LED Ribbon - interior lighting?

[toga Rover]

Has anyone used the ribbon strips of LED lighting as cabin lights in their series?

the headliner in my 109 is toast and I was thinking when replacing it with marine-grade carpeting and sound-deadening material, adding the ribbon LED lights along the channel where the roof meets the body, one U-shape section from the driver door, around the top of the windshield, and around to the end of the passenger front door, and the the same around the rear windows and back door- each controlled with a rocker switch.

http://store.ijdmtoy.com/side-door-LED-strip-lights-installation-a/474.htm

thanks

dave

[clsolis]

I did this to my 110 for camping. Used the $10 ones on amazon. I have an internal cage and stuck them there. Works great. Tons of light. I have a switch in the back but that can be anywhere. My son calls them the disco lights. Hard to tell from the pics. I also put some under the bonnet.

I also ran a red strip so i can keep an eye on my son and dog at night

[toga Rover]

Exactly what I was looking for.
What type of connectors did you use? What size fuse are you running? Are they all on the same circuit?

Does the heat off of your motor effect the under hood light? Did you use a quick disconnect under the hood in the event you want to take the bonnet off?

Any "if I did this again, I wouldn't have done 'X', and would have done 'Y'" pointers?



Dave

[clsolis]

OK let me tackle this one at a time
1. Connectors. I just cut off the covering and soldered them and used heat shrink. Next time I will use this connector: bought a bunch off ebay here is the auction.

2. I wired them to my secondary battery with a switch and a 1 amp in line fuse. This way my secondary battery can be off but I can still turn on my disco lights.

3. I wired all of the interior white LEDs to the single switch. The Red ones are on their own switch as the bonnet ones.

4. So far the heat from the 200tdi hasn't bothered it. It is only on the none turbo side. I riveted these P clips on and used a weather strip putty to keep it from falling out "just in case".

I did standard male/female connectors so yes I can remove the bonnet.

Other than using the connectors so I wouldn't have to solder everything I am happy with everything. Hope this helps.

Chris


Here are some more pics of the install

[luckyjoe]

clsolis,

How about a requisite pic of you complete 110? looks like Camel 110...

[clsolis]

Here ya go!!

[NC_Mule]

Sweet looking truck!

[clsolis]

Thanks!! Been a labor of love but definitely loving her!! Hard to make modifications without disrupting the heritage but all worth it for the smiles

[clsolis]

[NC_Mule]

I saw the NCLR Shaver lake in the corner of one of those pics and found the youtube video. That creek crossing at 8ish minutes looked pretty tough. I bet you had a little pucker factor going on when you almost rolled it. I think being attached at the front right corner may have saved you.
Looked like a sweet day of wheeling.
pb

[luckyjoe]

I love that Camel 110 - what stories it could tell!

Good luck with it,

[clsolis]

PB, yes it was a tricky crossing. Some poor choices on lines and spotting etc. Yes when I got yanked and almost rolled the tow strap on the front most definitely saved me.

It has been a blast, been here and there with the truck but not everywhere...yet. Lots more miles on her!

[toga Rover]

Did you use the 5mm led light ribbon, or the 8 mm?
I see both on eBay.


Dave

OK let me tackle this one at a time
1. Connectors. I just cut off the covering and soldered them and used heat shrink. Next time I will use this connector: bought a bunch off ebay here is the auction.

2. I wired them to my secondary battery with a switch and a 1 amp in line fuse. This way my secondary battery can be off but I can still turn on my disco lights.

3. I wired all of the interior white LEDs to the single switch. The Red ones are on their own switch as the bonnet ones.

4. So far the heat from the 200tdi hasn't bothered it. It is only on the none turbo side. I riveted these P clips on and used a weather strip putty to keep it from falling out "just in case".

I did standard male/female connectors so yes I can remove the bonnet.

Other than using the connectors so I wouldn't have to solder everything I am happy with everything. Hope this helps.

Chris


Here are some more pics of the install

[clsolis]

I'm not sure to be honest. Look about 5mm wide. Here are the ones I got.

[S11A]

I used this type of light on a craps table that I built for a charity casino night event. The kit came with a transformer like the brick laptops use, so I am guessing the strip itself is 12V. A couple of things I learned form that that might be relevant:

1. The strip the LEDs are affixed to is a metal ribbon and only so flexible; to get it to bend around a complex corner involved "folding" the ribbon a bit. I was worried that that might break the wires inside but it didn't. I was just very careful to make several smaller / not-sharp bends to get it to follow the curve.

2. The 3M adhesive tape on the strip I got was good but not great - I could see it losing grip over time especially on a vehicle that sees big variations in temperature from summer to winter. It might be a good idea to add a few small zip ties to keep it in place (or do so if/when it starts to lose grip).

3. The kit I got uses multi-color LEDs for a swanky shagadelic effect. (Including a flashing mode, which would likely induce epileptic fits in the susceptible.)