LED Footwell Lights

[lucashend]

Why didn't you use an "add a fuse" and plug right into the fuse box on the left side of your picture?

I plan on it in the future. I live in Upstate NY so it's been snowy and cold. For now I went with it this way, this summer I will probably fuss with it more. I have the parts, just have to find good weather.

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[sk8almost44]

I did mine too

 

[kered424]

I did mine too

Out of curiosity, what circuit did you wire your lights with?

 

[lucashend]

Out of curiosity, what circuit did you wire your lights with?

Use fuse 18 or 20. I don't remember which one I used. It was an unused spot on the fuse box in the footwell. You have to plug it in and turn the car on and off, make sure the lights turn on when the car turns on, and turns off when the car is off. Several of the unused fuses I tested left the LEDs on regardless of the car being on or not. Obviously not what you want.

As for how exactly to wire it, put the red wire in the fuse tap, and the black wire needs to be grounded on a bolt or other piece of metal. Again, you'll have to play around with it to make sure it works.

 

[sk8almost44]

I used 22; the daytime running lights. Used a fuse tap with two 10A fuses.

 

[BrandonR17]

Is it easy to hard wire? Have no experience with it so im thinking of just using the 12v but kinda want to free up the 12v spot? Any suggestions on what type to get?

 

[lucashend]

I used the two products listed in the quotes below. See my very condensed instructions below also. It's super easy to do, I've had never hard wired lights before and now I feel like a champ haha. I suggest using zip ties to hold up the excess wires as well as to hold the led strip up. Depending on temperature changes and humidity and whatnot, the stickyness will wear off and the strip will eventually not stay up. Let me know if you have any other questions!

you could use one of these http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2091268722&pf_rd_i=desktop

These are the ones I got this time.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006U5SE7U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_ntk0wb6PA41RS

My last car I just got a roll of LEDs, cut them to size, then soldered and whatnot to make them work. This car I opted for a pre cut kit and it was way easier to work with. The kit listed above is highly recommended. And it is multicolored so you can match the color to the in dash touchscreen color of your choice.

Use fuse 18 or 20. I don't remember which one I used. It was an unused spot on the fuse box in the footwell. You have to plug it in and turn the car on and off, make sure the lights turn on when the car turns on, and turns off when the car is off. Several of the unused fuses I tested left the LEDs on regardless of the car being on or not. Obviously not what you want.

As for how exactly to wire it, put the red wire in the fuse tap, and the black wire needs to be grounded on a bolt or other piece of metal. Again, you'll have to play around with it to make sure it works.

 

[kered424]

Is it easy to hard wire? Have no experience with it so im thinking of just using the 12v but kinda want to free up the 12v spot? Any suggestions on what type to get?

If you don't want to even look down there, try this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Port-W...961520?hash=item3f52ac4630:g:lHYAAOSwj0NUdsSb

 

[BrandonR17]

I used the two products listed in the quotes below. See my very condensed instructions below also. It's super easy to do, I've had never hard wired lights before and now I feel like a champ haha. I suggest using zip ties to hold up the excess wires as well as to hold the led strip up. Depending on temperature changes and humidity and whatnot, the stickyness will wear off and the strip will eventually not stay up. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Thank you so much! I'll definitely try it! Blue lighting on my cosmic blue civic would look very nice!

 

[BrandonR17]

If you don't want to even look down there, try this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Port-W...961520?hash=item3f52ac4630:g:lHYAAOSwj0NUdsSb

Thank you! I will definitely look at it

 

[andi_sf]

I bought red LEDs from ebay and wired it up to a circuit that turns on with the parking lights. These are the LEDs I used: http://www.ebay.com/itm/4x-1LED-T10...ash=item2359ad3a92:g:dtQAAOSwWnFWBL-~&vxp=mtr

You don't have to use these LEDs, but in my opinion these LEDs are the perfect brightness (and incredibly inexpensive). In my previous car, I had blue LED strips, and they were extremely bright at night, which was a distraction to the extent that I had to add a resistor to bring down the brightness. These, however, give a pleasant and subtle (but noticeable) glow for night driving. And in case anyone else is thinking about doing the same, I tapped into the gray wire on a harness by the interior fuse box. As far as I can tell, this gray wire supplies power to the overhead blue ambient light on the map light assembly. This harness is immediately adjacent to a yellow harness, and you want to splice into the gray wire. Sorry for the bad picture. There's not much room to work with down there.

Hi kered424 - where did you plug in the actual LED bulbs you used? Is there any socked or fuse tap adapter?

 

[kered424]

Hi kered424 - where did you plug in the actual LED bulbs you used? Is there any socked or fuse tap adapter?

I just soldered the LED terminals to the wires. No special sockets. I then found a nice little hole or crevice under the steering column/dash and taped the bulb in place. For the back seats, I used Velcro to hold the bulb underneath the driver/passenger seats.

If you're wondering what I did to create the circuit, I used a t-tap to connect the positive to the gray wire and connected the negative to the bolt by the fuse box for chassis ground.

 

[andi_sf]

I just soldered the LED terminals to the wires. No special sockets. I then found a nice little hole or crevice under the steering column/dash and taped the bulb in place. For the back seats, I used Velcro to hold the bulb underneath the driver/passenger seats.

If you're wondering what I did to create the circuit, I used a t-tap to connect the positive to the gray wire and negative to the bolt by the fuse box for chassis ground.

Hi kered424 - thanks for the helpful info. I would be more comfortable with any kind of socket for the LED bulb rather than soldering - if anyone has a suggestion that would be greatly appreciated...

 

[kered424]

Hi kered424 - thanks for the helpful info. I would be more comfortable with any kind of socket for the LED bulb rather than soldering - if anyone has a suggestion that would be greatly appreciated...

The bulbs I used were T10 bulbs. You can find T10 sockets on ebay for cheap.
Or you don't feel comfortable using bulbs, LED strips work just as well if not better.

 

[andi_sf]

The bulbs I used were T10 bulbs. You can find T10 sockets on ebay for cheap.
Or you don't feel comfortable using bulbs, LED strips work just as well if not better.

Thanks for the info - I liked your LED light bulb solution since it looks like from the photo that it is much dimmer than the LED strips - do you know how much kelvin rating (brightness) they have?

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