01+ Blue Security Light LED. Anyone know there stuff *pics*

[longhornsqx4]

I figured Im changing alot of my interior lights and dome lights and such to a bluish tone. Id like the security flasher to also be blue aswell.

I took apart the light and its connector, cut off a small protective cover that was over this board, and now have easy access to the LED and its little chip board.



Now I can figure out how to unsolder and solder a new one in its place, but I dont know anything about what LED I need to buy, and if it needs to be a certain resistance or anything like that.

I brought the whole board to radioshack and they only had one blue led with the legs, but it wasnt the same size and it said only for upto 5volts.

So what exact led am I looking for here?

Thanks for any help

[miamiheat3332]

search for qxxx4's post, i remember he did the same thing

[longhornsqx4]

Its not the same, he did extra wiring and solderring what not. I just wanna simply unsolder that led, and solder another in its place on the board, shouldnt need to do any wiring or anything like that should I

[Qxxx4]

Yours is the same Idea as mine, easier since you have a circuit board to work with. You can use a 5V LED with 12V as long as you use the right resistor. Find the output current of the LED and use ohms law to calculate what resistance you use. Make sure to test this circuit before you install it for good, make sure the resistor doesnt get too hot.

Ebay is your best best for decent LED's. if you dont know ohms law well or dont have resistors, alot of sellers include the LED's with resistors for 5V or 12V setups. If you know how to solder it should be a breeze for you! I unfortunately didnt have a circuit like you, its wired to a connector which wires to the flasher/security circuit later on.

[longhornsqx4]

Do i really have to worry about a resistor though, if I did then I would not be able to just solder in the 2 legs again in the same spot

Theres no such thing as using just the same LED but a blue one? Just so its a simple take one out, put new one in. No resistors o anything, just direct replacement

[Qxxx4]

you can easily get away with just swapping out the LED, but theres a good chance it will be too dim or too bright. If its too dim your resistor may burn out and could melt things, if its too hot the LED will run very bright but may burn out from too much current. You want it to run at its optimal current rating so that you get max life/safety.

http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz to calculate things. MOST LED's have a forward voltage of ~0.7V and your supply voltage is 12V, the resistor that is there already could be fine but you should always make sure, if you arent sure of things when doing simple mods like this it could end up in disaster.

Read up on how LED's work and ohms law and youll see that its pretty simple. If your going to swap out the LED its the same amount of effort to swap resistor.

[longhornsqx4]

Oh dude, shlt.

I completely didnt think or even look at the board, I didnt even get that you meant, put a resistor in place of the one thats already on the board, by simple solder unsolder the 2 legs.

K well crap Im gonna go to a different radio shack in about 2 hours. If I find a blue led the right size, how do I know which resistor to get? will the guys there know if I tell them its for a car? Id like it to be a pretty noticeable blue blink

[Qxxx4]

R = V / Iresistance = voltage / current

use that calculation! Find the best operating current for the LED (it varies if its a 3mm or 5mm, even colour affects it sometimes) then youll know exactly what resistor you need using that calculation

Take a risk and get two LED's if you want, wire it in, let it stay on for a few mins (just hit lock and it will stay solid for a minute) if the resistor gets hot then youll know its value is too high (especially if the light is too dim)

My led burned out.....also the one for my odometer...the resistors they came with were too small and ended up killing the LED after a few days, going to wire better 1/4watt resistors instead of 1/8th watt.

Not sure about in the US but in canada the radioshack people try to avoid me when they see me in the components area...nobody these days knows basic electronics lol if the parts are cheap just buy a range of stuff and go nuts!