Dash Light LED Conversion

[Propwash]

Gent's,

I'm converting my dashlights/radio/ashtray/ignition key lights to blue LED's that simply twist/plug in place of the old 194, 1445 ect..ect... bulbs, on my 69' Roadrunner.

Question is, since I'm wanting dimming capability, do I need to buy a specific inline 12v LED dimmer (readily available), or will the factory dimmer work for this process?

Thanks for any info

 

[Meep-Meep]

My knee jerk reaction is the original dimmer won't work very well but it won't cost anything to hook it up and see what happens. I think pulse width modulation is the way to go to dim LED's as they are more of an on/off device (digital) rather than analog.

 

[Propwash]

Hey thanks meep..... I was leaning that way as well. That's a good point, digital vs. analog.

Below is the type of dimmer I was looking at hiding under my dash.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/12-Volt-PWM-LED-Dimmer-Single-Channel-On-Off-Switch-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3367792255QQitemZ220779323989QQptZMotorsQ5fAviationQ5fPartsQ5fGear

I guess another question is, the ad states the dimmer requires a (2A) fuse between the power source and the dimmer. Any idea on how many amps run to the orange wire (inst. lights), at the 12 o' clock position on the circut board harness from the factory? Does a guy splice into the circut board ground or just use another generic ground under the dash?

 

[moparstuart]

I converted mine and my factory dimmer works fine

 

[bhamilton]

Which bulbs do you recommend? I see the regular LED and the inverted style.

REGULAR

INVERTED

 

[moparstuart]

i used the regular ones , they work great

 

[bhamilton]

i used the regular ones , they work great

Good to know, thanks!

 

[Propwash]

I also purchased the ones in the lower pic..

Thanks for the info Stu!

Sorry for posting in wrong Forum....It's a Monday I guess..:coffee:

 

[Meep-Meep]

Hey thanks meep..... I was leaning that way as well. That's a good point, digital vs. analog.

Below is the type of dimmer I was looking at hiding under my dash.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/12-Volt-PWM-LED-Dimmer-Single-Channel-On-Off-Switch-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3367792255QQitemZ220779323989QQptZMotorsQ5fAviationQ5fPartsQ5fGear

I guess another question is, the ad states the dimmer requires a (2A) fuse between the power source and the dimmer. Any idea on how many amps run to the orange wire (inst. lights), at the 12 o' clock position on the circut board harness from the factory? Does a guy splice into the circut board ground or just use another generic ground under the dash?

That's a slick little dimmer. It even has a rotary pot that can be adapted to the factory thumb wheel. Just unsolder it, attach it to the gear and use jumper wires to reconnect to the board. Another version I'm sure can be made using the 555 timer IC found at Radio Shack.

Amps are a function of what the orange wire is connected to. Using your BAT + wire as an example, you can either draw one amp lighting up a bulb or 250 amps cranking a starter motor. This dimmer is rated at 2A at 14V. Ohm's law says volts X amps = watts so in this case you can have 28 watts in the circuit. LED's are typically very low so the question is how many watts are your LEDs'.

Any good ground should work fine and you won't need a length of 12 GA wire to make the connection.

 

[Propwash]

Thanks Meep! That's a good idea you got with the dimmer. I haven't bench tested my old dimmer yet, but you probably know what kind of reputation these 68-69 style dimmers have..... Love to break and they're a mint to buy. So I might have to go that direction anyways..

 

[copper67440]

Here ya go. Another thread about LEDs.
http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?43519-LEDs-Rock!&highlight=Led

 

[dodge68charger]

So many choices of styles and angles for the leds. Just wondering what everyone went with

 

[HYRDGOON]

I'm going to be running an LED strip around the perimeter of my guage as opposed to using the factory bulb locations. I'll try and get some pics as it's being done and of the finished product lit up