Yeah BoostyMINI I can't believe you haven't done this one yet!! Seems like the finishing touches for your glowing Mini. BTW Thanks again ImagoX for pioneering this sweet mod!

Steve

 

Anyone know how to replace that ugly orange light behind the gauges so that I can change them to white?

 

Actually guys, I have had some like that! But I forgot why I moved them...hm...I have them under my dash and people always get a kick out of that haha. BLAH though because Im a neon guy not an LED guy...I was thinking about buying several 6" and 3" tubes and have a great time playing with those. NO NO NO i need to focus more on performance!....ugh im torn between neon and going fast.

Oh and btw, If you want to get a underglow kit that is really really easy to install but dont want to pay the crazy high prices for it just go to...

TweakedIce.com

Their kits are only $50 including shipping for the complete kit. Its not the highest quality but for how vunerable neons are its well worth going cheap. They ship quickly (5 days CA to GA) and they are very nice guys.

 

I dunno if this has already been posted or not, but is there a specific kind of wattage the resistors need to be? I picked up two different 1K-Ohm Resistors today, and was wondering which to use One is a 1/4 watt and the other is a 1 watt. I was told by the Radio Shack guy that the 1/4 watt should work. Any ideas?

~MM with his Detailers Warehouse hat on

 

be very wary of radio shack idiots....most of them are less knowledgable then yourself but have the arrogance to act like professionals. IMHO, the easiest place to shop and be misguided by their own "professional" staff. I've had to return numerous items back there for the simple fact that it ended up not being even close to what I was looking for. (Only realizing it after I did a little of my own research online instead of relying on his "knowledge")

Radio Shack a.k.a Crap Shack a.k.a $h!t Shack

Steve

 

Funny part is I ordered a switch from the online site and in came with unclear connection instructions so I emailed them for help. Their answer? Go to a local store and ask one of their well-trained experts. ha! Good one...

 

what online site did you order it from??

 

So how about that wattage! lol

 

radioshack.com

 

oh yeah well there ya go. I just returned a switch that one of their well trained experts told me that's what I needed when I explained to him what this mod was and how I was gonna go about doing it. Well he sold me the wrong type of switch and ended up ordering everything from Shields Electronics and they had it to me in about three business days. Only went back to Crap Shack for some connectors and heat shrink tubing. That's about where the helpfulness ends.

 

Ok so I finally got the boot mod done in my car but with a little twist of my own. Granted I did steal YosDad idea with the parts from Shield Electronics (BTW best place to get these electronic parts) and ImagoX's idea for the LEDs but what they didn't do is incorporate a switch in the wiring so that you can use the LED's when the shelf is in place and the OEM boot lamp for when you have the rear seats down and the shelf out. Basically I just incorporated a Single Pole Dual Throw rocker switch before either lamp allowing current to either pass to the LED's or the boot lamp. I'm gonna try and get a few pics of the wiring in the next few days so some people can see how I did it.





Hope everyone likes it!!

Steve

 

ok so I'm having a little problem with this mod. As you can see I got everything installed with the rocker switch, however I'm getting flickering even with a resistor installed. I soldered the resistor across the + and - on the LED side but it still flickers. The other thing that seems to contradict others experiences is the flickering only occurs on startup of the vehicle and doesn't do it at all if the headlights are on. In other words, the flickering will start when the engine starts and stops after about 5 or 6 seconds. But if I turn my headlights on before I start the car, then start it the LED's don't flicker at all. Anyone got any thoughts on this. I was thinking about pulling the resistor out and put it inline on the positive lead going to the LED.
Anyone??

Steve

 

can anybody help?? anyone got any ideas?? what the hell happened to this thread?

 

Resistor in parallel should be the right thing to do. A resistor inline will have the effect of dimming the LEDs. What value resistor are you using? I would experiment with lower ohm value resistors. The resistance has to be low enough to let low current to go through the resistor instead of the LEDs.

