LED Mod Thread

[Darkrider_LS]

I def need to start reading this thread more to get all the info I need to start ordering leds from my supplier to go led crazy in the trailblazer

 

[djthumper]

 

[DFWWIZ]

You really need to get the wiring diagrams and get yourself acquainted with them. All the info you need is in them.

Like the Hanes manuals, right?

 

[TexazReece]

I def need to start reading this thread more to get all the info I need to start ordering leds from my supplier to go led crazy in the trailblazer

I to will be reading through the thread. I need to know this stuff

 

[Blckshdw]

Like the Hanes manuals, right?

I was referring to Mooseman's PDF manuals, as there's 1 file for the wiring in our trucks showing what's connected to what, what color wires serve which functions, and all that. But the hard copy ones, or a subscription to AllDataDIY work too. If you're going to be doing electrical work at all, especially rigging your own mods, having and using a resource like that is a must.

 

[jstrut]

So I'm going to redo the LEDs in my driver door window controls, but after I cracked it back open, I'm not sure on how to make it better. Looking for ideas. Right now I've got wires coming up from the two contact points on the board through the blue silicone cover with 3 LEDs and resistors off each contact wire in parallel. That gives an led for each button. It's not bad it's just not the best way to do it I don't think. I'd like to use the strip lighting I have that I also used in my climate controls but I'm up for anything. Anybody with ideas or pics of how they did it would appreciated.

 

[Blckshdw]

Outside of the cluster strip mod, I think you're the pioneer in this department man. Your turn to feed our LED mod bugs!

My door modules are similar to yours, I considered redoing them and doubling up on the LEDs with 2 per button, but they really are as bright as I need them to be, and not be a distraction, plus cracking those things open is sort of a pain, so I leave well enough alone.

 

[jstrut]

Outside of the cluster strip mod, I think you're the pioneer in this department man. Your turn to feed our LED mod bugs!

My door modules are similar to yours, I considered redoing them and doubling up on the LEDs with 2 per button, but they really are as bright as I need them to be, and not be a distraction, plus cracking those things open is sort of a pain, so I leave well enough alone.

Well crap! I figured if any one had better setup or way of doing, it would be you. I tried sticking a piece to the inside lip where the lower section and the upper shroud part come together, but ther isn't enough clearance for it to snap shut. Back to the drawing board.

 

[jstrut]

Here is what i came up with...2 strips with 6 smd's per side. It may be a fail based on the look in the daylight. I'll see what it looks like at night but so far much dimmer than individual leds. Will probably have to crack it open again....

 

[Blckshdw]

There's no light shining at the button faces. Did you put the acrylic piece in there to try to refract some of the light up into the buttons? If not, they probably won't look much better at night than they do in the day.

 

[jstrut]

Its not that bad in the dark. The only problem is the window lock button gets no light. Oh well I'll figure that out some other time. Looks way more blue in person, the pic makes it look green

 

[PapaBear229]

Guys I got a problem. I have a 2002 with srcks in the front I ordered some of kevs switch backs and this is the second pair cause we though the first may have been defective. They're still blowing fuses. I'm not getting it :/

 

[Blckshdw]

The switchback bulbs are SRCK? I don't think I've seen anyone with an 02 with switchbacks that worked.

Do you have a test bench of any kind that you could test the bulbs to make sure the pins are where they are supposed to be? And of course a meter to see where the signals are coming from in the socket?

 

[PapaBear229]

I do not :/

 

[Blckshdw]

For LED mods, you can use a 9V battery and some scrap wire for testing. For a little more flexibility, and variable power output, I nabbed one of these off Ebay. Mutlimeters are pretty cheap, if you're going to be doing your own electrical mods, and at some point troubleshooting when your truck is having some unexpected behavior, there's really no excuse not to have one. You can grab one at most stores that sell tools of any kind.

