LED Strips

[dbird]

So I want to install LED strips for my footwells as shown in the post below but I am a bit confused. If I buy a strip of a metre such as : https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEDER®-Flexible-WHITE-GARDENS-AQUARIUMS/dp/B003N8FYA2/ref=sr_1_10?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1368364068&sr=1-10&keywords=led+strips

will I need to buy wire to connect it all up or will I need special harenesses to put into the LED strip etc etc? if anyone knows anything about electronics itd be very much appreciated as I dont want to waste money with trial and error

 

[mikehealy5]

I put leds in my foot well. It was pretty stright forward I just bought some cheap LED strips of ebay cost me about £4 for two strips, they had self adhesive tape on the back so they stuck quite well.

I used some left over speaker wire that i had and cut into the wires that are in the boot for the boot light, just pop it out and cut in! I ran the wires down the passenger side under the carpet to the 1st foot well and then attached the strip it. I cut into this wire s few inches up from the LED strip and tapped another wire in and ran that behind the centre console into the drivers foot well, now the leds will turn on when the car is unlocked of if the door is opened, they also fade out just like the interior light!

My strips looked liked this

 

[mikehealy5]

Forgot to mention there are some pics in my progress thread of them installed and working.

 

[dbird]

sweet man thanks!

 

[mikehealy5]

No worries mate

 

[waitey]

I'm not keen on LED strips, but don't go red! Or it will look like a brothel!

 

[maggi200]

Individual LEDs set into the plastic with bezels or oem boot lights is the way to go IMO.

In my last car I made brackets and had them with a slight swivel in the footwell in order to position them as I needed, worked pretty well. You could also reduce the power to them to make them brighter or dimmer of course, which would be easy to sort

 

[HigtonA]

I have Blue Lights in my footwell, and I must admit I never use them. It was something that sounded good at the time.

They are able to flash in time with the music/ stay on constant or have different modes, dont have any pics of them.

But if you were thinking of getting footwell lights I would get White.

 

[dbird]

yeah ive ordered some white strips, I might buy some tape or something like that to put over them to dull them a bit as I dont want them to be THAT noticeable

 

[dbird]

and to please my girlfriend as she says it will look too 'chavy'

 

[Caz-133cup]

I've got foot well lights too and don't use them much. They are nice but when they were wired in by a supposed election the work was shocking. Luckily since then its been sorted

 

[maggi200]

If you'll excuse then pun ey Carrie

 

[HigtonA]

Blue lights were a chavy/neddy option, but owell...

 

[maggi200]

Surely something in line to dim them would be a more suitable option than tape?

 

[Caz-133cup]

I'm currently using cellotape and gardening wire to hold mine, how they've held on for so long I don't know

 

[maggi200]

Not for much longer though! I just need the time with your car to fix the lights properly

 

[LCplParks]

Would a resistor not dim them a bit ?

 

[dbird]

a guy told me that to lower the wattage or something, anyone got any ideas how I can do that?

 

[maggi200]

I'm sure you'll find an in-line dimmer somewhere on the internet. I got one on my pc case :lol: you can get them that double up as switches. So once it's all wired in you can always add it later in 2 mins.

 

[LCplParks]

A dimmer is a good idea! I didn't think of that it would be quite easy to stick one on whilst you wire in the strips I'd think