If you bypass your switch and just have the original bulb in parallel with the LEDs, you should have no flicker (the bulb acts as the resistor). However you wouldn't want to use a resistor with as low value as a bulb because it would be a waste (generates heat and uses more power than necessary).
The optimum is to use as high a value as you can that still prevents the flicker. But too high a resistance makes the current go through the LEDs instead of the resistor.

 

Exactly ^

 

I'm using Radio Shack 1kohm 1/2 watt resistors just like what was described to use in the thread. Resistors don't have to be "pointing" a certain way right? In other words one side needs to be to positive and the other to negative? I don't think so. Like I said before the other thing that is weird is when Yo'sDad described his flickering problem it was the opposite of mine. His was flickering with the headlights on. Mine only flickers when the headlights are off and only for the first few seconds of startup, then it stops regardless of the lights. So I might have something else going on here. It might have something to do with the switch also. Maybe by me adding the switch and bypassing the factory bulb altogether that is causing something else to happen. I dont know anyways here's a picture of how its wired up. See what you guys think.


The two wires coming from the right are the factory wiring. I snipped the factory ground and put the factory connector back on the stock bulb housing and then took the new ground for the DC jack and butt connected it to the factory ground wiring from the bulb housing. The resistor is across the new ground and 12+ going to the DC jack. I hope this might help you help me! I'll be waiting patiently for your responses.

Steve

 

Resistors aren't directional... so that's not your problem.... everything looks right to me.... LED flickering can be a challenge... my boot does it without the resistor or bulb in parallel - but adding either the bulb or the resistor makes mine stop. I really don't remember under what circumstances mine flickered - I think ANYTIME I started the car... but not sure. Have a volt/ohm meter? If so you can check the resistance across the LED-side of your setup with the LEDs plugged in and see if the resistor is really doing its job (resistance should measure 1000 ohms...)

 

I was wondering what is the need for the resistors? I am planning on getting the flexi stripes from oznium which already have resistors built into the LEDs, so would I still need the resistor like you have set up? Is that one to keep power from flowing to the stock light when LEDs are turned on?

Thank you

 

The resistor provides a lower-resistance path for "transient" current that sometimes flows through the circuit. Various theories behind what this is... including that the Body Control Module sends a little current through there as a bulb check, or that it's truly very low power inductive transients that are sufficient to light the LEDs. If you have the OEM bulb wired in parallel with the LEDs, they don't flicker because the bulb provides a path for this current.

 

I am new to elctronics so please mind some of the questions...if it's wired in parallel does that mean the stock bulb will be on at the same time the LEDs are on, or can they still be in parallel and have the option to flick between the 2?

 

Parallel = stock bulb on while LEDs are on.

So folks use the resistor to take the place of the bulb, typically. That's what my setup does... I actually have a resistor plugged into the end of the cable that usually plugs into the cabrio boot light.

 

Yeah I saw your set up and I like it, but I think I am going to be doing mine like Vernon that way if I remove the shelf I still have light.

So, if I'm not doing them in parallel, will I still need a resistor even if the LEDs I get from oznium have resistors already built in? They say they are just plug-in play to and 12V source

 

The built in resistors do something different. Yes, the Optium resistors will work fine. But may flicker depending on your car. You don't know til you try. But if you don't run your OEM bulb in parallel with the LEDs, they will probably flicker.

 

Ok thank you very much for your help. Hopefully soon I can tackle this mod along with some exterior and other interior LEDs

 

you have a R56 so maybe you might experience something different than me. But like I said before my flickering seems to be completely different than YosDad described and we both have R53 hardtops...however I did run my differently. But Blimey yes I do have a multi meter...fluke actually...so I'm going to check the resistance across it to make sure its working but in theory can't you do the same thing without the resistor in place and see what the actual resistance is across the LED's and then simply just get the resistor that matches that or am I getting something confused?

Steve