[Lorian]

The first night I opened my boot (trunk) I realised the pathetic little bulb would need to go, I couldn't see a thing. So I just upgraded to an LED light set that was both inexpensive and easy to fix. No rocket science here.

I bought a nice looking, reasonably priced surface mount LED array from dealextreme in Hong Kong, They do smaller and bigger versions too (used them many times, took a week to arrive):

This is what you get for your 7US$ Shipped:



It has the correct sprung-loaded adapter for the festoon fitting inserted, but can work on the other fitting types shown too. Being a perfectionist though I removed the festoon fitting and soldered the wires to the festoon holder, a 1 minute job. The back of the array is covered in the thick-type 3M tape.

To fit is easy, pull off  fuse cover and pop out the yellow transit/memory fuse holder. Remeber you will need to re-program your radio settings later.

Press the clip and gently pull the holder out of the trunk.

Remove the connector (clip to press) and take it indoors (it's -3 at the moment)

I bent the festoon connectors back a little to allow an air space between the leds and the plastic diffuser. I doubt it will get as hot as the original bulb anyhow. Then I peeled off the 3m tape cover and stuck it to the existing copper and steel bulb mounts.

At this stage you could insert the sprung loaded adapter, but removwed it and just skinned and tinned the wires and soldered to the connectors.  Black wire must go to the end pointing towards the spade connector.

Here it is ready for insertion:





Be a little careful of the small wires leaving the side of the array as you re-insert into the car.

The before picture:



And this is after, a good result, maybe 2-3 times the light and very white:


Don't forget to push the fuse holder back in , and re-program the radio.

I'll measure up and replace the cabin bulbs too I think, as the result is so good. I'll post up the part numbers when I figure which are the best ones to use, they'll be a bit smaller.

As always, no warranties expressed or implied  

[bumpkin]

Great job

[Shambles]

Looks good, well done

Don't use my boot that often at night so I think I'll stick with my stock festoon bulb

[Myowni30]

Good mod Lorian

Have now ordered one 

[2i30s]

neat mod.

[SRT Metro]

Good mod! 

Just be careful of heat dissipation with those LED arrays but otherwise a nice mod.

I need to do something similar eventually with red LED's for when I go to astronomy nights as red light doesn't affect night vision. Will most likely make an array of both red and white LED and a switch to change colours.

[Lorian]

Just be careful of heat dissipation with those LED arrays but otherwise a nice mod.

It won't be on for very long stints so not likely tto cause a problem. If it does I'll attach a small heatsink to the back, there is good clearence behind it. I'm used to sorting out heat dissipation issues, I use P7 SSCs on my bike.

[Hemmi]

Nice mod, we all love LED's

[snowcherry]

it is a terrible light - i wasn't even sure i had one at first!   


hmmmm as someone who has never done this before, do you think i'd figure it out?
i sometimes open boot at night and really do have problems seeing anything in it.

Just be careful of heat dissipation with those LED arrays but otherwise a nice mod.

I have used many LEDs and heat has never been a problem.  They run cooler than standard filament, festoon and halogen bulbs.  That is one of the advantages of LEDs in that energy is not lost to heat.

I've used a similar LED cluster in my caravan to replace 12 volt halogen bulbs.  I held the clusters in place using hot glue (and it hasn't softened or melted the glue).  The biggest advantage is the minimal power they use.

Bob

Just be careful of heat dissipation with those LED arrays but otherwise a nice mod.

I have used many LEDs and heat has never been a problem.  They run cooler than standard filament, festoon and halogen bulbs.  That is one of the advantages of LEDs in that energy is not lost to heat.

I've used a similar LED cluster in my caravan to replace 12 volt halogen bulbs.  I held the clusters in place using hot glue (and it hasn't softened or melted the glue).  The biggest advantage is the minimal power they use.

Bob

In most general applications LED lighting will be relatively cool and while I don't wish to sound like a know-all (I'm a technical engineer for a company that develops LED lighting for residential/industrial and entertainment industries) if the design of the LED array doesn't allow for enough airflow around the LEDs then you can get heat issues. Granted most of the heat issues are with the high end power LED's you can still get problems in enclosed areas.

That said, they certainly are way more efficient and IMHO have a better range colours (I prefer the cool white to a warm white) to choose from

Edit: Go to http://www.diolight.com and have a look through the gallery at some of the stuff we have done.

[Myowni30]

My led unit arrived today, ordered 9th Jan (same as Lorian's). Fitted and very pleased with result

I did however use the spring loaded festoon with a bit of re-bending of the metal holders.

Perhaps the unit they sent me is wider than the one Lorian was sent !

Sorry about the cr*p pictures.





And as regards the heat question, I left it on for about 15 mins and the unit was still basically cold.

[Lorian]

Yours might be a little wider. I bent the coper and aluminium tabs back just a litte further than you I think though, so the LEDs are set maybe 1 or 2mm back from the lens, which is maybe why it went back in to the housing without the easement.

I didn't use the festoon fitting because it was not of great quality (I broke it!), yours is different though, looks a lot better plastic than mine had.

I have had my boot open for 30mins plus and the lens remains cold to touch. Wouldn't be without it.

[Hemmi]

nice 8)

[Shambles]

I went the myowni30 route, though I didn't have to do anything to the receptor on the car


Did have to remove the plastic lip on the lens though...

[Hemmi]

cool

[Myowni30]

Think you have started a new trend Lorian 

[Blue]

Gee, they wonder why people don't buy stuff locally anymore....

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=ZD0485

And its smaller

[2i30s]

nice find BLUE. 

[Shambles]

Gee, they wonder why people don't buy stuff locally anymore....

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=ZD0485

Absolutely. And that's 12-LED versus 24-LED for a fraction of the cost.

[2i30s]

can you find jaycar outside of oz ?,or its only in oz.?

[Blue]

can you find jaycar outside of oz ?,or its only in oz.?

50 stores across Australia and New Zealand

[jabber]

i found this thread really helpful after suffering from my CW's pathetic boot light 

updated my boot light as well but with LED strips .... really happy with the result.  here's a pic

[Dazzler]

Looks GR8 Jabber 

[2i30s]

they make a massive difference. 

[jabber]

you're absolutely right Steve! massive is the word!    the old globe was so dim that i practically had to use a flashlight every time i needed to go through stuff in my boot.  and thanks to the other Steve (Shambles) for the quick reply when i blew one of the fuses while i was working on this project! 

next up will be turning the door reflectors into actual lamps 

[Dazzler]

next up will be turning the door reflectors into actual lamps 

There is info on here about doing that too.. (use the search function to find it or someone else might find it for you) I would but got places to go and things to do 

Edit: here's one link...

https://www.i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=1381.0

and if you just put...   door lights   ... into the search function there are several more...

[jabber]

thanks Dazz! already looked at the thread & found some useful info.

already got the bits & pieces for the door light ... globe holders (bayonet type) & fits like a glove into that cavity.  got em from ebay plus LED globes as well.  thinking of putting in LED strip lights underneath the doors (all 4).  i'll post pics in the appropriate thread when done ... gotta do my 3000 word essay first   

[Dazzler]

... gotta do my 3000 word essay first   

Wow, we are going to get written instructions as well