North American Motoring - How To Interior/Exterior :: Girl's Guide to Mood Lighting / Autolumination with Switch

Last year, I took a trip on the new Virgin America airlines. The very first thing that struck me when I entered the plane was the soothing music being played, and the "mood lighting". Everything was bathed in a soft, bluish-purple glow. :cool: Between that and the music, it was like taking a Xanax. A brilliant idea, especially for nervous and harried travelers.

So I thought, why not make give my car interior some mood lighting as well? I spend two hours a day commuting, and one hour of that is in the dark (for most of the year). I thought it would be fun to have it controlled by a switch, that way, I could turn it off an on at will.

I happen to really like the orange/amber glow of the dashboard in the BMW/Mini interior, and wanted to expand on that a bit. But, I also wanted it to be tasteful, and not look like Elvis owned it - I'm too old for strobe/flashing lights in my car! :no:

Once again, Oznium.com was a terrific source. I had heard about them for other posts, and really liked the various types of LED lighting they offered - it clearly gave a lot of flexibility in what one could do.

I settled on the 9.5 inch flexible amber/orange LED lights shown here:

http://www.oznium.com/led-flex-strips

I ordered two, one for each footwell ($11.49 each).

In addition, I ordered a few of the orange LED pre-wired surface mount LED lights ($3.49 apiece):

http://www.oznium.com/prewired-surface-mount-led

I had some ideas about where I wanted to put the lights, but wasn't sure how many I'd need - so I got a couple extra just in case.

One thing that I really liked about these lights is that they are waterproof, and (in the case of the small LED surface mounts) they come with the resistor already attached, as well as 2 feet of wire! No soldering, no mess, no fuss!

The beauty of this is that you can choose whatever color/colors you would like, and there are many, many options as far as how many lights, where to put them, etc. Once you learn how to install them, then you know all you need to know, and can add them at will!

Keep in mind that LED lights use very little power - as such, for the smaller lights, there must be a resistor somewhere in the circuit, or the 12 volts from your car battery will fry the light!

THINGS YOU WILL NEED:

1. The LED lights of your choosing. It is much easier to purchase them
with any resistor, etc. already attached. They may cost a few pennies
more, but it is SO much easier than having to solder them on yourself!

2. A few feet of 18 gauge hookup wire - you can use black for the ground
wire, and either red or another color (Oznium sells many colors of
wire) for the "hot" wire - all at $0.32 a foot.

3. A wire stripper.

4. Twist-on connectors, or butt-type connectors. I use the twist-on, and
this project required one blue connector and two orange ones.

5. Electrician's tape, and perhaps some cable ties.

6. One "Add-a-fuse", or similar product. Also called "add-a line", "tap-a-
fuse", etc. I LOVE these gizmos!!! i already have two in my fusebox,
one for an accessory 12-volt lighter, and one for the illuminated door
sills (see my other thread - "(Poor) Girl's Guide to Illuminated Door
Sills"). They can be purchased at an auto parts store for $ 3 - 4
dollars.

7. One 2 amp fuse (see my later post in this this thread as to which fuse size to choose).

8. If you want to have the ability to turn on/turn off the mood lighting,
then you will need a switch. I got a round rocker switch (with amber
light) from Oznium for only $3.49. It is made really well, and was just
perfect for my installation.

http://www.oznium.com/rocker-switch

9. Depending on the location where you will be installing the lights,
you may need a screwdriver with Phillips head, as well as some
Torx bits of common sizes (i.w. #20).

10. If installing a switch: a power drill, a center punch tool, and drill bits
in varying sizes, from 1/16 up through 1/4 and larger. For the round
rocker switch, I used a 1/2 inch bit with a hole guide (brad-point will
do nicely) so that the bit would not skip around and ruin the knee
bolster. You will also need a round file, to smooth out/enlarge the
drilled hole to accomodate the switch.

11. Your favorite after-the-job-is-done vice; mine is usually a Heineken
Light, but today it was a Foster's.

STEP ONE:

BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE - DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATTERY TERMINAL!

Now, locate where you would like to install your mood lights. I chose to keep mine pretty understated, and opted for just some footwell lights, and two additional dashboard-area lights. I used the flexible 9.5 inch LED strip from Oznium for each footwell.

This part is really easy, since the light strip comes with double-sided tape.
All you need to do is figure out where you want to stick the lights.

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/7...dlighting2.jpg

You will need to remove the knee bolster, which is the plastic piece under the steering wheel mount. There are no screws in it - you just grab it just under the steering wheel mount, and give it a good downward yank! BE CAREFUL - if you have driver's lamps or other accessories installed (I also have a 12-volt accessory lighter mounted here) - you don't want to yank out the wires to these!

For the driver's side, I picked here:

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/406/moodlighting1.jpg

You just remove the backing to the double-sided tape (provided with the light) and stick it on the light strip, and then expose the other side, and stick it into place:

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/4364/moodlighting3.jpg

There is a slight downward deflection in the plastic if you choose this spot - this is not anything that will matter, however, in the end.

For the passenger side footwell, I chose this spot just under the glovebox:

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/430/moodlighting4.jpg

Here is the strip installed - another downward dip in the lightstrip, but nothing that will show in any way...

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/63/moodlighting5.jpg

You will want to run the wire from the strip towards the driver's side, and do so as inconspicuously as possible. But, I also did not want to have to disassemble my entire center console area to do this - so i located a spot
where the wires can be run. They will come out in the footwell are of the driver's side, and can then be tucked behind the trim, where no one will see them.

