LED Strip as Interior Lights
AeroMoto
Jeeper
So I don't have interior lights in my CJ5 , and I came across these LED strip lights on Amazon:
Hitlights Warm White Flexible Ribbon LED Strip Light, 300 LEDs, 5 Meters (16.4 Feet) Spool, 12VDC Input (Adapter not included) - Amazon.com
The lights come in a strip with 3M adhesive backing that allow you to stick it to most places. You can cut them every third light on the line, either with dykes or probably scissors. One end of the lights comes with an adapter for a plug, but I just cut it off and soldered some twisted pair to it. Here's what it looks like:
Here is it soldered. Pay no attention to the crappy soldering job, I just have a cheapo Harbor Freight iron:
Then I slapped some heat shrink on there to semi-waterproof the connection:
I wrapped the wires in split loom to protect them from chafing and ran them to a simple switch on the dash. I originally ran just one strip under the windshield ledge. But after testing it that night I decided I needed some in the back. So here's the final result. The pictures really don't do it justice, it's almost as bright as my kitchen in there, especially with the top on to keep some of the light in. All told I spent the $14 on the lights, I had the other materials lying around. If I didn't I would guess the total cost would be under $40, including lights, split loom, wire, heat shrink, and switch. Took me around 1.5 hours total.
The first pic is through the back soft window, so that's why there's a glare. The light isn't the obnoxiously bright white LEDs, which is what I was going for. Brighter than a traditional incadenscent bulb, and almost the same color temperature.
So the lights don't say anything about being waterproof, but they got rained on the past three days with the Jeep outside and they still work like a champ. The jury is still out on whether or not the adhesive backing will actually stay on there, but I figure it was worth my time and money. Let me know if anyone has any questions, I'd be glad to take more pics if you want. Cheers!
Hitlights Warm White Flexible Ribbon LED Strip Light, 300 LEDs, 5 Meters (16.4 Feet) Spool, 12VDC Input (Adapter not included) - Amazon.com
The lights come in a strip with 3M adhesive backing that allow you to stick it to most places. You can cut them every third light on the line, either with dykes or probably scissors. One end of the lights comes with an adapter for a plug, but I just cut it off and soldered some twisted pair to it. Here's what it looks like:
Here is it soldered. Pay no attention to the crappy soldering job, I just have a cheapo Harbor Freight iron:
Then I slapped some heat shrink on there to semi-waterproof the connection:
I wrapped the wires in split loom to protect them from chafing and ran them to a simple switch on the dash. I originally ran just one strip under the windshield ledge. But after testing it that night I decided I needed some in the back. So here's the final result. The pictures really don't do it justice, it's almost as bright as my kitchen in there, especially with the top on to keep some of the light in. All told I spent the $14 on the lights, I had the other materials lying around. If I didn't I would guess the total cost would be under $40, including lights, split loom, wire, heat shrink, and switch. Took me around 1.5 hours total.
The first pic is through the back soft window, so that's why there's a glare. The light isn't the obnoxiously bright white LEDs, which is what I was going for. Brighter than a traditional incadenscent bulb, and almost the same color temperature.
So the lights don't say anything about being waterproof, but they got rained on the past three days with the Jeep outside and they still work like a champ. The jury is still out on whether or not the adhesive backing will actually stay on there, but I figure it was worth my time and money. Let me know if anyone has any questions, I'd be glad to take more pics if you want. Cheers!
