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1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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Hi, guys.
I do know that it's not a big deal to go with this mod, but I'd like to share it with just in case. It all started when I accidentally touched the dome light in the internal rear mirror and noticed that it was darn hot. I mean really hot, just like Missy Elliot. I thought it was not a good idea to spend my DC power for heat when light is needed (also it's not good for the light body and reflector since these part are made of plastic). So... yep, I went with LED technology.
I didn't shoot the main dome but it's about the same but bigger: 8x4 instead of 8x2 LEDs. Spend about $30 total on both kits (local store, box says it's made in Korea, aha...) and it took me about 30 minutes to install (and 6 hours to wait for midnight to check the performance). Some file-adjustment is needed since these kits are really universal, but really it's not worth talking about it
Here goes some breakdown:
Stock front dome vs led'ed:
http://zigfried.users.photofile.ru/photo/zigfried/3836889/89890664.jpg
Manual fixed exposure and aperture (1/250 x F5.6) for all four shots.
The set (small one for front dome):
http://zigfried.users.photofile.ru/photo/zigfried/3836889/89890574.jpg
Pretty universal kit, nice adapters included
PCB looks good but not the soldering quality (don't forget to apply some electric adhesive tape to cover PCB layout or you'll have your dome killed):
http://zigfried.users.photofile.ru/photo/zigfried/3836889/89890576.jpg
The bigger PCB for the main dome (that is 4x8 LEDs) looks to be soldered by another [korean] guy and thus looks better, but I didn't shoot that, sorry.
Bottom line:
- it's darn bright. I mean it's really really very bright (see below), I even started thinking of adding a dimmer to this circuit.
- dotted view (but not the light that's coming out of the light) of the light... Yes, it's dotted. But I think it's not a big deal and I'll get used to it.
- pretty cool temperature (in terms of colorimetry). That's the main disadvantage, but probably to my taste only. I wish those leds were of a bit warmer light (e.g. 4000K or even 3600K instead of these 6000-6500K).
- the lights still heat up, but not that much as they did with stock incandescent bulbs
Could someone do me a favor and measure DC current in this circuit? It only takes not more then a minute: unscrew the door switch and hook up with multimeter between switch and body shell set to measure current (amperes). For more precise measurement it's worth carrying out direct measurement and a reverse one (when it tells the negative value e.g.: - (minus) 1.15A) and getting average of absolute values measured: in my case I read minus 0.209A for reverse and 0.215A for direct measurements. (ABS(-0.209)+ABS(0.215))/2 = (0.209+0.215)/2 = 0.212A
Don't forget the values measured and screw the switch back onto the body.
Assuming voltage to be about 12.5V it appears that I should gain about more then 80% efficiency (front dome uses bulb rated for 5W and main dome goes with 10W bulb; leds eat 0.2A x 12.5V = 2.5W)
Btw, what do you think of that shot? HANDHELD FOR 1/2 SEC AT 28mmX1.5 crop (42mm effective focus), YO!
Colors appear to be pretty accurate so it's just what I've got now when open my doors. You can shoot your lights in the same conditions (ISO=800, 1/2 sec, F3.5, 42mm effective focal length [28mm on x1.5 crop: Pentax, Nikon; 26mm for x1.6 Canons; 14mm for Olympus and Lumix] one meter distance from the car) and compare your stock results with mine. I do know that different DSLR vendors are not that precise at ISO speed and different lenses have different light efficiency even set to the save values in terms of focus, focal and aperture - but I don't think there're lot's for Pentax ist DS + Tokina AT-X PRO 280AF users among this BB and it's the only way to go if you'd like to check out my results.
Zig
P.S.
once again: looking fwd to seeing amperage measured with stock bulbs. Please.
posted by 77.37.1...
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