hey Guys,

I've seen people on cardomain and other sites that have easyly replace there instrument and other accent lights with LEDs. I was wondering is it as easy as stringing together some and then connecting it to a 12v and ground. Or would you have to add resistors and stuff to it? I've once tried to just replace a little bulb in the A/c controls with a led and it blew on me. Any suggestions on how to switch out bulbs and replace them with leds instead? Thanks!

B

You are thinking too simply with this whole thing. LED's run at many different voltages and currents. A white 5mm LED will usually run at 3.1v and about 20mA of current whereas a white superflux LED will usually run at 3v and about 50mA of current. Very different. Simply sticking an LED somewhere is not a good way to do it. Especially in an automobile, you need more then resistors to do it correctly. This is because the alternator of your car which delivers a supposed 12v source actually fluctuates considerably. It can range from around 9v up to 15v and even more for short periods. Different LED's are more sensitive then others so using simple resistors can be ok for some but in the long run it is not a good idea because it will shorten the life of the LED. You need to check out this website:

http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com

It has some good information with LEDs.