LED Dome Light

[MSHardeman]

Well, after almost ten years (I'm guessing) my dome light finally decided to give up the ghost. With tinted windows, and living out in the middle of nowhere, it's VERY dark inside the VX at night so I needed a replacement. I was wandering through a, not so local, AutoZone and came across this:


Sorry, this is the package after the install, but the light is a flat waffer with 12 LED's on it. The kit comes with adapters to fit any dome light; you chose the one that fits your car, plug the waffer into the adapter then install the adapter in your dome light. The waffer has some double sided tape on it to stick it to the dome light housing. Luckily the waffer snuggled right into the dome light assembly on top of the adapter (I can take picture of this in case anyone is interested).

It's only been in for a couple of days so far, but I'm happy with it. It's a pure white light and isn't too bright, and as a matter of fact may be dimmer than a typical filament bulb. After you close the door the light does one step down in brightness before going off, but doesn't fade out like a typical bulb does.

These picture don't really do it justice.




I'm eventually looking to go all LED so this is the first step. It's a decent, inexpensive and super easy "mod".

[lasturbo]

Nice! How much was the "kit" ??

[MSHardeman]

I think it was $16-$17. The hardest part of the install was getting the dome light lens off.

[tom4bren]

I think it was $16-$17. The hardest part of the install was getting the dome light lens off.

At that price, Handee will have it installed by Crhristmas. Of course, it'll be mounted on the roof and pointed at the sky.

I may have to look into this. My dome light hasn't worked since I got the VX. Thanks for the tip.

[handeeman]

At that price, Handee will have it installed by Crhristmas. Of course, it'll be mounted on the roof and pointed at the sky.

Darn there went my next photo mod idea.
Oh well, a dome light to me is more like a miners hat.
Not to TJ, but one the advantages to my rear cargo light mod is i can set everything behind the VX open the rear door and see everything (put everything in by Braile). Get to where your going open the R Door and see where ya can set it down. I did my installation with velcro so I could velcro it to the old dome light or put velcro on my hat. I can't wait till Christmas.

[Triathlete]

I spot a Kestrel hanging on the wall! Nice

And nice light mod also!

[vt_maverick]

Resurrecting another old thread to post a bit of advice... I just finished installing a nearly identical (in both shape and cost) 12 LED dome light array in my VX. Hard to say whether it's technically brighter than the standard bulb, but the light is clear and crisp and you don't have to worry about the power draw and heat that you do from standard incandescent bulbs.

Now to the advice... although you can buy these kits on eBay and elsewhere with 4, 6, 9, 12, or 15 LEDs, the MAXIMUM size that will fit in our dome light housing is the 12 LED wafer. It's possible that there might be identically sized wafers out there with a higher number of smaller LEDs, but in general 12 is probably the limit.

[etlsport]

With some cutting I managed to get a 36 led array from autolumination to fit in my dome light

[vt_maverick]

With some cutting I managed to get a 36 led array from autolumination to fit in my dome light

That's some cutting alright! Nice though!

[vt_maverick]

So that's 3x brighter than the one I just installed? Must be like looking at the surface of the sun - I'd be afraid that my daughter would fry her retinas when I open the door.

[VX KAT]

I got a 31mm Super White festoon bulb from autoluminations (31mm) with 6 Super High Flux LEDs for my dome. I swear, it's so freakin' bright ....I can't imagine any more LEDs!
http://autolumination.com/festoon.htm, second product down.

[etlsport]

Its super bright.. If it was white light I'm sure it would be too much, but since its blue I wanted it as bright as possible. I also have two more map lights that are mounted in an overhead console forward of the dome light.. I have 25 white led arrays in each if those for if I need to read or something

[Daly]

Kat,
You mean this one
36mm = 1-3/8" Long 1-3/8" LONG (36MM) X 1" (24MM) WIDE
Also, any other bulbs that you have gotten from the? Like the ones in the front clear driving lights or the yellow toad lights in the headlights?
figure if I am going to order might as well get them all.Thanks

[VX KAT]

Kat,
You mean this one
36mm = 1-3/8" Long 1-3/8" LONG (36MM) X 1" (24MM) WIDE
Also, any other bulbs that you have gotten from the? Like the ones in the front clear driving lights or the yellow toad lights in the headlights?
figure if I am going to order might as well get them all.Thanks

it's the 31mm long festoon. 36mm is too long. I sent ya an email with the info on all the other LEDs I used.

[vt_maverick]

Slight thread jack... have you guys replaced your map/reading lights in the mirror yet? If so, what would you recommend? Looks a bit weird when you have the light from an LED dome mixing with incandescent light from below the rearview mirror.