OK, I've got a circuit of single LEDS in the following areas and wired into one switch:

2 in main dash vent
1 in each small side vent
1 in each large side vent
1 in each large center vent
2 in custom area beneath Pioneer deck
(10 total)

I THINK they seem dimmer than usual the last couple of days, but maybe I'm just paranoid. I have checked all of the connections and they are fine. I HAVE added about 6 new LEDs to different circuits in the last week, but all of them glow normally.

2 factors that may be making them seem different are

A. I am wearing glasses this week vs. contacts due to an eye infection I had
B. I had to take out my 3 pillar gauges for some custom work and now I am missing some of my "usual" lights

Anyway, maybe this is a dumb thread, but I was wondering if there are any circumstances that would dim all the lights on a certain circuit. I know they don't draw much power from the system.

Any ideas certainly welcome!

Steve

First, LEDs don't normaly dim, they are (for the most part) either on or not on. Do you have them wired in series or in parallel?


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Causa latet vis est notissima

DIY Clear 03+ Headlights

lol - kind of both. I really need to take my whole car apart this winter when I'm broke and just rewire the whole thing with a little more planning.

But I see what you mean, there should either be light or no light. I think I'm just getting used to the new lighting arrangement without the pillar gauges, maybe it just feels incomplete...

Thanks

Quote:

First, LEDs don't normaly dim, they are (for the most part) either on or not on. Do you have them wired in series or in parallel?

Not necessarily.... there is a voltage range where they operate at.... for example, the range could be 1.5v - 2.2v

6 led @ 12 volts input will have the appearance of brighter intensity than 7 of the same @ 12 volts. So, they will "dim" a bit, lower than the range, they turn off.

Case in point, I have a couple of the preassembled LED lights under the HVAC that point into the little catch-all compartment in the center console so I can find the lighter socket at night when I gotta charge the cell phone. Those are hooked up to the dimmer light wire that is in the radio wire harness. Since I have an aftermarket stereo that doesn't have that functionality, had the wire free... they do dim when I turn the rheostat down for the rest of the dash lights, so the concept is similar. Reducing the voltage to the LED would be the same as adding another 1 or 2 in series.

You can have them in series/parallel and have no problems as long as the LED's that are in series are within the voltage range of the data sheet.... then the series could be run in parallel.

LEDs definitely dim. Just attache a potentiometer to one once, it will dim.