HOW TO: Add leds into your center console and still look factory

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07-09-2010, 05:21 AM

chunkylover8200

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HOW TO: Add leds into your center console and still look factory

so the other day i was driving around at night and noticed a small ambient light shining down to my cup holders and noticed that honda actually did this on purpose by making two small windows for light from your heat and ac knobs to shine through. this gave me an idea for a project ive always wanted to do.

i wanted led lights to put inside these windows but i honestly didnt know how to wire them up. i found no how to's for led automotive applications and all the info i needed was scattered around the internet so i decided to make my own guide for others like me that want to do this. after finding a great wiring guide i went out and bought the supplies i needed. heres the list.

i got everything from radio shack except the fuse tap which i got from autozone
1 fuse tap (2-10 amp)---------------$6.99
2 leds (super white from radio shack) $1.99
1 pack of 5 resistors-----------------$.99
total--------------------------------$10 bucks
i didnt purchase this but youll also need
shrink wrap
and some wire (i used about 5 feet and had a bunch extra)

its gonna help if you have skills at soldering but im sure theres videos on youtube, but i pretty much tought my self and as you can see i did pretty bad at first but got the hang of it.

so first off, you wanna remove the small panel above your cupholders. its held in by one screw

this is what you get minus the black tape.

now you will be getting power from the fuse box, so measure how much wire you need and take everything inside or where ever you plan to work

if you have no idea about led's read this article about leds and resistors.
One LED with a resistor
this is key if you dont want to blow out your bulbs. the main point you need to know is that since leds cant handle the cars 12v power, you need to use resistors to tone down that power so your leds dont blow.
To figure out which resistor to use I used the formula:
R = (V1 - V2) / I

where:
V1 = power supply voltage
V2 = LED voltage
I = LED current (usually 20mA which is .02A) mine was 25mA so .25

in my case it would look like this
(12v-6.6v) /.25 which equals 21.6 ohms. you want to use the next higher rating so i got a 22 ohm resistor pack. (note) if your looking at the pic and wondering why i didnt used 3.3 in my formula its cause i had two bulbs wired in a series in which case, you add up their voltage.

now you know what resistor you need go buy your leds, do the math or use a calculator in that link, find out what resistors you need and get ready to wire everything up.

i started by soldering in my first resistor

next i soldered to the positive side of my first led. (the positive side is almost always the longer end) and in my picture i already have the second resistor soldered

next finish it up by soldering in the second led keeping in mind the distance you will need for the windows. this is it complete

now what i did was just tape the lights onto the windows but i used aluminum foil to mirror all the light down heres how

now that everythings ready, take the whole thing out to your fit and begin running your wires. i tapped into fuse #10 which said IG HAC (ignition heating air conditioning) i used this cause my fuse tap had to be less than 10 amps and this was the only fuse that was and that was controlled by the ignition.

now find a good ground at conect the other end of your circuit to the chassis. sorry i didnt get a pic, mosquitos were killing me.

all that's left to do is tuck all your wires and test it out!
remember, do the math and get the right resistor.
use a resistor for each led
ground the circuit
thats it. i was really proud of my self for doing this and hope this gives you enough confidince to try it out! good luck!