front interior light bulb

[Green1]

sounds like you've answered the question though, those LED bulbs you have sound like they look just as good as original, I may have to get me some :)

[JMK]

The 194 may still be a bit brighter, I haven't found it yet to test.

I just noticed another LED which is probably more suitable, and costs a lot more than the ones I used. at 30 lumens that seem to be very high power.

It says they fit a 10mm wedge socket and that's the width of the signal light socket.

I have to order a dozen of the 31mm dome lights anyway, so maybe I'll try some of these.

[JMK]

I heard back from the Australian supplier about the above bulbs. Sounds like there is a better bulb than the one I posted above, and as well, he can supply an 1156 replacement (that's the size of the bulb that illuminates the "corner" when your signal light is on):

The T10 Power Chip type you are referring to are much brighter than the inverted T10, but they are bigger in size, spread 180 degrees and does heat up much more.
(1 or 2 pairs left though!, but you preorder them)
There's also a newer version (and cheaper too) we have now - please see 6-CHIP SMD T10 Bulb
Because the Power Chip ones are quite expensive to make, we might be replacing them in the future with the SMD type.

As for the 1156 bulbs, please see the photo attachment, they use 5pcs of 5-Chip Superflux LEDs (AUD$50 per pair), which is the same as our T10 5-chip Superflux LEDs.
There's a cheaper version for AUD$20 per pair which uses 19-normal-brightness LEDs.

[torchard]

FYI I had good luck ordering online from these guys http://www.superbrightleds.com/led_prods.htm

They have some good info on their site about brightness, angle and of course cross-referencing with conventional bulbs (see here http://superbrightleds.com/bulb_cross.htm). I chose to replace the interior bulbs as they are the likely culprits when it comes to killing the battery e.g. doors left ajar by the kids or camping conditions and so forth. Ordered a handful of the festoon type and had to squeeze them in a bit as they were a tch longer, but no worries as there's a bit of play with those connectors. Two for the the doors, one overhead in the cab, one in the directional lamp over the rear bench, and a blue one for the slider step (I chose the blue as it's softer and easier on the eye if you're sitting around at night with the door open). So far so good. I dunno if you'd gain much using them in exterior lighting, other than longer bulb life. Although I see the local transit system has them in the buses. Oh, and I bought of one of the sylvania stick-on LEDs for the hatch as I don't have the stock lamp back there. It works fine although I beefed up the mounting with some super duty velcro.

On a related note, does anyone know what the drain is from the overhead flourescent? I have no idea what amount of power it draws over time.

--Todd

[JMK]

Thanks for the link, there is a lot of good information on that site. For example I didn't realize that you should buy the same color LED as the lens you are placing it behind.

How did you decide what interior lights to use? There is such a wide selection of even the festoon bulbs.

I'm wondering if the 1156 cornering light that comes on when you signal would be worth investing $30.00 per bulb on for the brightest they list at 132 lumens?

ALso, I guess I should mention that my stock signal light flashers worked find with the T10 LED bulbs that I used with them for the front signal light bulbs, so I guess you won't need to worry about replacing the flasher unit at least. I wonder if there could be an issue with the rear flashers?

I never appreciated that just changing to LED's would involve so much research and homework.

[Erebus]

On a related note, does anyone know what the drain is from the overhead flourescent? I have no idea what amount of power it draws over time.

Can't tell you exactly, but last fall, just after I got my Delica, I accidently didn't close the sliding door all the way when I parked at 4 PM. Didn't notice until 10 AM the next morning. Of course I wasn't parked in the driveway, but on the other side of the street. After some not-so-polite thoughts, I closed the door, waited 10 minutes for the batteries to recover a little, and the Delica actuallys started! I then pulled into the driveway and put the charger on it for a few hours.

So, with good batteries (the ones that came with it), I ran the fluorescent (on low), step light, and tailgate light for 18 hours and still had enough umph to start. Don't intend to ever test that out again.

