HAve LEDS but too bright

[infinite1]

After spending several hours very carefully and professionally installing Blue LED lights under the dash I took the car out last night and decided they are too bright. I could eliminate some of the bulbs of course but was thinking of running a dimmer so that they were dim when the lights were on but full power when the doors were opened.

Can you use a regular dimmer with LED's?

Also the other question is how difficult would it be to tap into the power lead on the door light? Anyone have an idea? I would want to tap the wire inside the car not run a wire to the door itself.

Any ideas would be appreciated

[kmckis1029]

im not sure if a regular dimmer will work with LEDs... as my whole interior is LED and the auto dimmer on the car barley works now... its a quick dim and then completly off now... where as my old regular bulbs actually slowly dimmed down. Im not complaining, im just saying that i dont think a regular dimmer works well with LED lights based on having them installed in my car.

im trying to think back to school and i kinda remember LEDs having a set voltage to be either on or off and no in between really... but i may be wrong on that...

[ADiamond75]

If you buy good LED's they should dim fine.

[infinite1]

Thanks.
I located on the internet dimmers that are specifically made for LED lights. They are very cheap and installed in-line. Found them on Ebay under LED dimmer.

My advise for anyone installing LED's for extra lighting is that you don't need many at all. I really overdid it with the # of bulbs but have now eliminated many of them so it is more an ambient lighting which was my intention.

[ADiamond75]

You can also get LED's that are capable of dimming. They are a bit more expensive but worth it for disbursement and dimability

[SteveTheTech]

Why don't you try to move the lights? Or cover try some electrical tape to direct the light better.

[Auburn dad]

Infinite1
Did you figure out how to tie into the door or map light wires?

[j_farago]

I added under dash lights to my car as well. I bought a 15' strip of white led's. It looks better than the factory accent lighting and I only used a 10" strip on each side. It cost me $1.06 vs the $200 the dealership wanted. I also tied it into the door lights so they go on and off with all the interior lights. Took me about a half hour to install.

[Auburn dad]

post6407070.html#p6407070 thanks the help! Worked perfectly...not sure how to post pictures on this forum but it turned out just how I wanted. Wrote more on the other posting....appreciate the advice!