanity mirror cover so the little light goes on for even a second, then the interior LED's will come on at full brightness when pushing the button.

Discovered this purely by accident, and as far as I know, no one has come up with the reason why it does it, or a fix for it. I guess you just have to open the vanity mirror for a second every time you get in the truck at night.

 

[Michblaze02]

What LEDs do you have? Are they really high output or did the listing/add/package call them high output to sell more?

Here is what I got, they are deff high output. 5K WHITE 6 LED HIGH OUTPUT BULBS W/ HEAT SINK 194 168 158 | 1 PAIR

I discovered this a few years ago after installing LED interior lights. If you flip down your sun visor slightly, and open the vanity mirror cover so the little light goes on for even a second, then the interior LED's will come on at full brightness when pushing the button.

Discovered this purely by accident, and as far as I know, no one has come up with the reason why it does it, or a fix for it. I guess you just have to open the vanity mirror for a second every time you get in the truck at night.

That's interesting, too bad mine doesn't visor lights to check this out with

 

[Short Bus]

Here is what I got, they are deff high output. 5K WHITE 6 LED HIGH OUTPUT BULBS W/ HEAT SINK 194 168 158 | 1 PAIR

Try these, then tell us if you still think they're high output.

[EBAY]280846300402[/EBAY]

I could be wrong, but I think they'll change your definition of high output.

 

[SBUBandit]

Try these, then tell us if you still think they're high output.

[EBAY]280846300402[/EBAY]

I could be wrong, but I think they'll change your definition of high output.

Same ones I have. I put 2 in the back, so total of 6

 

[Michblaze02]

Try these, then tell us if you still think they're high output.

[EBAY]280846300402[/EBAY]

I could be wrong, but I think they'll change your definition of high output.

Do those fit behind the plastic light housing for the interior lights?

 

[SBUBandit]

Do those fit behind the plastic light housing for the interior lights?

Yep, I have the same ones. I used 6. get yourself a pack of thin zipties, and what I did was plugged each one in and wrapped a ziptie around the back of the reflector to hold it in place. In the cargo light, I fit two side by side, and used some of the foam they come packed in to fill the dead space behind them to hold them still. They are BRIGHT. I also finally installed those LED strips I showed you at last years show under the doors.

This of course is on an 06, while your domes are above the doors right? Someone else will have to confirm that they fit in those housings, but if so the number you'd use would be very bright

 

[Short Bus]

Yep, I have the same ones. I used 6. get yourself a pack of thin zipties, and what I did was plugged each one in and wrapped a ziptie around the back of the reflector to hold it in place. In the cargo light, I fit two side by side, and used some of the foam they come packed in to fill the dead space behind them to hold them still. They are BRIGHT. I also finally installed those LED strips I showed you at last years show under the doors.

This of course is on an 06, while your domes are above the doors right? Someone else will have to confirm that they fit in those housings, but if so the number you'd use would be very bright

I have the same setup, installed the same way.

36 LED panel on the left, 5 SMD LED bulb on the right

 

[SBUBandit]

I have the same setup, installed the same way.

Couldn't remember who I stole the idea from, now we know

 

[cartman57]

I discovered this a few years ago after installing LED interior lights. If you flip down your sun visor slightly, and open the vanity mirror cover so the little light goes on for even a second, then the interior LED's will come on at full brightness when pushing the button.

Discovered this purely by accident, and as far as I know, no one has come up with the reason why it does it, or a fix for it. I guess you just have to open the vanity mirror for a second every time you get in the truck at night.

Tried it this morning in the garage, sure enough, the map light went to full brightness!! Didn't matter which vanity mirror was opened both map lights were bright as if the door is opened or interior switch is turned on. Very odd.

 

[Tarnished]

If I activate one of my front lights, it initially comes on alot dimmer than normal. But if I also click one of my rear lights, it comes on at full brightness.

 

[DFWWIZ]

What is the purpose of going to SRCK with tail lights and the 3157 bulbs? I'm trying to understand why the manufacturers did this? And SRCK has both positives on one side of the tail of the SRCK bulb where as the regular 3157 has both negs opposite each other on one end of the bulb and both positives opposite each other on the other end of the bulb. I don't get it other than they wanted to sell more bulbs.

1156 1157 3156 3157 7440 7443 LED Turn Signal Light Bulbs Troubleshooting

 

[kardain]

What is the purpose of going to SRCK with tail lights and the 3157 bulbs? I'm trying to understand why the manufacturers did this? And SRCK has both positives on one side of the tail of the SRCK bulb where as the regular 3157 has both negs opposite each other on one end of the bulb and both positives opposite each other on the other end of the bulb. I don't get it other than they wanted to sell more bulbs.

1156 1157 3156 3157 7440 7443 LED Turn Signal Light Bulbs Troubleshooting

Or cheaper/easier to assemble a CK socket than standard. The terminals appear to be made as one string then cut as needed (I've torn down more than a few ck sockets to repin as standard). Why make 4 cuts when 3 will do?

via Tapatalk

 

[DFWWIZ]

I just took apart the Cree 3157 bulb to see if it could be switched to the SRCK configuration. The negative wires are both on one end of the bulb's tail and the positive is over on the other end of the tail with one wire having a small resistor inline for the dim circuit. I just don't see the logic of it.

 

[SBUBandit]

If I activate one of my front lights, it initially comes on alot dimmer than normal. But if I also click one of my rear lights, it comes on at full brightness.

Tried this last night, doesn't work for mine. I can turn on all four with the push buttons and they all are on dim. Odd how they work differently, but like I said, I kinda like the dim setting if someone uses one while I am driving around at night

 

[jimmyjam]

What is the purpose of going to SRCK with tail lights and the 3157 bulbs? I'm trying to understand why the manufacturers did this? And SRCK has both positives on one side of the tail of the SRCK bulb where as the regular 3157 has both negs opposite each other on one end of the bulb and both positives opposite each other on the other end of the bulb. I don't get it other than they wanted to sell more bulbs.

the entire point of this thread: this car is designed to use incandescent bulbs. whatever polarity is easier to lay out on the tail light board is what it is. polarity is irrelevant, the 3157 filament bulbs are the same no matter the polarity. they aren't selling LED lights nor do they care about people who are.

its like bitching about why you can't just add wings to your car and make it fly... because it wasn't intended or designed to

 

[DFWWIZ]

the entire point of this thread: this car is designed to use incandescent bulbs. whatever polarity is easier to lay out on the tail light board is what it is. polarity is irrelevant, the 3157 filament bulbs are the same no matter the polarity. they aren't selling LED lights nor do they care about people who are.

its like bitching about why you can't just add wings to your car and make it fly... because it wasn't intended or designed to

Wait and see what type of lighting is in every car with in 2 years.