[JMK]

THe flourescent must be a feature of the Crysalite Roof?

The step light can't be more than 5 watts, the tailgate 31mm festoon draws 9 watts when the vehicle isn't running. If the flourescent draws, let's say 25 watts for sake of arguement, you would have been drawing a little over 3 amps. (with the flourescent on low maybe it is less.) At that rate if you have the dual battery setup, your battery reserve should hardly have noticed it. If the flourescent only draws 10 amps you could probably come back after a week and they would still be lit. No need to worry if you leave those lights on overnight I should think.

However, even if you buy the highest power festoon bulb with the 6 surface mount sub 1 watt super-LED's in it, when the vehicle is not running it will draw .66 watts (it will draw 1.45 watts when the alternator is running). So your old system draws thirteen times as much power as converting to LED's would do. If you want to get as much light as the 10 watt festoon incandescent bulbs (they produce about 6 Lux with the engine off and 9 lux when running) you'll need the surface mount (If you don’t see a lot of yellow phosphor looking back at you, you’re probably not looking at a very bright lamp) like the ones that are on the site listed above (SuperbrightLEDs).

If you swap your lights over to LED's you'd be able to come back to your vehicle after a couple of weeks and it should still start.

After lunch I'm going to go measure the interior dome light housings and see if there is room for the six surface mount 31mm festoon LED's. I'll post the results if anyone wants. (Popping mine is a bit more complicated sue to a halogen heater I've got mounted up there):


BTW, speaking of LED's here's a mod I did with some green LED's that increases the rear ambient lighting for the kids at night. They always wanted to have a dome light on, this keeps them happy and it doesn't cause any reflection on the windscreen for me:

[torchard]

I like the green rear light set up. More specifics please.

--Todd

[JMK]

I grabbed a couple of these to try out when I was ordering other bulbs anyway.

Originally I thought they may go under the seats, then I noticed they could be tucked down in behind the roof trim and the wires run forward under the trim as well where they connect a +12V switched source tied to the lights.

I thought it may be interesting to place a couple more toward the rear as well, if I order more lights from the same source it may grab a couple more. However, instead of buying 31mm festoon lights to replace my dome lights I'm leaning toward this kit now instead:


I can take more pics of where the strip was tucked down tomorrow if you want.

[torchard]

Great idea. I like those strips (was thinking about mounting one of two under the dash for some additional floor light as someone else here did). So yours are on whenever the headlights are on? I also have one of those universal kits in white. Been holding onto it waiting for an inspiration.

--T

[JMK]

I have a red strip (from WalMart) under dash that works well. Green was too reflective on the windshield.

Another neat gadget I installed yesterday was an Oregon Scientific projection temperture sensor/clock. My LHS has spoiled me with the onboard computer readout and I especially missed the temperature that would be readable at night. It projects the time and outside temperature onto the cabin ceiling at night, and the module that sits on the dash can have backlight turned on and off. I have the remote temperature sensor mounted inside a weatherproof case from MEC behind the front license plate panel. Got it from Costco.ca, works well and looks real neat at night.

[torchard]

thanks for the tip re colour. As for the temperature sensor - cool - and it has real meaning where you are. On the island we'd be farther ahead with a barometer and rain gauge.

--T

[sahdot]

As for the temperature sensor - cool - and it has real meaning where you are. On the island we'd be farther ahead with a barometer and rain gauge.

--T

The altimeter on the gauge pod is actually a glorified barometer read in millibars (1millibar = 1hectopascal). Also many delicas have the rain gauge easily installable simply by placing a ruler in the footwells. .

-jim

[torchard]

Heh. Heh. Good one.

--T[/quote]

The altimeter on the gauge pod is actually a glorified barometer read in millibars (1millibar = 1hectopascal). Also many delicas have the rain gauge easily installable simply by placing a ruler in the footwells. .

-jim[/quote]