Doing an LED overhaul on the truck, and the dome light was probably the most important to me. I wanted red light so that it wouldn't be as bothersome at night, a bright center bulb but dim map lights so that it wouldn't bother me if someone needed to see something while driving, and a switch for the center light so that I could choose between "on," "off," and "door."

No pics of it in action yet, but it's exactly what I wanted.

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everything purchase from ebay except the map-light bulbs:

1x used mustang dome light ($17)
1x 5x7cm PCB (10-pack $1.75)
16x red superflux LEDs (50-pack $4.25)
1x triple-throw switch ($1.45)
1x 12v voltage regulator (3-pack $1)
4x 1ohm resistors (1000-pc variety pac $9.50)
2x "578" red led festoon map lights ($5+sh from superbrightleds.com)

The map lights were drop-in. For the center board, I traced around the shape and then used a dremel cutting wheel and grinding wheel to shape it. I aligned the LEDs in four parallel strings, each string with 4x LED and 1x 1ohm resistor in series. For the tiny wires connecting the components, I just used tiny bits from the legs of some old capacitors and resistors that I salvaged from broken junk. I superglued the voltage regulator to the PCB and soldered wire to the LEDs. Drilled and ground the hold and notch for the switch and connected it to the base of the fixture by soldering it to the three-prong set that's normally hidden behind the big black plastic cover. I don't know what that's for, but having constant power, switched power, and ground all in one place was fantastic. After covering the back of the circuit board in electrical tape, it just sits in the unit. The fit is snug enough (especially with that fat-a** switch) that it's pretty secure. I made the wires long enough that I can pull the cover off and pull the board out to access the screws (though I make sure to cut power at the battery just to make sure I don't short with the screwdriver).

I know it ain't no JP7 art, but I'm pretty darn happy with it, especially for my first PCB fab and such a limited budget.

 

Chyeah. I dig it!

 

Very nice. I did my own custom LED dome on mine, it isn't pretty but it works great

 

Buggman has some competition ?

 

Get out of my brain!!!!
That looks almost identical to the one I started working on several months ago. HA!

It's buried somewhere under a pile of many other projects that have taken the back seat lately.

Can't wait to see some pics of it all lit up.

 

tatsuha,

How did this work out ?

The pics above look good, need more picture of what the light looks like in the day and the night ?

thanks