Trunk lighting (with pictures!) June 10, 2012, 04:01:00 AM So my trunk lighting using LEDs is complete. Five Cree XM-L 12v easy whites at 650mA a piece. I have many more to use around the vehicle to upgrade the car's lighting. The LED star is about 30C after 30 minutes of running. The best thing is that the LEDs put out good light down to nearly 11V into the drivers. Cost was $40 in parts, including mounting hardware.Bright enough? AND, the pictures don't do it justice. A black garage becomes completely lit with the glow from the trunk.My old CCFL tubes were about half as bright as one LED after they'd warm up for about 5 minutes. The CCFLs were MANY times brighter than the stock tiny trunk bulb. I could run the LEDs at 1A, but the driver has no noticeable temperature increase over ambient at 650mA and the light loss isn't too major. I also don't need more than the 35W/3A of light going into the trunk... Quote Selected
Trunk lighting (with pictures!) Reply #3 – June 10, 2012, 09:27:26 AM very cool. I have my cabin lit up with blue. I hadnt thought about doing the trunk....til now. Quote Selected
Trunk lighting (with pictures!) Reply #5 – June 10, 2012, 07:01:25 PM Now I have to do the backup, dome, map, courtesy, under-dash, door, and under hood lights. XM-Ls all around! Cree XRE emitters are also the perfect brightness at 700mA to replace stock tail light bulbs. 2W of red light is equal to 27W of incandescent light through the red lenses and it is as bright as the incandescents at 14V.LEDs have FINALLY gotten to the point where a single emitter puts out enough light with controllable heat for just about every use. In 5 years or so, I'm sure I'll be swapping them all out for emitters that will be giving me twice the efficacy, or more efficiency in areas where more light would be hazardous or illegal.I THINK tail lights, backup lamps, and third brake light will be the next items to get LEDs, followed by door lights. I have 17 more XML Easy Whites, 12 red XRE, a dozen or so T6 XM-L emitters, and a few dozen drivers sitting on the desk waiting to be used. Quote Selected
Trunk lighting (with pictures!) Reply #6 – June 11, 2012, 03:14:26 AM Quote from: Seek;391953Now I have to do the backup, dome, map, courtesy, under-dash, door, and under hood lights. XM-Ls all around! Cree XRE emitters are also the perfect brightness at 700mA to replace stock tail light bulbs. 2W of red light is equal to 27W of incandescent light through the red lenses and it is as bright as the incandescents at 14V.LEDs have FINALLY gotten to the point where a single emitter puts out enough light with controllable heat for just about every use. In 5 years or so, I'm sure I'll be swapping them all out for emitters that will be giving me twice the efficacy, or more efficiency in areas where more light would be hazardous or illegal.I THINK tail lights, backup lamps, and third brake light will be the next items to get LEDs, followed by door lights. I have 17 more XML Easy Whites, 12 red XRE, a dozen or so T6 XM-L emitters, and a few dozen drivers sitting on the desk waiting to be used.Yeah soon we will be receiving "burn through your retina" bulbs from China that people will be using as headlamp bulbs and blinding people to the point they will lose control of their vehicle when approaching them head on. Quote Selected
Trunk lighting (with pictures!) Reply #7 – June 11, 2012, 03:15:35 AM Looks good though, Seek. Trunk lighting is always a necessity! Quote Selected
Trunk lighting (with pictures!) Reply #8 – June 11, 2012, 04:45:38 AM Quote from: beast50;391977Yeah soon we will be receiving "burn through your retina" bulbs from China that people will be using as headlamp bulbs and blinding people to the point they will lose control of their vehicle when approaching them head on.Look on ebay, they're already here, lol. Quote Selected
Trunk lighting (with pictures!) Reply #9 – June 12, 2012, 01:10:26 PM Quote from: ThunderbirdSport302;391979Look on ebay, they're already here, lol. Any "HID kit" will cause this annoying glare. LEDs won't get anywhere as drop in replacement due to the heatsinking needed for them. Maybe in 10 years the efficiency will be decent enough that a small block of aluminum is enough to stick in an enclosed box like the headlight assembly. Quote Selected
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