[DML] Re: LED lights

["dmc12jp" <hidesuke@xxxxxxxxxx>]

--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Robert Moseley" <videobob@xxxx>
wrote:
> I have been looking for a good example of LED lights to use in the
> dash, the console and etc... aGOOGLE search resulted these:
> 
> http://www.lunaraccents.com/wired%20leds.htm

Hello Robert,

They seems to be very convenient products. You can not only specify
the operating voltage but also choose the viewing angle. There is even
LEDs that changes color. If you convert your A/C panel using these
LEDs, please let us know how it went!

As a person who did custom LED conversion of the A/C panel, I would
like to put my 2 cents worth. Firstly, I would choose the widest
possible viewing angle (120 degrees). When I made this myself. I cut 
off the top of LEDs to spread the light as much as possible. With a 
directed light only a small part of the panel is illuminated.

Secondly, I would specify low (4 or 6V) operating voltage and connect
two or three LEDs in series. (for illumination LEDs, not for indicator
LEDs) Driving one LED with a 12V voltage means that 8-10V is 
dissipated at the register. That produces about 120 -200mW of heat. 
Although this is much smaller than the stock bulb, if the resister is 
touching a plastic part it may melt that part. By connecting the LED 
units in series heat production is reduced by far.

When I converted my A/C panel, I series connected three LEDs and put
a current regulative diode (CRD) of 15mA. CRD is a diode which
supplies constant current to an electronic circuit, even when  power
supply voltage fluctuations or load impedance fluctuations occur. 
CRD is used for current stabilization and current limiting. This is
convenient because the voltage in a car can vary and the CRDs
maintain the brightness of LEDs at the same level. I have some
pictures on my website
   http://homepage.mac.com/h.o/
My old website http://homepage.mac.com/hokam/
is not any more. I changed the account name.

Best regards,
Hideki Okamura
Tokyo, Japan




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