 

[jstrut]

Also I believe a 500w computer power supply will put out 12volts. All you have to do connect any green wire to any ground wire in one off the harnesses and you get 12volts off the main power wire and any ground. Also I think you get variety of voltage off different wires but would take some testing as its been a while since I did mine and I don't remember the colors. If you've got one laying around its a cheap way to get a power supply.

 

[Blckshdw]

Also I believe a 500w computer power supply will put out 12volts. All you have to do connect any green wire to any ground wire in one off the harnesses and you get 12volts off the main power wire and any ground. Also I think you get variety of voltage off different wires but would take some testing as its been a while since I did mine and I don't remember the colors. If you've got one laying around its a cheap way to get a power supply.

That's what I used prior to my current setup, until it finally died on me.

 

[jstrut]

That's what I used prior to my current setup, until it finally died on me.

Mine is one that didn't function in a computer and would randomly shut off the CPU. They were just throwing them away at work and I got it for free. 2yrs and still going strong!

 

[Blckshdw]

Mine was more like 250W, but with LEDs anything that would have powered a PC at some point would be more than enough. I pulled mine from a junk parts bin, had to be 4 or 5 years old at the time. Gave me another 3 years before it crapped out.

 

[djthumper]

ummm any PC power supply will do 12V and should work for testing LEDs

 

[jstrut]

ummm any PC power supply will do 12V and should work for testing LEDs

You have to check the power ratings on the side because I've has a few that were like a 250watt and the rating on the side said it would only put out like 9 or 9.6v. I just remember the rating table on the side said a 500 would do 12.

 

[Blckshdw]

Even the lower rated PSUs have a 12V rail and a 5V rail. If it was only putting out 9V, then I think something was wrong with it.

 

[jstrut]

Well that's deffinitley a possibility because as I stated a few posts ago, when the price is free you don't tend to ask to many questions.

 

[Mark20]

Replaced all of the stock radio's lights with LEDs. Most of the original lights were burned out and it was getting annoying.

I used white LEDs with a built in dropping resistor from All Electronics. Catalog # LED-12W. I've got some hot spots but I am going to try to tone down the tops of the LEDs with either a Sharpie or some black model paint.

Now for the obligatory pix including a map of where the positive side is on each bulb.

I started by staring at the traces to each bulb andd realized they all went back to pins 2 aand 3 on the lower left connector. Hoping pin 2 was positive. I put one LED in, reassembled and tested in the Voy. I was rewarded with light. I buzzed out where positive went and marked up this photo.

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:313]

When putting the LEDs in the power/volume and info/tune knobs put the white plunger assembly in first then the LED. This will allow the plunger to move freely and not get hung up on the LED. Since the LED does not need a separate resistor, once you have clear holes in the PC board, the LED leads slide in pretty smoothly.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:314]

FInal result. The knobs and bottom row of buttons need to be toned down. The illumination on the preset buttons is good and not blinding.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:315]

 

[Sparky]

All properly working PC power supplies provide 12V, 5V, and 3.3V, no matter the wattage rating. Yellow is 12V, red is 5V, orange is 3.3V, black is ground. Some cheapo PSUs won't regulate the voltages properly until there is a minimum load (like 1A) on them, which is when you can end up with weird voltages. I used an old hard drive for that purpose until I got a little better supply to play with.

Green is PS_ON - you have to jumper that to a black wire to start the power supply.

Now if you go back in the old days and get an AT power supply, those use a mains power switch to turn on and off you almost always have to put a minimum load on those

 

[djthumper]

You have to check the power ratings on the side because I've has a few that were like a 250watt and the rating on the side said it would only put out like 9 or 9.6v. I just remember the rating table on the side said a 500 would do 12.

I have never seen one that runs full size drives list only 9.6 volts in my 35+ years of working in the IT field. Even the 85W PSU in some of the older Dell and Microns had a 12V and 5V rail.

Even the lower rated PSUs have a 12V rail and a 5V rail. If it was only putting out 9V, then I think something was wrong with it.

 

[dmanns67]

Replaced all of the stock radio's lights with LEDs. Most of the original lights were burned out and it was getting annoying.

