Anyone familiar with this PWM dimmer in the explorers? I have one with wiring pigtail. I was wondering if I install it will it dim my LED dash lights?

Ranger on top

Explorer on bottom

 

LEDs don't dim, you get either on or off.

 

That's not entirely true, you can dim an led; but you need to use a pulse width modulator.

 

They get brighter with voltage. Up to their rated working voltage.





The ranger dimmer is capable but its tuned for a much heavier load than what the leds draw. If a load resistor was on the circuit im sure it would work just fine.

 

I agree there, there is some variance in light output depending on voltage given. But if you start out with X voltage from the trucks power system...you can't add voltage, only reduce it. Sure you can use a variable resistor and reduce the voltage a bit, but it won't dim a whole lot. If you use a pulse width modulator, you are still only pulsing the LED to make it look dimmer, it is still turning on/off really fast. Go too slow and you'll get a strobing effect.

 

The Explorer dimmer has two separate outputs. One is variable DC voltage (like a Ranger), the other is PWM.

 

sounds like ford already did the hard part! worth a shot to try it.

 

Im guessing here Bob, but the red/black is the PWM output?

Do you know what the click in the full down position is?

 

On Gen2 Explorers, red/black goes mostly to the incandescent bulbs, so I'd say that is the variable voltage leg. The light blue/red goes only to modules with displays which should make it the PWM output. Notice that this does not match the Ranger convention of light blue/red to the incandescents.

IIRC, the wheel has a click for "dome always on" in one direction and one for "dome always off" in the other.

 

This seems like a simple mod. I think i will go ahead and make the swap. Followed by a how to.

 

It is. The dimmer is a direct bolt in and the color codes are straightforward except for the light blue/red mentioned before.

Since you have the EATC, now could also be a good opportunity to split the LB/RD and the RD/BK that were tied together in John's how-to. I don't know that there is any difference in dimming performance but the EATC button bulbs "should" be on variable voltage and the display on the PWM output per Ford's original design.

 

Interesting.

I was going to make another attempt at modding the EATC with leds. I just cant seem to figure out how to get the buttons apart to change their color.

 

We will all be running to the JY for Explorer dimmer controls for the LEDs that we have installed.

Please be sure to post a how to when you have completed the process.

 

Im going to attempt this Sunday. How to should be done mid week if all goes well and I can get good pics.

I will be hooking up my EATC to the voltage regulator per Bob's suggestion. Other than that its a simple connector swap. You just don't use 4 of the new wires. I have a feeling though ground will need to be connected.

 

I have the dimming module ground connected on mine. I'm sure that it wouldn't work without it.