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/5428/moodlighting8.jpg

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/5659/moodlighting9.jpg

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/152...lighting10.jpg

STEP TWO:

Next, I installed the pre-wired surface-mounted LED lights. I initially chose a spot under the center of the speedo-tach stack. But, after seeing it lit up, I realized that the upward glow and shine against the chrome would be too distracting. So, i moved it to the TOP of the stack instead, facing upwards.

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/7...dlighting6.jpg

STEP THREE:

The next surface-mounted LED location was in the center console area. I was not interested in taking apart the console any more than I absolutely needed to - but also wanted the wires as ''invisible" as possible.

This is the spot I used:

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5...lighting11.jpg

In order to run the wires towards the driver's side, I needed to get access to behind this panel; the panel simply hinges downwards, but to be able to open it, you will first need to remove one #20 sized Torx screw:

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/925...lighting12.jpg

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/6...lighting13.jpg

This is the route that the wire will go, towards the driver's side and back up behind the knee bolster area (this is the same path that the wire coming from the passenger side footwell LED lightstrip takes):

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/9...lighting14.jpg

STEP FOUR:

If you are interested in being able to turn on/turn off the mood lighting, you will need to install a switch.

I chose to install the switch on the right-hand side of the knee bolster, below where the ignition is. To be able to drill a hole in the bolster, I needed to first remove the wires going to the switches that were already in place - namely the driving lamps switch and the accessory 12 V lighter I had installed a couple of years ago.

Here is the wire-free bolster:

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/3...lighting15.jpg

Here is the round rocker switch I used, showing the diameter - I wanted to drill only a 1/2 inch-sized hole and then file the rest, so that i could ensure a tight fit.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1460/moodlighting16.jpg

First, make a mark in the bolster with the counterpunch tool:

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/3...lighting18.jpg

Then, using successively larger bits, drill through the bolster. It is hollow in the middle and easy to drill through. This kind of 1/2 inch bit is very helpful:

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/688...lighting19.jpg

Then, file the rest of the hole with a round file. Work slowly and carefully so you don't make the hole too big. You want to have to push hard to get the switch through the plastic, for a tight fit.

The finished product:

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/964...lighting21.jpg

View of the bolster now from the front:

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/9...lighting23.jpg

And from the back:

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/9...lighting24.jpg

STEP FIVE:

Now, you will want to wire everything up. This is REALLY not as daunting as it sounds! I don't have any electrician-type background, and I got everything up and working perfectly on the first try (well, actually the second...) While the surface-mount LEDs have the red and black wires, the LED lightstrips have silver and copper wires. I initially made the assumption that the copper wire was the equivalent of the ''red" wire and the silver wire was the "black" wire. After I connected everything, and everything but the lightstrips lit up - I re-did the connections, making the copper wire the black one, and the silver one the red one, and everything worked great!

Basically, you do this:

1) Group all of the black (ground) wires coming from the LED lights together (remember, the copper wire of the lightstrips is the ground wire), and join
them to the black wire coming off of the switch - twist the ends together. Then, take a separate piece of black 18 gauge running wire and connect
one end to these wires by using an ORANGE twist-on connector.

2) Group all of the red wires coming from the LED lights together (the silver wire of the lightstrip), and join them directly to the red wire coming from
the outer pole (the accessory lead) of the switch by an ORANGE twist-on connector. If the ends of the wires are too far from the switch, use a
separate piece of red 18 gauge wire and connect one end to the LED wires, and the other end to the accessory pole of the switch.

3) Connect the red "power" wire of the switch to a separate piece of red 18 gauge red wire using a BLUE twist-on connector.

4) Connect the free end of the black 18 gauge wire from 1) to the ground screw.

5) Connect the free end of the red 18 gauge wire from 3) to the red wire coming from the "Add-A-Fuse"

I took a diagram from the Oznium.com page and photoshopped it to show exactly how I wired these lights. I used two LED lightstrips (diagram of one is shown), and two LED surface-mounted lights (represented by the gray polygonal shape):

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/315...ingwiring2.jpg
Here are some photos of how the wiring looked:

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/3...ingwiring3.jpg

this is how the wires look with the knee bolster returned to its position, just before the final two connections:

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/7...ingwiring5.jpg

the ground screw connection (the other wires are from two previous installations - the sill lights and the accessory lighter):

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/699...ingwiring4.jpg

THE END RESULT

A photo of the newly-installed orange-glow rocker switch on the bolster:

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/944...lighting33.jpg

All of the following photos were taken with the white dome light off - so what you see is the actual lighting in the dark of the cabin - in actuality, the lights look a bit brighter than the photos are able to convey:

The speedo-tach stack (shot from above), lit with one orange surface-mounted LED:

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/5...lighting27.jpg

another view of the same, taken from a different angle:

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/288...lighting28.jpg

The driver's side footwell (lit by one orange 9.5 inch flexible LED lightstrip) and the center console (lit by one orange
surface-mounted LED:

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/928...lighting32.jpg

The center console:

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/3...lighting25.jpg

The center console and the passenger side footwell (latter lit by one orange 9.5 inch LED lightstrip):

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6...lighting31.jpg

And finally, the entire cabin area:

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/3...lighting30.jpg

Hope that was helpful - I enjoyed the project - next step are lights installed in the engine bay!