I used white LEDs with a built in dropping resistor from All Electronics. Catalog # LED-12W. I've got some hot spots but I am going to try to tone down the tops of the LEDs with either a Sharpie or some black model paint.

Now for the obligatory pix including a map of where the positive side is on each bulb.

I started by staring at the traces to each bulb andd realized they all went back to pins 2 aand 3 on the lower left connector. Hoping pin 2 was positive. I put one LED in, reassembled and tested in the Voy. I was rewarded with light. I buzzed out where positive went and marked up this photo.



When putting the LEDs in the power/volume and info/tune knobs put the white plunger assembly in first then the LED. This will allow the plunger to move freely and not get hung up on the LED. Since the LED does not need a separate resistor, once you have clear holes in the PC board, the LED leads slide in pretty smoothly.


FInal result. The knobs and bottom row of buttons need to be toned down. The illumination on the preset buttons is good and not blinding.

Thanks for posting where you bought your white LEDs. I have LEDs every where else, so I think it is time to upgrade. $0.50 each is pretty cheap. I have some lights out on the radio as well and it is annoying.

 

[Matt]

Guys I got a problem. I have a 2002 with srcks in the front I ordered some of kevs switch backs and this is the second pair cause we though the first may have been defective. They're still blowing fuses. I'm not getting it :/

Have you tried turning them around? Mine does the same thing if they're not in the right way for polarity. Good luck having them work correctly, mine don't work as indicators when the lights are off, but I think that has to do with the drl killer.

 

[Mark20]

Thanks for posting where you bought your white LEDs. I have LEDs every where else, so I think it is time to upgrade. $0.50 each is pretty cheap. I have some lights out on the radio as well and it is annoying.

They have a couple of different colors but not many. They are BRIGHT!

 

[ncphotographer]

I'm not sure if this is the correct location for this post or not...so I apologize in advance if it's not. I'm trying to put LEDs in the window control on my 02 Trailblazer EXT LT but I'm not having any luck. This is what I'm using (White 3mm LED 100 pcs 8000 mcd 25 Deg Cool White with Resistors for 12V). Would this be correct? I have 8 LEDs.....I'm using 4 per hook up.....I'm connecting all positives wires together and using 1 resistor and connecting all negative wires together....then connecting them to the circuit board.....nothing happens.....am I missing something? Any help would be greatly appreciated.....and I'd be happy to pay for the help......in fact I would prefer to pay someone to do it for me....does anyone provide this type of service?

 

[Blckshdw]

If the resistors are meant for 1 LED, and you're feeding 4 LEDs from it in parallel, then the resistance would be WAY too high, and result in little or no light output.

 

[ncphotographer]

First of all, yes please move it to the appropriate thread....and I do apologize. As for the resistors.....I have no clue.....I was able to do the passenger side door and it worked......I used 4 LEDs with 1 resistor and it worked....but I can't seem to get the drivers side to work. If anyone has any ideas or would like to drive to NC to fix it for me I would be so happy!

 

[Blckshdw]

As for the resistors.....I have no clue.....I was able to do the passenger side door and it worked......I used 4 LEDs with 1 resistor and it worked....but I can't seem to get the drivers side to work. If anyone has any ideas or would like to drive to NC to fix it for me I would be so happy!

Where did you buy your goodies? Got a link? Knowing the specs of your parts will help some. If they worked on the passenger side, then it should work on the other. Do you have a volt meter? I would check the contact pads to make sure they are still putting out power. Any chance you got the polarity backwards? That would do it too.

 

[ncphotographer]

I bought them off eBay from PLASMALED......the lights are 3mm (white) and the resistors are for 12-13V (510 Ohm).......and now it's time to show my ignorance....I don't have a volt meter, but I do have one of the screwdriver looking things that light up when you put electrical current to it......are the contact pads the things that you connect the wires to on the circuit board.....and yes sir there's a chance I have the polarity backwards (if I knew what that meant I could check it) Sorry for my lack of knowledge......I'm one of those people that no matter how much I read about things I can't understand unless I see it. Thanks for your continuing to try and help.

 

[Blckshdw]

No worries man, we'll get you to where you need to be.

LEDs have to be hooked up positive to positive, negative to negative, as far as the power source goes. The standard filament style bulbs can be hooked up either way, and will still work. So if you didn't check to see which pad was + and which was -, you have a 50/50 chance of guessing right when soldering them to the circuit board.

So I'm willing to bet you just hooked up the driver's side backwards. I listed some polarity assignments on page 1 for reference. I don't know if a test light works with any completed circuit, or if it is polarized as well. You can get a volt meter pretty cheap, you'll probably want to get one at some point, especially if you need to check your voltage readings before and/or after your resistors for troubleshooting down the road.

 

[ncphotographer]

Thanks for the help and info....I'll get a volt meter tomorrow. Let me give you an idea of what I did and maybe you can suggest something......I have 2 power supplies (where the two bulbs were) I have 8 LEDs....one for each button in my door.....so what I did was split it in half.....4 to one power supply and 4 to the other......I connected the 4 positive wires in each of the 2 sections together and connected the 4 negative wires in each of the 2 sections together.....I then put a resistor on the positive wire and connected it to the positive on the circuit board.....I then connected the negative wire to the circuit board.....I did this for each of the 2 sections.....as a result one section lit up but the other section didn't.....so I assumed I had a wire touching or something simple......I disconnected the wires from the circuit board and double checked everything.....I reconnected to circuit board and NOTHING.....so I redid everything and still nothing......I've done this 3 times and still nothing......I even tried just hooking up one LED and a resistor and nothing. So tell me what's the problem and how to fix it and all will be right in the world. I also took the window control from the passenger door and hooked it to the drivers door but it wouldn't work.....not sure if it's suppose to. OK......so I put the window control back together without the lights to see if it still works and it doesn't.....it worked fine before......could I have messed it up when I was soldering or perhaps blown a fuse? Uggggggggggghhhhhhh, my wife said that's what I get for trying to pimp my ride.

 

[Blckshdw]

Hmm, I know the window/lock buttons should function when plugged into the opposite side door, that's a commonly recommended troubleshooting step to determine if one of the door modules has gone bad. So I assume the lights should also work. Did you try plugging the driver's side module into the passenger door to test it?

Did the stock bulbs work in your driver' door module before your LED conversion? Without being able to confirm if your DDM was functioning properly to begin with, it's hard to nail down where the problem is. When you say you reconnected your LEDs, was that putting them back in the way they were before, or did you flip them around like I suggested? Can you post a pic of what your connections look like?

 

[ncphotographer]

Yes sir they were working perfectly.....I paid someone to do the LED conversion for me.....they just switched the two bulbs for LEDs but it wasn't bright enough....it still worked perfectly, just not bright enough. I just tried the driver side control on the passenger side and the controls worked, so it's not the control.....so it must be_______________________? (Fill in the blank)

 

[Blckshdw]

Everyone I know that does that mod, puts an LED under each button. That's the only way to get a decent amount of light output. You could have damaged the contact pads during soldering, or broken a trace on the board somewhere. The door modules receive a signal off the data bus of when to light up, unlike most of the other modules that have an illuminaton signal wire. So you could be SOL.

But you need to test the contact pads on the circuit board first, to see if there's any power there. If there is, then you burnt out your LEDs at some point. Also, you'll want to download the service manuals. There's one PDF that lays out all the different wiring diagrams, very useful for seeing what's connected to what, where and how.


Need service manuals? Get them here!

 

[ncphotographer]

OK.....so I completely took the lights out of the controls and hooked it up to see if any of the buttons worked.....none of the buttons worked....the door lock button, the window button, the heated seat buttons....none of them worked......so I took the control and hooked it up to the passenger side and all the buttons worked.....does that mean I have a blown fuse or.....?